What’s going on everyone!! This week, I have been hearing a lot of messages and having a lot of conversations with friends regarding having negative thoughts. Our thought life can consume a major portion of our daily walk, and I have come to realize that if the enemy can gain a foothold in your mind, it makes it easier for him to gain ground into your heart. To paint a picture of this, imagine a soldier in boot camp. The soldier has to go through grueling objectives, mainly learning how to army crawl. This method of crawling is so effective because it helps the soldier maneuver through potential bullets flying overhead, and to help from being spotted by the enemy. The soldier army crawls through all kinds of terrain. To continue with the image, picture the soldier crawling through the mud. Mud slows down the soldier, trying to keep him/her from their goal.
This picture directly relates to our thought life. The mud represents negative thoughts that the enemy can place into our heads, to cause our hearts to believe the lies that he tells us. If he can put enough mud into our heads, we will be overcome, and eventually, see that our goal (being free from the lies and living in peace and having a sound mind) will seem impossible. Scripture champions us in 2 Timothy 1:7, saying that, “God did not give us a spirit of fear; but of power, love and a SOUND MIND”. It is so needed for us to know that God has given us the grace of a sound mind because He does not want us to simply trudge through life being beaten down by negative thoughts. On the contrary, God desires for us to have an abundant life, and to, “Pull down reasonings and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and we take all minds prisoner to the obedience of The Messiah” (2 Corinthians 10:5). WE HAVE THE VICTORY OVER NEGATIVE THOUGHTS!!
We are soldiers. Even when the enemy is spouting lies, and words that keep us from our destiny, we can be reminded that we are more than conquerors through Christ (Romans 8:37). I can relate personally to this. Every day, the enemy tries to remind me of my past, saying how I am a failure and that I will amount to nothing and how I am destined to make the same mistakes I did in the past. Can anyone relate?? When this barrage happens, I have to get myself up (literally standing up), look myself in the mirror, and fight back with the Promises of God. I speak over myself. I proclaim that I am the head and not the tail. I am the righteousness of God. I am a son of the Most High King who will not let me fall. I refuse to be captive by lies. I am a soldier and I will army crawl through the mud!! We need to stop acting like little babies, thinking that because we are with Christ that our negative thoughts will just go away. We are a people that will fight for what is ours. We fight for our peace; we fight for our tranquility; we fight for our thoughts to be aligned with the heart of the Father. Nothing has power over us. In all things, we have the power of Almighty God running through our veins, so how dare we be taken captive by something we have power over. Sometimes you have to get a little crazy with your faith and tell yourself out loud that “I can make it. I will live and not die, and I will tell about the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living”. I’m preaching now y’all. It just sets me on fire to know that we have the victory, even when it comes to our mind.
In closing, listen to this song, Encourage Yourself by Donald Lawrence. That is what inspired me to write this post, and it accurately describes the tone for this blog. This is real life and the devil is not going to just sit back and watch us crawl to the goal. He will throw anything at us to keep us from the life God has for us. The link to the song will be below. If anyone needs prayer for anything at all, no matter what it is, please please please feel free to message me on any social media. Twitter/Instagram: @ryanmw92 or feel free to comment and we will crawl through the mud as a family!!
Much Love,
Ryan W.
