"Key to Victory #1"

INTRODUCTION
          In my previous message in this series, we learned about “strongholds” in our lives that prevent the lost from receiving salvation and keep believers from living in victory. Our key passage was 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NCV), “We do live in the world, but we do not fight in the same way the world fights. 4 We fight with weapons that are different from those the world uses. Our weapons have power from God that can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments 5 and every proud thing that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ.”
          I hope that we have clearly established how our thoughts, plans, decisions, emotions, goals, desires, and conversations are often divergent to those of God. It is due to two possible explanations. 1. I have never been “born again” and received God’s Holy Spirit. I have never surrendered my heart to Jesus Christ. If that is the case, then I CANNOT think like Christ …I am completely incapable of “God thoughts.”
Or 2. I am a believer and have definitely been “saved,” but I am like the Corinthian Church members. I may be a “carnal” Christian. In other words, I have the capability to think and feel and talk like Christ, but I have not surrendered my own self-centered, ungodly nature to God. Therefore, I often talk like, act like, feel like, and live like those in the world who do not follow Christ.
Folks, there should be a clear, easily recognizable distinction between the unredeemed, sinful world without Christ and believers who have been transformed by the power of God’s Spirit into a new “God life.” We should be polar opposites like night and day, peace and turmoil, forgiveness and condemnation, holiness and godlessness, joy and misery, destiny and hopelessness.
There is one, final, important sentence from this passage that I saved for discussion until the end.  “We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5, NCV).
 
KEY TO VICTORY #1
          We have now established (in our minds) that our assignment is to violently battle every single belief or mindset or character trait or world view or mannerism or conversation or plan or feeling or decision or relationship that is not ordered by God. I know that may initially sound like an overwhelming mission. But we have also established that God Himself has supplied us with a powerful arsenal which is capable of achieving final victory.
          I will now ceremoniously reveal the first secret to victory. We must thoroughly annihilate the threatening enemy of God while it is still relatively weak, unorganized, and fragile. In other words, we do not wait for a revealed foe to strategically build and position its forces within our minds and hearts…we do not stand idle until the evil enemy attacks and creates chaos within our lives…we do not crouch in fear hoping our adversary will “go easy on us” and decide not to assault our minds and hearts. He will!
          Through our daily fellowship with the Lord and His Holy Spirit who performs regular reconnaissance, we are alerted to possible enemy movements. The Holy Spirit, in conjunction with our “conscience,” pushes the big red warning button. Lights flash and a loud whistle alerts our own mind/heart/spirit to the possible impending advance. We must be able to recognize such an alert from the Spirit, receive it with thanksgiving, and immediately begin to erect a defensive barrier or go on the offensive before the opponent is organized and strengthened.
MY MIND AND THE MIND OF CHRIST
          This type of interaction may, at first, sound like a lengthy process and so mechanical. But it is not. As we walk with the Lord daily in a close relationship and capture our thoughts and feelings with those of Jesus and the Kingdom of God, this at times becomes a nearly imperceptible process. It happens automatically. My mind and the mind of Christ become intertwined with one another. So as I grow and mature spiritually my mind begins to think like Christ. I begin to “feel” more as Christ feels. I begin to make godly decisions like Christ. I begin to recognize the pitfalls in life that await my destruction, and so on.
          So this Spirit-alert which sends messages to our own minds/hearts happens regularly, daily, hourly, and even by the moment. This is what we mean by “walking with Christ.” This is how He is “with us.” This is often how He “speaks to us.”
 
PRACTICAL
          Thus far, this may sound so theoretical. Well, let us get more practical. Caleb is a young man who works in his factory job alongside Rich. Caleb is happily married. Rich is recently divorced. They are not great friends, but they get along fine together at work. Caleb’s wife is out of town for a conference. So Rich asks him to “hang out” that night.
          In a moment’s time, several thoughts flood Caleb’s mind. First, he realizes the house is quite lonely when his wife is away. Second, he has not had a chance to spend time with any friends recently. Third, he is not planning to do anything wrong anyway.
          On the other hand, there are other “thoughts” or “feelings” that are suddenly brought to his remembrance. He, in a moment of time, recalls a few stories that Rich has related to him about his recent antics which Caleb laughed about at the time but also thought “that was not a good thing.” He recognizes Rich’s recent moral deterioration since his divorce. Furthermore, he immediately recalls certain promises made to his wife about his behavior when they are not together. 
          That last set of thoughts/feelings is the “red alert” by the Holy Spirit. The battle rages over what may appear to be one simple decision for one night.  However, the ramifications could be long-term and even eternal. What sometimes appears to be a very inconsequential slight to the Holy Spirit may be just the sound that produces an avalanche.
          How did the story end? You decide. Try to place yourself in Caleb’s shoes. What would you do?