Battlefield of the Mind (24 page)

Wilderness Mentality #9

When Peter saw him (John), he said to Jesus, Lord, what about this man?

Jesus said to him, If I want him to stay (survive, live) till I come, what is that to you? [What concern is it of yours?] You follow Me!

JOHN 21:21,22

In John 21 Jesus was conversing with Peter regarding the hardships that he would have to endure in order to serve and glorify Him. As soon as Jesus had said these things to him, Peter turned, saw John and immediately asked Jesus what His will was for him. Peter wanted to make sure that if he were going to have to go through rough times ahead, so would John.

In answer, Jesus politely told Peter to mind his own business.

Minding (having our mind set on) other people's business, will keep us in the wilderness. Jealousy, envy and mentally comparing ourselves and our circumstances with others is a wilderness mentality.

BEWARE OF JEALOUSY AND ENVY

A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of
the body, but envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness of the
bones.

Proverbs 14:30

Envy will cause a person to behave in a way that is callous and crude—even animalistic at times. Envy caused Joseph's brothers to sell him into slavery. They hated him because their father loved him so much.

If there is someone in your family who seems to have more favor than you, don't hate that individual. Trust God! Do what He asks you to do—believe Him for favor—and you will end up like Joseph—extremely blessed.

Vine's
An Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words
defines the Greek word translated
envy
as "the feeling of displeasure produced by witnessing or hearing of the advantage or prosperity of others."1 J
ealousy
is defined by Webster as "feelings of envy, apprehension, or bitterness."2 I interpret this definition as being fearful of losing what you have to another; resentment of another's success, arising from feelings of envy.

DON'T COMPARE AND COMPETE

Now an eager contention arose among them [as to] which of them
was considered and reputed to be the greatest.

But Jesus said to them, The kings of the Gentiles are deified by
them and exercise lordship [ruling as emperor-gods] over them; and
those in authority over them are called benefactors and well-doers.

But this is not to be so with you; on the contrary, let him who is
greatest among you become like the youngest, and him who is the
chief and leader like one who serves. Luke 22:24-26

In my early life, I had an abundance of struggles with jealousy, envy and comparison. This is a common trait of the insecure. If we are not secure concerning our own worth and value as a unique individual, we will naturally find ourselves competing with anyone who appears to be successful and doing well.

Learning that I was an individual (that God has a unique, personal plan for my life) has indeed been one of the most valuable and precious freedoms the Lord has granted me. I am assured that I need not compare myself (or my ministry) with anyone.

I am always encouraged that there is hope for me when I look at Jesus' disciples and realize that they struggled with many of the same things I do. In Luke 22 we find the disciples arguing over which of them was the greatest. Jesus responded to them by saying that the greatest was actually the one who was willing to be considered the least or the one who was willing to be a servant. Our Lord spent a great deal of His time trying to teach His disciples that life in the Kingdom of God is usually the direct opposite of the way of the world or the flesh.

Jesus taught them things like, "Many who are first will be last, and the last will be first," (Mark 10:31), "Rejoice with those who are blessed,"

(Luke 15:6,9 KJV), "Pray for your enemies, and bless those who mistreat you." (Matthew 5:44.) The world would say that this is foolishness—but Jesus says it is true power.

AVOID WORLDLY COMPETITION

Let us not become vainglorious and self-conceited, competitive
and challenging and provoking and irritating to one another, envying
and being jealous of one another. Galatians 5:26

According to the world's system, the best place to be is ahead of everyone else. Popular thinking would say that we should try to get to the top no matter who we have to hurt on the way up. But the Bible teaches us that there is no such thing as real peace until we are delivered from the need to compete with others.

Even in what is supposed to be considered "fun games," we often see competition get so out of balance that people end up arguing and hating one another, rather than simply relaxing and having a good time together. Naturally, human beings don't play games to lose; everyone is going to do his best. But when a person cannot enjoy a game unless he is winning, he definitely has a problem—possibly a deep-rooted one that is causing other problems in many areas of his life.

We should definitely do our best on the job; there is nothing wrong with wanting to do well and advance in our chosen profession. But I encourage you to remember that promotion for the believer comes from God and not from man. You and I don't need to play worldly games to get ahead. God will give us favor with Him and with others if we will do things His way. (Proverbs 3:3,4 KJV.)

Jealousy and envy are torments from hell. I spent many years being jealous and envious of anyone who looked better than I did or had talents I didn't have. I secretly lived in competition with others in ministry. It was very important to me that "my" ministry be bigger in size, better attended, more prosperous, etc. than anyone else's. If another person's ministry surpassed mine in any way, I wanted to be happy for that individual because I knew it was God's will and way, but something in my soul just would not allow it.

I found as I grew in the knowledge of who I was in Christ, and not in my works, that I gained freedom in not having to compare myself or anything I did with anyone else. The more I learned to trust God, the more freedom I enjoyed in these areas. I learned that my heavenly Father loves me and will do for me whatever is best—for
me.

What God does for you or for me may not be what He does for someone else, but we must remember what Jesus said to Peter, "Don't be concerned about what I choose to do with someone else—you follow Me!"

A friend of mine was once given something as a gift from the Lord that I was believing for and had wanted a long time. Now, I did not consider this friend to be nearly as "spiritual" as I, and so I became very jealous and envious when she excitedly came to my front door sharing with me what God had done for her. Of course, in her presence, I pretended to be happy for her, but in my heart I wasn't.

When she left, attitudes rolled out of me that I never would have thought were in me! I actually resented God's blessing her because I did not think she deserved it. After all, I stayed home, fasted and prayed while she ran around with her friends and had a good time. You see, I was a "Pharisee," a religious snob, and did not even know it.

God arranges events quite often in a way that we would not choose because He knows what we really need. I needed to get rid of my bad attitudes much more than I needed whatever it was that I was believing for. It is important for God to arrange our circumstances in such a way that we have to eventually face ourselves. Otherwise, we never experience freedom.

As long as the enemy can hide in our soul, he will always have a certain amount of control over us. But when God exposes him, we are on our way to freedom, if we will put ourselves in God's hands and permit Him to do quickly what He desires to do.

God had, in fact, already purposed for my life that the ministry He would make me steward over was to be quite large and reach millions of people by radio and television, seminars, books and tapes. But He would not bring me into the fullness of it, except to the degree that I "grew up" in Him.

GET A NEW MINDSET!

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper
and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. 3 John 2 KJV

Consider this Scripture carefully. God desires
to bless us even more than
we desire to be blessed.
But He also loves us enough not to bless us beyond our capacity to handle the blessings properly and to continue giving Him glory.

Jealousy, envy and comparing oneself with others is childish. It belongs entirely to the flesh and has nothing to do with spiritual things.

But it is one of the major causes for wilderness living.

Take account of your thoughts in this area. When you recognize wrong thought patterns beginning to flow into your mind, talk to yourself a little. Say to yourself, "What good will it do me to be jealous of others? It won't get me blessed. God has an individual plan for each of us, and I am going to trust Him to do the best thing for me. It isn't any of my business what He chooses to do for other people." Then deliberately and purposely pray for them to be blessed more.

Don't be afraid to be honest with God about your feelings. He knows how you feel anyway, so you may as well talk to Him about it.

I have said things to the Lord like this: "God, I pray for ________ to be blessed even more. Cause her to prosper; bless her in every way. Lord, I am praying this by faith. In my spirit, I feel jealous of her and inferior to her, but I
choose
to do this Your way whether I feel like it or not."

Recently I heard someone say that no matter how well we can do something, there will always arise someone who can do it better. This statement had an impact on me because I know it to be true. And if this is true, then what is the purpose of struggling all our lives to get ahead of everyone else? As soon as we become number one, someone will be competing with us and, sooner or later, that one person will appear who can do whatever we're doing a little better then we can.

Think of sports; it seems that no matter what record some athlete sets, eventually another athlete comes along and breaks it. What about the entertainment field? The current star is only tops for a certain period of time and then someone new comes along to take his place. What a terrible deception it is to think that we must always struggle to get ahead of everyone else—and then fight to stay there.

God told me a long time ago to remember that "shooting stars" rise quickly and get a lot of attention, but usually they are around for only a short period of time. Most of the time they fall as quickly as they arise. He told me that it is much better to be around for the long haul—hanging in there—and doing what He has asked me to do to the best of my ability.

He has assured me that He will take care of my reputation. For my part, I have decided that whatever He wants me to do and be is all right with me. Why? Because He knows what I can handle better than I do.

Perhaps you have had a mental stronghold for a long time in this area. Each time you come across someone who appears to be a little ahead of you, you feel jealousy, envy or a desire to enter into competition with that person. If so, I exhort you to get a new mindset.

Set your mind to be happy for others and trust God with yourself. It will take some time and persistence, but when that old mental stronghold has been torn down and replaced by the Word of God, you will be on your way out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land.

Chapter 25

I'm going to do it my way, or not at all

Wilderness Mentality #10

That they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but might keep His commandments

And might not be as their fathers - a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that set not their hearts aright nor prepared their hearts to know God, and whose spirits were not steadfast and faithful to God.

PSALM 78:7,8

The Israelites displayed much stubbornness and rebellion during their years in the wilderness. That is precisely what caused them to die out there. They just would not do what God told them to do! They would cry out to God to get them out of trouble when they got into a mess. They would even respond to His instructions with obedience—until circumstances improved. Then, repeatedly, they would go right back into rebellion.

This same cycle is repeated and recorded so many times in the Old Testament that it is almost unbelievable. And yet, if we are not walking in wisdom, we will spend our lives doing the same thing.

I suppose some of us are just by nature a little more stubborn and rebellious than others. And then, of course, we must consider our roots and how we got started in life, because that affects us also.

I was born with a strong personality and probably would have spent many years trying to "do it my way" no matter what. But the years I spent being abused and controlled—added to an already strong personality—combined together to develop in me the mindset that nobody was going to tell me what to do.

Obviously, God had to deal with this bad attitude before He could use me.

The Lord demands that we learn to give up our own way and be pliable and moldable in His hands. As long as we are stubborn and rebellious, He can't use us.

I describe "stubborn" as obstinate; difficult to handle or work with, and "rebellious" as resisting control; resisting correction, unruly; refusing to follow ordinary guidelines. Both of these definitions describe me, as I was!

The abuse I had suffered in my early life caused a lot of my out-of-balance attitudes toward authority. But as I said earlier in the book, I could not allow my past to become an excuse to stay trapped in rebellion or anything else. Victorious living demands prompt, exact obedience to the Lord. We grow in our ability and willingness to lay aside our will and do His. It is vital that we continue to make progress in this area.