10 Truths for the Battle of the Mind

I set out to write down these things for myself. But then I realized that you're all in the battlefield with me, waring with thoughts and feelings of sorts. Life is a series of potholes and hills, making it crucial that we learn to walk on all types of terrain. The consequences for taking this lightly are at least pain and misery. These are things that address my most common struggles, and I bet some of yours as well.

1. You are loved by God no matter what. He has already proven this on the cross as well as all of the other unmerited favor He has shown in your life. Proverbs 8:17

2. You have never really been alone. When in doubt, look back at the times when you either survived something hard or were blessed abundantly. Nothing is by accident. If you will trust Him, you'll see that He takes even the bad and makes it work to your advantage through growth in character among other things. Isaiah 41:10

3. Your security can stand firm only in Him, not in people or things. Believers send a message about their faith when we base our worth on anything other than Jesus Christ. There is a commandment that addresses this -- it's idolatry. What we really believe comes out in what we consistently think. I not only say it, but I examine my own faith this way as well. He has to be the One we love most, thus putting His love for us above what others think. People change, feelings change, but God never does. Psalm 18:2

4. You cannot change others and it's not your job. Odds are, you didn't even create their issue. We all have some mess inside that needs Jesus' touch. Pray for them and remember that you commit some of the very sins as them.  This will help you to show them the grace you would want when you don't feel like it. Ezekiel 36:26-27

5. Guard your thoughts and heart from negative emotions in order to stay under the wings of God's mercy. Otherwise, you put yourself under the law of judgment because you can't ask for mercy you won't give. Let go of bitterness, jealousy, envy, strife, gossip and petty nitpicking. We are all broken, whether we see it or not, and can find things wrong with one another if we aren't practicing grace. Nitpicking puts the nitpicker under the microscope to those he nitpicks. Proverbs 4:23

6. Some things do not require a response, but even then you have to guard our tongue in every circumstance. Responding when it's not necessary is like pulling a scab off a big, ugly sore. Remember that there is a time to stand up and say your peace, but wisdom takes application. Your feedback is not always welcome or wise. Sometimes things will get better faster if you don't say a word. How often does your tongue cause damage, leaving you the bad guy and the point you were trying to make mere moot? I am struck by how often we do the things to others that have hurt us most. Proverbs 15:1, Proverbs 17:28

7. God will fight for you.  The more worked up you get, the more likely it is that you just need to let go of it and give it to God. He can bear it. He knows what's best and can fix anything. We just aren't meant to carry all this stuff. Learning to apply this produces greater faith because it puts your trust in God to work. Exodus 14:14

8. Focus on the Lord instead of others, yourself or the hurts you have been dealt. In order to be most effective for the kingdom, you must discipline your mind! I once read this statement: You must choose your thoughts like you choose your clothes. Focusing on God and His words produces healing. Focusing too much on people or our problems produces disappointment and even sickness. God has plenty of wonderful and mysterious attributes to keep you uplifted for eternity. Psalm 25:15

9. Feelings rarely ever provide an accurate assessment of reality. But if you pay close attention, you will find that they expose faulty thought patterns and even strongholds that need to be dealt with. Don't let them boss you around. Disciplining your mind will help to deal with bossy emotions. I am learning that so much of a believer's walk requires mental discipline as a prerequisite. Jeremiah 17:9, I John 3:20

10. You are gifted for a certain mission in the kingdom. But you must listen to the Holy Spirit to know what that is. It may take years to unfold as God prepares you for it. Stay tuned to to Him to find out more. Never think you are expected or able to do it alone. I Peter 4:10, I Timothy 4:14

Annie Impson's Testimony

Today, I am sharing the testimony of a brave woman who was led to share her story with me and with you. I believe there is something in every story that encourages others to keep going as it reminds us that we can never go too far that God's loving redemption can't reach us. I hope Annie's story gives you hope. She reminds me that we are all gifted for a certain mission. If you have a story you wish to share, please contact me at JenniferLTravis76@gmail.com. I would love to hear from you.

The Personal Testimony of Annie Impson

I grew up in a preacher's home were the Bible was taught to us on a daily basis, and we went to church every time the doors were open. I made many professions of faith when I was a child, but it wasn’t until I was 18 a senior in high school on March 12,2001 that I truly accepted the Lord Jesus as my personally Savior!

After high school I went to a Christian college and that is where I met my first husband. My parents were not in agreement with me marrying him, but I thought I knew more than they did. They kept telling me it wasn’t God’s will for me to marry him. I didn’t want to listen. We married in the summer of 2003 without my parent’s blessing. I realize now this is never a way to start a marriage. Once we were married my parents encouraged us to stay married.

We got pregnant right way and had a little girl, Madelyn Grace, the following summer --June 2004. After we had Madelyn and been married for a couple of years some things were going on that were not right. We went to church only because I wanted to. He would only go because I wanted him to, not because it was right thing to do. I thought he was saved because of what he had told me. His actions spoke louder than his words. My husband thought it was okay to call me degrading names and to look at pornography. He tried to convince me that it was okay to look at it together. I never liked it but wanted to please my husband. But then he started looking at in secret. We would get into verbal fights about it, but it didn’t take long before he did hit me. I always said I would never let a man hit me, but it happened. He refused to give up looking at porn. I decided to leave because I wasn’t going to be in a mental and physical abusive marriage, or be in a marriage were looking at porn was okay. Looking at pornography is a form of adultery and it is wrong.

I moved back home and we were suppose to get counseling and try to work things out, but he refused to change and refused counseling. I filed for divorce. During that time I got away from the Lord, playing the prodigal child. It wasn't long before I found out I was pregnant. And I was scared because I already had one child, was working and living on my own, as well as going through a nasty custody battle and divorce. I wondered how I could I raise another child, especially without his father.

I confronted the father and he told me to get an abortion. I was 3 months pregnant before my I told my parents. They both just took me in their arms and held me and cried. Little did I know, they were praying and begging God to do something to wake me up and bring me back to Him because I wasn’t living right. I was hurting and doing everything I could to get rid of my hurt. I knew I needed to read my Bible and trust the Lord to handle it all, but I didn’t. I allowed Satan to wedge into my situations and work destruction. I thank God for a praying mom and dad, and that they didn't give up on me. I am very grateful for godly parents and for them being constant in their Christian lives.

I decided to leave the world alone and follow Christ. It wasn’t easy to do but with the Lord’s help on a daily basis, I stayed focused on getting my life on the right road again. About a month went by before I met Jason, a coworker at the time. Jason was also going through a divorce and custody battle of his own, and his wife had committed the adultery towards him and she would not turn from her ways either. He invited me over for supper to meet his girls. After supper we started talking and I told him I was pregnant. Even though the child wasn't his and we barely knew each other, he was excited. It was like I was telling him I was pregnant with his baby. I thought this man was crazy – mostly that he actually respected me. Very early into this relationship, I wanted him to meet my parents because I wanted this relationship to be parent approved.

After Jason spoke with my parents, they said I wasn’t in a place to be dating anyone but if they had to choose anyone for me to date, it would be Jason. They asked that we just remain friends and get to know each other first. During this friendship, we fell in love and he fell in love with my daughter and my unborn son. I had my baby in the spring of 2008.

Jason made a profession of faith earlier in life, much like I did. But two months before we were married, he realized he wasn't and accepted Jesus as Lord in his life. We were married in the fall of that same year. The first year was admittedly tough because we were combining two families, but with the Lords help we made it through it.

We both began serving in our church. I became the full time pianist and started singing in church again. Jason became a sound man, serving as the treasurer in our church. He also began preaching in a prison ministry on Tuesday nights. We sincerely wanted to be servants as it satisfied us. Jason also had mentioned the possibility of us as missionaries, but I was quick to say no because of hurts I had seen in the church. I didn't want my children exposed to them. So Jason stopped talking about it and started praying.

About a year later, we were invited to a prison revival in Mississippi. I was able to see what my husband really did every Tuesday night. I was also given the opportunity to sing my testimony song, “A Trophy of Grace.” I truly believe in the grace of God and what it has done for me.

I had never seen the Holy Spirit move like He did that day, as thirty souls or more came to Christ. I loved it! After the revival ended, I couldn’t sleep. The Lord was dealing very heavily with my heart about being a missionary and going and telling others about Him. After wrestling with it, I said, “ Lord I’m willing to go if that’s want you want me to do.” I slept well after that. On the way home the next day, I admitted to Jason that the Lord has called us to the mission field. Jason began crying with tears of joy because he already knew already it was God's will that we be missionaries. He didn’t want to go without me and was praying the Lord would change my heart --and He did. My next question was, “Where?” Australia was the answer.

We are still working in our church as we work towards the goal of Australia. I can’t wait to see what the Lord has for us over there. I’m honestly a little scared of the unknown but with the Lord’s help I know I can do anything. Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

And Matthew 6:33 is our life verse: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

My personal life verse is Galatians 5:16 “This I say walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” I truly believe this to be true because I have to walk with Him daily so I don’t do what I want to do. I wholeheartedly want to be used of God and help others who are going through things I have been through. One of my greatest desires is to help others.

Faith Opportunities

I had a rough day the day before and I did by best not to let it weigh on me as I sat in the shower with my mind toggling between praying and trying to figure it all out. I desperately wanted some direction since I hate not knowing what to do or expect. Like many of you, I struggle with things I do not understand. You see, I am one of those obsessive thinkers. My mind stops only when I give up trying to fix it myself and turn it over to Jesus to handle. But old habits only die through persistence with good ones. It hasn't become instinctive to give it straight to Him without trying to fix it in my head first.  

While I was still in the shower, my mental storm suddenly stopped and I felt the words, "Lean not on your own understanding" being spoken to me. It took a few seconds before I realized God was snapping me out of another one of my fix-it moments. I had been trying to understand something on my own that I had no line of sight into. I was about to pass up a chance trust my King. I had to make a choice. I could weigh myself down trying to figure out things or I could take this opportunity to grow in faith by trusting God with my problem. In that moment, I gave it to Him.

I knew the words spoken to me came from the Holy Spirit. They also are words found scripture. But I couldn't remember where, so I looked it up. Here's what scripture says: 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

As I spoke that over and over in my mind, I headed for my morning coffee. I felt challenged to consider the words carefully. Here is what I came away with:

1. Trust in the Lord is where our faithful talk gets put into a faithful walk. We humans are so stubborn that we have the urge to feel our own way through when we can't see a thing. Sitting still doesn't come natural to many of us. But I have been feeling my way around for far too long. I've missed out on too many faith opportunities. I have more peace when I trust God with my junk. 

2. Lean not on your own understanding means stop trying to think you get it. Stop trying to figure stuff out on your own because all you'll come away with is what's on the surface. You won't be able to see deep into the hearts of others.  It's hard for us to accept that we can't see as well as we think we can.  But God knows the root of everything. He knows our hearts even when we do not. 

3. In all your ways, submit to Him means that we have to yield. We have to let Him go ahead of us and wait for Him to walk at His own pace. He will fight our battles. He already knows everything, He doesn't have to think about it to figure it out. He promises to take care of us, but a lack of belief is what keeps us from being hands-off. We have to quit being in such a hurry to get past every hurdle and learn to wait with full trust that we serve a faithful God. 

4. He will make your paths straight means He will provide direction. Direction is what we all want, right? I think most of us feel like we have no idea what we're doing in some area of our life. But here's the kicker - true direction comes when we trust Him and not our own selves. We don't get direction from trying to fix everything. It comes with submission to let Him lead, willingness to wait on Him and trust that He is working things out for our own good even when we can't see anything happening. We are never more blind than in our "I'll fix it myself" moments.

Here's another thing that happened to me on this day. I had bought a new coffee mug less than 48 hours ago that read: Trust in the Lord. I didn't put two and two together right away.  But my eyes met my cup as I was pondering the scripture and I realized God was at work on this matter long before it even happened. He knew what I would need long beforehand. It's no coincidence that the words come from the same verse He spoke to me during my struggle. 

God cares about our details. His word says He is at work to make all things work for us and not against us. I challenge you to practice trusting Him in your hardest moments. You'll never be more blessed. My own hardest moments have crucial in learning just how much He cares.