Identifying The Soul

THE THOUGHT WAR: IDENTIFYING THE SOUL

LEARNING HOW TO WIN THE THOUGHT WAR

Wrong Thinking

We have learned that wrong thinking is the root of all sin. When Lucifer proclaimed that he would exalt his throne above the Most High, he entered into wrong thinking. Those thoughts made him

an enemy of God. Furthermore, his wrong thinking permeated the human race in the Garden of Eden. This separated man from God. In spite of what Eve had known to be the truth, she was

inquisitive enough to consider the lie, rather than stand for the truth. She entered into a thought war. The thought war is the battle between the knowledge of the truth and the will to perform it.

A Thought War

A thought war is caused by knowing the truth, but having a conflict within yourself as to whether or not you will perform it. As a son of God, when you wanted to sin against God, you had to first

think about it. Those thoughts were the battleground between knowing the truth and having a will to perform the truth. This defines wrong thinking. In other words, we begin to deceive ourselves.

To deceive, as used here, means to lessen the evil in sin. Wrong thinking causes conflict. If we had not known the truth, there would be no conflict.

In dealing with offense, we know there are scriptures that declare we are to hold our peace and pray for the offender. However, there are times when we are offended, and we don’t perform those scriptures. We choose to retaliate. When we disobey what God has commanded, there is a feeling of condemnation. We will continue to walk in that condemnation until we perform that which is righteous. Born again believers can override their conscience. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God (1 John 3:20-21). The opposite of this principle of condemnation is the principle that most people in the Church don’t allow themselves to experience. The opposite of condemnation is peace.

In using the example of being offended, if we, as sons of God, deal with the offender as God has instructed, we will feel peace and joy. We will also feel pitiful towards the offender, and pray that God does not deal with them harshly. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good

to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you (Matthew 5:44). If the truth be told, most of us do not walk in this. There are times when we might not say anything to the offender, however, we walk away wanting to. That is an unlawful place to be. This is not a son of God that walks in the Spirit.

The son of God who walks after the dictates of the Spirit does not struggle to perform righteousness. If you find yourself struggling to perform that which is righteous, you are not walking after the Spirit.

You are walking after the flesh, yet trying to perform a spiritual activity. It doesn’t matter how fervent your enemies are in trying to offend you, by the Spirit, you are able to love them and not feel any

animosity towards them. There will be no thought wars. Jesus only felt love towards His offenders, and as He is, so are we.

How do we win the thought war? The only thing we have to do is agree with God. If we never agree with God, the conflict will continue. Submission to God is an attitude of the heart. We cannot walk away from an offensive situation and in our heart continue to feel hatred towards the offender. If we do, we have not agreed or submitted to God. It is what you do with your heart that God judges. Conflict is also caused when we have heard the truth, but choose to remain in a biblical study group where the Word is not taught from the proper perspective. The thing that is causing the conflict is that our conscience is telling us that once we hear the truth, we are responsible for it. So, the thought war comes when we have heard the truth, but find it hard to embrace it, because of the influence of the false teaching that we continue to sit under. However, this does not alleviate the fact that we have been introduced to the truth. We must accept the fact that in any conversation concerning scripture, the Word of God has to be the authority. If it is not the authority, there is no conversation. If we allow the Word to be the authority, in the event that there is a conflict, we will allow the scriptures to clarify themselves.

Note this illustration of how the Church is conflicted: there are scriptures we quote, but the way

we operate reveals that we don’t really believe them, such as, If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me (Psalm 66:18); For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23:7); But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matthew 5:28). In other words, he commits the act in his imagination. If his imagination is evil, he is evil. He is made equal with the evil that is in his imagination. The conflict is that we can know a person in the church who is evil, and if he should die evil, the church will declare that he made it into heaven. However, the scripture declares that when Jesus comes, he which is filthy, let him be filthy still (Revelation 22:11).

We may put a person in heaven, but God judges according to the scriptures.

Definitions to Learn:

• Direct Experiences – those circumstances, situations and relationships (CSR) that an individual personally lives through, as opposed to those he has only heard about. There are those who get in trouble with God, because they testify of things that they have not personally experienced. They will talk about a person in the negative, based upon what others have told them. However, they don’t know whether the information is true or not. They gather information from people and establish a profile of that person. A person who desires to please God will seek out the truth about a person. With all thy getting get

understanding (Proverbs 4:7).

• Indirect Experiences – CSR’s that others lived through. Someone may have had a negative experience with a person, and they tell you about it. If you are not careful, you can take on their emotions. Never join sides with anyone. Always adhere to the Word of God. You should always stand in a posture of righteousness when dealing with others, especially if someone has iniquity towards someone else, and shares it with you. If you take on their negative emotions, you also share the iniquity. In the event you have to pray for someone while in this state, God will not hear your prayer, because of the iniquity in your heart.

• Mindset – the method, elements and conclusion we come to when we judge CSR’s. The Lord

will not anoint your ministry if you are operating in a negative mindset. That mindset must first be destroyed. You may have had some direct or indirect experiences that may have

fashioned a negative way of thinking. As you minister to others, your ministering is channeled through the way you think. God is not going to approve your ministry while you are operating in that mindset. Your ministry will be hindered. Remember that 99% of deliverance is identification. If you can be shown what you are doing, why you are doing it, and when you are doing it, the only thing left is for you to produce the 1%. That 1% is to agree with God by submitting to Him. WARNING!! Don’t ever hear God and harden your heart to His voice. The day you hear His voice harden

not your heart.