DAY 4 - Your Mindset is Everything
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
(2 Corinthians 10:5, KJV).
Key scriptures
If you, then though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Matthew 7:11 (NIV)
I know the plans I have in mind for you, declares the Lord; they are plans for peace, not disaster, to give you a future filled with hope.
Psalms 29:11
Psychological warfare is a deadly assault which can mortally wound its opponent. Satan is a master at assaulting the minds of God’s people. 2 Corinthians 10:5 (KJV) says, “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
Your mindset in this season is crucial and tearing down strongholds is a necessary process if you are going to conquer, advance and recover all. A stronghold is a place where a cause or belief is strongly defended or upheld. It is a false argument in which a person seeks shelter (a safe place) to escape reality. Many times, you are not technically fighting a person or a spirit but a mindset.
The word imagination means, “Faculty of the mind which forms and manipulates images.” You see yourself buried in shame; God died so you can hold a place of honor. You see yourself stuck in a cycle of poverty; Jesus died so you can be rich; You feel rejected, but God says you are loved and accepted. It is important to remind yourself Satan always attacks you with opposites. Whatever the accusation, believe and confess the opposite.
Your mindset in this period of grace is going to be paramount. What you think about God and what you think about yourself is crucial. So many people self-sabotage because they do not believe they deserve what God is going to give them. I decree that you will no longer sabotage yourself because you deserve everything God is doing for you. What He does for you is not based on your goodness but on the sacrificial blood of Jesus. Matthew 7:11 (NIV) says,
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
A mindset is an established set of attitudes that a person follows. Shifting your mindset and renewing it to the word of God is going to be necessary if you want to take advantage of the finisher’s anointing. Satan’s job is to twist and manipulate the word of God to hinder you from moving forward.
Stanford University Psychologist, Carol Dweck, after years of research, discovered that people possess one of two mindsets; a growth mindset or a fixed mindset. Below is the outcome of her research.
In a fixed mindset, people believe their essential qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort. They’re wrong.
In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities.
Joshua and the children of Israel had a growth mindset. They were strategic in their advancement, and they continued to glean from the wisdom of God. They saw their obstacle as an opportunity. They never thought that their abilities alone could get the job done. They had to believe that they were moving from a dry place into a land of abundance. Just because your environment changes doesn’t mean you have altered the way you think.
We are constantly reminded in scripture to control the traffic that comes in our minds. Philippians 4:6 admonishes us what we are to think on. I decree this is the season you mentally move into a place of abundance, purpose, wholeness, provision and divine health. Everything in this season that God promised you is yours, and you are apprehending it by faith.
PROPHETIC INSTRUCTION:
Ask the Holy Spirit to identify mindsets or patterns that are hindering you from moving into where God wants you to be.
Are you struggling with condemnation, false ideations, suicidal thoughts, depression, oppression, misinterpretation of the scriptures, or things that have been spoken over you in the past? Whatever the hindrance, it is demonic, and this is the season to cast those thoughts down and take dominion.