Freedom in Christ Leader's Guide by Neil T. Anderson

Author:Neil T. Anderson [T. Anderson, Neil and Steve Goss]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Christian Living / Spiritual Growth, REL023000, REL012000
ISBN: 9781493415229
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2017-09-09T04:00:00+00:00

Guard Our Minds

Then we need to guard our minds, to be careful what we allow into them.

There are a lot of Eastern influences coming into the business world, schools, and even churches, that are spiritually dangerous. A lady wrote to Freedom In Christ saying that she attended an inner-healing seminar in her church and participated in a process called guided imagery. Instead of getting better she got worse and eventually she was taken through The Steps To Freedom In Christ.

She says:

It was an awesome encounter with the love of our heavenly father like I have never experienced before. At the beginning of the session, with the help of the loving, gentle pastor, the Lord revealed a spirit guide that had gained entrance during the inner healing guided imagery. I had learned to look forward to his presence in my prayer life in the form of a purple light that guided me in many situations. I had often shared with my pastor my color purple. He believed it was from the Lord and didn’t recognize it as demonic either. We were both deceived.

As a result of this demonic guide, my marriage ended, my son is alienated from me and I am alienated from my church. Now as a result of an encounter with truth I am free in Christ.

It’s concerning when such practices enter our church. The psalmist said, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me” (Psalm 139:23–24). It’s good to invite God to search our heart. However, we are never told to direct our thoughts inward or passively but always outward and actively. Even in 1 Corinthians 14, the definitive chapter on tongues and prophecy, Paul says if you pray with your spirit, you should also pray with your mind.

We open ourselves up to deception when we put our mind into neutral. That’s what other religions do. For example, Maharishi Yogi, a Hindu, says, “The mind is like a snake. You have to get it out of the way so that you can perceive truth directly.”

We never want to deny any supernatural work of God in our lives, but He does not bypass our minds — He works through them.

Turn On The Light

Some people are concerned to know whether the thoughts in their mind are from the enemy or not. That’s the wrong question. The real issue is not where the thought came from but whether it’s true! We are told to, “take every thought captive.” (2 Corinthians 10:5). I don’t care if it is coming from my memory, the TV, the internet, or a deceiving spirit. If it is not true, I’m not believing it!

One lady was constantly rebuking thoughts in her mind — I mean constantly: “I rebuke that thought in Jesus’ name.” It’s good that she was aware of the reality of the spiritual world but do we need to keep checking our thoughts and rebuking the enemy every five minutes to see if he has put a thought into our mind? No.

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