The battle is won in the mind

Our thoughts,... yes, just thoughts alone.. can lead to victory or defeat...

Evil thoughts, self-defeating thoughts, deceitful thoughts, jealous thoughts, proud thoughts, lustful thoughts, greedy thoughts, argumentative thoughts, lazy thoughts, self-pity thoughts, idle thoughts,...

VERSUS God's intended...

pure thoughts, holy thoughts, good thoughts, kind thoughts, joyful thoughts, positive thoughts, creative thoughts, generous thougths, determined thoughts, humble thoughts...

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is
noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
admirable?if anything is excellent or praiseworthy?think about such things.

ONE DAY (More than enough)

More than I can hope of dream of,

You have poured your favour on me

One day in House of God is

Better than a thousand days in the world

SO blessed, I can't contain it,

So much I've gotta give it away

Your love has taught me to live now

You are more than enough for me

The battle is won in the MIND...

I won a battle today. Everyday there is battle in the spiritual realms. We battle inside of us, our spirits longing to fulfil everything good (following God's way, loving others, working hard, seeking success and good deeds).... and on the other hand, sometimes, just on the sudden,... something in us begin on a SELF-DESTRUCTIVE path, that we can't control, nor understand, nor really accept, nor realise...

And when we finally do realise it... we give logical explanations and reasons to justify our actions. BUT WE ARE NOT JUSTIFIED BY REASON OR LOGIC in God's eyes. WE are justified by NOTHING on this earth....BUT..."a person is put right with God only through faith..." (Romans 3: 28)

Romans

Yup, and just as JU did that really cool blog on Lecture 3 on Happiness, I wish I could go into a long one about Romans... I love Romans (THAT is a book in the Bible, for those who don't know.. ;P)

I can never get tired of it.. and find that when my faith wavers and starts to weaken, I must go back to this part once more, to read about how:

1. No one is Righteous
(nope this is not just a philosophical statement from the christians but a Bible Truth. If ppl don't believe just because they think it's something man created to control other men,... sorry.. they have not recognised God's presence and God's VOICE!)

2. How God puts us Right with Him - He does so through our faith in Jesus Christ

3. God's promise is received through Faith - The promises of God are received if we have faith that NEVER weakens, leaves us, nor wavers - the faith that believes that Jesus Christ was given over to die because of our sins and was rasied to life in order to put us right with God.

4. When we are put right with God through faith, we have hope, and are saved.

5. As one sin condemned all mankind (thru Adam), one righteous act (christ) sets all mankind free and gives them life.

6. By our baptism, we died to sin and are now alive in union with Christ - And so we are to think of ourselves as dead - so far as sin is concerned - but living in fellowship with God through Christ Jesus.

7. We are now slaves of righteousness and holy purposes - "When you were slaves of sin, you were FREE from righteousness. What did you gain from doing the things that you are now ashamed of? The result of those things is death! But now you have been set free from sin and are the slaves of God. Your gain is a life fully dedicated to him, and the result is eternal life. For sin pays its wage--death; but God's free gift is ETERNAL LIFE in union with Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:20-23)

8. BUT there is conflict in man - (Romans 7:15) - I do not understand what I do; for I don't do what I would like to do, but instead I do what I hate.

9. Life in the Spirit calls for us to not live as our human nature would do - Those who live as their human nature tells them to have their minds controlled by what human nature wants. Those who live as the Spirit tells them to have their minds controlled by what the Spirit wants. TO be controlled by human nature results in DEATH; to be controlled by the Spirit results in LIFE and PEACE. ..... Those who obey their human nature cannot please God.

10. When we live in the Spirit, we become Children of God - For the Spirit makes you God's children, and by the Spirit's power we cry out to God, "Father! Father!".... (Romans 8:17)- Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share in Christ's sufferings we will also share his glory.

Other Romans Quotes:

• "All of creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed." (Rom8:19)
• "If we hope for what we do not see, we will wait for it with patience." (Rom8:25)
• "We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose." (Rom8:28)
• "If GOd is for us, who can be against us?" (Rom8:31)
• "Nothing can separate us from God's love... which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord."(Rom8:39)
• "Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed."(Rom10:11)
• "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through preaching Christ."(Rom10:17)
• "Everything written in the scriptures was written to teach us, in order that we might have hope through the patience and encouragement which the scriptures teach us."(Rom15:4)

A last one:
"Take up the weapons of the Lord Jesus Christ, and stop paying attention to your sinful nature and satisfying its desires" (Romans13:14)

Lord I'm safe with you, caught up into, Your holy throne in worship...
Lord I lift my hands, and join the angels, to proclaim the Lord is holy..

Final word from me:
In the mundane, we experience joys, hardships, ups, downs, and make our own petty decisions each day regarding our lives. But what greater thing it is to be lifted from having to govern and control and really make sure our lives are right, to enter into God's presence and accept His ways and purpose for us? Our lives will always be a mess (in a way) and there is always something lacking...

We will never be satisfied for all of eternity if we are living in the flesh, according to our human nature. BUT when we know Christ and not only know him but ACCEPT him and follow after Him, we transcend from mere human existence to an almost "divine" state whereby we are in fellowship with God, the creator of the universe.. we converse with him, we are one with Him, and His Spirit comes to live in us, and govern our lives. And doing so, we may experience God's Glory shining forth in us. What a wonder. What a wonder...