Author: Joyce Meyer
Number of Pages: 272
Why did I read it?
This book was given to me by my mama for my 40th birthday.
My thoughts on the author:
My thoughts are not wishy-washy when it comes to Joyce Meyer. I love her. My mom listened to her tapes as I grew up, (yes, tapes), so to say that I have listened to her for most of my life is not an exaggeration. Her voice and wisdom have always been a constant in my life. If you have ever heard her speak or read one of her books, you know that she does not mess around when it comes to the Bible and what it looks like to live it out. She is about as up-front as you can be. I need this in my life. Some people aren’t as comfy with it, but I love it.
About the book:
It is all about your mind being a battlefield. Joyce points out that it is a vital necessity that we line up our thoughts with God’s thoughts. She quotes Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.” (CSB version) She makes sure that we understand that the devil is a liar and that he has a strategy for his warfare, that he is willing to take all the time in the world to defeat us. She says, “So many people’s problems are rooted in thinking patterns that actually produce the problems they experience in their lives.” (page 4)
BUT!! There is hope!! So much hope!!
She then reminds us of our weapon. The Bible. She quotes Jesus in John 8:31-32, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (CSB version) She points out that we have to know what God says, what the Bible says, so that we can recognize the lies that Satan is spouting at us. We have to re-program our brains, that have been filled up with the lies that we have believed, with what God says. (Also, neuro-plasticity is a sciency word that you should know about!! Neuro-plasticity was discovered in the last 20 years by the science community, which is ridiculously awesome, since God told us these things over 2000 years ago in the Bible!! I will tell you more about the book I’m reading on that in an upcoming “book report”. So cool. Google neuro-plasticity after you finish up with this! We really can change our thoughts!)
My takeaway:
Ummmm…..LIFE CHANGING!!
I read “Battlefield of the Mind” over my kids’ Christmas break last year. I try to do a week or so of disconnecting from Facebook and Instagram over that break and I always have a book that I am saving for it. I had a different book, actually, set aside to read, but for some reason, I picked up this one.
There was one part, where Joyce is telling about the Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years, even though they weren’t all that far from the land that God had promised them was theirs. Having just turned 40 two months before, that number stuck out to me. Forty years is my entire life. Now, I need you to know that I believe that Christ died for my freedom in this life, as well as my salvation. And I don’t want to mess around when it comes to that. I WANT IT and I am willing to do whatever it takes to be free and be exactly who God created me to be. So, I was thinking about what I had been “wandering around” for 40 years, never gaining freedom from, and I thought of my struggle with body image, with
“You believe little lies.”
That line is the catalyst for where most of my blog posts are going to stem from. At least for a good while. In this last year, 2019, God has shown me so many lies that I have believed that are contrary to the Bible. These little lies, that I never would have pegged as sin, but they are NOT what God tells me in His word. They are the opposite in fact. You will get to learn my story, as I am following God and truly re-programming my brain to know the truth and to really believe it.