YOUR MIND, THE BATTLE GROUND.

REDEFINING SPIRITUAL WARFARE

By Isaiah-Phillips Akintola

Proverbs 4: 23,24

Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life. 24 Put away deception from your mouth; keep your lips from perverse speech.…

Your mind, the battlefield of

the last day spiritual warfare

Primary spiritual knowledge in engaging the complexity of the soul’s faculty

A brief background of the material

Please note that this material has been put together to help members of the body of Christ to understand the nature of the current psychological warfare against them worldwide. And to position her with a clear spiritual insight, mental and emotional (sound) discipline to engage the enemy.

This material does not cover all spheres of spiritual warfare but seeks to highlight the role that the various faculties of the human soul play in determining and shaping perspectives, habits, and behaviors.

There are increased, multi-layered complex social economics, educational, leadership, and even spiritual issues that make it crystal clear that humanistic psychology and philosophy, as necessary as it seems, and of course, the ever-increasing religious, market-driven, Christian paradigm all have proven to have failed. The best of human and religious wisdom are proven to be weak, unable to provide lasting answer to the deep dysfunctional human state of mind and thought.

Some of the most important answers to these challenges are a clear insight into the anatomy of the human soul, as described in the Word of God. Although the foundation of this material is purely biblical, I have also taken the privilege of drawing from my own life and the experience of others that I have had the privilege of observing during the years of my ministry.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind.” II Timothy 1:7 NKJV

Undoubtedly, the state or condition of the mind of every member of the body of Christ in this epic season will play a decisive role in shaping the direction of their next involvement in the advancement of the kingdom of God. The general compositions of the Kingdom of God, as described in the Word of God, are righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Righteousness, peace, and joy are the evidential values of the presence of God in our lives, and the abiding fruits that are evident in our calling and assignment. The next frontier of the Spirit will focus on how we can increase these character qualities because we will seriously need them to overcome the increasingly false, sociocultural war assaulting the soul of the Church’s image and identity.

These three define to us the foot of our spiritual identity, that they will be the most assaulted areas of our lives as followers of Christ. When we lay down our guards and the enemy is allowed into our space, we suddenly realize that pride, fear, and uncertainty become the manifest fruit of existence, which the enemy desires the most.

Pride, according to my own definition, is the confidence in one’s own strength or ability. Fear, on the other hand, is the lack of confidence in what God said and promised. If you combine these two powerful end-time spirits, you indirectly gave the enemy the opportunity to capture you as his slave. Pride and fear are the masters of all who have lost their faith in and hope in the Lord.

We are in a time when the spirit of insecurity and fear is becoming one of the deadliest arsenals in crippling the courage, passion, motivation, and drive of those called into the reality of the present prophetic kingdom’s progress.

I highlight these points as a fundamental knowledge that we must arm ourselves as Saints of the Lord, who are going into a world completely different from the one we were familiar with. The world of your mind is the place where the enemy seeks absolute control so that he can realize the goal of his new world order.

A world of virtual reality and Meta verse is what Satan is pushing for. This imaginary world gives your imagination [feelings and emotions] life. For those who do not understand or have the right spiritual foundation to regulate their thought, life will fall for this new cyber world.

Your lack of knowledge and experience of biblical truth and its revelatory philosophy allows the enemy to deceive you just as Eve was deceived in the beginning, and this deception opens you up to the spirit of fear. Disobedience awakens us into the spirit of fear. Adam said when I had your voice walking in the garden, I was afraid and hid myself. Fear paralyzes our ability, minds, and ability to effectively function for the Lord.

“Now therefore, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and afraid, let him turn and depart at once from Mount Gilead.’ ” And twenty-two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.” Judges 7:3 NKJV

The current state of humanity proves that the battle before us can only be won by those who have entered into a mature revelation reality of what is called a sound mind. Guarding the loins of our minds with the belt of truth is one of the most effective weapons in facing the assault of the present darkness.

How we face and process socio-cultural and religious attacks against the Church of the Lord worldwide will be strongly determined by the quality of the state of the mind of each member of the body of Christ. The soundness of mind, which can also be referred to as a well-balanced, disciplined, and productive frame of thought, is one of the key areas on which the Church of the Lord must work if we want to win the battle of the coming days.

The body of Christ has in the past focused heavily on the state of the spirit in spiritual warfare. We, however, need to understand that we cannot have a round victory over the activity of darkness without securing total victory in the arena of our mental faculty.

Those who understand the philosophy of war also clearly understand the impact they have on the human mind. In fact, one of the essences of war is to create fear and forceful submission to stronger power. Wars are first fought and won through mental psychological faculty before boots are deployed on the ground.

From the advent of time, human battles have been designed to be a powerful tool in altering and reshaping the identity and architectural landscape of nations and societies. The economy and socio-cultural architecture of most societies today are undoubtedly shaped by the imprint of fear, which was designed in times of war.

A good example of this statement is the story of most colonized regions of the world, particularly Africa. Poverty and fear are one of the strongest arsenals of the enemy in controlling and manipulating the image and identity of a whole region or even continent. It is said that there cannot be political freedom unless there is economic freedom. This statement is so true that it is so true. However, freedom is seldom given by captors; they must be taken by those ready to fight.

This means that something must happen within the psyche of individuals and the corporate community, to be free from the fortresses that keep them imprisoned. Make no mistake, the Church is in the middle of an epic battle that challenges every strand of truth she has ever believed and accepted. Unfortunately, today’s church is losing the war due to the wrong frame of thought and weaponry we have deployed on the battlefield.

My motivation on this subject

Sometimes back, the Lord began to draw my attention to the subject matter of the battle of the soul as it relates to

1). Seeking to understand the pathway to the complete restoration of all aspects of human life and its fallen faculties.

2). To highlight the impact of emotional and psychological damage the unregenerated soul creates under the influence of false identity, religious ideology, insecurity, and self-interest within the body of Christ and society in general.

3). To try to understand the creative potential and sheared capacity the regenerated soul can produce when it’s properly aligned and restored to its divine moral position of functionality under the guidance of the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the living word of God.

I suspect the way the Lord linked this subject to me is a clear indication that the Church and the nations have entered the last frontier of spiritual warfare, as the reality of the coming of the reign of the glorious kingdom of Christ becomes more imminent.

As the Spirit of the Lord began to unfold these words into my heart, it’s as if I have never had or studied anything related to the subject of the soul before. It’s amazing to realize the enormous demonstration of governmental power and authority Sons of God are about to manifest on behalf of the kingdom of God, as the subject of the soul’s restoration takes precedence.

However, they will only become reality if we begin to give hid to the current demand of the Spirit, which is to close all gaps of division and segregation within us within the entire body of Christ. Whatever the Church has assumed about the condition of the soul, as it refers to the works of human character personality, it must be properly re-examined in the context of the present illuminating light coming from the throne of grace.

The subjection of the unregenerated human thought pattern and the process of the transformed mind have been fascinating to me. Ever since I discovered that one’s initial confession of Christ as his Savior does not automatically address the whole issue of the corrupt and degenerated state of the soul’s faculty.

Old, imbibed habits, attitudes, and ideological beliefs are locked in the realm of the soul and still to an exceptionally large extent, influence the view and decisions made even after the acceptance of the Lord.

While the new liI received at the foot of the cross did reawaken the dead human spirit, the transformation and restoration of the sensory and emotional faculties of man through the power of the word need to kick start the required change within the mind, so that there can be a synchronized lifestyle into one new man, reflecting the life and character nature of Christ in its fullness.

“For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.” Ephesians 2:14-16 NKJV

A positive change in human character is hugely determined by the reformation and transformation of the thought and perception of man. Lasting change is initiated through the inner working of the spirit of salvation within man’s faculty. This salvation further proceeds to the seat of the soul, the realm of self-awareness and behavior.

The soul houses a sensory, cognitive novel system and other human behavioral science, which defines emotion, feelings, thoughts, imagination, attitudes, ideas and desire, intellect, creativity, and other human actions.

Traditions, beliefs, and other human cultural identities are all parts of what forms within the frame of the human soul. This is basically the realm where fallen human identity and personality are formed or shaped. Indeed, the salvation of the spirit-man kick-starts the process of the rebirth of the self-centered inherent nature of the soul until the entire faculties of the soul life becomes consumed in the light and glory of Christ’s image, already in existence within the spirit-man.

As simple as this truth may sound, it remains one of the most difficult principles for many in the Body of Christ to understand, accept and practice. There is absolutely no way the culture and life of the kingdom of God can fully manifest through a mindset easily influenced by the ideas and suggestions of human and satanic ideological beliefs.

This has been an ancient battle that has almost destroyed humans, and of course, weakens the church from exhibiting her governmental authority. The enemy strategically established a foreign rebellious way of thinking to the first man and his wife when he suggested eating the forbidden fruit will open their eyes and they will be like God.

It was important that we clearly understand the whole concept of spiritual battle from a precise and broad biblical definition, so we don’t find ourselves like the person who is beating the air, according to Paul’s description in 1 Cor 9:26. This is a topic many have spoken and written about with great insight.

However, the Lord is shedding lighter and broadening the spiritual insight of the church as it relates to the current position of the church in the place of kingdom advance. The light of divine truth is fast moving from the outer reality she has camped for a prolonged period. The second day’s journey of truth requires that we understand the present phases of the Spirit in terms of the progression of our salvation into the preferred place in God.

The salvation of the soul paves the way for man’s total reformation. It is at this point that the nature and image of the last Adam become fully manifest in and through man. Both the life and mind of Christ flow through this regenerated spirit, soul, and body. Every aspect of the sleeping man from the fall in the garden is completely awakened through the power and glory of Christ.

The nature of the mind we are made of plays a key role in shaping and determining the kind of life and future we will experience from a personal level to a more global reality for companies. The fact that it is an open declaration in the word of God that the regenerated Mind is the (temple) habitation of God makes it even more challenging for every true follower of our Lord Jesus Christ to maintain a quality life of thinking that does not give in to the challenge and assault of the enemy bent on corrupting the thought process and imagination of all men.

The enemy’s chief mission is to ensure that believers don’t live up to the standard value set in God’s word. We shall further investigate the scheme of the enemy as it relates to the condition of human thought pattern. Suffice to say, by divine construct, man is designed in three corporal departments, which are his spirit, soul, and body. Two of these parts cannot be seen with the carnal eyes, while the last, which is man’s biological part, give covering and expression to the rest.

Our Lord Jesus Christ gave an insightful example to differentiate the function of man’s tripartite reality, according to Mark7:15. What goes into a man, meaning, that which enters through the stomach as in relating to food, is not what defiles a man.

He went further to explain that what comes out of the man, the meaning of his spirit or soul, is what makes him clean. Man’s defilement is based on the state or condition of his frame of mind, which is housed by his soul. The soul houses all the psychological and emotional realities of a man’s world. We shall further examine this important principle.

Let us, however, understand this basic but critical protocol of human regeneration. The spirit, at the point of salvation, is reawakened from spiritual death, while the soul remains unsolved, but can be influenced to follow the direction and leadership of the regenerated spirit if it’s properly built and disciplined.

This, however, is impossible until the life energizes the spirit man and light of God’s truth, until it regains full authority and dominion over the total man. This is what Paul was trying to communicate to the Church in Rome, according to Romans chapter 12:1-3. The faculty of the three personalities of man is patterned to function in harmony, so their victory can be assured against the assault of darkness.

The mind is in no doubt one of the most powerful human faculties, designed within the soul realm by the Lord to help man create, discern, and make wise decisions on various life’s complex issues and challenges. The mind is certainly a creative living force that, if properly nurtured and channeled on the right biblical pathway, will not only accelerate our faith possibilities, but can also enhance redemption, development, and ultimate restoration of all creation.

However, if the mind is neglected, indiscipline, untamed and spiritually malnourished of its required biblical truth, by default of its corrupt fallen nature, it carries enormous influence and capacity to impose its own rebellious agenda on you in a very subtle and unrecognizable manner that can cause you a huge spiritual setback. It is certainly true that whatever you drop within the soil of your mind will germinate, grow, and produce its fruit in multiple folds. It’s only a question of time.

Influencing the thought realm.

“Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;”. I Peter 1:13 NKJV

As we continue with this study, I would like to explore some fundamental spiritual values that could improve our spiritual development, mostly in this era of the third-day reformation of the church and creation.

The epic battle of the Age is focused on the regaining, reforming, and restoration of the lost faculties of man back to the divine order and influence of Christ’s authority and dominion. Whatever kind of war we have seen manifest either from the spiritual or natural realm, all pass through the portal of the human mind. The thoughts shape ideologies that filter into the mind.

There is enough evidence in this current season that Satan and his cohorts intensify their mandate activity through the systemic work of deception, ignorance, and seductive luring to gain full control over the thought, emotion, and imaginative realm of all humans, especially those in key areas of leadership both from domestic life, educational communities, and of cause, corporate governing institutions.

Toddlers and teenagers are not left out from the assault of this satanic attack. From the songs they are exposed to the video games they play, to the cartoons and programs they watch, they are all strategically designed to lure, dull, and capture the innocent minds of our children.

The mission to capture and lock the soul in a state of carnal humanistic pattern of reasoning is very rife in this season. Think of this for a moment. The history of your entire life, your family, and society are all based on the kind of thought pattern that both informed and shaped the decisions that define the present condition of life.

Decisions are made based on our exposure to a particular knowledge or information, which determines or shapes our frame of thinking. The current sociocultural realities, the battle of media propaganda, so-called technological groundbreaking ideas, the extremism of civil wars, religious terrorism, regional destabilization, systemic regional or community marginalization, sociocultural imbalances, racism, xenophobia, poverty, and other forms of complex economic challenges.

The policy of accepted perverse behavioral lifestyle in the 21st-century society, and of cause, the promotion of corrupt leadership both within the church community and the state, to name a few, are all defined by the ideological frame of thought, which determines how society perceives, believes and ultimately decides regarding life.

Since thoughts are the gateway into the human soul, we therefore need to be highly discerning about how thoughts form within our soul, to the point where they become a powerful tool in shaping our perception either for development or destruction. The state of our thought and imagination plays a huge role in the overall makeup of our destiny.

Whatever has become tangible and visible to the human eyes has first been conceived and birthed through a certain frame of thought. The mind is the ground of conception, either good or evil. The unregenerated mind is the portal to all forms of negativity. Meaning, how we choose to live in attitude and character depends on the type of thoughts we are exposed to.

The salvation of our mental faculty is crucial to our spiritual breakthrough and advancement. Where we are today and what we will become in the future will be shaped and highly influenced by the condition of our frame of thought.

There is no doubt that even the best of wisdom and knowledge are influenced by the state of thought. If we are struggling with an unhealthy and unbalanced frame of thought, little or nothing can be achieved in terms of maximizing our spirituality and its related creative and productive capabilities.