Read Time: 11 Minutes
Walls are created as a boundary. But more importantly, they are built as a protection from the outside. But walls are inanimate objects. True protection, requires God, people & action. We need appointed judges & officers of the law, we need justice and righteousness.
Sticking with the metaphor. We need active protection in addition to the inactive protection of walls and boundaries.
Sure, creating walls or barriers between us and evil are good. But we are not dealing with evil forces that simply turn back at barriers. Therefore, we must fight them with more powerful supernatural forces.
“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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 6:11-12 NIV
Note the action-oriented verbiage above. We are not taught to sit still. We are not taught to think our way to salvation. We are required to WORK it out. We are required to ACT!
This section continues with even more actions and specifically, the ways we need to act. Albeit in metaphor form and with levels to each scripture, the point is clear.
“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”
Ephesians 6:13-20 NIV
All of the verbs (actions) above should be jumping out!
And It should be clear that all actions must be grounded in Him and His WORD. This is the sole (or soul) source of truth. Our faith must take roots in scripture. And we must pray endlessly and fearlessly!
Furthermore, Rabbi Paul teaches us a specific strategy to take every thought captive. This is far more active than it sounds. For once we take the thought captive we must do something with it! We don’t want to keep that thought or try to resist it. Psychologists have proven that this only makes things worse.
We have to make the thought obedient to Christ. But what does this really mean? On the surface, it would make sense that we should recite some scriptural truth that denounces evil. This certainly works. This is the weed killer that destroys bad plants. But as we will read below, it should go much deeper than that. We need to go to the roots, to the seeds.
We need to build up defenses similar to that of our immune system. When we build our immune system, it acts automatically. Though we get sick, we overcome the sickness and are stronger for it. Then next time, our body naturally destroys the virus or bacteria using its God-given defenses.
Join me in discovering the deeper wisdom here and how we can truly take action against evil and build automatic and sound protection based on scripture!
“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV
Shoftim Torah Portion
The very first verse of the portion Shoftim starts off with is:
““You are to appoint judges and officers for all your gates in the cities Adonai your God is giving you, tribe by tribe; and they are to judge the people with righteous judgment.”
D’varim (Deu) 16:18 CJB
In fact, Rabbi Chaim Richman has a beautiful discourse on this verse alone which can be found here. I will do my best to capture the essence of what he discussed, but I strongly recommend each of you taking the time to watch it.
Rabbi Richman notes that we are all cities (following the metaphor above). And like the gates of each city we all have five senses, which act as gates to our soul.
Our eyes are the windows to our souls. Seeing is believing. Haven’t we heard these phrases. We must protect our eyes from evil. The first glance may be accidental, but the second is in our control.
The same goes for all other senses. He describes the ears as a sacred portal, as the verb Shema (obey) literally means to listen.
Rabbi Richman points out that our words have the power to build or destroy. We create entire worlds with our words.
“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”
Proverbs 18:21 NIV
Touch likewise can heal or harm. And although, we may not realize it, our nose may be the most powerful tool we have. It controls our breath, which has proven to have significant health implications when used improperly and potent potential for healing when used correctly. For God breathed the breath of life through our nostrils!
“Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
Genesis 2:7 NIV
And as such it is important to implement judges and officers to protect each of these gates. Filter what you watch. Cover your ears from the blasts of nonsense. Breathe in HIS goodness.
You are a city. Stand alert and stand guard!
Guarding your MIND
There are two main types of enemies that we guard ourselves from. The external and the internal. There are certainly powerful, external evil forces that we have to battle against – no doubt, as mentioned above. BUT most of the time the battle is mostly within ourselves!
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman sums this up both poetically and perfectly below in a piece entitled “Win from above”:
Who are your enemies?
Confusion. Depression. Mindless obsessions. And other wild beasts.
Where do they live?
Inside you.
Why are you fighting them?
Not to destroy them, but to tame them, to harness their energies and transform them into trustworthy domesticated creatures.
How will you engage them?
From above.
Because you must know that you are not them. You are not your confusion. You are not your depression. As madly as those wild beasts may drive you, they are not you.
You, at your very core, stand beyond them, in another realm altogether.
Believe in your own true self. From there you will be able to pull those beasts upward.
-Likutei Sichot vol. 2, pg. 384.
The taming part caught me off guard. But if they are part of us and our evil inclination from birth, we cannot eradicate a part of ourselves. We must make them obedient to Christ, the Living Word of God, as the title scripture states!
For this, there is a powerful tool that I believe is grounded in scripture called NLP or Neural Linguistic Programming. God created our bodies as awesome healing machines – both inside and out. As we can heal ourselves, so we can heal the world. But to do so first we have to heal our mind and our heart.
In essence, NLP (which we will cover in another post) can be broken down into the mind (or neuro), language (linguistics) and behavioral patterns or steps / actions (programming). On a very high level, you can think of it like coding (if you have ever coded), where you give yourself a list of instructions to follow (input) to reach a certain output. In layman’s terms, you first need to start with creating the image or story in your mind (mental visualization or ‘self talk’) to start to re-wire your brain and body to connect elements to action. Tony Robbins talks about NLP in a way that you create a certain ‘state’ for your self. You might have heard the terminology ‘state of mind.’ This is the same wavelength (see what I did there).
Nevertheless, there are several key ways you can utilize NLP for godly purposes (which we will cover in the next post):
- Renewing your mind with God’s Word & Prayer
- Anchoring daily habits to Scripture & Holiness
- Shape Reality with Positive Statements – BE A LIGHT!
- Break ungodly patterns using pattern interrupts
- Create positive mental states with Holy Imagination
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform 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. For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”
Romans 12:1-5 NIV
Think and act, think and act. Rinse and repeat. Note the cycle (as always)!
And again, the idea is to understand the power of our mind that God has created to shape not just our outer world, but our inner world as well. Use what God has given you for good and for HIS glory. And remember protect and guard are action words!
Guarding your HEART
Let’s take this protection and guarding one layer deeper. And as we go deeper, I want you to take everything above to heart (see what I did there). By allowing good food to digest, we absorb all of the nutrients necessary for daily function. By absorbing God’s word, we soften our heart and strengthen our soul. Everything is a cycle, but this is one of most important ones. Aligning our heart to God’s should be priority one.
Looking to the heart of it all, the following is one of my favorite sections of the Bible. It is packed with so much wisdom. Glean as much as you can from each verse. In fact, I find something new each time…
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 4:4-7 NIV
Did you SEE and HEAR that! If not read it again.
If any of you grew up singing “Bible songs”, you may have come across at some point a song called “I’ve got the Joy.” The lyrics go like this (you will start to get the point here).
I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart
Where?
Down in my heart!
Where?
Down in my heart!
I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart
Down in my heart to stay
When joy fills our heart, it is the only thing that will spill out. The command above to rejoice is so nice he repeats it twice! And repetition normally indicates importance! He who has ears let him HEAR.
That’s because when we show others how happy we are, they not only want to be around us, they want to be happy too! They want to learn how to be happy. So we can teach them about the gospel and about how great God is!
And why does this guard our heart? Because if you only have joy in your heart, there is no room for pessimism, doubt, anxiety, or any other negative thoughts to seep from our mind. Same thing for the friends and company you keep by the way.
Rejoicing is our first line of attack. And our deep threat offense (football reference), or our strategic playbook, is prayer.
Thank God for everything you have. Gratefulness leads to rejoicing.
Pray about any anxieties you have. For He will give you peace, which transcends all your understanding.
For these are not my words but Rabbi Paul’s, inspired by God.
We have to take the strategies He gives us and implement them. And after we implement them, share them. Memorize them by heart. Only then will we be able to stave the powers at bay, and be a light to the world in the process.
Our hearts are the source of all life, all of our thoughts and all of our actions – literally.
Our eyes and minds are the windows to our heart. Protect these and when we experience heartache or enemy attacks, use godly defenses to win the battle.
But rejoice because the future war has already been won!!
“Finally, brothers and sisters, 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. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
Philippians 4:8-9 NIV
“My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
Proverbs 4:20-23 NIV
Takeaways to make a way…
- Everything flows from the Heart; Guard your Heart and watch what you let in your gates, but especially what you let settle in.
- Rejoice! I’ll say it again Rejoice! The war is already won.
- Utilize NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming) in a godly way to help win the war in your mind and in your world through converting into action.
- You are a city; guard your gates.
- Guard your senses, these are the gates to your city.
- Build up your godly defenses to become automatic like your immune system; nourish your body and mind to help fight off attackers.
- Take up the full armor of God; understand what this really means.
Further Study with your Buddy…
To help understand further neurological processes and how to rewire our brains and our logic, read: The Chukat Concept
Learn how to develop a Seek First Mindset: God’s Plan Part 2: SEEK FIRST the Kingdom of God
Go back to the beginning and read Love, a Millennial Manifesto
Questions for Reflection…
- What can you be more grateful for to help rejoicing?
- Do you keep a daily gratefulness log? Or something similar?
- Which of your gates / senses are most susceptible to attack?
- How can you build your defenses up in those areas?
- What are you letting sink into your heart that should be caught captive?
- Are you letting any anxiety or worry camp in your gates? If yes, how can you fight these beasts with godly wisdom?
- What is one takeaway you can implement today?
godlyyy 
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