Who is the Master of Your Mind? Defeating the Spiritual Terrorist in Your Life

There is something to be said about the effectiveness of intimidation. It knows how to tap in to our insecurities, keeps pricking our skin as we pursue something beautiful, meaningful, God-given.

It is the thorn keeping you from the rose.

It is the weapon of the bully because it works.

I've said it before... evil is not smart enough to create a new strategy when the old ones work on us so well.

Bullies are rampant in our society. We all at some point have been held back or hesitated because of their strong-arm tactics. And yes, like children at recess the attack can be literal. But the real battle is not in what we see, but what we allow to play in and plague our thoughts.

Never mind who you're fighting on the playground.

Who is the master of your mind?

In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. So Hezekiah king of Judah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: “I have done wrong. Withdraw from me, and I will pay whatever you demand of me.” The king of Assyria exacted from Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents [11 tons] of silver and thirty talents [1 ton] of gold. So Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the temple of the Lord and in the treasuries of the royal palace. At this time Hezekiah king of Judah stripped off the gold with which he had covered the doors and doorposts of the temple of the Lord, and gave it to the king of Assyria. ~ 2 Kings 18:13-16 (New International Version)

Assyrian King Sennacherib (meaning "brambled" or "thorny") lived true to his name. He was a thorn in the side of the Israelites. By this time, the kingdom was divided into Judah and Israel. Israel has been taken captive by Sennacherib. King Hezekiah and Judah were next. Hezekiah was so intimidated by the potential of defeat that he gave Sennacherib all he wanted, even the gold covering the door and the doorposts of the temple that he and the people worked so hard to restore.

He thought it would be enough. It wasn't.

Sennacherib was not coming for the kingdom's wealth. He wanted to dominate the king's mind.

You can't reason with a bully. Bullies must be conquered.

But how? How do you make God the Master of your mind?

Two things are necessary to take back what God gave you: