 Okay, good morning everybody. Welcome to week 11 of our class on emotional wholeness. I hope all of you are doing well and enjoying God's grace and mercy. Welcome to all our e-learning students as well who continue to keep walking alongside with the course. We welcome all of you as well. We trust that as you're learning, you're being encouraged, you're being built up. A lot of the truths that we learn through these lessons are being applied on a regular day-to-day basis. So we're just praying that each of us are being made whole even as we walk through this journey of life. So shall we just start with the word of prayer? I'll start and we could all join in. Heavenly Father, gracious Father, we thank you Lord for this day. We thank you for this new gift of a day that you have given each one of us. Lord, we are so amazed at your work in our lives. Thank you Father for bringing each one of us here to listen, to hear, to understand, to apply, to be changed emotionally in our spirits, in our minds, Father. Lord, even as we go through new words from your scripture, we pray that whatever struggles we may be going through each of us in our different areas of life that you would teach us to apply your word and live victorious and abundant lives as you have promised. Father, we pray that your joy would be made whole in each one of us, Lord. Thank you for bringing us here today, Lord. We pray for those who are yet to come. We pray that you remove every kind of a hindrance or limitation that they may be facing to join in today. Lord, we pray that the power of the Holy Spirit works in a deep and a wonderful way as we move forward in learning further today. Thank you, God. We submit the next two hours to your throne of grace and pray that you will mightily work a new thing, Lord, a supernatural thing in each of our lives. We ask all these things in your precious and matchless name. Amen. Okay, so we are into the next chapter of our lesson on emotional wholeness. We've been going through the last 10 weeks about different ways of understanding the mind, things of how we get into issues and problems, how we can get our healing and our deliverance and walking into emotional wholeness. The last week we spoke about staying emotionally whole and we looked at a couple of spiritual disciplines in helping us walk into that, into journeying into spiritual, into emotional wholeness today. We're going to be looking at another very related, very important part of our emotional wholeness, which is the work of our minds, the conquest of our minds. So I'm on chapter 7 at page 40. If you would like to go through this alongside with me, that would be wonderful. What we are going to be doing in class today is taken partly from another one of the resources that we have available, which is the conquest of the mind, which is available at the website. I will post the link in between so that you can go in and take some time to read this book as well. But we will be following some bits of it in this lesson. A greater, more intense reading can be found in that book as well. So we're going to look at how and what is the relation of the mind to our emotional wholeness. So if we remember, we did talk about the mind in our very first class and we spoke about how man, being a tripartite being, having the body, the soul and the spirit, we did see that when we were born again, our spirits are the one, is the part of us that is born anew, that is bought afresh and new in the image of God. And we are filled with the nature of God in our spirits when we come to a place of salvation, when we receive salvation, when we become born again, when we believe in Christ. When we are in Christ, we become that new creation in our spirits. However, our minds and our bodies are not born again, and our minds and our bodies are things that continuously needs to be renewed. Okay, so if what is in the spirit is what should be seen on the outside. So the soul and the body needs to be renewed, the soul needs to be renewed and the flesh needs to be crucified, which is something apart that we will be looking at next week. How the body or the flesh needs to be crucified as we walk into emotional and as we maintain that emotional wholeness. So the responsibility of the mind stays with us, the responsibility of renewing the mind and crucifying the flesh stays with us as a believer. And that's something that we continue to do by studying God's word and by the power of the Holy Spirit. So here today, we are just going to be focusing on the mind and what needs to be done and how we can do it. So let's, let's first of all look at what are some of the functions of our mind. So the mind is the core center where we core center of the functions of our brain. So, you know, our brain helps our mind to think, to reason, to learn, to feel, to remember, to recall. So every function of the brain is manifested out of the mind and our mind becomes important because these processes, these functional processes that we spoke about, like especially our thoughts, it is our thoughts that really feed into our actions. Our actions is, is thereby moves into our behavior. And our behavior is what really brings about the way that we live or our lifestyle. So our thoughts are what determines these things are thoughts or things that we think about is what really affects our emotions. And we saw that kind of a relation, both in this class, as well as those of you who've been in the Christian counseling, we did see that that our thoughts affect the way that we feel and this, these emotions affect the way that we respond spiritually, we respond mentally as well as physically. What we think and what ever we imagine the things that we imagine are things that either brings us to a place of constructive demeanor or a destructive one or that which is really propels us or that which could could break us down. So these faculties of our mind, the ability to learn, to reason, to understand, to imagine, to feel, to remember, all of this are very important and that becomes the construct of everything in our lives. So what is in, what happens in our spirit, the, the, the refreshing or the, the, the new creation that happens in our spirit is something that needs to be continually released into our minds and into our bodies. So God uses this, this faculties that we have in, in, in his work in us and the way that he talks to us and the way that he communes to us. So we did look at significantly at what, what are the certain problems that, that, that is caused. So we do see that because of where we are and, you know, in, in the place that we are in the world that we live in, the interactions we have, our mind is like a battlefield. It is always constantly being thrown in with all kinds of information, with ideas, with sides, with sounds, with, with anything around us and how, what are the windows to our mind is of course through our physical senses. What we see, what we hear, what we smell, what we touch and what we taste, all of this brings in information into our mind. So constantly at all points, right from the waking up, from the time you wake up till the time you sleep, your mind is always being thrown with different kinds of information. And this information has a way to impact the way that we think, impact the way that we feel and impacts the way that we may behave or it brings about certain responses and certain reactions to us. So the, the, that's what we need to ensure on one point to be able to guard what is being, what are the things that influences us. So we may not really, at all points of time, we may not have a complete control of, of what we are seeing, what we are hearing, although there are of course some places where we do not give in to those temptations or given to those desires. There may be a lot of times that we may be in the midst of receiving information that where we have not willfully placed ourselves. Like for example, you may be driving on the street and you may, you know, you may, you may come across a huge billboard that has some, you know, questionable material on it. And you have come across it and, you know, it's not that you, you, you can stay at home and not drive out into the street. There are things that you need to do. But your mind gets, gets this information a lot of times, even when you're not in a place of being able to control it. So there are times that you may, you may be bombarded with things that you may not be able to completely control or the information that you may not be, be able to control. And this is what the enemy and, you know, the evil, evil one does is to use whatever you are seeing or whatever you're hearing or the information that comes to give it to make it work on your minds so that it presents itself. As thoughts, as thoughts that become evil, that is those evil thoughts or those ideas or those the kind of imagination that comes up. So what you're seeing the enemy uses it to stir up desires that may be, that may be your own desires that, that are internal. And that, and when we come to a place of not being able to resist these enticements or these, these entrapments, we become sucked in to what is wrong. So the very fact that these, the information or what you're seeing is being bombarded at you is not sin in itself. The fact that you've probably seen it or, or the thought has come and is not a sin in itself. But what it does, allowing it to dwell and to stir in to your desires and not being able to resist that is what becomes, we will talk about that a little bit later. So James describes it in, in scripture in James 1 13 to 16, it says, I'll read that for you, let no one say, when he's tempted, I am tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he's drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin and sin when it is full grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. So what we see here in this verse is that temptation is or things that you see around is not something that is brought about by God. It says, do not deceive yourself to think or you are in a state of deception or yourself deceiving yourself if you think that you are being tempted by God. It is something that God is putting in front of you to tempt you. It very clearly says, let no one say, when he is tempted, I am tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he himself tempt anyone. And I think often we have heard probably people having the wrong notion of saying that God is the one who's tempting me. I am being tempted by God to do this kind of a sin. But it very clearly says verse 14, each one is tempted when he's drawn away by his own desire and is enticed. So it is our own flesh or we are drawn by our own desires. It's something that is conceived from within the carnal mind. The desire is conceived within us and when we yield to sin, as it says in verse 15, when desire has conceived, that is when it has come about, when those desires are being birthed within us in itself. That's when and when you yield to that, that's what causes sin. And I'm just looking at it in another version. I just wanted to read that out for you in another version, which just give me a minute. Okay, so it says temptation, this is from NLT, that's the New Living Translation. So I'll just read that out again. And remember, no one who wants to do wrong should ever say God is tempting me. God is tempted to do wrong and he never tempts anyone else either. Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires. So each man is tempted when he's drawn away by his own lust or enticed and baited by his own desire or his own lust or his own passion when he is trapped, when he's dragged and trapped by one's own desires. And so there it says when it is conceived, it gives birth to sin and that becomes full grown when you dwell in it more and more, it brings forth death. So an example that we could probably look at is the common example of when people lust after wrong thoughts. So there is probably maybe an image that flashes by or an image that one sees maybe in a newspaper or on a billboard or any kind of maybe material that you're reading. There is this, the image that comes about and that begins to entice or that begins you're drawn in by your own desires. And when it is conceived of that, the desire is already birthed and you give birth to sin when you yield to that. When you keep dwelling, you keep thinking about it more and more, coming to a place of flourishing that very conceived desire in your mind by adding to it by putting a lot more of spice to it. And that's what gives birth to sin. So when it is full grown, then it leads to a behavior or it leads to something that causes you to sin. So scripture is very clear about the fact that the mind is the place where we are drawn by our own desires. When we are enticed, what happens when we are enticed? Our wills are weakened. It weakens our will or our determination and it entraps. It's almost like a mouse being trapped in a mouse trap and the desire has been conceived and you yield to that desire and this is what results in sin. So when we have our desires aroused within us for something that is wrong, we are drawn by these desires, but remember it is still not sin. It becomes sin when we have yielded to the desire, when we have fallen for the desire. It is then that we have sinned. So a lot of times and we do see that there are many times Christians do condemn themselves because these wrong desires have been aroused in them or there is a desire that's come up. So that in itself is not sin only when we yield, when we pay attention, when we dwell in it and it is done by when we are committing a wrong act or continuously feeding in and contemplating these desires have been sinned. And so all of this happens within the entrapment of the mind. And to just understand the mind is so powerful to bring about a small desire into something that is such a full blown well planned thing. So even in issues like maybe in an emotion, you know, so maybe you've heard something that has caused a sense of anger that has caused. I will answer the question, Mangi, just a minute for me to just complete. So when you're having a specific emotion that comes up, you know, the fact that maybe you've heard something and scripture says in your anger do not sin. Right. So yes, the emotion of anger is probably something that is a natural and we spoke about that. I think a couple of weeks back where we said our emotions are naturally given to us. It is acts like a barometer. But when we we face that anger, we begin to contemplate it, we begin to grow more and more of it, you know, begin to picture in our minds about the anger, add in more thoughts that feed in to the anger that that grows into so you're yielding to that anger and creating a lot more of a lot more of substance to the anger willfully contemplating the anger. That's when you have sinned and it moves from one to another. So if we remember we had spoken about this earlier also, you know, the the anger moves into rage moves into probably murder, or sadness moves into helplessness moves into hopelessness could move into depression. The thought of lust can move into, you know, stronger stronger enticement of lust that can move into adultery. So this is a progression. So what we do see is that when we when the when when the desire is conceived, that's where we come to a place of being able to understand that the mind is very powerful to move it from one to another. And what we're looking at is here is how do we conquer that? What do we do when when these grip our mind? What is it that we can do to keep ourselves away from being from falling into a place of sin? Okay. Yes, Mangi, how I think you had a question. Would you like to bring your question up, please? Okay. Thank you, Pastor. If I hear correctly, and if the scripture read, which is true, says that we we attempted our own desire, but things that we see, and then we conceived those ideas in our mind and our hearts. So most of the time, they say that the devil. Okay, my question is, well, what? When does the devil come in and where? Because many people say that, oh, it is the devil is tempting us that the enemy is doing this while the word say it's our own mind, our own desire that leads us to sin. Thank you, Pastor. Okay, so you're saying when does the devil come in? When does the devil come in? When we have, so remember, we've been talking about open doors, where we open the door for the enemy to walk in. And when these are desires are being conceived, and we are contemplating further on that, yes, we are opening the door for the enemy to walk in and create damage in us. So once we have given the enemy a foothold, we have, we have managed to bring entrance into the evil one. So it talks about how you resist the devil. Resisting the devil is also ways of how you would conquer these thoughts in your mind by using, sorry, by using scripture. Or by you, by the power of the Holy Spirit. So it initially begins when we give permission to give, you know, open a door like a thief does not, you know, an intruder does not walk in until there is an open door, or you have given or he deceives you into entering the door, entering your house. So to being able to resist the devil means that you need to stand in the armor of God, not giving permission to what the enemy is standing in to come in. So that's where the enemy walks in. But initially it is your desires that conceive sin, that conceives your desires that are being, that are being, that are being, I mean, sin is being conceived in your heart when your desires are being, are led to that. So it's only after that is when the enemy walks in. Manki, I hope I answered that question. Yes, Pastor. Thank you. Okay. All right. Elisha, I think you have a question too. Yes, yes, man. The question was put on the stream, but let me, let me. Oh, sorry. Yeah, yes, please go ahead. You mentioned that God does not tempt us. And that is according to James. But if you read the story of Jesus temptation on the wilderness, we read that Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. That is one. And then when you read Matthew chapter six, which Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, a part of the prayer reads that and lead us not into temptation. I believe this presupposes that we can be led, God can lead us into temptation. That is why we pray to him that he leads us not into temptation. So can you help me understand with the, with what James says that God cannot tempt us. Okay. All right. Okay. Thank you. Thank you for that question. Okay. So I think let's look at the word temptation and this is the word temptation can also refer to the word trials. Okay. And one Corinthians, I think it's just going to give me to pick up that verse. I think it's one Corinthians chapter 10 verse 13. Okay. One Corinthians 10 verse 13 says, No temptation has overtaken you except such as this common to man. But God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you're able. But with the temptation will also make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it. So here the word temptation refers also to trials. And we know that, you know, God will not test us beyond our ability in Christ Jesus to, we will be given the ability to bear it and God will always provide a way out. God does subject us to trials that may expose us to the enemy's assaults for his own purposes, like as you can see in Job. If the temptation in the Lord's prayer refers to trials, then, you know, the meaning of that verse Matthew chapter six verse 13 is do not afflict or try us. So it's not wrong to pray that we may be delivered from trials and sufferings as we submit to the will of God. The believer can ask the Lord to be delivered from testings or for strength. So I see that this word of temptation is a referring to trials more than the desires being conceived. So if we were to, you know, look at these words, lead us not to into temptation. You know, it's like, you know, a person taking maybe a mother taking her young children with her to a place and maybe to the shop. And she knows that taking her children in that through that shop will only bring them up into a place of greediness in their hearts to, you know, maybe to wine and to power for something. In wisdom, she's taking another place where she may have, you know, needed down that go down that store or that place where they're getting chocolates. They will have to wait for another day. So in this way, the mother is moving away the unpleasantness and sparing the children from that kind of a trial. So praying, lead us not to temptation is like, is like saying, God, you know, do not take me down that wrong path today. It's recognizing that we often can grasp things that are not right or may get into places that is not profitable for us and that God's wisdom can keep us away from that unpleasantness of that sin. So when we are asking God to lead us away from sin or from difficult trials, it's, it's, it's the goal is also saying, Lord, deliver us from the evil one. It is, it is a petition that we are asking of the Lord. So, so there are two things. So one is that we see that word as trials more so. And that when we, when we're talking about leading us not into temptation is that God gives us that grace that we will not be in positions where we are faced with, with a temptation that he will, he will give us the wisdom and the ability and he will help us through that. So that's, that's what specifically is meant by, by that scripture. I hope I was clear enough was able to articulate it. Okay, Elisha. Yes. All right. Okay. Thank you. All right. So moving on. Yeah. Okay. So when I think there's another question. Is that another question? Sorry, I can't see a hand up. Is there anyone else who has a question? Oh, it was me. Sorry. Okay. All right. So we'll, so what we, what we were looking at is, so there are temptations and deceptions and all kinds of things that grip us as believers. And this, so what we were determining is that all of this starts with just a thought in the mind. Okay. And we also do see, you know, like Lashu, you said that when, when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, that's what we, we have seen in, in Matthew and in Luke. We can deduce that these also came as thoughts and pictures in the mind and the way that the Lord refutes is, refutes it is by the word of God. So that's what we understand that, you know, these could be, would it, it's an understanding that it may not have been that Jesus was taken up literally to these places, but it could. We can just deduce that these could come in as thoughts or pictures in the mind, like, like it does come in for us and the way that the Lord refutes that is through the word of God. So we do see that a lot of things that we may be, we are going through is, is built up in the mind and, you know, I think just to bring in some more examples is that when, let's say in a workplace, you know, you're, you're sitting in your workplace and maybe your boss has given your, you know, given some kind of a work that you've been proficient in to somebody else. Okay. And this is a situation as it is, but then the mind begins to conceive it in a very different way, depending on whatever background or an experience and jealousy can, can build and build, covetousness can build, all of this happens within the mind. So to, to begin with it, a certain, to begin with it, it starts with a very, very small thought. It's like, you know, a small fire or a small spark that when the mind begins to contemplate begins to sit in, it becomes as huge as a forest fire and begins to destroy, destroy everything around it. So keep a picture of that in mind, every information, everything that comes in starts with within the mind. So that's, that's the reason why we understand that the mind becomes that's why we call the mind a battlefield. So we're going to be looking at three specific points as to what, how do we, how do we conquer this? What do we do to combat the, the struggles that the mind has and to take it three disciplines is one is to be take is to take every thought captive. The second is to come to a place of renewing the mind and the third is to developing a mindset that is positive. Okay, so we look at, we'll spend some time looking at the first one taking every thought captive and let's look at the scripture that talks about this in two Corinthians 10 verses three to five. Okay, so it says, for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty to God in pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Okay, so when we look at these verses, the war that Paul is really referring to is all that has to do in the mind. So there are a lot of, if you look at that verse, there are many things that talks about ways or descriptions of how things have become very embedded. And you see words like strongholds, you read words like arguments or in other translations, the words that are used is imaginations, the words that are used are reasonings. They become like strong pillars and foundations that occupy the mind. Okay, so when you look at the word stronghold, it is the word stronghold in itself appears as something that that is very deeply rooted, something that has it. Stations very, very deep, not something that can be easily uprooted, you know, like for example, when you look at a banyan tree, it has a very strong root system. It's not something that you can uproot easily, it's got its root so ingrained and far into the soil that it is not easily shakeable. And these strongholds, so picture it like that, it is a fortress, and it's something that has been occupied and it is a place that has been controlled. So when you have a stronghold in your mind, it is that which is built with with multiple thoughts and arguments and reasoning and imaginations that become very embedded in in our in our minds. And this begins, how does this begin, it begins with thoughts, it just begins with those initial roots, like even the banyan tree, it started off probably with one root, but then as it grew, it started making its inroads into the part of the soil. So what does what does scripture say here, how do we conquer our mind is it, it talks first and foremost that our warfare is not carnal. Okay, our warfare is not something that is a flesh and blood, but something that is spiritual in nature. Okay, something where and it talks about in the preceding preceding verse that when we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, but according to what is happening in the spiritual realm so we need to take every thought captive now what is that word captive mean, it is to, it is to enslave or it is to imprison. So every time you have a thought that is not right, or it says you know that exalts itself against the knowledge of God so every thought, or every argument or everything, whatever it is that the mind conceives you imprison it, and you imprison it to the obedience of Christ. It's like, you know, if there is a convict, or if there is a criminal that's out, the first thing you need to do is to bring it in bring him into captivity. Otherwise, he is going to create immense havoc. So we are to take every thought captive, make it a slave or enslave it or imprison it and bring it to the obedience of Christ. Okay, we are to cast down or bring down every argument, imagination, reasoning, every stronghold, every opinion that is contrary to the knowledge of God. So we are, we have been called to do that, to bring it down, to bring it to a place of complete binding, or to a place of submission. So if you look at those entire verses, the same theme is being repeated over and over again. And the next it says is, we are to pull down, or, which is very similar to cast down, it is to break down, it is to come against every brick that has been built over and over again, you cast it down, you pull it down to bring it to the obedience of Christ. And how do we do all of this? We use it, we do it by what God has given us. And it talks about the armor of God, right? And we all know that in Ephesians 6, it talks about the armor of God. We are to pull it down using the armor of God. And the primary thing that we use is the word of God, the primary weapon that we use, that we use to bring these downs, these thoughts, these imaginations, these reasonings, these strongholds that has built itself up like a fortress is through the word of God. As scripture says, it is living and active, the word of God is living and active, able, it is able to pull through, to immerse through any, any joint, any bone, any marrow, anything that is against the knowledge of God. And as we do that, we will begin to see things breaking down. An example that we have seen is through what Jesus did when he was being tempted. All of those thoughts, those imaginations that the devil bought to him was combated with, it is written. And you see that, you know, we've read this so many times, it says, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone. It is written, thou shall not bow before anyone else but thy God, right? So it is written. So the primary weapon that we use is the word of God. So what are we called to do in order to walk in that emotional wholeness, walk in emotional fullness is to, at a regular basis, to be able to guard our thoughts, our ideas, our imaginations that are being conceived in our minds, that's being thrown in our minds, that come to our minds against the word of God. So it's like, it's like doing a test. Every time there is a thought that comes, you are putting it through a test to see whether it is contrary to what God's word says, or is it, does it align to what God's word says. The minute that you do see that it is contrary to God's word, you take it captive, you enslave it so that it does not build into something that conceives itself a sin. It does not build itself. You do not contemplate in your mind to conceive it to sin. Now this could be anything, you know, if you look at the varied number of instances or examples, it can be anything. It could even start with thoughts about oneself, right, about maybe comments that are made to you. And we spoke about it, you know, we said that when people do say words to us, it comes into us as a thought, and it builds itself as a wrong thought, and we dwell it, we, you know, we decorate it, we feed it, we do all sorts of things to it to make it, to bring it to something that it shouldn't be, or to create it in a proportion so much higher than what it came to us. So taking that captive and not letting this influence us. Okay, so what, what I'd like you to do is maybe through the last week. And I think this is a struggle, all of us, or this is a challenge that all of us go through a trial, I'd say that all of us go through that, especially when you have, you know, significant challenges in life where you're not seeing an answer. Then there are these thoughts that come up, even the thoughts of, you know, maybe God doesn't love me, or maybe God blesses only somebody else. So these are thoughts that are enough to be created and to, to, to churn itself out and, you know, move into something that is much more, much more stronger. Right. And, you know, even if you look at the temptation of Eve, we see that, you know, she saw something that was pleasing to the eyes and that began to conceive and it began to conceive within, within her and she lusted after what, you know, what the enemy said. I mean, did God really say that you cannot eat this? God's going to open your eyes. So you see that all of this began to churn inside conceiving bringing itself into sin. So what I'd like you to do, we have, I think, five minutes. Okay, just quickly take some time to check on your thoughts or, or what, what have been any kind of ideas that you have, you have encouraged in your mind that has been contrary to God's word and put that down and commit to, to enslaving this commit to taking this captive over the next one week and begin to see the difference or the freedom that God gives you in your mind. It could be even something, something somebody has done. And there is, there is a, there is a wrong thought that has come about it and which can lead to a place of unforgiveness. So come to a place of bringing it to enslaving it and imprisoning it and bringing it captive unto the obedience of Christ. Okay, so a few minutes, just take to write that down and, you know, we can, we can probably then break for class and come back by 11 o'clock. Okay, so take three or four minutes to do that before you break in for us and we'll come back at 11 o'clock to, to look at the other two points as well. Okay, we shall break for, for 10 minutes and we'll come back at 11 o'clock to resume. Abraham, I'll take your question once we have returned. We'll stop in for a break and come back at 11.