Whose Voice Are You Listening to?

The days you live in now are just as dangerous mentally and spiritually as they were in biblical days. Giants of greed, fame, power, and other carnal messages seek to divide you from God’s best and dominate the thoughts that surround you each day.

How will you face each stained thought? Who is the giant that informs you on how you feel about yourself? Is it your family upbringing, your education, or your job? Have you ever fully considered what God thinks about you?

Overcoming your personal mind wars, whether in relationships, on the job, or even regarding your spiritual maturity, depends on the slow sip of God thoughts in your life that form your mental framework. David was fearless in facing the giant because he had not been standing around for weeks listening to Goliath’s slow drip of intimidation.

David simply came to the camp with fresh thinking, which made a new outcome possible. One simple truth, or God thought can help you defeat the giant you are facing.

You may already have a relationship with God through Christ. God is good to you because He is simply good to you. God’s goodness to you does not depend on your behavior but on the nature and character of God alone.

Let that thought saturate your thinking for eternity. Simply refuse to sip the cups of the giants in your life. Stop drinking the sulking, negative, fearful thoughts of a giant that you are supposed to defeat. He won’t define your victory. God will.

The drips of your own failures were poured out on Christ on the cross. He took all the judgment and punishment for your sins, so stop trying to act like your own messiah. He came not only to save you but to give you all authority over the enemy. The reality is that you have already won in Christ.

Negative thoughts, lies, and predictions of failure will always be dripping onto your daily life. No one is exempt from facing giants! Fight like David and resist the thoughts trying to block your destiny. Remember you are fighting for an effective and overcoming life. And when you become stronger, you will begin to see that good thinking actually pushes back the enemies of your life.

I heard Zig Ziglar say at a conference in Atlanta many years ago, “There is a God! It’s not you and it sure isn’t me!” Since Zig is right about that, why not be open to the simple emergence of a God thought today? Let awareness of what’s really happening foster courage and boldness. You will win this fight, and the victory will emerge from a place of right thinking about the challenging situations in your life. No matter the seriousness—whether it’s cancer, relational trouble, a vocational crisis, or even a crisis of belief—there is a God who cares and has a thought of encouragement for you.

This Goliath, the mind war you are personally experiencing, may lead you into a brand-new and exciting discovery of a world filled with the thoughts of God. Most likely you’ve already had the first thought that will lead to the next thought that births the new future God has intended for you. When Christ is your security and safety, your thoughts can lead to personal freedom and contentment. Think about that!

Listening to what you say is critically important. The words that come out of your mouth reveal whether or not your thinking and your actions are in alignment with how God views you. Few people connect this as an actual power at work in their lives. If the verbal life is not free, it manifests every few sentences through statements of worry or fear, or other sorts of words full of emotions. In fact, so many believers unintentionally give up their spiritual inheritance, those things that are rightfully theirs, because of the way they verbally degrade the power of God in their lives.

Giants in your life are always signs you have arrived at your next place of victory! If you’ve been following Christ for even a little while, you’ve come to see giants in your own everyday living. They are internal, and you must call them what they are: mind wars! The current mind war you are in is a part of what it means to be spiritually alive and on the journey. These are the struggles, battles, and wars that cause you to be more effective than ever as a disciple of Jesus.

Your greatest victory thus far is literally just a thought or two away.

However, this can only come through the help of the Holy Spirit—and usually when you are praising and giving God thanks for the privilege to face the giant. God loves you, God is with you, and your heart needs to accept His unconditional love! No matter how silly or sinful your actions have been to this point, get your mind in agreement with God’s thoughts about you. That’s the way to defeat the giant you are facing.

Prayer Power for the Week of August 10, 2015

This week thank the Lord for the victory that is yours when you overcome your current giant. Use the Word to renew your mind and declare what the Lord says about the situation. Pray His Word and declare His will. Uphold our leaders and ask God to give them wisdom as they make decisions affecting all of us. Continue to pray for worldwide revival, laborers for His harvest field, unity of prayer and purpose in the body of Christ, the peace and protection of Jerusalem, and the persecuted church (1 Tim. 2:1-4;  2 Chron. 20:15; 1 Sam. 17:45-47).