The Battle of the Mind

[00:00:00] Sa. [00:00:31] Hello and welcome to the second row. I am Letitia Plowden, also known as Lady P. And I'm so excited that you decided to join me on the second row on today. It's been a minute guys, but I am back. [00:00:44] How you doing? I hope all is well. I hope the year has been going well for you. It is already really at the end of March. Can you believe it? We're about to be at Easter. Time is just really flying. It's going fast. But I hope that life has been treating you well. I know for me life has been, as I say often, but I am excited to be back on the second row and spending some quality time with you. So get you some hot tea or some coffee, get your notebook ready, get your pen ready, have some time. If you're listening in the car, just listen and when you get home, listen to it again and get your notebook and because I want to talk to you today about the battle of the mind. And so with that being said, I want to share this book with you. Our women's Bible study. Our women's group at our church, we do a Bible study and we've been in this book and the last chapter that we went through was so eye opening and so inspirational and just it was all that I needed. I told the ladies at the church, I don't know if it blessed them like it blessed me, but it blessed me. And I've been talking about it and I wanted to share it with you on today. So like I said, get your notebook, your pen ready, have your coffee or your tea and we're going to talk about it. Okay? So the name of the book is the well Watered Woman. I'm going to show it to you. It's a little used, it's been a little bruised because I've been reading and taking notes, but it's the well Watered Woman. And it is by Gretchen Saffles. S A F F L E S Rooted in truth, Growing in grace, Flourishing in faith. It is an easy read. It's so good. [00:02:26] It really speaks to your, your soul and really speaks to things that women are going through. But it helps us learn how to be well watered women for Christ. And so find this on Amazon. [00:02:38] It's a really, really good book. Not too expensive. You're going to want to read it. And I think it's on audible. I'm an audible girl also. So if you like me, you want to listen to it as you're driving or working out. It's really good, but it's the well watered Woman. [00:02:50] And so we talked about, we were in chapter 11 and the title of that chapter is A Lifelong Battle and it talks about and we're going to go into it, there's some really good nuggets in there and I really wanted to share with you and let it bless you like it blessed me. So the first thing that she has on that chapter, the first quote, and it's the quote is by Amy Carmichael and it states our feelings do not affect God's feelings facts. And that right there just was what I needed at the moment and what I need every day, I think. But our feelings do not affect God's facts. So whatever God says about who we are, it doesn't is not affected by the way we feel because our feelings are fleeting. They, they come and they go. They're very fluid. Happy at 9am, sad by 11 like it. Our feelings change all the time but our feelings don't affect his facts. So what he says is true. It doesn't matter what we're going through, what doesn't matter how we feel. What he says about who we are and our purpose for our lives is actually what stands. And so we have to remember that. [00:03:55] So real quick, I'm going to read this little intro. [00:03:59] She jolted upright from her disturbing dream, her mind racing like an out of control car. She hadn't even gotten out of bed and already the lies were taunting her. Her dreams only unveiled more fears, worries and stress. As the day wore on, the battle in her mind raged stronger. Fears hounded her peace and memories of past failure crowded out the grace she longed to hold onto. She needed to make the lies bow down to Jesus, the real king of her heart. She was engaged in a battle for her mind and if she was going to win, she needed to bring her thoughts into submission to Christ day after day, moment by moment. And so that's what we are going to talk about. Hit some nuggets on today is about the battle of our mind. What our what things? The lies that try to overtake our truth. And so it is a daily battle, it is a constant battle. [00:04:58] Pastor Jeremy, my husband preached a message years ago and it was the battle of the six inches. And he's talking about our brains, of our mind, you know, is the battle because there's a battle between Christ and the enemy. Once they, once the enemy knows that he can get into our mind and change our thoughts about who we are and the facts that God has told, has said to us, then it just can actually change the trajectory of our lives. And so there is a constant battle, and we are constantly being inundated with untruths, and we have to fight all the time to remember who we are and whose we are. And so that's what we're going to talk about. It is a lifelong battle. It doesn't end when you give your life to Christ. So when you say, I'm going to live and do what Christ tells me to do, it doesn't end. It is a constant fight. So we're going to talk about that today. Okay? [00:05:49] All right. So one thing about the author of this book, she ties our everyday life into with stories of being a person who works in the garden, who has flowers, who has a garden. And one thing she talked about in this chapter is that she had planted these fruit, strawberries and other fruit. And she didn't realize that there was going to be a battle because the critters wanted to get a hold of everything that she planted. Her squash, which. Her fruit, her vegetables, everything that she had planted and was trying to reap a harvest. There were other critters and other animals that wanted to take over. The deer wanted to eat them. The. The little critters wanted to eat at the leaves. And that was a constant battle for her to reap what she was trying to grow. [00:06:41] And one statement she wrote in that first part of this chapter is she learned the hard way that in order to grow good things, whether in the ground or in our souls, we have to go to battle. [00:06:54] There's going to be a fight, okay? It's not going to always be easy. You have an idea of, these are the things that I'm going to do. These are the seeds that I planted and that I'm going to reap a good harvest. And there's not going to be any. [00:07:05] Anything to try to stop it. That's not true. There's going to be a constant battle. So we have to fight. We don't just give in. We don't just let it. [00:07:14] Let those things take over. We have to continue to fight so the battle is won only when we prepare ourselves for war, arm ourselves with truth, and get ready to fight the good fight of faith. And I wrote in my notes, and the women from my church will attest, I wrote, prepare for war in the time of peace. So you don't. You have to always be prepared. You don't wait until the war is going on to prepare. You prepare early. My husband was in the National Guard. [00:07:45] And so if you're National Guard, you know, they go to Drill one weekend a month, two weeks in the summer. And they're always preparing for war. They never know if it's ever going to happen. My husband was in the military for, I don't know, 16, 17 years before he went to war the first time. And I'm sure when he joined and when he went to those drills and he was preparing for war, he never thought he was going to actually have to go, but he couldn't wait until they called for them to go to war to learn how to shoot a gun, to learn all the strategies he prepared prior to. And so that's what we have to do with our lives spiritually, is that we have to prepare ourselves for war, arm ourselves with the truth, know what the truth is, and get ready to fight the good fight of faith. Okay? The battle ground of your mind, the greatest battle you will fight. Each day begins in your mind and the battle for your thoughts. [00:08:44] When you wake up in the morning, the enemy is. He's ready and he's going to do whatever it takes. And he knows what it takes. And we've talked about that. He knows that what makes it hard for me is not the same thing. That may be what works for you, right? So he knows what battle. He knows what to say. He knows what thoughts to bring into our mind. And so it begins every day with the battle of your thoughts. What are you thinking? Thinking? What are the thoughts that are coming to your mind? [00:09:14] We have to remember that we need to think on those things. Think. So think on the good things, and we'll talk a little bit about that a little later. But it's whatever the thoughts that are coming to our mind, those we have to fight. If it's not lining up with God's word and God's truth and God's facts, you got to fight it. Okay, Now, Genesis, we all know the story of Adam and Eve and how Satan, you know, tricked Eve to believe that she wouldn't surely die. Like eating from the tree, eating that apple was not. Or that fruit. We said apple, but the fruit was not going to surely kill her, right? And so the first thing he said to the woman, Genesis 3 and 1 was like, did God actually say, like, did he really say you would die? [00:10:08] And those is what. That's what he does. He has you rethink. Like, well, wait, did. Wait, what did he say? It's the thoughts. It's the battle of the thoughts. He got into her thinking. He got into her thoughts and made her change the way or change what she knew, what God Said or what? She knew Adam told her what God said, right? So that's a whole nother story. We're not gonna get into that or whose fault it was. But he does what he does. [00:10:35] He works his, his work. I'll say that by trying to make us think or change the way we think. It's the battle. It's the battle of our thoughts. [00:10:46] So he pushed and pulled at the truth God had revealed to Adam and Eve. And he twisted them just enough to tempt her to believe a lie and act on it. [00:10:56] Doubt led to unbelief, which led to rebellion, a cover up and an attempt to deceive God. [00:11:04] All he did was drop the seeds of doubt. That's all he did. Did God really say that? [00:11:10] That's doubt. [00:11:11] And doubts led to unbelief? Well, no, God didn't really say that, right? Which led to rebellion, a cover up and an attempt to deceive God. [00:11:23] So now I've eaten the fruit. [00:11:27] Now my eyes are clear. Now I see Adam. Adam is naked. I'm naked. Now we trying to hide ourselves. Now we don't want God to find it, like all of the things. All because a seed of doubt was dropped into our thoughts, into her thoughts, right? That's all Satan needs. He just needs that little area. Doubt led to unbelief, which led to rebellion, a cover up and an attempt to deceive God. [00:11:54] All because it's a battlefield of our thoughts, all right? And so once that starts the conversation, once they started with the conversation, and God says, well, who told you you were naked? Like, you know, there's a hole that goes through that whole process, right? [00:12:13] Then God reminds Satan, hey, so yeah, you think you won, but you didn't. [00:12:20] I will put enmity, enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. Genesis 3:15. [00:12:31] God says, I will not, Adam, you go do this. [00:12:38] Or he didn't say, let me go back. God said, I will. He didn't say, Adam, now you go fix this or Eve, go fix what you repaired. He said, I will do that. I'm going to take care of it. And so that's another point I wanted to bring to you guys, to your attention, is that even when the thoughts and the doubt and the rebellion and the COVID of all that took place, God said, I am going to take care of it, okay? He said, I am going to make sure that Satan knows that you didn't rent the battle. I'll take care of It. You don't have to fix it. I'll fix it. [00:13:15] So, Adam, God saves the day. [00:13:20] Victory has been secured for us because of Christ's death and resurrection. So we have to remember that even in that battle, that God saves the day. And in our lives, God saves the day as well. Okay? We don't have to fix it on our own. God will take care of it. [00:13:37] Okay. [00:13:39] The next part I wanted to bring to your fight, I'm sorry, I'm leading about fight to your attention is we are humans fighting a war, but we don't fight the way humans fight. The battle is for the human soul, and it happens at a cosmic level. We fight with God's weapons, and his weapons will prevail. [00:14:02] We do not fight against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against. Against the cosmic powers over his present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. That's Ephesians 6 and 12. So it's not the battle. The battle is not against flesh and blood. So you know when that person is getting on your nerves, whoever that person is, you know, when I said it, you know exactly who came to mind. It's not a battle against that person. Right. It's. It's. It's a spiritual thing. So the enemy is using what he can and, and who he can to cause friction, cause the battle in your mind. So they may say something that causes you to feel a certain type of way and make you doubt. Well, wait a minute. Is that true? Did God really say that they make you feel some type of way? Should I feel that type of way? God, that's not flesh and blood. That's not the person. It's the, it's the. It's the rulers, the authorities, and the dark place places. That's, that's. We have to remember that it's not a battle against the person. It ain't the person. The enemy just doing what he can. He knows who to use. I'm not saying the person is the devil. That's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying he knows what tactics to use to cause you to doubt what God has said to, to doubt the facts and have your feelings all in it. All right? So that's why when you feel some type of way, that's all it is. [00:15:28] It's not flesh and blood. It's deeper than that. So we have to remember that. [00:15:34] Okay, the next part I wanted to get to is. [00:15:40] Okay, one more part. Although we're engaged in a war of eternal school, we Often don't view it as a battle. View it as a battle. Either we give in to our enemy out of fear, or we don't fight because we don't take it seriously. To fight successfully, we have to know what's happening in the first place and how all this will end. Christ has made it clear that if we are in him, we are no longer victims, we are victorious. [00:16:04] And First Corinthians 15 and 57 says, thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. We are more than conquerors. We're victorious. You got to remember. So even in this battle, and it may. You may feel like you losing, you got to remember we are yet still victorious. Okay, truth with the capital T. Want to get to this? So two truths. There could be two truths. What feels true to you and what's actually the truth? Okay, all right, this part, this next sentence, I want you to really, you know, think about it. Let it sit for a little bit. [00:16:47] She talks about the fact that she was having panic attacks and the things that were coming to her mind she was battling, and fear, depression, and all of these crazy thoughts. [00:17:01] And the facts were the only reality she could see when darkness hid the face of God. [00:17:07] I was like, oh, my God. [00:17:09] So the facts were the only reality she could see when darkness hid the face of God. So there are facts, there are things that you believe which in your mind are your truths because they're so heavy and in your mind so true that it hides the face of God. [00:17:28] The darkness hid the face of God. The darkness of those truths, those. And they're really. They. They seem true to you, but they're not the truth. They're not what God is saying. And it hid the face of God because that's only. That's the only thing you see in right now. The only thing in your reality is. The only thing that's facing you right now is those truths. And you're not actually hearing or seeing God's face because the darkness has hidden his face. I thought that was so deep. Lies became deeply rooted in her soul, choking out the good fruit. The truth. All right, so we're going to talk about your truth with the little T. And then God's truth with the capital T. And that's how she has it. Truth with a capital T. That's how this section is. Is labeled. [00:18:13] All right, There's a difference between the little T, truth, lowercase truth, which is the convincing lies of Satan, and truth with the capital T, which brings freedom. Little T, truth says cancer will be the end of your story. The tests have been run and the diagnosis is certain. Capital T, Truth says Christ has defeated the power of death and one day our sickness will be wiped away. Revelations 21 and 4. You are strong in him when you are weak and you are healed from the greater disease of sin. See Second Corinthians 12, 9, 10. God won't leave you or forsake you in this trial, and he will help you endure. [00:18:53] See Deuteronomy 31 and 6. [00:18:56] All right, so the little teacher says, I have cancer. I have this illness, and it's all over for me. That's what the your truth looks like. [00:19:06] But the capital T truth, what God says is what's in his word, right? [00:19:13] The next one, little T Truth, says you're trapped by panic attacks and fear you'll be embarrassed by your brokenness and you'll never recover. But capital T truth says that God is bigger than anything we fear in this Life. See Isaiah 41:10. We are held by the everlasting arms of God and we aren't defined by anxiety. [00:19:33] Deuteronomy 33 and 27. We are free in him. [00:19:37] See John 8, 32 and Galatians and 5. So what's your little T truth? Is it about your finances? Is it about your health? Is it about who you say that you are? [00:19:51] What are those in your mind truths? The convincing lies of Satan. [00:19:56] You had to counteract those truths with what God says. The capital T truth. Okay. [00:20:05] God's word counteracts the lies that fill our minds. The bottom line is that God's capital T truth prevails when the enemy knocks you down and tries to deceive you, discourage you, and defeat you. So I want you to take a moment, think about some of those truths. Those lowercase lower T truths. I'm sorry, the lower T truths, the one that the lies that Satan tries to convince you are real. [00:20:28] Those things that you are in, in your mind, they are in your life. They could feel like they are absolute. The truth, because you are dealing with it every day. The things you tell people about, the things you don't tell anyone about, what are those things? And then you get your word and you find out what God says about that. Sometimes we know what scripture to go to, sometimes we have to do look in the back of the Bible to see. Well, what does the Bible say about this? [00:20:53] Of course, Sister Google is amazing. [00:20:56] My new bestie, Chatty Chat GPT. That's my. That's what I call it. Chatty. [00:21:01] You can search what Scripture talks about being healed. What scripture talks about finances. Look to see what God's word says. And you have to counteract those lower T, lowercase t truths with what God says. And that's the capital table truths. Okay? [00:21:21] All right, the next section. Preach truth to yourself. So when you find out what God says. Right. When you find out what those truths are, then you have to start preaching to yourself. Start talking to yourself. [00:21:35] The lies in our minds are constantly at odds with the truth, promises and provision of God's word. If the thoughts that run through our minds were to be displayed on the screen for all to see, I imagine a few of the reoccurring ones would be. And she writes, I'm a failure. I'm a disappointment. I can't do this. I'll never be free. [00:21:53] I'm always broke. That's what I'm saying. I'm always broke. [00:21:58] I'll always be alone. No one loves me like genuinely loves me. I'm always doing for someone and no one pours back. Those would be the things that are in our heads, right? [00:22:10] But we have to remember that in Romans 12 and 2, Paul urges that we should 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. [00:22:29] So don't be conformed to this world. Don't fall into the trap of what society says is true. Don't fall into what the enemy brings to you as truth. We. You have to be transformed by the renewal of your mind and discerning what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Okay? [00:22:51] God's word plants truth and uproot slides. [00:22:56] So it's like you planting seeds and you have to uproot the. The weeds that are around your plants. Right. Or around your garden. So His Word plants truth and uproot roots, lies. It clears pathways for renewal and it cover covers up pathways that block peace. [00:23:15] Okay? For example, your thoughts might tell you, I'm broken. I don't bear value. I'm a fraud. But the truth of God's word says, I'm redeemed through Christ. I'm a new creation. I'm called and equipped to live for his glory that sent. See Romans 3, 24 and 3 and 24, 2nd Corinthians 5, 17 and 2nd Peter 1 and 3. Your thoughts may say, I can't do this. I can't flourish. But the truth of God's word says, I have all I need in Christ, I can do exactly what he calls me to do through his strength. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. [00:23:50] That was just a more modern way of saying that scripture. That's Philippians 4, 13, 19. [00:23:58] So you have to preach to yourself. [00:24:02] You can't always wait until you get to church. Or you can talk to your leader or your pastor or whoever you trust as a friend. Sometimes you have to preach to yourself. There's a song, and I think it was David. David said, you have to encourage yourself. [00:24:18] And then there was a song. Sometimes you have to encourage yourself. How do you do that? By preaching yourself. Knowing the Word. What does the Word say about my situation? [00:24:27] Not what enemy says. Not what I feel like. My. What are my feelings? [00:24:31] Is what God says. Okay. [00:24:34] The words you think impact how you talk, how you live, how you love, how you make decisions and approach trials. [00:24:44] The words you think. [00:24:48] Not always just what you say, but what you think. Because sometimes we say one thing and rethink something else. We say what we think people want to hear, right? We say what sounds good. [00:25:00] But what are you thinking? What are the words you thinking? Those impact how you talk, how you live, how you love, make decisions and approach trials. [00:25:13] Thoughts are ultimately made up of words. And words have more power than we realize. The good news is that God's Word has the ultimate authority over any word and thoughts. So what are you thinking? It's the battle. It's the battle of the mind. But you have to make sure you are thinking good thoughts. The thoughts, the words that God has spoken. And if you pour those words into you, even because I'm not, I'm saying what I'm. [00:25:39] I don't want you to think. I don't understand that There will be. Every day is a battle. And there are thoughts that come to our mind that do not align with what God says. [00:25:49] Every morning you wake up, the enemy is on his side. He. He is ready. He's like, oh, yeah. She wait, oh, yeah, he's awake now. I'm about to drop this. I'm about to drop these seeds. And it becomes a battle. But how do you fight the battle? By knowing what the Word of God says. By knowing the truth. Okay. [00:26:06] God's Word as a weapon. [00:26:13] You use His Word as a weapon because we're fighting a spiritual battle. And so it goes back again to knowing what His Word says, finding the scripture that lines up with your situation, and fighting those battles with His Word. [00:26:30] It's not a physical fight. It's a spiritual fight. And how do you fight it. You fight it with the word of God, okay? And in that battle, there's a constant battle in your mind because it's. It's a tape player. And I said, tape player at church. And I was like, ooh, some of y' all probably don't even know what a tape player is. But it's that constant, The sound that's in your head. It's the constant. I'm gonna say tape player because that's. That's what I see it as. That's the image that comes to mind. But it goes on and on. It's on repeat. So if you, like, have you on Spotify and you hit repeat, or you're on Apple and you hit that repeat button and it plays the same song. So those same statements sometimes play over and over and over in your head, but you have to stop it. You have to stop it. As soon as it comes to your mind, you stop it. All right? [00:27:21] Okay. And this quote, like, yeah, I was like, I need to type it. I need to put it in my office. I need to put it at my house. I need to put it in my car. I need it everywhere. So Martin Lloyd Jones said. This is his quote. Martin Lloyd Jones said, most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself. [00:27:56] Now. [00:27:57] I was like, yes, yes, yes, Martin, yes, you're absolutely right. What does that mean? So. [00:28:03] And I know people go, you shouldn't talk to yourself. I talk to myself. I do. I think we all talk to ourselves, right? [00:28:09] But we are so busy listening to the thoughts that are in our mind that we are not talking to ourselves when those thoughts come into our mind. Okay? [00:28:19] So when you have those thoughts of, I'm just not good enough. I'm not pretty enough, because we think that I'm not beautiful. I'm not. I. I mean, I look okay. I'm okay. [00:28:32] But, yeah, I just, you know, I'm not as pretty as. [00:28:36] I'm not as skinny as. [00:28:41] Then you stop. You're listening to yourself. So then you have to stop and talk to yourself. The Bible, the Word says, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Right? Or I just. I never have enough money to do. [00:28:55] I don't. I'm always broke. [00:28:58] If I'm living check to check to check, I'm never going to be able to get ahead. That's what you're hearing. And you stop and you say, the Lord's going to help me take care of this. He has. He Owns the cattle on a thousand hills. [00:29:14] If he dresses the lilies in beauty and splendor, how much more does he love me? [00:29:19] Right? That's Matthew. So those you talk to yourself, the thoughts come in. You stop it immediately. [00:29:26] You stop it. When you listen to the lies of the enemy, you will spiral into defeat. But when you preach to yourself, you remind your soul of God's unfailing truth. You're able to stand firm in confidence. [00:29:40] Read for Psalm 42 and 5. [00:29:43] So in those moments when those thoughts try to take over and those thoughts come into your mind, and because they come, they come constantly, all day, you have to stop listening to yourself and start preaching to you. Encourage yourself, talk to yourself. [00:30:02] And somebody might walk by and go, what you say? [00:30:05] You talking to yourself? Yes. Because this thought, I have to stop it. You need to stop and nip it in the bud. Okay? [00:30:14] But I was growing up, when we were growing up, my mom has this thing or had this thing, especially with my brother, because I didn't get in trouble. My brother got in trouble. [00:30:23] But she would always say, just where you show out, I'm going to get you. I'm not gonna wait till you get home. I'm not going just where you show out. I'm gonna get you. Right? And that's how you have to be with those thoughts. Just as soon as a thought comes, you have to stop it and say, satan, devil, you, a lie. That's not true. [00:30:45] That's not my capital T truth. The capital T truth is this. This according to God's word. I am this. This is according to God's word. I am healed by his stripes. I'm healed. So whatever the situation is, you need to find what the word. That's our weapon. God's word is our weapon. [00:31:01] You don't fight. [00:31:03] Even when that person that you thought about a few minutes ago, and I was like, who's that person that get on your nerves so bad that just causes you to. [00:31:10] You have to stop and remember, we're not fighting against flesh and blood. I can't talk flesh and blood. It's spiritual. So you've come back. How do you come back? You come back with the Word. [00:31:23] Even in those times when people have hurt your feelings and it's hurt deep, and you don't understand why I'm trying not to get emotional. You don't understand why. Why did they say that? Why did they do that to me? I have been nothing but good to them. You stop it. You stop and you remember what God's word says. [00:31:43] Nothing shall separate me from the love of Christ. I. It ain't even. It's right. [00:31:48] And forgive them and do good to them. That scripture. Love your enemies and do good. [00:31:56] And that's hard. I'm not telling you. It's not. [00:32:00] It's hard. I'm reading, but actually I'm listening on audible. I'm listening to a book now. I may talk about it later. That's talking about how to forgive and ooh, we. [00:32:09] Then we got to forgive. But we have to remember that even in those moments when Satan brings those thoughts and when that person hurts you and you go see, because, see, you. You try to let people in. I'm talking to myself. You try to let people in. You try to. You let the guard down. And this is what happens when you let the guard down and they hurt you and they break your heart and it hurts and you can't even say anything and you want to, but God is like, nope, don't say anything. [00:32:40] You have to remember what God says. I won't leave you or forsake you. [00:32:44] I won't. [00:32:46] Right? So those. It's the battle. It's the battle because the enemy will be like, See, that's what happened when you let people in. See, that's why you can't let people in. People don't. They say they love you. They don't love you like that. [00:32:56] They do. And even if they don't, I have to love them and I have to forgive them, Right? And so those are the things we have to remember. [00:33:06] All right, so you win because he won. You win because he won. [00:33:18] If you want to be a fighter in the cosmic spiritual battle and a well watered woman in a dried up world, you have to fully rely on Jesus and know his word. You want to give in at times because your feelings yell loud, yell louder than your faith. [00:33:33] Yes, they will. [00:33:35] You have days, you trip into the pit and don't realize it until everything gets dark and you have to yell for help. But you don't have to fight this battle wondering what the outcome will be. You can fight from Jesus's victory. Okay, so there'll be days where you feel like you're in the pit. Like you. It just. You just fall in. Everything around you is dark, but you have won because Jesus won. And like I tell people often, it's okay to not be okay, but just don't stay there. [00:34:06] Come back. [00:34:07] Come back. Get out of, get out of your thoughts, get out of your feelings and remember what God has said. [00:34:16] All right, Jesus, the word has Won the war. The enemy's end is coming and has been set in stone. One day Satan will be cast into the lake of fire and Christ will be seated on his throne forever. And all of that is in Revelation. [00:34:31] So the fight. So fight the battle for your mind with confidence, knowing that you will win because Jesus already won. It's capital T, truth that leads to a life of victory. [00:34:47] So I said a lot, but I just want you to understand that it is a battle for your mind. [00:34:53] The enemy knows that if you really trust God and know God's word and stand on his truth, that you can, you are unstoppable, right? That you as long if you standing on the confidence of what God says. I'm not saying every day is going to be easy peasy and peaches and cream and all, but even on those tough days, you stand on God's capital T, truth. You know what he says? [00:35:20] It's easier to fight the battle. [00:35:22] It makes it a little easier to fight the battle. And so as you go through this next week, in this next month, throughout this year, life is going to happen. I'm trying, I promise. Life is happening to me as well. [00:35:36] And it makes you test, it makes you wonder, okay, God, like, why? What is going on? But you have to remember, God is. [00:35:45] He's going to take care of me. He's already done. He's done it before, why wouldn't he do it again, Right? [00:35:51] He's my healer. He's my sustainer. He is. He is. He is. Like I said, if he dresses the lilies, if he watches over the sparrows, that's scripture, that's in Matthew 5. Like, if he does all of those things, like the lilies don't have to do anything, but he dresses them, so why wouldn't he take care of me as well? [00:36:12] So as you wake up in the morning every day, you speak the truth over your life. And when the enemy bring those thoughts to you, your mind, you talk to yourself, you speak those things. It's affirmations. That's all it is. Affirm who you are in Christ. [00:36:28] Affirm who you are in Christ. [00:36:31] And watch how your days and your months and your years will be better. It's a day by day, sometimes moment by moment. But you will make it through. [00:36:42] Because Jesus won. [00:36:44] You went too. Okay, thank you for joining me on the second row. I hope this helped you like it helped me. [00:36:52] Please make sure you share. You let everyone know about it. I know it's been a minute. I know I haven't been on but I'm still here. I'm still yet holding on? You holding on? You holding on? We'll keep on keeping on? If you know, you know that's old school. Old school. But I thank you for joining me on the second row. I hope this has blessed you. Remember to share. I'm on all podcast platforms. I'm, I'm on. I'm also on YouTube, so share like, let other folks know. And remember, no matter where you are, no matter what God has you in, accept it, embrace it, and flourish in it. I see you next time on the second row. Take care.