Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer Page B

with a worldwide outreach.
    Thousands of lives have been blessed and transformed over the years through its ministry. I was an associate pastor there for five years, and my ministry, Life In The Word, was birthed during that time. Just think how much the devil would have stolen through doubt and unbelief if Pastor Shelton had been led by his head instead of his heart.
    DOUBT IS A CHOICE
    In the early dawn the next morning, as He was coming back to the city, He was hungry.
    And as He saw one single leafy fig tree above the roadside, He went to it but He found nothing but leaves on it [seeing that in the fig tree the fruit appears at the same time as the leaves]. And He said to it, Never again shall fruit grow on you! And the fig tree withered up at once.
    When the disciples saw it, they marveled greatly and asked, How is it that the fig tree has withered away all at once?
    And Jesus answered them, Truly I say to you, if you have faith (a firm relying trust) and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, Be taken up and cast into the sea, it will be done.
    And whatever you ask for in prayer, having faith and [really] believing, you will receive. Matthew 21:18-22
    When His disciples marveled and asked Jesus how He was able to destroy the fig tree with just a word, He said to them in essence, "If you have faith and do not doubt, you can do the same thing that I have done to the fig tree—and even greater things than this." (John 14:12.) We have already established that faith is the gift of God, so we know that we have faith. (Romans 12:3.) But doubt is a choice. It is the devil's warfare tactic against our minds.
    Since you can choose your own thoughts, when doubt comes you should learn to recognize it for what it is, say "No, thank you"—and keep on believing!
    The choice is yours!
    UNBELIEF IS DISOBEDIENCE
    And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.
    And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him.
    Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him hither to me.
    And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
    Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
    And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief.... Matthew 17:14-20 KJV
    Remember that unbelief leads to disobedience.
    Perhaps Jesus had taught His disciples certain things to do in these cases, and their unbelief caused them to disobey Him; therefore, they were unsuccessful.
    In any case, the point is that unbelief, like doubt, will keep us from doing what God has called and anointed us to accomplish in life. It will also keep us from experiencing the sense of peace that He wants us to enjoy as we find rest for our souls in Him. (Matthew 11:28,29 KJV.) 
    A SABBATH REST
    Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that rest [of God, to know and experience it for ourselves], that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience [into which those in the wilderness fell]. Hebrews 4:11
    If you read the entire fourth chapter of the book of Hebrews, you will find it speaking about a sabbath rest that is available to God's people.
    Under the Old Covenant, the Sabbath was observed as a day of rest.
    Under the New Covenant, this sabbath rest spoken of is a spiritual place of rest. It is the privilege of every believer to refuse to worry or have anxiety. As believers, you and I can enter the rest of God.
    Careful observation of Hebrews 4:11 reveals that we will never enter that rest except through believing, and we will forfeit it through unbelief and disobedience.