Renewing the Mind - Part 2

This week Dez & Carlos continue their conversation on the renewing of the mind and how important it is in the life of a believer.

Transcript

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Hello everybody. Hey everyone. Welcome back to Walk the Talk with Dez & Carlos. Um, this week we are going to continue our conversation from last week. We were talking about the renewing of the mind, and this, again, is a really good topic that we really wanna dive deep into because it's really important for the walk of a believer.

Yeah. So we're gonna go ahead and jump into this conversation. Yeah, it doesn't, I feel like this is a very necessary topic to hit because I mean, the day and age that we're living in, we are seeing a lot of people affected mentally, and we're seeing a lot of believers attacked in their minds. And renewing the mind is one of the things that we can definitely, uh, do to overcome the, uh, strategies of the enemy.

When we have a renewed mind, we think clearer. We think better. We're, we're more prepared for the battle. That's right. I wanted to actually talk about a couple of things from the Battlefield of the Mind book that we read or not read that I was reading with the ladies at church, but that we talked about a little bit last week.

Yeah. And this is really, it makes you kind of really look at yourself, which is what I love about her book. It makes you really dig deep into the way that you think to see where you need help. Yeah, and there's a whole section, there's three parts to the book and this. One part is called Conditions of the Mind, and she talks about what it is to have a normal mind, what it is to have a wandering mind, a confused mind, a doubtful, anxious, a judgmental, critical mind, a passive mind.

Wow. It. That whole section digs so deep, but it really makes you like some of those chapters. It's a little bit tough to read cuz it, like I said, she really puts the word in your face. Mm-hmm. And shows you, Hmm. Do I think this way? Yeah. Like she always, I love her. Her phrase, think about what you're thinking about.

And I think we mentioned that last week. Yeah. But it is so important to think about every thought. That goes through your mind, be that conscious and aware of your thoughts because it's when you let one thought slip, one little lie of the enemy. Yeah. That just can become something so big. Yeah. So it's so important to, you know, to really just take inventory, you know, to, to be aware of those thoughts.

Yeah. And, and. You know, if you can pick up this book, definitely. Or read it, I mean read it audible, you can listen to it too. Mm-hmm. But I just recommend everybody out there definitely pick this book up if you can, cuz it's, it's a very big help. And if you have trouble areas in your walk or in your life, it starts in your mind, everything.

Flows from this place. That is so true. So if you're struggling in any place, you, you always have to go back and see how do I think in that area? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Right. Like fear. I, I, I mean me even still sometimes fear still creeps up on me. Mm-hmm. But it's always a thought that presents itself. Yes. And it's what do I do when that comes.

When fear comes, it's something that you have to do or that God is putting before you to do. Do you, do you let fear paralyze you? Do you let the thoughts of, oh gosh, what if this or what if that or, oh no. You, if you, if you let yourself get overwhelmed mm-hmm. You're gonna stop and you're going to let it paralyze you.

Yeah. So the thing with thoughts is thoughts are also connected to your feelings and so many people are just so led by their feelings. Yes. And. That's dangerous because we're not supposed to be led by our feelings. We are supposed to exercise self-control, and we are supposed to have control over our emotions.

Mm-hmm. So you can feel a thing, but it doesn't mean you have to give into it. Exactly right. And like, again, I, I use fear as an exp as explanation example, excuse me, a lot because that's just something that I dealt with a lot in my life. But some people it's anger. Yeah. You know, some people, it can be so many different emotions, but it's what you do when you feel it.

Like you can feel it, but you can make the choice to not stay there and not let it control you. Hmm. Yeah. A lot of people think that, um, they have no control. Or can't control their thoughts. Yeah. You know, what do you say to that? I say the Bible tells us, take every thought captive. Mm-hmm. That's what I think about and that's what I tell people.

The, the Bible wouldn't say it if it's not something we can do. Yep. We can take every thought captive and it's, it's something, it's funny cuz God has been really teaching me in the past, I don't know how long about. The fruit of the spirit. Yeah. And one of those fruit of the spirit is self self control.

Self control. Mm-hmm. And every believer has the fruit, the spirit. Yes. It's not something that we attain to or that God give me the fruit. No, no, no. It's not like some supernatural thing, like boom, you're gonna wake up and have self-control. It's something God is telling us. We actually have the capability, we have it in us, but yes.

Have to exercise it. Exactly. Yeah. You have to exercise it and make the choice. Yeah. And it's like, I relate it to like working out at the gym, like we all have muscles in our body, right? Mm-hmm. But what good are our muscles if we don't use them and if we don't exercise them? So true. It's the same exact thing.

We have it, but it's our choice to exercise it and to put it in into practice. Yeah. So yeah, I say we definitely do have the ability to, to control our thoughts and I would add that. Control our emotions. Yeah. Yeah. Hmm. For sure. Yeah. One of the things also that comes to mind is, um, there are people that perhaps would say, and I, I've said this, if I think like this, it's not gonna, it's not gonna harm anybody.

You know, if I think this way or if I have, or if I've entertain this thought or I'm not harming anybody. Yeah. What kind of thought do you mean? Well, it can be, um, it could be lust. It could be. Whatever it, but we know that lust is a, first of all, is a sin. Yeah. And if you entertain that, that's gonna lead to other things.

Exactly. That's, yeah. That's why I asked what you, and that, that gives the enemy a foothold in your life mm-hmm. To sow other things. Yeah. Um, one of the things that we have to understand too, is that a renewed mind thinks renewed thoughts. Mm-hmm. If we are having, let's say, say you're an artist and you're having difficulty having inspiration or, uh, being creative, you know, try renewing your mind, or, or it can be in any area, if you're having a struggle, say in whatever it is you do.

Renewing the mind is something that helps because with renewal of the mind comes creativity, a renewed mind. Is open to God and therefore open to revelation. And revelation leads to inspiration. Mm. I like that. You know, which is a precursor to acceleration. Mm-hmm. If we want to excel at whatever given area, wherever we, we believe the Lord is leading us, we have to renew our minds.

Mm-hmm. Yep. I just thought of this verse when you were, um, saying that about creativity. It says, uh, one Corinthians two 16 says, for who has known or understood the mind, the counsels and purposes of the Lord so as to guide and instruct him and give him knowledge, but we have the mind of Christ, the Messiah.

Mm-hmm. And do hold the thoughts, feelings, and purposes of his heart. So that makes me think when you say that, that who is more creative than God? Right. So we have a renewed mind. We have the mind of Christ. Right. And we have the creativity that Christ has. Right? Right. And all the things, all his, his qualities, all of that.

We have all of that when we have the mind of Christ. Yes. You know, it's, again, it's the choice to put that on and to exercise those things. Mm-hmm. I think that's the biggest problem that a lot of people have is it's. Because our emotions are such a strong thing. Mm-hmm. That. They, because they feel something so strongly, they don't think that they have the ability to overcome that or to control that, or to take authority over that and, and like, mm.

You know, like for example, you used to struggle with anger. Yeah, really bad. Mm-hmm. And I know sometimes you still do, but like it was bad in the back in the day. Yeah. It and I'm sure back then. So then uncomfortable. Yeah. I'm sure. Back then it was like when you had those fits of rage, it was like you probably never thought that you could, like I.

Stop and control that. Right. You know, and I know there's another spiritual aspect to it. Right. But I'm, I'm talking about like just the actual emotion. There was a point where I needed deliverance. That's what I'm saying. I'm not even going into that. Yeah. I'm talking about the just the actual emotion part of anger.

Mm-hmm. Yep. Yep. You know, cuz some people just struggle with anger. Like, they get angry and it's like, they feel like they just let themselves go and then they, they just like, they can get so mad. Yeah. Because they just, they never. Took the opportunity at the beginning because they don't know better than just to let themselves go.

They don't realize that they can stop at that first thought and shut it down. Mm-hmm. Yes. And that's what I mean that a lot of people don't understand or don't realize that they have that power ability to do that. Yes. Sometimes it's, it's anger, sometimes it's fear, sometimes it's rejection. Yeah.

Sometimes, I mean, it can be so many things, any negative thing, sadness. Yeah, depress, grief, depression, all of those things. Depression, yes. Even guys, even thoughts of suicide, whatever. Um, it's so important to, uh, stress that you guys, we have the ability to shut these thoughts down. We have in Christ, you know, as we put our trust in him, he has given us the power.

The power is in our mouths as we open up our mouths and declare exactly his word and shut and just take authority over the, these thoughts. Mm-hmm. You know, Paul talks about taking every thought captive. Mm-hmm. That's like a violent thing. Yeah. Taking every thought captive and mm-hmm. And making it obedient to Christ.

I'm gonna, that that's true when you think about it, when I, when I think about that, I, that's true. I picture like a. Cop Yes. Taking down a a a, a criminal. Yeah, a criminal. Like, bam. Like, like I got you. Cuffing up. You cuff down, like cuff you, you up with force, you ain't gonna do nothing. Yeah. You know? Yeah.

That's true. I like that. Keep that picture in your head. I like that a lot. That's the, that's the power that got, and he's given us authority to do that. Mm-hmm. To take those thoughts and those imaginations, those voices. Captive. Exactly. I like that. And made and made to become obedient to Christ. Yep. You know, I'm not, you, you can say to the devil, I'm not going to think those thoughts.

That's right. And he can't make you think those thoughts. That's right. Yep. He can't. Yep. As soon as you open up your mouth, I'm talking about as a believer. Yes. If you're, if you're not a believer in Christ, you want to become one. You want to accept the Lord as as a savior and allow him to renew you and.

You need salvation first. Yeah. But if you are a believer, you have power, you have Exactly. It doesn't matter how you feel. Mm-hmm. And, and I don't care how long you, you may think, oh, well, I haven't exercised the authority. I haven't, I haven't prayed in a long time. I haven't. Or I've been this way for so long.

That doesn't matter. Open your mouth. And declare you. You have authority. The devil will lie to you and tell you you don't. Yep. He'll lie to you and tell you that you're weak, that you're not strong enough, that your faith isn't strong. Those are all lies. Exactly. Yep. I'll tell you when you'll gain faith is as you exercise it.

That's right. You'll realize you have faith when you open up your mouth and shut those starts down. That's right. Yep. And I will add this to what you said, that yes, we have to declare out of our mouth and take every thought captive, but when you really are struggling, and sometimes you're overwhelmed because maybe you've been dealing with depression or you've been dealing with whatever it is that sometimes the enemy comes to bombard your mind with because you've let one thought in.

Ask Holy Spirit to help you. Years ago I dealt with depression really badly. Depression, suicide, suicidal thoughts and amongst other things, fear, rejection, all that stuff. But when I would, when I would get overwhelmed, I remember I wanted so badly to be free, but I didn't know how. And I had picked up this book.

I had gotten Battlefield of the Mind. This was almost 30 years ago, and I. She was going in on some stuff that I was like, what? It's like she was reading my mail and I remember I cried so much reading this book because I realized how jacked up my mind was, how jacked up my thinking was, and here I was. I was a believer.

I had known the Lord since I was a young thing and. Well, you know, I had accepted him as my savior, but I realized that there were so many things in my mind that were keeping me from actually really having that walk that I wanted to have with him. Yeah. You know, that was just one part of it, but he told me, why don't you ask me for my help.

That's what I felt him telling me, like, ask me for my help. Mm-hmm. Like, you can't do this by yourself. You're not supposed to do it by yourself. That is so true because the Holy Spirit is our helper. Yeah. We have to be careful also speaking of that with pride. Yes, that's so true. True. Because I listen, for years I had this pride.

Of calling on the Lord. Mm. You know, I was trying to do things on myself. Wow. And I didn't even realize I was walking in that. Wow. Because pride hides. Yeah. Pride hides crazy. Right. And I have not benefited from, from the help of the Holy Spirit for, for. Such a long period of time that the enemy had a field day.

Mm-hmm. He had a field day with my mind, with my thoughts, with my moods, with mm-hmm. Everything. Everything. Yeah. And, you know, I was left to deal with all of this by myself and I was trying so hard to overcome and I finally, I've had to call on the Lord. I've had to call on him and. Realize that I need his help.

Exactly. I can't do this by myself. I can't do this without Holy Spirit. Yeah, that is so true. I wanted to read another verse, and I'm reading actually from the Amplified because just, I like the way it kind of breaks it down. This is Isaiah 26. Chapter 26 verse three. Excuse me. It says, you will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind?

Both its inclination and his character is stayed on you. Mm-hmm. Because he commits himself to you. Leans on you in hopes, confidently in you. Yes. Now if you look at that, it says, whose mind is stayed on you? That is our part. Yes, that is action. That is not something, it says God will keep us in perfect peace.

That is so good. And that's the truth. He will give you such a peace in your mind and in your emotions. Yeah. But it's up to us to meditate on the word Yes. On a regular basis. Yes. And that's something we actually just really recently had that conversation that we can't just. Open the Bible in the morning religiously, and I'm not, I'm not saying nothing to nobody.

I'm just saying I, I've been there. You can't just open the Bible once, have your, have your Jesus time, and then go on your day and just be in the flesh and just think whatever comes to your mind and act however you feel. Yes, that's. Not the way we're meant to live. Mm-hmm. I mean, I'm not saying your I sin if you do that.

I'm saying that if you want to live in peace, if you want to have the life that God wants you to have, if you wanna have a mind that God wants you to have and, and be healthy in your emotions and and grow the way God wants you to. Yeah. You have to purposely take his word. Let me tell you his word is. It is living, it is active.

Mm-hmm. And like it says, it is sharper than any two-edged sword. Mm-hmm. And it's powerful. I mean, the word of God is so powerful when you look at it that way. And you open his word, you have a different way. Yes. When you sit down and read your word, it's not just like, oh, I'm just studying. Like you're studying a book.

It's not just a book. This is. God's word to us. Yes. This is, it was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Yes. Written by people, but inspired by the spirit of God. Yes. So it's not just a book. When you open that book and you open the book and you read it, you are reading God's word into the atmosphere and it shifts things.

Mm-hmm. And it changes your mind. It cha it. Puts everything in order. And so we have to remember that and not only we speak it, but we meditate on it. Yeah. We think about it throughout the day. Yeah, and I always say, if you don't know where to start, Psalms is an amazing place to start, but. Go into the word, and even if it's one verse that really jumps out at you, and take that verse and just meditate on it and eat it.

Chew on it all day long and ask Holy Spirit to help you to really get it into your mind and into your spirit, and it will change you. That's how the word of God changes you. When you take that meditation with the Holy Spirit, it changes your mind. It changes everything. It brings healing. It does so many things to you.

Changes your attitude. It does, but it's the, it's that is so powerful. The, the meditation of the word. Yes. So, so, because if we're thinking on the word, how is all the other junk gonna come in? Right. We underestimate. Yeah. We underestimate. Meditating on God's word. And sometimes that's something that some may think, gosh, that's a little too much.

I mean, every day meditating on God's word. But you think about this every day. You're coming across billboards, you're coming across social media, so much garbage. You're coming across all these things and, and you may not be, say, looking at these things with the intention of doing anything, you know, sinful, but.

These things. Nevertheless, they affect, yeah. The way you think they affect your spirit, man. They, they affect so many things. So if you're not also taking in the word of God and meditating on the word of God, you have nothing to counter the things that you're taking in Yes. That you're, that you're experiencing in this world, the things that you see.

All your senses. Yep. Taste touch here. Exactly. You know, how many things are we do, we hear on the radio, you know, you may be at work and somebody's playing music and that. Mm-hmm. And the music is suggestive. We underestimate how that affects our spirit, but it very much does it. It affects our moods. Music is powerful.

Oh yeah, it is. You know, and if we don't have the word of God sustaining us. Yeah. We're gonna be, we're gonna find ourselves in a situation where temptation will come and we'll be too weakened by all these things that we listen to, we watch. Mm-hmm. We entertain, perhaps, and we we're gonna fall. Yep. That is the truth.

You said a whole mouthful right there. But that is absolutely true. People don't realize the power of the things that we watch and the things that we hear. Yeah. And those things are, gosh, they affect you in such a big way. So much. And that's why God tells us to meditate on his word and to, to read his word and that, and after a while when you've been walking with the Lord, Yeah.

And you have the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit will, will even kind of let you know when something is not right. Mm-hmm. Like remember when we started to, on that real walk, it was like we would be watching something and it was like, mm, no, it become sensitive. Shut it off. Yeah. We, there was some places we couldn't even walk into stores because it was like, yes, we felt spirits or whatever.

We felt things that were just like, Ooh. It was just like, yuck. Yeah. And there's things that I just, oh my gosh, that's so true. I couldn't read. And, and it's all, it's part of guarding ourselves. It's part of guarding our, our lives, our, you know, everything that we do, everything we take in, we have to be careful.

Yeah. You, you said something there so key, because that's one of the benefits of renewing your mind is you become sensitive to the spirit realm. Mm-hmm. And you will begin to know where you should be going. Mm-hmm. And where you should not be going. True that things that were okay before, or that you probably didn't see was harmful.

Now you see it, now you have a sensitivity and you kind of can kind of discern the spiritual atmosphere in a store or wherever, and it's like, mm, I don't think that's right for me. Yeah, exactly. You know? Yeah. I don't think I'm going there. Yeah. It's so, so powerful. It's, it's just, you know, walking this walk, we have to, we do, we have to guard ourselves.

Mm-hmm. And so we guard ourselves and we meditate on the word, and we take in the word and we declare it on a regular basis. That's our word, is one of the greatest weapons that we have. Mm-hmm. Because I mean, you think about it, I love it when I think about the, the armor of God. Yeah. And I think about all the other pieces and they're all important.

Yeah. But the other pieces of the armor are all to protect us. Mm-hmm. The sword is the one weapon we have that is offensive. Yes. Exactly. Yeah. And that says a whole lot. That's it's powerful. Yeah. And we have to know that and, and choose. Again, people don't realize how powerful choice is. Mm-hmm. And the enemy tries to lie to people so that people will not choose to do what they're supposed to do or, or think they don't have a choice but to.

Choose what he wants them to. Yeah, exactly. That's what I mean, lies, yeah. Lying to disable that. Yeah, yeah. To disable us from choosing correctly. Yeah. To make us think we can't, or to just think, oh, you know, nah. I mean, so many lies he can, the it's, he's such a liar. That's all he has is lies. Mm-hmm. But when we're.

When we recognize his lies. And that's the other thing about being in the word. When you are in God's word and you are taking it in on a regular basis, it's truth. Yeah. The word of God is truth. Yeah. And it's so powerful that when you're reading the word and you're taking it in, It will show you the wrong ways of thinking that you have.

Yeah. It will show you the wrong things in your life if you are willing to see yourself and take it in. Yes. That's the thing you, we can't just be passive and read it like, eh, yeah, that's nice, but that's not really for me. Or, oh, that's maybe for somebody else. Like, no man. It's all for you. It's all for me.

That's how you have to take it. Even if it's like you're reading it and you're like, oh man, that's. I think that way or Yeah, that's me. Or I have that motive in my heart. Mm-hmm. You know, those things are hard. They can be really hard to really to look at, but it does, you good. It does. It sets you free.

Mm-hmm. And it heals you and it breaks off so much stuff. Like we, we have to be willing to do that. Yeah. Speaking of that, we have to be very, um, careful not to desire freedom in a comfortable way. Like sometimes freedom is not gonna come comfortable. You know what I mean? Yeah. Oh God. It's, yeah. Sometimes freedom is gonna hurt.

Sometimes freedom is, oh, it comes at a cost. It comes at a cost. It does. Yeah. We're, we're, we may have to expose ourselves. Mm-hmm. We may have to, you know, think about the, the woman with the issue of blood. Yeah. Where her deliverance and freedom from that situation came from exposing herself and, and she had to go to press past the crowd.

Yeah. Death. And she knew she was risking death because she was considered unclean. Yes. So she could have been put to death. Yep. But, Thank God. I mean, Jesus healed her. Yeah. And then she wasn't unclean, but she knew what she was risking at that point. She was like, what do I have to lose? Exactly. I'm, I'm sure I can imagine the desperation that she must have had.

Yes. She's been like that for years. Mm-hmm. And she went to every doctor, she spent all her money. Yeah. And now she's like, okay, I hear about this Jesus that heals people. And I know that he can heal me if I can just touch, just touch a little bit of his robe. And you know, point being, we have to be willing to undergo some things if we really want freedom.

And sometimes it is gonna be uncomfortable. Sometimes it may be a little painful. Mm-hmm. But our freedom. Is at the end of that, is at the other end of that tunnel. That's right. Yep. And it's worth it. Oh my goodness. Let me tell you. Fighting for your freedom, contending for that is the greatest thing you could ever do.

Yeah. Because you, freedom is connected to so many things. When you're not free and you're bound by these things, it, it keeps you captive and, and just holds you back from so many things. Mm-hmm. It's, it's crazy, but we have such an amazing weapon in God's word. Yes. And God wants us to pick up that sword, and he wants us to swing it.

Pick it up, use it. Use that weapon that God has given you in his word and read it. Meditate on it. Open your mouth and declare it. Amen. And let me tell you, it will change your life. Yes. But it's. You can't be passive. You have to remember that God has given us the weapon, but just like a sword, it's not gonna use itself.

It's not going to pick itself up right and do anything right. It's up to you to make the choice and to determine yourself. I'm gonna pick this up even when you have moments, because trust me, the enemy does not want us to read our word. Yeah. He is going to try to make you feel sleepy. He's gonna bring distractions.

He's gonna make you think, ah, I don't really need to read this. I read it yesterday. I mean, he's gonna do. All kinds of things to try to keep you away from the word because mm-hmm. He knows how powerful it is in our lives. Yes. And it's something that you have to make it, it has to literally be like the air that you breathe.

It, it's not something that you just do here and there. It, it's your life. It is, this is our lifeline. The word of God is our lifeline. And, and it's so important to have it in you because when we have the word in us, we can recognize the lies of the enemy Absolutely. So quickly. Absolutely. And we will know, wait a minute, that's a lie.

Mm-hmm. That is not what God's word says. Mm-hmm. We take a stand and we, and we shut it down. That's how you overcome the lies. Absolutely. So I just would just encourage everybody who is listening, if you struggle in any way, any area of your life, pick up that sword. Use your word and stop believing the lies that tell you that you can't stop believing the lies that tell you that, oh, well, it doesn't take all that.

Like Carl said, it does take all that. This is our life. This is this, it's your life. It's the lives of your family. It's the lives of the people around you because they are affected by everything in your life. Mm-hmm. You know, we know what that's like. Mm-hmm. We were both jacked up and we had so many issues and our kids were affected.

Everybody around us was affected by it. Yes. And. We had to realize if we're gonna, if our kids are going to be what they're supposed to be, if we're gonna, if they're gonna be free, we have to fight for freedom. Yep. And we were determined to break all the generational curses. Yeah. And come out of stuff and be healed and be free so that they could be even greater and have even more freedom.

Yeah, so fight for it and use that sword. One last thing I wanna say is, uh, and this is, this comes as no surprise, but the devil doesn't want your freedom, and he will try everything to discourage you as, especially when you are making realistic moves towards it. When you are really pressing into God's word, you're gonna find that the battle's gonna intensify.

Don't let that discourage you. Yeah, it's all part of it, but you know what? As you continue to press through and continue to trust in God and lean on his strength, you're gonna make it. That's right. You're gonna be all right. That's right. Amen. All right. Thank you everybody for listening and we hope you have a great week.

God bless. Bye.