What Does God say About Having A Sound Mind?

A PROMISE OF A SOUND MIND

I love How God has slowly revealed my struggles, hurts or faults by peeling back each onion layer gently and allowing me to thoroughly deal with it at my pace. Lately He has been showing me that I still operate in a spirit of fear and unknowingly I have been accepting the enemy’s lies about who I am. My whole life I have struggled with mental “disabilities” or “conditions” such as OCD, depression, ADHD, bipolar, anger, ect. With every label I was given by so and so Mr. or Mrs. PhD, I became more and more insecure, holding tightly to that little word, placing it in a box for safe keeping, only to pull it out when I couldn’t control what emotions I was experiencing. I accepted it because it was all I was told. Unfortunately I just couldn’t see how God can and will make me completely new, that He would heal me no matter what was going on biologically or genetically. I just didn’t understand that HE was mighty and powerful and nothing was too small a task for Him.

Jeremiah 32:27- Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?

DISTRUST IS WHAT IS HINDERING US

A while ago, I accepted God’s will for my life and submitted, but I never fully trusted Him to change me. I told God He could have “This, this and this, but I will keep these few things right here.” I didn’t truly understand who I was in Him, so I held on to what identity I still knew, but it was the furthest thing from the truth…

Isaiah 26:3- You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

THE DEVIL IS A LIAR

The devil is a liar. He always has been and always will be. If anything doesn’t align with the word of God, we can be certain it is from the enemy.

See, the enemy wants to come in and take the focus from God and place it on him, he wants us to willingly and blindly accept every word he says that doesn’t agree with what God said. He knows that if we found out the truths God gave to us, we would be completely and utterly changed. We would no longer be vulnerable, but instead we would become strong and capable, thus making us a big threat to him. God could then use us in ways we never imagined, He would use us to do great works for His kingdom healing the sick, casting out spirits, sharing the Gospel.

John 8:44-….He (the Devil) was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

FEAR IS THE ROOT OF IT ALL

But really understand this: Christ came to live inside of us, giving us a new mind and a new spirit. It replaced the urge to live in the flesh and the spirit of fear. Anxiety, anger and a multitude of psychological conditions I personally believe, stem from the emotion of fear. When we become anxious it is because we fear the environment and people around us, we fear the circumstances and outcomes, we fear everything. With anger we often fear the lack of control, what could possibly happen or what harm could be imputed to us or loved ones. With OCD we fear that if we don’t do things a certain way, some unavoidable disaster or harm will befall us…. You see, when we do not have Christ, who has made us perfect in Hs love (that He died on the cross for us and granted us salvation), we live in fear. We live constantly second guessing our salvation and fearing every possible scenario that may happen. We then rely on our own understanding and solutions and react irrationally, creating more work, stress and chaos than what is really there. Fear is the result of not truly having faith that Christ will take care of us.

2 Timothy 1:7- For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

1 John 4:18- There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

WE ARE TRANSFORMED

But He promised He would. So much that He gave us the same mind He has. Let that sink in. We HAVE CHRIST’S MIND! We do not have to be the way we used to be. We are now transformed! We are no longer ourselves, but one with Christ. We now have the freedom to act as Christ would, think as He would and be at peace like Christ would be. We are a completely new person! Have you ever wished you were someone else and what you would do if you were? Read below and really let God’s word drive home that you aren’t who you were before, but that you are really someone else.

Romans 12:2- Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

1 Corinthians 2:16 - “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Romans 8:9- You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.

2 Corinthians 5:17- Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Ezekiel 36:26- I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

COMPLETE HEALING

When we come to Christ, not only to we receive new minds, hearts and spirits, but we become healed. I don’t think I truly understood this till now. I didn’t understand that healing meant that I was rid of my afflictions. When we go to the doctor and we become healed from a disease, we don’t go around claiming we are still sick do we? No! When people ask how we are doing, we say, “Very well, thank you! The doctor healed me!” I think it took me so long to accept these truths because I was afraid to let go of my labels and experience a new me. It’s scary to embrace the unknown and sometimes we are afraid to be healed because it means we might succeed, and if we succeed we may be entrusted with bigger tasks.

Psalm 147:3- He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

GOD CARES

Just know, even after we are healed, we will have circumstances in our lives that cause us to become saddened or upset. This is completely normal and sometimes beneficial. Pain can teach us very important lessons, and often God uses pain to bring forth good. Even so, if you find yourself in the middle of a painful experience remember that even if you feel like no one cares, God does. God is really a compassionate creator, in that He knows what it feels like to be saddened or in anguish. He knows how it feels to lose someone he loves, to be rejected and betrayed. He knows what it feels like to try and have it all go wrong. He knows what it feels like to be hated and alone. Just always know God is absolutely compassionate and understanding and He promises to be near and comfort those who are in distress. He wants so badly for you to tell Him all your hurts and troubles, He wants so badly for you to drop all your baggage and worries down at His feet.

Matthew 11:28- “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 5:1-48- Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

1 Peter 5:6- Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

TAKE YOUR THOUGHTS CAPTIVE

So what happens when you feel like you are losing control of your emotions? What happens when you feel yourself slip down into the negative patterns that were oh so familiar before? Should we become fearful and worry? No. The bible says we are to take that thought captive and make it obey the truth of what God’s word says. How do we do that? Well, for starters we need to pay attention to our inner talk, this takes a little practice. Here are some steps you can follow:

1. Write down your thoughts when you feel negative about somtheing. What phrases are repeating? What are you telling yourself? 2. Recognize what isn’t a truth. How do we know that? Look it up in God’s word. For example, if I see a pretty girl in a magazine and instantly I start comparing myself to her and find myself thinking how I am not pretty enough or I will never be skinny enough, I look up what God says about my beauty, where it comes from and what is important. 3. When you find the truth, write it down on a paper or a card and keep it with you. 4. Next time you hear the enemy whispering lies in your ear, just pull out your paper and stop the enemy in his tracks by repeating what God’s word really says about you. Instead of focusing on the enemy’s lies and negativity, focus on the truths and goodness of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 10:3- For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Isaiah 54:17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.

Philippians 4:8- Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

WE ARE FREE FROM OUR OLD WAYS

We are human, we will have emotions. It is not necessarily bad to react in fear, anger or hurt. God has often had emotions just like us and He understands completely. It is how we react is what becomes the issue. Now, fear and worry is a sin. It means we are not trusting God to fully take care of us. We must truly hold close to our hearts the truth about how we are complete and brand new in Christ and let go of anything that doesn’t agree with that. We must remember that we were freed from our old body and old ways and that now we have strength that comes from God. We don’t have to act in sin anymore, we don’t have to fall for the enemy’s lies and we don’t have to be broken and sick, for we are no longer under the yoke of the flesh but free in Christ.

Romans 6:1- What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Galatians 5:1- For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

STAND FIRM AND LET GOD TAKE CARE OF IT

I do understand that sometimes, no matter what good choices we make or how much we realize the truths, we will still be attacked by the enemy, especially the closer we get to God. When this happens, put your armor on and get in the word, for we do not fight against flesh and blood but powers and principalities of darkness! Psychological disturbances are very much a physical representation of the spiritual battle that is going on behind the scenes. For everything in the spirit world, there is an antitype in the physical. I think when we realize this we can have even more confidence to win these battles because this means that although you feel you are losing the fight in the flesh, God is there in the spirit going to battle for you. Every time you open your Bible up, there God is, defending you and protecting you, and in this we can have great peace and confidence.

Ephesians 6:12- For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Exodus 14:14- The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

YOU ARE A CHILD OF THE ONE TRUE KING

No matter what we go through in the future, be rest assured that you are no longer a victim. Not only does God go to battle for you, you also have the same spirit and mind of Christ. You are a child of the King and God of the universe! You are a royal heir! You have a mighty power that runs through your body and soul! You are not a weakling but a warrior in Christ! So let’s really embrace that truth and use the new mind and spirit you have been given!

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