1. The Battle For Your Mind More About Jesus Seminar #19 Guide To see the 26 Video seminars complete links list, visit http://nfltrashtalk.com/peaceful-resources/ Garbage in garbage out! We are NOT what we think we are, but what we THINK, we are. The interview starts out with a discussion on the length of our lives based on certain principles people follow. The Vegetarian diet has been studied extensively by well renowned Universities & groups and has proven that a good vegetarian diet throughout ones life extends the lifespan by 8-10 years. So, what's the advantage of living 8-10 years longer? I'm thinking if you aren't healthy there isn't one. If you're serving a life sentence with no chance of parole then that doesn't sound so good either. Is there a better reason for these types of lifestyle changes than an extended period of life on this planet? Hmm... What we put into our mind comes out of it. The poet Issac Watts once said, Could I in fancy reach the poles, or hold creation in my span; I'd still be measured by my soul, the mind's the measure of a man. So, the battle for our minds is very real, and in the conflict of good and evil the enemy is doing all he can to win the battle. 2. So, who does the strong man who comes and takes the goods represent? The strong man of the house is the mind, & the stronger man who comes to plunder is the devil. His aim is to bind us and spoil our goods! Jesus is even stronger than the first two, and He's battling against the devil for our minds. 3. Herein lies the problem. We are greatly outmatched! We are going to need someone in the spirit realm to do battle for us. The Holy Angels are spirits, God is The Most Powerful Spirit, and God's Holy Spirit dwelling within the human soul is the greatest strength for good that we can have on our side! The evil angels are also the evil spirits in this battle. God's Holy Spirit is who I need to fight for my mind. 4. Before we become Christians we have sinful minds. But God can renew our minds... ...and when He does, then we are able to understand the will of God, and His primary will is that He desires to have a most excellent friendship with us FOREVER! That my friends, involves all of our mind! So, He has promised to reveal Himself to us, and that happens through our minds! The communication takes place in our minds. 5. The frontal lobe, the cerebrum, is the most important part of the mind where thought, consciousness and speech all originate. The first part of the brain that can be damaged by stimulants is the cerebrum. So the devil uses a list of things to try and distract us or to occupy our minds with useless information. He'll use anything he can to bind the strong man, or to distract us from getting with God, from developing that life saving relationship that we all need. Morris talks about when TV came on the scene, that out of curiosity he & his wife got one, but soon figured out that it was hurting their relationship with God by stealing their time away. So they cut off the plug, but then went through numerous times of replacing & cutting the plug off until there was a 6 cord left! Lol. 6. Whatever gets our attention has us under it's control. So, garbage in, garbage out! Spiritual things in, spiritual things out. So many peoples minds are ruined by the devils list of distractions. So, back to 'what good is it to live another 8-10 years' on this planet if you are in prison, or are a captive of sin? There has to be a better reason, and that reason is to have a longer relationship with God in a way that you can work with Him to accomplish His goals for you in your life. Concerning lifestyle and health, caring for our mind & bodies has a lot to do with the quality of the relationship we will have with God while we are here. At this point Lee takes over the session and talks about how sugar affected his ability to concentrate while studying for exams. Trying to do all the right things for all the wrong reasons. If we are doing the right things because we want to be able to enjoy the best possible relationship with Jesus then we are doing them for the right reasons. The whole point in this entire exercise is that watching TV, going to the movies, renting videos, playing games or surfing the net isn't the issue at all. The issue is the amount of time spent on that vs. on a growing, continually developing relationship with God day by day. Is it happening or not? Where is our time spent? The key issue is, are you trying to get to know Jesus better and if you are, then how do these other things you are doing affect your focus on that goal? Keeping in mind that once something goes into the mind it is there for keeps, it certainly makes a lot of sense to be very selective on what we allow to go in, right? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to selectively erase things we no longer want in our memories? Things that create thoughts that can be used to distract our minds from what we'd rather be thinking about. Lee gives the example of watching a Clint Eastwood western and how it kept popping up in his memory while he was trying to spend time with God in his study and prayer. He finally determined that if that's what was going to happen, then he'd rather just eliminate those movies altogether. 7. If we are serious about gaining a meaningful relationship with God, then the frivolous fluff & stuff that wastes our time, and distracts us from that goal, will easily be something we will chose to eliminate from our lives. That is a perfect reason for eliminating things of this world from our lives. Now Lee gives a hands on example of how one thing affects another. He has the crowd eat some M&M's and then drink a swallow of Orange Juice. The illustration shows how the OJ tastes almost bitter after the sweet M&M's vs. how it normally tastes sweet on it's own. OJ is actually tasty and good for you if it is what you drink first thing, but right after the M&M's it sure doesn't taste like it should. The M&M's are sweet and taste delicious but aren't good for the body at all, and when you relate this little experiment to our lesson today you can instantly see what the M&M's represent. When your desire is to enjoy your personal time with God (the orange juice), then you will choose not do things that interfere (eating M&M's) with that time you spend with God. Now your first priority is to get to know Jesus better and that knowledge is life eternal. What a difference in the results of the time spent! Relational reasons for changing lifestyles are the best reasons of all. Now Morris comes back and continues with three examples of Jesus overpowering satan. Now @42:00 min. mark, Morris tells the story of the young lady at Pacific Union College who was possessed by the devil. Jesus won this battle with the devil just like he always does! 8. God promises to go to battle for us if we choose to serve Him. The battle for our minds is very real. Understanding what the weapons are that the devil uses to interrupt your thoughts and distract you from spending the time you need with Jesus each day is the first step to being able to eliminate them. The weapons vary with each individual, but he knows what interests us and will use whatever distracts us the most. Fight the good fight of faith. Eliminate the devils weapons. Stay on track daily. Do not waver. Trust in your Power Source. To see the 26 Video seminars complete links list, visit http://nfltrashtalk.com/peaceful-resources/