Be An Over-comer.

It begins with just one little thought doesn't it? The desire. The want. The wish. The "I've got have it." The revenge. The hope.
The Mind is really where the battle takes place.
If we can halt our thinking we can halt great evil from beginning.
But how?
How do we stop the thoughts? They come at us a million miles an hour, and they are deafening at times.
Take fear for example, this begins in the mind. We hear something, it comes into our thinking, and without a a moment to spare, the thoughts take root and fear is born in our hearts. We walk around trembling that what we heard of that caused our fear will most assuredly happen to us.
Or, how about discontent?
We were fine ten minutes ago, but then we saw it, the "thing" we just had to have, that is so much better than we currently have. The "it" could be any number of things, but before we know it, we are discontent and the discontent is ravaging our minds, stripping us of our peace.

"The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life, and peace...." Romans 8:6

This is the battlefield of the mind.
The Bible deals with mind on many occasions. Jesus tells us that we even so much as look lustfully at another person, we have already committed adultery with them in our hearts. (Matthew 5:28)
These are hard words aren't they? But it's the truth!

"I say to the Lord, You are my Lord, apart from you I have no good thing." Psalm 16:2

So how, O how, can we ever win this battle with the mind?
I can tell you for certain how we will NOT win it, we will NOT win by trying harder. We will not win by reliance on self.
And we will not win by avoidance.
Failure to admit, is failure to recognize or acknowledge our sin in our minds.
First we have to name our sin.
We have to call our discontent, our anger, our lust, and lack of trust, what it is. It is sin. And then we can give it over to the one who conquers sin and death.
The death that swims around in our mind is rampant. For the very fact that the discontent, anger and lust exists, proves that in our minds, their has been a death. A death of our peace, our trust and undivided heart to what God has already given us.
Let death not reign in our minds.
The only way we can live victorious in our minds, is by the reliance on, and roots dug deep into Christ. We have to tap into Christ and His unlimited resources to overcome the battle that wages in our minds.
We have to clothe our minds and hearts with our Lord Jesus Christ. We have to PUT ON His thinking. And LAY DOWN the desires of the sinful flesh that comes so naturally to us as humans.
We will always chose the ways of the flesh so long as we rely upon the flesh.

"Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not THINK about how to gratify the desires of the flesh." Romans 13:14

A person may be able to avoid sin for a time, but eventually every sin that chases us will overtake us because man cannot win on his or her own.
She or He will not win in the strength of the flesh.
The flesh is weak, and that is why Jesus came to us in the first place. HE saw our need, He recognized our inability to conquer on our own, and HE sent us HIS solution. The Holy Spirit.
"Rely on ME!" He says, everywhere on the pages of His word you can read of His salvation.
His death on the Cross that brought about a better way, a way that only asked us to lay aside our desire and need to conquer on our own, and trust Him.
To confess with our mouths, and BELIEVE in our hearts that we NEED Him beyond anything, or anyone else.
This is the key of overcoming.
We need to recognize our need. We need to acknowledge our depravity, and take up the thinking of Christ.
To put on the clothing of Christ, and let Him infiltrate and TAKE OVER our minds.

Man cannot win the battle of the thought life on his or her own. To say we can, is to believe another lie.
The lie that man can be sufficient without Christ.
Christ is my sufficiency. Christ is my narrow escape. Christ is my lifeline. And every time I call upon that lifeline, I gain victory. Victory over the desires of the flesh.
My flesh will always desire what is contrary to the Spirit.
And so here in lies the battles!!
We want it, we strive for it and we cannot have it without severe consequence. Jesus tells us of a better way, where we avoid the sin, the guilt and the consequence all together! And instead, we receive peace, contentment and joy in our CURRENT situation.
Joy in all things. That's impossible you say? It's impossible in the context of man's limited ability, but is most assuredly NOT impossible through Christ.

Is there a battle waging in your mind today? Halt the thinking with the hand of God.
Confess your thinking before the Lord, a choice is being made. The choice to stay in destructive thinking. Lay that destructive thinking down before the Lord. Call it sin, and ask for freedom. How can we be freed from something we won't acknowledge as death or sin? As you lay it down, watch as Christ ushers in His assurance, His life, His breath and His freedom.

"For everyone born of GOD overcomes the world. This is the VICTORY that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God." 1 John 5:4,5 

Scripture is very clear that we do not overcome on our own. Today, and as each day begins I confess with my mouth and believe in my heart that Jesus is my only Way, My only Life, My only ticket to truth. Truth in my thinking sounds delightful. That is what I want. There is no lie in the truth. 

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6

If my freedom and victory was dependent upon my own personal ability, then My friends, I would be in trouble. But thanks be to God for His indescribable gift, for He has not only given me ground to stand on, but the strength in which to fight, the tools to win, and the heart to trust in Him.
My life without Christ = Death. 
My life with Christ = VICTORY.