{"id":663,"date":"2018-09-28T02:43:24","date_gmt":"2018-09-28T02:43:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/?p=663"},"modified":"2018-09-29T02:47:57","modified_gmt":"2018-09-29T02:47:57","slug":"663","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/2018\/09\/663.html","title":{"rendered":"Where is the Primary Battleground For My Freedom? (10 Steps to Freedom Week 4 Day 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_664\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-664\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-664\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/403\/2018\/09\/donald-giannatti-552016-unsplash-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"unsplash-logoDonald Giannatti\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-664\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a style=\"background-color: black;color: white;text-decoration: none;padding: 4px 6px;font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'San Francisco', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, 'Segoe UI', Arial, sans-serif;font-size: 12px;font-weight: bold;line-height: 1.2\" title=\"Download free do whatever you want high-resolution photos from Donald Giannatti\" href=\"https:\/\/unsplash.com\/@wizwow?utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=photographer-credit&amp;utm_content=creditBadge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"padding: 2px 3px\">Donald Giannatti<\/span><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><em>The following is a devotion from my message series\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLc2RhsjwQZTwcnhNWFDA7Q9FgjZUjTj7P\">10 Steps to Freedom<\/a>. I hope these devotionals help you experience lasting freedom in Jesus!<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">STEP FOUR: day 1<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\" style=\"text-align: center\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Transform your mind through the power of<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s2\"><i> <\/i><b><i>Scripture<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Where is the primary battleground for my freedom? <\/i>If you want to win a war, you have to know where your primary battleground is. The war for freedom is lost by too many Christians because they don\u2019t know where the real war is being fought. Many look to the physical, what they can see and touch. Addiction recovery for many is nothing more than getting clean or sobering up. But if you don\u2019t deal with the root issues, if you don\u2019t do battle on the primary battleground, then you\u2019re doing nothing more than putting a band-aid on cancer. That\u2019s why so many rehabs fail for so many people. They don\u2019t do battle where the war is truly being fought. <i>Where is the primary battleground for my freedom? <\/i>Scripture reveals that to us in Romans 12:2. After eleven powerful chapters revealing the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ in exquisite detail, Paul turns the page and moves from information to application. And what\u2019s his command to believers? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">\u201c<i>Do not conform\u00a0to the pattern of this world,\u00a0but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/span><span class=\"s1\">Romans 12:2<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Where is the primary battleground for your freedom?<\/i> Your mind. Your freedom is won or lost first in your mind. If you can change the way you think, you can change the way you live. If you can change the way you think, you can be free. The fourth step to freedom is learning to wield the most powerful tool given to you to transform your mind: Scripture. If you allow Scripture to do its work in you, your mind will be renewed, and you will be free.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">1. How have you tried to fight your addictions or struggles in the past? When you fought, did you ever fight to change the way you thought? What was the result?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">2. What role do you see the way you think playing into your current struggles?<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><em>You can read other devotional entries\u00a0for 10 Steps to Freedom\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/nextsteps\/10-steps-to-freedom\/\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The following is a devotion from my message series\u00a010 Steps to Freedom. I hope these devotionals help you experience lasting freedom in Jesus! STEP FOUR: day 1 Transform your mind through the power of Scripture Where is the primary battleground for my freedom? If you want to win a war, you have to know where&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[316],"tags":[214,335,318,218],"class_list":["post-663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-10-steps-to-freedom","tag-battle","tag-battleground","tag-freedom","tag-mind"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Where is the Primary Battleground For My Freedom? 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Josh graduated from New Orleans Seminary with a Masters of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry. Josh has been involved in full-time ministry for over twenty years. He enjoys hiking, beach volleyball, reading, playing anything competitive, and rough-housing with his kids. Josh, his gorgeous wife Robin, his outrageously handsome boys Zeke, Shepherd and Lincoln and his princess Elle, live in northern Virginia. Josh also blogs on Patheos as New Wineskins: an Apologist for the Modern Church and you can find links to all his content on joshdaffern.com. 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