I don't want to put a whole lot of fluff or anything here and I certainly don't wanna beat around the bush on this issue. I'm sick and tired of seeing my friends and family live defeated, broken, busted, disgusted and ignorant lives! Why do we choose to walk at an inferior standard of life than that which was intended for us by our heavenly Father? Why do I choose to do it myself at times? Why do we live lives in defeat, pain and agony when Jesus died, rose again and is now seated in the heavenly realms (and we are seated there with Him)?
Since being at home this summer, I've spent a considerable amount of time trying to grow, yearning to growand fighting tooth and nail in order to grow. After everything that went down with me at Rhema my first year and learning WHY those things went down, I've devoted an enormous amount of my time reading about, studying about, meditating about our thought lives as believers and the maintenance (or lack of maintenance) thereof. I would recommend to you 2 books for this, specifically. "Movin' On Up" by Rev. Marvin Yoder and "Mastering the Silence" by Rev. Doug Jones. You can also check out "Right and Wrong Thinking" by Kenneth E. Hagin, as well as "Words" and "In Him" by the same author. And you can find most of these books online via the Rhema bookstore: www.rhema.org/bookstore Though I am unsure of how you can get your hands on a copy of Marvin Yoder's book, I would suggest you find SOME WAY to do so if you're interested.
I've discovered one answer to the questions I posted above in my first paragraph and that answer is simply this: ignorance. Most believers aren't taught anything about maintaining their thought lives. Some believers that are taught about it refuse to accept the teaching simply due to the fact that it is made known that maintaining your thought life requires much personal responsibility. And, let's face it, most Christians don't like hearing about responsibility and we don't typically like hearing that a prayer line isn't a cure-all for all the issues that we have. I grew up spiritually in the church of God denomination. I don't regret that or look back on that in any negative way. For the most part, I was given great doctrinal teaching from the Word and even more so in-depth while I was attending Lee University. I was never, however, taught certain fundamental truths that I, personally, believe to be vital. I was never taught what it meant to be made righteous and how to live a righteous life. I understood that Jesus made me righteous but I had no conception about what that fact meant. I knew that I had to say "no" to temptation and, over-all, sin. But I had no teaching whatsoever about how to put the flesh under. I knew that I had to speak the Word in times of temptation and struggle but I had no idea about how to apply such knowledge. Lastly, I was NEVER taught about the unmaintained thought-life. I was never given the adequate knowledge with which to battle back against the war in my head, ears and eyes.
In essence, that is what I got a crash-course in my first year at Rhema. It's not a lesson that I'm proud of having to have learned in the way that I did but it will forever be a lesson that I am grateful for having learned with such intensity. Point blank, family, we have to end the ignorance! It's time that we, as the body of Christ, are given knowledge with which to battle back against the attacks of our enemy. As Rev. Doug Jones says in his book "Mastering the Silence", "Knowledge and it's proper use wins battles." It may take me a couple blogs to do so but I'm going to give my brothers and sisters some knowledge. I'm sick of watching lives being lived at a sub-standard level and I'm tired of watching churches not do anything about equipping these people with the proper knowledge! I may not be the church, I may not be ordained or credentialed in any denomation and I may not come from a "religious" or denominational background that you even agree with but I do believe the Word of God and I do know that God's Word works!
2 Corinthians 2:11 proves to us that we can know the way he works. The scripture says "lest satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices." Just to post a tiny side-note here, the devil does not change. he doesn't come up with new ways to deceive us (Rev. 12:7-9) and nor will he ever come up with a new way to do so (Rev. 20). The only way the enemy can score a win over us is if he can deceive us and get us to go along with his thoughts, ideas or suggestions. I want to define the word deceive just for the sake of doing so...plus, I just like the defenition. Deceive- the implication is to cause us to think on things that are not true.
The first time the enemy deceives someone, it is Eve in the Garden of Eden. Almost all are familiar with this ordeal and how it went down though I believe a vital lesson has been left out of most teaching on this issue. When the devil deceived Eve, it was what is known as a precendent-setting event. A precedent is an occurence or event which acts as a guide for future acts of a similar kind. If we can learn how the devil intended to defeat Eve then we can learn how he endeavours to defeat you and I! I'll give you a bit of a spoiler...he doesn't show up all big and bad and fearsome and scary like many of us have been taught to believe. If you read Genesis 3:1-6, Luke 4:1-13, John 8:44 and Revelation 12:7-9, you'll see that he shows up only in a deceptive fashion.
When the enemy comes to Eve, he comes at her in a subtile, almost friendly manner simply offering a bit of advice..."HAS God said? ..you will not SURELY die... you'll be like gods! ...you'll know good and evil!" Or, in most of our cases he says such things as, "You'll be better off... you'll feel better... one time won't hurt, God will forgive you... no one will ever know... the Bible doesn't say it's a SIN..." With every one of these lies, however, comes a consequence or reaction that will indeed change your quality of life in some negative capacity. Back to Eve...he does nothing more, as you can now see, than offer her a little thought, a little idea and offers a little suggestion. That's it. That's our enemy's method of operation. If he can get just offer us some ideas and get us to think about them long enough that we actually follow them out then he knows he can beat us. When he tempted Jesus in Luke 4, along with his encounter with Eve, he was simply proving John 8:44 and Revelation 12:7-9 to you, dear friends! The devil is a liar! In tempting Jesus, he took Him about showing Him all these things and offered them to Him. There was no hint of fear, doom or anything spooky or scary about that encounter, either. he simply came offering thoughts, ideas and suggestions, almost as a friend or as one lending advice. Jesus, unlike Eve, however, fought back against our enemy setting a precedent of His Own for us to use today. Jesus' response to the enemy was to speak the Word.
What does that mean? What does it mean to battle back at these thoughts that come to mind by speaking the Word? It doesn't necessarily mean quoting John 3:16 but if that is a Word that is alive in your heart, I'm inclined to believe that it would work in your situation. Jesus gave us the example and this also shows us where our personal responsibility comes in. He spoke the Word back at the enemy in the area in which the enemy came at Him. In other words, the enemy came at Jesus perverting scripture and Jesus responded back with more scripture providing His rebuttal.
I'm still at the stage where I'm trying to get enough scripture hidden in my heart that I can fight back at these thoughts with the Word instantly. We have to be vigilant, friends, and examine EVERY THOUGHT that comes into our mind. Yeah, it sounds like a lot of work, and it is, but it will keep you free of bondage and keep you from falling from your place with God! There is more to be said on the subject of maintaining your thoughts and I think I'll do another blog about that very soon. For now though, let me leave you with this:
If you are suffering from depression, struggling with sexual immorality, homosexuality, unforgiveness, lonliness, doubt, unbelief, anger, etc. then it is a result of YOUR unmaintained thought life. Having someone pray for you is simply not enough. Having someone agree with you in prayer is simply not enough. Having someone lay hands on you and rebuke things and plead the blood of Jesus, etc. is simply...not enough. Why? Thoughts always come before actions. Always. You've never done ANYTHING without first thinking about it. Rest assured, dear family, you have never made a single action without first giving it enough thought to decide that you were going to do it. I'm about to get extremely real and very graphic here so if you are under the age of 18, please do NOT read this next part without first getting your parents permission to do so. Yes, I'm talking to any Living Faith youth that may be reading this.
Any struggle you're having with lust, masturbating, trying drugs, tobacco or alcohol, having sex (of any sort), pornography, "making out" (which I consider to fall into the category of sexual immorality due to the lust implications...and that's just the opinion of David Steinberg and not necessarily anyone else), it all starts in the area of your mind. The thoughts come up that...it'll feel good. Just one time won't matter. God will forgive me and if God forgives me then it's ok..why SHOULDN'T I? I can quit anytime. Once doesn't hurt. It'll make the pain go away. It'll make the pain hurt less. ....LIES! These are all LIES! Yes, God WILL forgive you, ok? I'm not saying that is a lie. But the implication that you should do it b/c He will forgive you IS a lie. When these things come to mind, you HAVE to address them! I know I'm not covering every thought that comes to mind for you but I'm being totally open with you and showing you the things that often come to MY mind. These are thoughts that must be maintained at all costs. I don't simply ignore these thoughts in order to overcome them...that won't work. That's what I tried doing all these years. Ignoring implies ignorance and ignorance will always keep you in defeat! You have to speak to these thoughts! That's right...you have to open your mouth and speak! What do you speak? You do as Paul instructed in 2 Corinthians 10:5 and you cast down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing EVERY thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ! You tell it where to go! You openly refuse it! You openly rebuke it in Jesus name! That's the kinda stuff I do, anyway and I see it work for me day after day after day and minute upon minute. As for speaking the word...when I have those lustful, prideful and/or deceitful thoughts I immediately will speak out loud something from the Word. Something such as "Glory to God! (the Word does say that in many places...I know..simplistic, huh?) or "Praise the Lord!" or "Bless You, Lord!" I find myself basically and in essence speaking the book of Psalms, it seems. :-D I promise you this though...IT WORKS. The Word ALWAYS works.
If you don't want to believe me, that's ok. I know I'm teaching the Word though. I've studied this so much the last 3 months that it has almost gotten so far deep down into my spirit that teaching it is automatic. If you don't want to accept it though..that's fine. But I'm giving you knowledge of how to gain freedom and come to know how applicable John 8:36 (Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed) and John 10:10b (I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly/to the full/a better life than they ever dreamed of/in abundance[to the full, till it overflows]...you get the picture.
So here's my challenge...try it. Go ahead and try it. Address the thought verbally (not mentally), cast it out and/or speak the Word (such as "Glory to God" or whatever is in your heart) immediately and see if you don't move up to new levels in God!
I love you guys dearly and long to see you all grow, succeed and even exceed in life. Most of all, I want to see you all fulfill God's Divine call on your life
