Battlefield of the Mind (22 page)

"If we just didn't have so many bills.. "

"If we had better neighbors or different friends. ."

If! If! If! If! If! If! If! If! If! If!

BUT...

And the Lord said to Moses,

Send men to explore and scout out [for yourselves] the land of
Canaan, which I give to the Israelites. From each tribe of their fathers
you shall send a man, every one a leader or head among them.

So Moses by the command of the Lord sent scouts from the
Wilderness of Paran, all of them men who were heads of the
Israelites....

And they returned from scouting out the land after forty days.

They came to Moses and Aaron and to all the Israelite
 
congregation in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, and brought them
word, and showed them the land's fruit.

They told Moses, We came to the land to which you sent us; surely
it flows with milk and honey. This is its fruit.

But the people who dwell there are strong, and the cities are
fortified and very large; moreover, there we saw the sons of Anak [of
great stature and courage]. Numbers 13:1-3,25-28

"If" and "but" are two of the most deceptive words that Satan ever plants in our minds. The twelve spies who were sent into the Promised Land as a scouting party came back with one bunch of grapes so large it had to be carried by two people on a pole, but the report they gave to Moses and the people was negative.

It was the "but" that defeated them! They should have kept their eyes on God and not on the potential problem.

One of the reasons our problems defeat us is because we think they are bigger than God. That may also be the reason why we have such a hard time facing the truth. We are not sure God can change us, so we hide from ourselves rather than facing ourselves as we really are.

It is not as difficult now for me to face a truth about myself when God is dealing with me, because I know that He can change me. I have already seen what He can do, and I trust Him. However, in the beginning of my walk with Him it was difficult. I had spent most of my life hiding from one thing or another. I had lived in darkness for such a long time that coming out into the light was not easy.

TRUTH IN THE INNER BEING

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your steadfast love;
according to the multitude of Your tender mercy and loving-kindness
blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly [and repeatedly] from my iniquity and guilt
and cleanse me and make me wholly pure from my sin! For I am
conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is
ever before me.

Against You, You only, have I sinned and done that which is evil
in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and faultless
in Your judgment.

Behold, I was brought forth in [a state of] iniquity; my mother was
sinful who conceived me [and I too am sinful]. 

Behold, You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to
know wisdom in my inmost heart. Psalm 51:1-6

In Psalm 51, King David was crying out to God for mercy and forgiveness because the Lord had been dealing with him about his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband.

Believe it or not, David's sin had occurred one full year prior to the writing of this psalm, but he had never really faced it and acknowledged it. He was not facing truth, and as long as he refused to face truth, he could not truly repent. And as long as he could not truly repent, God could not forgive him.

Verse 6 of this passage is a powerful Scripture. It says that God desires truth "in the inner being." That means that if we want to receive God's blessings, we must be honest with Him about ourselves and our sins.

CONFESSION PRECEDES FORGIVENESS

If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners],
we delude and lead ourselves astray, and the Truth [which the Gospel
presents] is not in us [does not dwell in our hearts].

If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He
is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will
forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse
us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will
in purpose, thought, and action].

If we say (claim) we have not sinned, we contradict His Word and
make Him out to be false and a liar, and His Word is not in us [the
divine message of the Gospel is not in our hearts]. 1 John 1:8-10

God is quick to forgive us if we truly repent, but we cannot truly repent if we will not face and acknowledge the truth about what we have done.

To admit that we have done something wrong, but then make an excuse for it, is still not God's way of facing truth. Naturally we want to justify ourselves and our actions, but the Bible says that our justification is found only in Jesus Christ. (Romans 3:20-24.) You and I are made right with God after sinning only by the blood of Jesus—not by our excuses.

I remember when a neighbor called me one day and asked me to take her to the bank right away, before it closed, because her car would not start. I was busy doing "my thing" and did not want to stop, so I was rude and impatient with her. As soon as I hung up the phone, I knew how terrible I had acted and that I needed to call her, apologize and take her to the bank. My mind was full of all the excuses I would give her for why I had reacted so badly: "I did not feel good. . " "I was busy.. " "I was having a rough day myself. . "

But deep in my spirit, I could sense the Holy Spirit telling me not to make any excuse!

"Just call her and tell her you were wrong, period! Say no more than 'I was wrong, and there is no excuse for the way I behaved. Please forgive me and allow me to take you to the bank.'"

I can tell you it was hard to do. My flesh was having a fit! I could feel this little thing running around in my soul desperately trying to find a place to hide. But there is no hiding from the truth, because truth is light.

TRUTH IS LIGHT

In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.

He was present originally with God.

All things were made and came into existence through Him; and
without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being.

In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men.

And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has
never overpowered it [put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and
is unreceptive to it]. John 1:1-5

Truth is one of the most powerful weapons against the kingdom of darkness. Truth is light, and the Bible says that the darkness has never overpowered the light, and it never will.

Satan wants to keep things hidden in darkness, but the Holy Spirit wants to bring them into the light and deal with them, so you and I can be truly and genuinely free.

Jesus said it was truth that would set us free. (John 8:32.) That truth is revealed by the Spirit of Truth.

THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH

I have still many things to say to you, but you are not able to bear
them or to take them upon you or to grasp them now.

But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes,
He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth).... John 16:12,13

Jesus could have showed His disciples all the truth, but He knew they were not ready for it. He told them that they would have to wait until the Holy Spirit came down from heaven to abide with them and to dwell in them.

After Jesus had ascended into heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to work with us, preparing us continually for God's glory to be manifested through us in varying degrees.

How can we have the Holy Spirit working in our lives if we will not face truth? He is called "The Spirit of Truth." A major facet of His ministry to you and me is to help us face truth—to bring us to a place of truth, because only the truth will set us free.

Something in your past—a person, event or circumstance that hurt you—may be the source of your wrong attitude and behavior, but don't allow it to become an excuse to stay that way.

Many of my behavior problems were definitely caused from being sexually, verbally and emotionally abused for many years—but I was trapped in the wrong behavior patterns as long as I used the abuse as an excuse for them. That is like defending your enemy by saying, "I hate this thing, but this is why I keep it."

You can definitely experience glorious freedom from every bondage.

You don't have to spend forty years wandering in the wilderness. Or if you have already spent forty years or more out there because you didn't know that "wilderness mentalities" were keeping you there, today can be your day of decision.

Ask God to start showing you the truth about yourself. When He does, hang on! It won't be easy, but remember, He has promised, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5.)
You are on your way out of the wilderness; enjoy the Promised Land!

Chapter 22

My life is so miserable; I feel sorry for myself because my life is so wretched!

Wilderness Mentality #7

And all the congregation cried out with a loud voice, and [they] wept that night.

All the Israelites grumbled and deplored their situation....

NUMBERS 14:1,2

The Israelites felt exceedingly sorry for themselves. Every inconvenience became a new excuse to engage in self-pity.

I remember when the Lord spoke to me during one of my "pity parties." He said, "Joyce, you can be pitiful or powerful, but you cannot be both."

This is a chapter that I don't want to skim over too quickly. It is vitally important to understand that we cannot entertain demons of self-pity and also walk in the power of God!

ENCOURAGE AND EDIFY ONE ANOTHER

Therefore encourage (admonish, exhort) one another and edify
(strengthen and build up) one another, just as you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Pity was hard for me to give up; I had used it for years to comfort myself when I was hurting.

The minute someone hurts us, the moment we experience disappointment, the devil assigns a demon to whisper lies to us about how cruelly and unjustly we have been mistreated.

All you need to do is listen to the thoughts rushing into your mind during such times and you will quickly realize how the enemy uses self-pity to keep us in bondage.

The Bible, however, gives us no liberty to feel sorry for ourselves.

Instead, we are to encourage and edify one another in the Lord.

There is a true gift of compassion, which is having godly pity toward others who are hurting, and spending our life relieving their suffering.

But self-pity is perverted, because it is taking something that God intended to be given to others and turning it in on ourselves.

Love is the same way. Romans 5:5 (kjv) says that the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. He has done this so we might know how much God loves us and that we may be able to love others.

When we take the love God meant to be given away and turn it in toward ourselves, it becomes" selfishness and self-centeredness, which actually destroys us. Self-pity is idolatry—turning in on ourselves, concentrating on us and our feelings, it makes us only aware of our own selves and our own needs and concerns—and that is certainly a narrow-minded way to live.

THINK OF OTHERS

Let each of you esteem and look upon and be concerned for not [merely] his own interests, but also each for the interests of others. Philippians 2:4

Recently one of our speaking engagements was unexpectedly canceled. It was one I had been looking forward to, and initially, I was a bit disappointed. There was a time when an incident like that would have thrown me into a fit of self-pity, criticism, judgment of the other party and all kinds of negative thoughts and actions. I have since learned in that kind of situation just to be quiet; it is better to say nothing than to say the wrong thing.

As I sat quietly, God began to show me the situation from the viewpoint of the other people involved. They had been unable to locate a building in which to hold the meeting, and God showed me how disappointing it was to them. They were counting on the meeting, looking forward to it with great expectation, and now they could not have it.

It is amazing how easy it is to stay out of self-pity if we look at the other person's side and not just at our own. Self-pity is supported by thinking only of us and no one else.

We literally exhaust ourselves sometimes trying to gain sympathy.

Yes, self-pity is a major trap and one of Satan's favorite tools to keep us in the wilderness. If we are not careful, we can actually become addicted to it.

An addiction is something done as an automatic response to some stimulus—a learned behavior pattern that has become habitual.

How much time do you spend in self-pity? How do you respond to disappointments?

A Christian has a rare privilege when he experiences disappointment—he can be re-appointed. With God there is always a new beginning available. Self-pity however, keeps us trapped in the past.

LET GO AND LET GOD!

Do not [earnestly] remember the former things; neither consider
the things of old.