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41. Gratitude as a Weapon in Spiritual Warfare · Believe & Become | Ministry, Biblical Encouragement, God's Will, How to Change, Holy Spirit

• 0:00
  Speaker A: Hey friend, did you know that gratitude is a key to winning the war in your mind? It's true. And Thanksgiving actually shifts our perspective. It is a gateway into God's presence. So today we're going to give you three ways to practice gratitude so that you can win the battle. Let's dive in.
• 0:21
  Speaker B: If you're tired of leading others while secretly battling doubt, discouragement and mental warfare
• 0:26
  Speaker A: and you want practical tools to renew your mind and walk boldly in your
• 0:30
  Speaker B: calling as a leader, you're in the right place. Welcome to believe and become.
• 0:34
  Speaker A: We're Josh and Carina, your spirit filled coaches here to help you overcome those limiting beliefs and lead others confidently.
• 0:41
  Speaker B: If you're ready to hear God's voice more clearly, to step into your purpose and find joy and strength in the
• 0:46
  Speaker A: everyday silence those Bible app reminders judging you from your lock screen and let's jump in.
• 0:58
  Speaker B: Are you feeling stuck, unsure of where God is leading? You're worried that there's something wrong with you because you just can't seem to hear him clearly?
• 1:06
  Speaker A: We spent years stuck in patterns of frustration and disappointment because we just didn't have the clarity or the courage we needed to step forward. We felt like we needed God to part the skies and tell us what to do. We knew God had more for our lives, but we didn't really know who we were in Christ or believe it enough to step into it.
• 1:24
  Speaker B: Friend, you don't have to stay stuck. You were made to hear God's voice. We invite you to come and learn the simple process we use to overcome the limiting beliefs holding you back and hear God clearly for your next steps.
• 1:38
  Speaker A: When we were able to see ourselves as God does and break free from the enemy's lies, our lives changed completely. Where we once walked in fear and discouragement, now we walk in victory. Instead of waking up depleted before the day even starts, we wake up ready to to walk in the fulfillment of our calling.
• 1:57
  Speaker B: So head right now to joshandkarina.com coaching and get started on your path to freedom.
• 2:04
  Speaker A: So we've all heard that the battlefield is your mind. We know that spiritual warfare is a battle over our minds, our thoughts, the way we think, the way we believe. Thanksgiving actually changes the way that we think. It is a huge weapon against the lies of the enemy. And so today we're talking about using gratitude as a weapon, spiritual warfare, and how this little shift can actually change everything.
• 2:31
  Speaker B: Yeah, I remember being in a season where I was just feeling really discouraged and didn't think anything was ever going to change. It felt Like I was just on this hamster wheel of life and I really, really wanted to get off and yeah, just daily just feeling really discouraged, like, God, where are you? What are you doing? How am I going to. I need you to move. And I remember in that season where God really said, I need you to count your blessings. And I started just keeping a journal of writing down all the things that I was thankful for. And what it did was it shifted my perspective from lack what God wasn't doing into oh my gosh. I didn't realize how active God was in my life, how many different things he was doing on a daily basis. I would have things that, oh my gosh, God's speaking into this situation, this door opened, this person perspective in my life changed and I realized he was rewiring my brain to think about what he was doing. This is such a powerful tool in spiritual warfare. We know that just like Karina said, the battle is in our minds. In Second Corinthians, Paul tells us that our weapons are not carnal, they're not of this world. But then he goes to talk about they're powerful in the spirit for breaking down arguments. He talks about strongholds. It's all talking about things that are actually happening in our mind. And I think that so many times in spiritual warfare where we're rebuking, we're binding, we're doing all the things that we have been taught to do, but sometimes it's just really in our thoughts because the enemy likes to plant little lies in there. And then he backs off and says, okay, my work's done. You know, you're just gonna think the wrong thoughts constantly. And so once we get aware of what we're thinking, we to change those thoughts with the help of God's grace, then that's when we really start to think differently. And so part of that is being grateful for all that God is doing. And I know maybe it's a little cliche to have a gratitude journal, but it really works and you don't even have to do it on a daily basis. Although I think just moment by moment, being connected with God and saying, God, thank you for my family, thank you that we're taken care of, thank you, Lord, that you're working this situation out that can be so, so powerful in our. In that warfare that we're waging in
• 5:09
  Speaker A: our minds, I think it's important to recognize often that that battle in our minds is based on lies. And a lot of times those lies come like nothing's ever going to change. Bad things always happen to me. Why am I the one that fill in the blank? Right. It's just this constant barrage of woe is me. When we can start to shift that perspective from I'm, everything bad always happens to me. It's, this is woe is me, blah, blah, blah. And we start to go, actually, what is the one thing that I can see God doing? Because God's always doing something. He's always in our situation. He's always in our lives. And so recognizing, oh, I woke up and I wasn't in pain this morning, or my. My kid came and gave me a hug for no reason. Like, there's just so many little things that we can know is the hand of God. And so when we start to shift that perspective from focusing on all of the negativity to focusing on the one good thing that God is doing, and then we can thank Him. I like to think of Thanksgiving as focusing on what God has done or is doing. And so even if you don't see what God is doing right now, you can see what God has done in the past. And so where has he delivered you? Where has he brought you out? Where has he healed you? Where has he done miracles in your life? Thank him for those things. Because even in that Thanksgiving and the remembering, you are shifting your perspective and you're rewiring your brain. So you're gonna win the battle. And it's just so beautiful.
• 6:45
  Speaker B: Yeah. God always sets us up for victory. He doesn't set us up to fail. He gives us the grace. He gives us his supernatural power to win these battles. You're gonna succeed. You're gonna win as long as you fight the fight with his help.
• 6:58
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 6:59
  Speaker B: And God actually brought this back to me, this idea of Thanksgiving. In the last couple of weeks, he's been speaking to me about it. One thing I sensed him saying to me is that you could be in the middle of your greatest blessing and miss it because you didn't stop to give thanks. I'll say it again. You could be in the middle of your greatest blessing and miss it because you didn't stop to give thanks. And I found that to be really true. We can get so laser focused on my circumstance right now. What are the challenges that I'm struggling with right now? It's so hard. God, where are you? What are you doing? But then gratitude. We kind of, like zoom back and we see the big picture. God shows us the big picture. I just feel like when we realize we're seated in heaven with Jesus, you can See the big picture. And that's what gratitude does. It helps us see the big picture and not get so laser focused on the current challenge. It's like, oh, this is actually part of a huge story of what God is doing in my life. This process that he's brought me, he's taking me through in order to be victorious. And I can see time and time again from the beginning, challenge after challenge, God has showed up and helped me. He's delivered me, he's brought me into the right with the right people, the right situations. He's opened the right doors, and God is doing that for you today. Zoom back, take the big picture, look at your life, and realize God's faithfulness has never changed. From when you were born to today. He continues to be faithful. And that's what just remembering his testimonies, what he's done in your life, what he's done in other people's lives, the stories of God's deliverance throughout the Bible, that is God's testimony. And you can be thankful for all of those things. And it releases the power of what God has done in the past to work in your life today.
• 8:57
  Speaker A: Yeah, that's amazing. I love that God does that. He's like, I'm not just faithful back then. I'm faithful forever. And so he is going to continue to show his faithfulness. And when we practice that gratitude for what he's done, then we actually grab ahold of that faithfulness for our current season. That's amazing. Psalm 100, verse 4 is kind of this quintessential verse for talking about worship. And I love to think about worship as spiritual warfare. I love to really just engage in the battle with worship because obviously we're worship leaders. If you didn't know that, that is something that the Lord has always. It's always been a key and a tool for my life. But this verse says, enter his gates of thanksgiving and his with praise. Give thanks unto him and praise his name. So we have this combination of Thanksgiving and praise. But this idea of Thanksgiving being the gateway into his presence is so huge and so vital. When you think about. As worship leaders, we're constantly thinking about, where are people coming from on a Sunday morning, Right? And we're people, too. So let me tell you, if somebody is going to get sick, have a rough night, like, if we're gonna have a kid who, like, suddenly has a random rash or, you know, is just vomiting for no reason, it's gonna be Sunday morning. Like, it just happens. And we know it's Hard to get out the door if they're gonna melt down. I had this one. I think it was a Tuesday Bible study, but it's kind of the same where I was going to minister. And it was just like my oldest son, he was probably six, I think he. He just could not put his shoes on. And I was ready to just lose it. And it was like, I would get one shoe on and he had the other sock off, and I would get that one back on. I mean, we were back and forth. And this is not like, you know, rambunctious child. He is very. He loves to follow the rules and make you happy, but we were just having a day. And it's just one of those things we recognize as worship leaders. When you come into the sanctuary, you're coming from all different places, and I think that God recognizes that as well. When you come into his court, he knows you were stuck in traffic. He knows you got in an argument on the way. He knows that your kid, you know, threw up all over your house or whatever it might be. He understands. And so he says, come to my presence with Thanksgiving. Because in. In the midst of all of the crazy, Thanksgiving is the thing that's going to shift you. It's not like you can't get in. You have to say your thank yous in order to get in. No, it's. I'm helping you shift your perspective so that you can come into my presence. You can let go of all of the nonsense that just happened on the way. And we try to do that on Sunday mornings. You know, we're like, let's come in. Let's give thanks. What has the Lord done for you? And start from that place. Because what it does is it. It shifts the way that you think from all of the things that just happened on the way to the offer your praise, to give your sacrifice, to come into his presence. All of those things, they're just gonna fade away. Because as I give thanks, then I'm. I'm focusing in on what God has done. I'm zooming out from my life, but actually I get this laser focus on who God is and what he's done. And so recognize that if you're trying. If you feel like my prayer times feel stale or, you know, I get to church and it takes me to, like, the fourth song, and then we're done. You know, start with Thanksgiving on your way to church, on your way in the door, start thanking God for what he's doing in your life, because Thanksgiving sets our gaze on Him. And it reminds us what he has done for us.
• 12:32
  Speaker B: I love this idea of Thanksgiving being a gateway. What is a gate? You think about if you go from your front yard to your backyard, there's usually a gate. And so you're entering into something brand new. You're in a new area, someplace where you haven't been before. If you think about when you drive up to a park or you drive up to, like, a beautiful national park, there's always a gate. Yeah, you drive up to the gate, you get to step through the gate, and then you step into. You know, I just. I'm thinking about Yosemite Valley, just how beautiful it is, just the glory of God's creation. And I think that that's what Thanksgiving does. That's what this verse is saying. If you want to enter into new areas of revelation, you want to deepen your relationship with the Lord, Thanksgiving is. Is the start. It's the gateway to that. I know it seems maybe counterintuitive to think about the past, to get into the future of what God has for you, but I didn't make the rules. God created us. He knows how he made us to be. And so he's telling you, you want to enter into my gates, come with Thanksgiving, and it'll get you in there. And I know for my life, so many times when I start thanking God, that's when the revelation comes, because it gives us the right perspective. It gives us that perspective that God is faithful. God is doing things. He is moving. He is for Me, not against me. He is for you, not against you. And so practice that Thanksgiving, that it will lead you into new areas of your relationship with God. You'll discover things that you didn't realize. If we count our blessings, we really get to see and understand what God is doing right now.
• 14:18
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 14:19
  Speaker B: It's so important for us. I love this idea that Thanksgiving as a gateway, it continues to unlock deeper places in our relationship with God. If you think of Thanksgiving is the key. You walk up to the gate, you're going to turn that key, and you get to open those gates and go deeper in with the Lord. And I feel like there is this process of he just keeps taking us deeper and deeper as we thank Him. Sometimes we're looking for, I need something brand new. I need something, you know, to get that new revelation or that. Whatever I need for today. Sometimes it's looking back that God says, remember, I'm faithful.
• 14:57
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 14:57
  Speaker B: Remember, I'm working. Remember that I'm moving. Remember that I'm never going to leave you or forsake you. I'm taking care of you in every way possible. And even when the struggle feels hard, I'm there with you. I'm faithful, and I'm working it out. I am working out my promises and my purpose for you every single day.
• 15:18
  Speaker A: So how do we practice this? We promised three easy steps to practice this on a regular basis. And we actually drew this from Psalm 119. And there's three kind of little things that you can do on a regular basis to just practice gratitude. Every day as you go about your business, you can be practicing gratitude, thanking God for what he's done and what he's doing. And the first one is to meditate on his wonderful work. Psalm 119:27 says, I meditate on your wonderful works. So we think about, or we rehearse in our minds what God has done. Now you can kind of compare this to when you have a conversation that goes little south, or when you make a bad decision and there's consequences. And then we rehearse that in our mind, right? We think about the. We replay the conversation over and over. And I should have said this, and then they would have said that, and then, you know, whatever, or if I just hadn't have done that, then this wouldn't have happened. And so we. We have this kind of rehearsal in our mind of, of the situation. And so we want to turn that to rehearsing the good things that God has done. So we, we remember when you're driving down that road where you. By the car. Oh, God, thank you for that time that you. You saved me and I didn't get, you know, into a car accident. God, thank you that you're my protector. Thank you for the things that you've done. Or when you pick up your. Your child from school. And God, thank you that my child is still here. Then thank you that they got over that disease or that, you know, whatever it might be. We remember the things that God has brought us out of. And so we meditate on what he has done. But then also just this idea of appreciating how God actually works, what he's made in creation, the way that he delivers. Even if you have to go back to the Bible and say, God, you delivered your people in the Bible, you are a deliverer. Right? We thank him. We appreciate who he is and what he does. And that allows us to shift that perspective of focusing on the negative to focusing on the positive and to express gratitude on a regular basis.
• 17:32
  Speaker B: Yeah, that's verse 27. It talks about meditating on God's wonderful works. If you skip ahead a couple verses to verse 30, it says, I've set my heart on your laws. Some translations actually say, I've set my heart on your judgments. And so this is just saying we're going to lean into his laws, his commandments, the ways that he operates. I've set my heart on the way that you function. And it's all spelled out throughout His Word. So we're setting our heart on His Word, on the way that he operates. He put the universe into action. He set up all of the laws of nature, of physics. All of that is part of God's character. And he has laws for how everything's going to operate. And part of our joy in life is to discover and understand those laws, those principles, like the law of sowing and reaping. That's one that I read about that probably hundreds of times in the Bible. And I was like, okay, that's kind of cool. That's an actual law. You reap what you sow, and you just read it over and over in the Bible. So if we're sowing good seed, we're going to reap good crops. It's the same thing. So just setting your heart on the different ways that God operates is key. And then it helps us to see the bigger picture, because God is operating always behind the scenes. He has his best for you every single day. And the other thing is just to say, even when I don't understand, I'm still going to give thanks. I'm going to yield to your truth. Because God's truth, it doesn't change. His laws don't change. And so that actually gives our heart so much peace when we realize God has set this up, he's not going to change. That gives me peace. We've set our heart on a firm foundation that is so key. That's going to change our perspective on life. It's going to give you incredible peace and confidence to move forward in your life.
• 19:29
  Speaker A: Yeah. And then verse 31 says, I cling to your testimonies. And it's this idea of being glued. I'm holding on to what you've done in the past, to the promises you've declared over my life. I am glued to your testimonies. We start with meditating on his wonderful works, the things that he's done and how he works. We set our heart on his laws and his commands and his judgments. And then we cling to the testimonies of what he has done in the past and the promised that he's declared over our lives. It's such a great picture of being glued, right? We have a now 7 year old and he likes to play that game where he just hangs on for dear life to your leg and you know, you have to kind of drag him around the house until he's done being glued. It's that idea of like, God, I'm glued to you and I'm not letting go. I'm hanging on for dear life because everything that you've promised me, everything that you've done for me, that is what my life, that is what propels me forward and it keeps me going in the right direction.
• 20:30
  Speaker B: I love to just thank God for what he's done. Thank him for those testimonies throughout my life. God, you did this. You did this. What you're doing right now, when we activate thankfulness, that is such a powerful weapon to get us unstuck, to get us out of discouragement, to get us out of anxiety and fear. That is a key. It moves us into the peace of God because we know that he's faithful. And I love just to activate in my prayer life Thanksgiving. God heard the prayer the first time and he sent the answer for your prayer. So you don't have to keep asking him over and over again like he didn't, like he didn't hear it in the first place. How many times do we do that? We pray for the same thing over and over and over. God, please move in this situation. We don't have to do that. He heard the first time and he has dispatched his angels. He's dispatched answers on your behalf. They're on the way. And so start thanking him for that. Say, God, I thank you that this prayer is being answered. Thank you that you're taking care of my kids. Thank you that you're moving in our finances. Thank you that you're providing that job that I need. Thank you, God, that you are moving in my prayers. He's not far away. He's not turning a deaf ear to you. Your prayers aren't just bouncing off the ceiling. He heard what you asked for. And it's just like the tracking number. You order something on Amazon, it's coming. You know it's coming. You've got the tracking number. You can see it getting closer and closer to you. And unlike Amazon or UPS or any of those delivery services, he's not going to drop the ball. He doesn't lose your package. It's showing up now. We don't always know when it's going to show up, but it's on the way. We know that he is faithful and he's always going to answer our prayers.
• 22:18
  Speaker A: Yeah, Thanksgiving infuses our prayers with hope, so we can pray with hope. We talk about delighting in the Lord. You know, it's hard to do that when you feel like your situation is not where you want it to be. But we can delight in him because we know the answer's on the way, because we know that he's gonna come through like he always does. And when we meditate on his works and we cl the testimonies and we remember how he operates, you can't help but go, God's going to come through. He has always been faithful. He has always shown up and he's gonna do it again. And so whatever you're facing today, whatever situation you are in, you can know that God is on the move. He is on the way. He is moving on your behalf. He is working even when you don't see Him. God is doing something good for you. And so we just encourage you today to begin to recount the bl. The deliverance, the every good thing that God has done for you. Begin to thank him for those things and see if your feelings don't start to come into line, if you don't start to feel more hopeful and more joyful and more anticipatory of what God will do. Because He's a good God. His name is faithful and true, and he has good things for you.
• 23:35
  Speaker B: And I just sense God's grace coming over you right now to increase, to accelerate your ability in gratitude. It's a skill. It's something that we actually can work on and get better at. And God is giving you his grace to move into areas of gratitude and thanksgiving that you never thought possible. And to see him from. It's like from different perspectives. You can see him from all different ways. Will never fully grasp all of God's character, but he's giving you the ability to see him in new ways through gratitude right now and to move out of discouragement, to move forward in your life. He is giving you his power, which is fueled by gratitude for what he's done in the past and is doing right now. So we just bless you, remember, meditate on his wonderful works, set your heart on his laws or his judgments and cling to his testimonies that is going to be so powerful in your life. We just bless you in Jesus name.
• 24:43
  Speaker A: Hey, friend. We hope you enjoyed today's episode. If so, would you take 30 seconds to share this podcast with someone who may need encouragement or practical tools for fighting their battle.
• 24:53
  Speaker B: Then rate and review this podcast. Help us spread the message of transformation far and wide.
• 24:59
  Speaker A: All right, time to walk back into the noise with peace, purpose, and maybe a tiny bit of caffeine.
• 25:04
  Speaker B: We'll meet you back next Thursday for another episode.
• 25:07
  Speaker A: Bye.