The Mind Attacked
by J. Boyd Nicholson Sr.
The mind, that citadel of the personality, is under attack! While governments encourage the building of shelters to preserve a percentage of the population from the devastation of atomic warfare; the great enemy of mankind, the devil is already in the process of using a more subtle and terrifying form of destruction. It is slow. It is sinister, and in so many cases, tragically effective. It is for the control of the MIND.
There was a time when it was the body he attacked. The lions, the rack, the stake and the sword all took their toll of faithful saints. Yet the voice of the martyrs’ blood called saints to greater godliness and ready sacrifice.
Now, it’s different. The enemy knows that if he can embattle the mind ‘til it wearies in the fray, he will have reduced a saint to a place of uselessness and discouragement. Doubts and fears will pervade the personality and the impact of a life for God will be well nigh lost.
How does the enemy accomplish this? What are his devices? His means are legion but his aim is simple – PRE-OCCUPATION.
He plans to step up his attack on the already too busy saint. The PRESSURE of BUSINESS, the PROBLEMS of LIFE, and should there be a respite from these, he will endeavour to fill up the rest with the PLEASURES of the WORLD.
He knows that the long stress of conflict is infinitely more devastating than the flash and crash of a frontal attack.
A drop by drop of molten poison, pound by pound of crushing pressure, inch by inch of occupation he overwhelms the mind as it reels and staggers, scarcely realizing what is taking place.
What then is the answer? (“if there is an answer” the fainting soul whispers.) How can this wily enemy be dealt with? How can the mind be preserved?
Again, the principle is simple, but the practice of it is often difficult. It is indeed a warfare.
The answer is the driving of the mind to CONTEMPLATE CHRIST. When the insidious effects of the enemy’s wiles are felt, when the fever of life is at a pitch, when it seems that the “last straw” has long since been buried by a dozen more and the mind has reached the limits of endurance — “Consider HIM ... lest ye be wearied and faint...” (Heb. 12:3).
The occupation of the mind with Jesus Christ is the balm that heals, the Divine “sedative” that soothes, the “diversion” that loosens the bands of tension and refreshes the mind for its rightful duties and contemplation.
There was a time when it was the body he attacked. The lions, the rack, the stake and the sword all took their toll of faithful saints. Yet the voice of the martyrs’ blood called saints to greater godliness and ready sacrifice.
Now, it’s different. The enemy knows that if he can embattle the mind ‘til it wearies in the fray, he will have reduced a saint to a place of uselessness and discouragement. Doubts and fears will pervade the personality and the impact of a life for God will be well nigh lost.
How does the enemy accomplish this? What are his devices? His means are legion but his aim is simple – PRE-OCCUPATION.
He plans to step up his attack on the already too busy saint. The PRESSURE of BUSINESS, the PROBLEMS of LIFE, and should there be a respite from these, he will endeavour to fill up the rest with the PLEASURES of the WORLD.
He knows that the long stress of conflict is infinitely more devastating than the flash and crash of a frontal attack.
A drop by drop of molten poison, pound by pound of crushing pressure, inch by inch of occupation he overwhelms the mind as it reels and staggers, scarcely realizing what is taking place.
What then is the answer? (“if there is an answer” the fainting soul whispers.) How can this wily enemy be dealt with? How can the mind be preserved?
Again, the principle is simple, but the practice of it is often difficult. It is indeed a warfare.
The answer is the driving of the mind to CONTEMPLATE CHRIST. When the insidious effects of the enemy’s wiles are felt, when the fever of life is at a pitch, when it seems that the “last straw” has long since been buried by a dozen more and the mind has reached the limits of endurance — “Consider HIM ... lest ye be wearied and faint...” (Heb. 12:3).
The occupation of the mind with Jesus Christ is the balm that heals, the Divine “sedative” that soothes, the “diversion” that loosens the bands of tension and refreshes the mind for its rightful duties and contemplation.
Think on Him;
His Name, His fame,
His sufferings and shame
And all the beauties of His countenance.
His majesty, His excellence,
His glory and the story
Of His matchless
Boundless
Love!
Think on Him.
His Name, His fame,
His sufferings and shame
And all the beauties of His countenance.
His majesty, His excellence,
His glory and the story
Of His matchless
Boundless
Love!
Think on Him.
