In this current series of six messages we’re dealing with the harsh reality that life’s a battle. Very little in life seems to come easily, and there’s very little that we enjoy without the presence of disappointment, hurt, failure, confusion, and a host of other negative factors. Last week we affirmed the fact that the struggles we face are the ramifications of an epic battle that’s largely spiritual in nature. There’s a cosmic conflict going on, and we’re in the middle of it!

That’s what the apostle Paul wrote, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)

We experience this struggle on two battlefronts: we experience outside forces that attack us and we experience inner struggles. Today we’ll look at both of those battles.

THE BATTLE AROUND US
We get hit from all sides. When we look at what’s happening in the world it’s obvious that we live in a war zone. This week there was a horrific example of just how messed up the world is: the massacre of the students at Virginia Tech. Our whole nation (and really the whole world) was overwhelmed by how horrible a human being can be.

Every day brings news of dozens of people killed in suicide bombings in Iraq. In fact, radio and TV newscasts, daily newspapers, internet home pages of various news agencies, and weekly news magazines are all filled with story after story of how messed up our world is.

Recently the reality of this being a fallen world came close to home for our church. On Sunday night someone broke into the church, ransacking the office desks and files in search of cash.

The fact that life’s a battle hits even closer: we face the battle at our jobs with people who treat us badly, and we face it in our extended families with hurt feelings and alienation. We face it in our immediate families with conflict between parents and children, and we face it in our marriages. We face it with our brothers and sisters in Christ within the church. There’s no escaping it: the war zone is wherever we are.

The greatest “people pain” that Jesus experienced was disappointment in His own twelve disciples. The great enemy of God will use those nearest to us — the people we live with, work with, play with, and go to church with — to distract us from being God’s people and doing God’s work.

Psalm 100 says that we’re God’s sheep: “We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” (Psalm 100:3) Sheep can be easily influenced. Just this week in Our Daily Bread, the daily devotional booklet, there was a story about how one sheep outside a Turkish village ran off a cliff — and the whole flock followed. Nearly 1500 sheep plunged off the cliff following that first one. Approximately 450 sheep were killed; the others survived because their fall was cushioned by the fluffy bodies of the first 450.

The Enemy will use those people around us to influence us to do and say things and to adopt attitudes that are not God-pleasing — that take us over the edge. Satan tried to use Peter, one of Jesus’ closest disciples, to influence Jesus to give up on doing God’s will. Jesus had just told His disciples that He was going to be arrested and executed, which was God’s eternal plan. Then “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ he said. ‘You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.’” (Mark 8:32-33) Satan was using Peter to get to Jesus.

Let me try a little experiment. When I say “I’m a gold lock,” you say “I’m a gold key,” and when I say “I’m a silver lock” you say “I’m a silver key,” etc.

Me: “I’m a gold lock.”
You: “I’m a gold key.”
Me: “I’m a silver lock.”
You: “I’m a silver key.”
Me: “I’m a brass lock.”
You: “I’m a brass key.”
Me: “I’m a monk lock.”
You: “I’m a monkey.”

See how easy it was to get you to say something silly? We can influence each other to say and do silly — and far worse, sinful — things. The Evil One knows this, and it’s one of his favorite techniques. Peer pressure can be a real danger.

This is why we need to guard the company we keep. The very first words of the book of Psalms are “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.” (Psalm 1:1) Aren’t we supposed to associate with non-Christians, even sinners (and we’re all sinners), to try to influence them for Christ? Yes, we should — but we have to determine when we’ve stopped influencing them to move toward Christ and they’ve started influencing us away from Christ. The people around us are Satan’s favorite tools of temptation. When we position ourselves to be constantly bombarded by negative, sinful influences, we’re setting ourselves up for failure.

This is why Jesus gives us a very clear command on how to deal with any differences we have with another person — particularly another Christian. We aren’t supposed to go around grumbling to anyone who will listen. Jesus says, “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’” (Matthew 18:15-16) Talk to the person you’re upset with — and if that doesn’t work, you should talk to that person again, this time taking along two or three people who have a neutral perspective on the matter. In the church this should be responsible leadership.

When we talk with other people before we talk to the person involved, guess what kind of people we talk to! We already know who will take our side, and we talk with them. (By the way, when we’re on the receiving end of a tirade against another person, it’s appropriate to break in and ask, “Have you talked to that person about this?” If they haven’t done that, you should reply, “That’s really what you need to do first. I don’t think I want to hear about what’s between the two of you; it’s none of my business.”) We can easily influence each other’s thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions so that they’re not God-glorifying, like the sheep heading over the cliff. That’s not what Jesus commanded!

THE BATTLE WITHIN US
All battles are ultimately inward battles. Ultimately, the battle involves what individual people are thinking and the attitudes they’re adopting. Jesus said, “For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean’.” (Mark 7:21-23) It seems to me that there’s something for everyone in that list: we can all look at it and see at least one thing we’ve struggled with — maybe just this week!

The original battlefield is in our hearts and minds. Every word or action begins as a thought. This is why Proverbs states, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

Picture a village well. It’s the source of fresh water for the village. It’s also a convenient place to dispose of garbage and trash. Do the people of the village use the well for that? Not if they’re thinking straight. Why would you put trash into something that’s used as a source of something fresh and good? Our minds and hearts are like wells. If garbage goes in, garbage will come out.

The modern metaphor of the computer also works here. A computer will only turn out the quality of data that you put into it. If you input the wrong data, you get the wrong answer. If you allow a virus to enter the computer you’ll have all kids of trouble.

BATTLING THOUGHTS, ATTITUDES, AND FEELINGS
The mind and heart become the place where the battle is truly won or lost. The things we often think about evolve into attitudes that affect our feelings. It starts with what we think. The good news is that we’ve been given the power to control our thinking, our attitudes, and our feelings.

If we fixate upon certain thoughts, letting them go around and around in our heads, they gain power and influence, developing into attitudes and influencing how we feel.

I like a Far Side cartoon that pictures a man in a full body cast being visited by a so-called friend. The friend says, “Man, Bernie, you’re a mess! You ain’t itchin’ anywhere, are you? Man, I had a cast on my leg years ago and boy did it itch! Drove me crazy! Y’know what I’m sayin’? ‘Cause you can’t scratch it, y’know. Don’t think about itching anywhere, Bernie, ‘cause it’ll drive you nuts!”

Poor Bernie! Now he will go nuts — unless he distracts himself by watching TV or if he gets a visit from someone who won’t keep bringing up the subject of itching. We can get ourselves into trouble by allowing our thoughts to roam and fixate where they want. However, we have the God-given ability — with the help of the Lord — to control our thinking. Paul wrote, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8) Focus on good thinking. If we just tell ourselves, “I want to think about that,” we’re going to think about it, just like poor Bernie in the cast. However, if we focus on other thoughts, we’ll distract ourselves from the things we shouldn’t be focusing on.

There’s a best-selling book called The Secret. The other day while I was doing some work at the Barnes and Noble café I looked at a copy, primarily because — well, I wanted to know what the secret was! It’s not a Christian book; it’s really new age. Still, some of the stuff in it is all right. The “secret” is the law of attraction, which essentially means that what you think about is what you’ll attract to your life. If you think about trouble you’ll attract trouble; if you think about happiness you’ll attract happiness. As I said, I don’t agree with everything in the book, but there’s a good quote from the book I do agree with because it says essentially what Jesus said and what Paul wrote. “Your current thoughts are creating your future life. What you think about the most or focus on the most will appear as your life.” (p.25) God has given us the gift of being free moral agents, which means that we’ve been given the power to choose — and that begins with choosing what we allow ourselves to think about.

Life is a battle, both outward and inward. The real battle is the inward one, but we can control what we think! Paul wrote, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)

The battle involves what to think, and because it’s a supernatural conflict, we need the Lord’s help. It’s crucial to take responsibility, with that help from God, for what we think about. We should pray what King David prayed; he had allowed himself to think wrong thoughts, and it got him into a lot of trouble. When he came to his senses and was thinking right again, he prayed, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)

We can win the battle for our minds! God can take more and more of the territory there; our minds can be ruled by Him. My question for each person here today is “What do you think?”.