Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer Page A
Authors: Joyce Meyer
Tags: Religión, General, Jesus, Bible, Spiritual Warfare, Christian Life, Christ, renewing the mind, Battlefield of the Mind
Ads: Link
painted a quiet, still lake, far back in the mountains. The other painted a raging, rushing waterfall which had a birch tree leaning out over it with a bird resting in a nest on one of the branches.
Which one truly depicts peace? The second one does, because there is no such thing as peace without opposition. The first painting represents stagnation. The scene it sets forth may be serene; a person might be motivated to want to go there to recuperate. It may offer a pretty picture, but it does not depict "the rest of God."
Jesus said, Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you... (John 14:27).
His peace is a spiritual peace, and His rest is one that operates in the midst of the storm—not in its absence. Jesus did not come to remove all opposition from our lives, but rather to give us a different approach to the storms of life. We are to take His yoke upon us and learn of Him.
(Matthew 11:29). That means that we are to learn His ways, to approach life in the same way He did.
Jesus did not worry, and we do not have to worry either!
If you are waiting to have nothing to worry about before you stop worrying, then I probably should tell you that you will have to wait a long time, because that time may never come. I am not being negative. I am being honest!
Matthew 6:34 suggested that we not worry about tomorrow because each day will have sufficient trouble of its own. Jesus Himself said that, and He certainly was not negative. Being at peace, enjoying the rest of God in the midst of the storm, gives much glory to the Lord because it proves that His ways work.
WORRY. WORRY. WORRY!
I wasted many years of my life worrying about things that I could do nothing about. I would like to have those years back and be able to approach them in a different way. However, once you have spent the time God has given you, it is impossible to get it back and do things another way.
My husband, on the other hand, never worried. There was a time when I would get angry at him because he would not worry with me—and join me in talking about all the gloomy possibilities if God did not come through and meet our needs. I would sit in the kitchen, for example, and pore over the bills and checkbook, getting more upset by the moment, because the bills were more than the money. Dave would be in the next room playing with the children, watching television while they jumped up and down on his back and put rollers in his hair.
I can remember saying to him in an unpleasant tone, "Why don't you come out here and do something instead of playing while I try to figure this mess out!" When he responded with, "What would you like me to do?" I could never think of anything; it just made me angry that he would dare to enjoy himself while we were facing such a desperate financial situation.
Dave would calm me down by reminding me that God had always met our needs, that we were doing our part (which was tithing, giving offerings, praying and trusting) and that the Lord would continue to do His part. (I should clarify that Dave was trusting while I was worrying). I would go in the room with him and the children and a short while later the thoughts would creep back into my mind, "But what are we going to do? How are we going to pay these bills? What if.. "
And then I would see all these disasters on the movie screen of my imagination—foreclosure of the mortgage, repossession of the car, embarrassment in front of relatives and friends if we had to ask for financial help and on and on. Have you ever been to that "movie" or had those kinds of thoughts run through your mind constantly? Of course you have, otherwise you probably would not be reading this book.
After entertaining the thoughts the devil was offering me for a while, I would wander back out into the kitchen, get out all the bills, the calculator and the checkbook and start going over the whole mess again.
The more I would do so, the
Which one truly depicts peace? The second one does, because there is no such thing as peace without opposition. The first painting represents stagnation. The scene it sets forth may be serene; a person might be motivated to want to go there to recuperate. It may offer a pretty picture, but it does not depict "the rest of God."
Jesus said, Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you... (John 14:27).
His peace is a spiritual peace, and His rest is one that operates in the midst of the storm—not in its absence. Jesus did not come to remove all opposition from our lives, but rather to give us a different approach to the storms of life. We are to take His yoke upon us and learn of Him.
(Matthew 11:29). That means that we are to learn His ways, to approach life in the same way He did.
Jesus did not worry, and we do not have to worry either!
If you are waiting to have nothing to worry about before you stop worrying, then I probably should tell you that you will have to wait a long time, because that time may never come. I am not being negative. I am being honest!
Matthew 6:34 suggested that we not worry about tomorrow because each day will have sufficient trouble of its own. Jesus Himself said that, and He certainly was not negative. Being at peace, enjoying the rest of God in the midst of the storm, gives much glory to the Lord because it proves that His ways work.
WORRY. WORRY. WORRY!
I wasted many years of my life worrying about things that I could do nothing about. I would like to have those years back and be able to approach them in a different way. However, once you have spent the time God has given you, it is impossible to get it back and do things another way.
My husband, on the other hand, never worried. There was a time when I would get angry at him because he would not worry with me—and join me in talking about all the gloomy possibilities if God did not come through and meet our needs. I would sit in the kitchen, for example, and pore over the bills and checkbook, getting more upset by the moment, because the bills were more than the money. Dave would be in the next room playing with the children, watching television while they jumped up and down on his back and put rollers in his hair.
I can remember saying to him in an unpleasant tone, "Why don't you come out here and do something instead of playing while I try to figure this mess out!" When he responded with, "What would you like me to do?" I could never think of anything; it just made me angry that he would dare to enjoy himself while we were facing such a desperate financial situation.
Dave would calm me down by reminding me that God had always met our needs, that we were doing our part (which was tithing, giving offerings, praying and trusting) and that the Lord would continue to do His part. (I should clarify that Dave was trusting while I was worrying). I would go in the room with him and the children and a short while later the thoughts would creep back into my mind, "But what are we going to do? How are we going to pay these bills? What if.. "
And then I would see all these disasters on the movie screen of my imagination—foreclosure of the mortgage, repossession of the car, embarrassment in front of relatives and friends if we had to ask for financial help and on and on. Have you ever been to that "movie" or had those kinds of thoughts run through your mind constantly? Of course you have, otherwise you probably would not be reading this book.
After entertaining the thoughts the devil was offering me for a while, I would wander back out into the kitchen, get out all the bills, the calculator and the checkbook and start going over the whole mess again.
The more I would do so, the
Similar Books
