Jake Enriquez: 00:04 Welcome back to Press and Reach. My name’s Jake Enriquez, your host, and what a pleasure and honor it is again, to have you here with us in this beautiful morning. I hope and pray that all is well with you. Certainly I know that the end of the school year is near, so a parents. I know that you’re getting ready kids. Ooh Man. I know you’ve been ready. So, uh, the end of the school year is approaching for us all, man, a special prayers, you know, for each and every one of us out there now. So as we get ready for this season in the summer, uh, but really congratulations to all the graduates that are coming into, um, graduation at the end of the year here. Also, to our sister-in-law out there, Ms Angela – Congratulations girl for getting your GED. I think that’s awesome, man. I’m serious. And to all the other ones that were out there in Cleburne, Texas, last night, man, we congratulate you all.

Jake Enriquez: 00:51 We know that the, uh, hard work and the endeavor that you went through of getting your GED is much appreciated and we’re proud of you. Serious business. We think it’s great. We love to see people go about persevering and getting that thing done, man. That’s awesome. Seriously. So once again, congratulations to you all. Before we really get started, man, I’m going to invite you to go back to press unreached.com of course, to sign up for the newsletter devotional. And even so, before we really get started, I wanted to say thank you. Thank you to some of you who, um, reply to that newsletter or the devotional that we send out may your encouragement is greatly appreciated. Really it is. So I just want to say thank you to all who do reply and participate in that and we look forward, of course continuing to connect with you, serve you in the different areas that we can and we look forward to maybe being able to, uh, do some things together, especially in the community.

Jake Enriquez: 01:45 So again, we invite you to go back to press and reach dot com and connect with us there on the community. Well, today’s episode is “The Mind is a Battlefield”. Man, we’re gonna…This is gonna be fun to me because really I think about the different conversations that I have a over the weeks and there are always interesting, but you know, we’re going to touch on them a little bit here today because now I do really think that they are of great importance. I really do because these are conversations by the way that we all have out here. Um, we all deal with out here, uh, questions that we all may ponder or, you know, really look to try to get through or try to get better at it, I should say, in our walk because nobody wants to just remain the same. Say, oh, okay, I’m done.

Jake Enriquez: 02:29 I’m good. That’s not how it works. You know, there’s many things by the way that we want to get better at. So let’s just start with that, because I think about getting better, you know, uh, I remember Jim Rohn once said, if you know who Jim Rohn is, he said you don’t want things to get easier; you want you to get better, right? So we want to get better at walking this thing out as a Christian. We want to get better at, uh, at growing in our faith. We do know that faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God, if we have that word of God and as you know, we know that we can go and grow in it. And you know, I like to encourage each and every one of us as we continue that, man, whatever you do, do not put that word down, right?

Jake Enriquez: 03:10 We want to stay in that word. So here’s the thing though, I think about getting better and there’s so many different things that people like to move with intent to get better. So. And I think about moving with the intent to get better when it’s business. You know, if we have our own business, we work on different things like goals and procedures. Did we hire the right people, work with the right people, you have the right client, man, are you working? I’m working the smartest way that you can work. Doing the best that you can. You can do, and you do it within 10. You know? That’s why you have meetings. You might even have a seminars or whatever that she might go to because you always looking to get better in business and that’s a good thing. You know you want to take care of your business.

Jake Enriquez: 03:51 That’s what provides you with your income or if you’re on the job somewhere, again, you want to. You want to get better at what you do, don’t you? That’s why you do these continued education or you improve upon what it is you do. You strengthen your craft, get better at your craft as well, and everybody does does these things with intent, but also I’m just naming a few of them. Think about marriage. For example, if you’re in a marriage and you’re married, you want your marriage, I believe, and I would hope and pray, my goodness, that you would want your marriage to be a great marriage, right? So there might be some things that you do as well. I mean, you might get for marriage, we might get involved with marriage seminars. You might, uh, get on our, go on getaways together as a couple.

Jake Enriquez: 04:36 Get away from everybody or maybe you seek mentorship from others and that’s nothing wrong with it. I think all those are beautiful, you know, because there you’re moving in your marriage with intent once again, and if you’re moving in your marriage with intent, man, I’m telling you, only good can come out of it. You know, we work together, strive together, thrive together. What we all know that, hey, if you’re married out here, we know that marriage is work and it’s not just something we overlook and say, Oh, it’s going to get better. Or it will be okay if I do this or that. No, we…there’s a communication takes place, and for men and women…Come on, man. We know we all like to communicate just a little bit differently, right? So a learning that, praise God, it’s always a great thing to do. So that’s getting better in marriage.

Jake Enriquez: 05:24 But how about getting better as parents? Do I have any moms and dads out there? Do you really believe that you, you, you know, you’re, you’re, you’re the best that you can be as a mom or a dad? I mean, is it important to you? So again, if we’re wanting to get better as moms and dads, we do that with intent as well. Unless we just say, man, I don’t really care. I’ll just be this or be that. I mean, I’m not sure Christian, but if that’s the way you’re doing it, I mean, I wouldn’t really say that’s really the way to go about your business. That’s not really the way to go about handling it, right? Because as a Christian parent, by the way, we should always strive to be Christ-like in the position that God puts us in. All right? So as parents we always look to get better.

Jake Enriquez: 06:12 You know, last weekend my wife and I went to this, um, homeschool convention. Now, you know, I’m pretty much lost around there everywhere. I just kind of go. But anyway, uh, my wife signed us up for this one little spot we went into to see a lady, her name was Susan Seay. And I gotta tell you man, she, she did a great job and I’m telling you, she had this questionnaire that she went over 10 questions that she asks her children so that she can find out how she could improve her relationship as a mom. And man, I got to tell you, that was so awesome. I loved it, man. You know, I asked her to come be a guest. She said she’s going to come. So I look forward to that, but she does Mentor4Moms, that’s Susan Seay. And you’ll, you’ll see her, you’ll hear from her probably here shortly.

Jake Enriquez: 06:59 But again, that’s moving with intent. You know, she does that stuff on purpose because she wants to get better as a mother and we all the same should move it with intent as well as in whatever position that we’re in. But here’s the thing, yes, we can all move with intent. Yes, we can all strive to get better and we should, but I’m gonna tell you right now it starts with telling the truth about things and you got to really. You’ve got to really weigh in and say, well, where do I stand right now? And that’s where the recent conversations really come in and I’m going to tell you some recent conversations I had. Of course, I’m not going to put anybody on blast right now, but you know, I’m going to tell you about the three different conversations. Okay? So listen to the three different conversations that we had.

Jake Enriquez: 07:44 Number one, I, I spoke with a gentleman who was dealing with issues which were a struggle, he said, with lust. Okay? So you know, it is what it is. And, and dealing with pornography and things like that. And, but when I was listening for, okay, are some of the things that he would say. He said, Jake, this has been my struggle since such and such time. Okay, let me, let me, um, let me stop right there because I want to, I want to share something with you real quick. I’m not saying that we’re perfect and I’m not saying that we won’t struggle. I’m not telling you that we won’t have issues here and there, but what I am telling you is, man, don’t you ever lay claim to no struggle. You understand what I’m telling you? Do not ever lay claim to a struggle.

Jake Enriquez: 08:39 And I mean that with all my heart. And I know some people are going to disagree. Well, what I mean by that is don’t you ever say “My struggle is…” And the reason I tell you that it’s because when you say “my struggle is” what you’re saying is you own that. You absolutely own that. That’s mine. You’re saying and it, which really goes further until you’re saying is that I’m not gonna get away from it. I’m not going to do away with it. See the difference in saying “My struggle is” versus “I have been struggling with…” is confession, admitting and dealing with something. That’s how you actually go forth and deal with it. You confess it, you know the scripture says, Hey, who’s going to send to the Holy Hill of the Lord? One with clean hands and a pure heart, right? That’s confessing those things. That’s one thing, but to sit there and lay claim to it is something else, man, we don’t do that around here.

Jake Enriquez: 09:34 So friend, if you’re going through an issue, it’s okay to admit. It’s okay to confess, but do not lay claim to that old mess because I’m telling you right now, before we go any further, the power of God is still able to break that for you. Okay? So you have to believe in that number one, but, but before we go any further, he was talking about the issue of lust and lust is a big issue, right? We know that out here, dealing with lust, dealing with those things is we know to be a big issue. You look at society today and how they exercise soft porn and everything. You may see out there on TV, whatever it might be, they know, they know exactly what they’re doing, trying to get someone to look with a lustful eye, trying to draw them away, right? That’s the enemy doing, or, that’s the old enemy at work.

Jake Enriquez: 10:24 But I’m going to tell you something the devil didn’t make us do and okay, we already know that stuff exists, but that’s the issue that the conversation I had about someone talking about that, uh, dealing with lust and porn, right? But another thing that somebody was talking about just recently, I just recently had a conversation with someone who said, you know, I’ve never really struggled this way and he said he and his wife, because they run a business together and they said that they’ve never really struggled this way to do this business together. And I said, well, what’s going on is a, everything’s slow. Everything, you know, he’s talking about all the things that aren’t happening and I’m listening to him. And uh, and I listened to the words that he speaks. Okay? He said, I can’t seem to do this and I can’t seem to do that.

Jake Enriquez: 11:14 Again, I’ve got to tell you something when, when we’re saying things like that, and I know people again are going to disagree with me on this, but you either going to speak life or you going to speak that death. I’m not playing. You’re going to speak those things as if they are or as if they were for ourselves. Now I’m not telling you it’s a hoorah thing that you run around here. I think I can. I think in all. Okay. Listen, listen, what I’m telling you, you have to stay away from the “I can’ts”. I’m unable. And I’ll tell you why here in a minute, but you have to stay away from that kind of stuff. Okay. And it always comes down to a couple of different things in business anyway. It really does. I was sharing with another buddy of mine here. It’s not that hard when it comes to business.

Jake Enriquez: 11:55 We either are or are not doing the things that we need to do to bring about the business that we need. That’s it. That’s all there is to it. So it’s either the front end’s not working or the back end’s not because the back end should easily in work because you’re really putting in a product. It should just easily come out. But what’s the pipeline look lie man, I could stay there all day but I’m not. But, but, but what I’m telling you is this, is that the mind is a battlefield. Because once you start putting things like that into your mind, you absolutely start believing that old mess. Serious business. You start believing it, you start thinking about that way and you find yourself in bondage. But the other conversation I had was with someone dealing with other people. A good friend of mine once told me, he said, man, everything would be great in the ministry if it weren’t for…what? People. Thing about it is, you know, I love the people of God.

Jake Enriquez: 12:51 I do. I love God’s people, but the hardest things we ever have to deal with are people. We all know that to be true. You know, everyone, you know, each and every one of us has to deal with different people. You know good and well we like to avoid some of them and some people you’d like to be around, but guess what? Learning to deal with people is huge for each and every one of us. It really is. So today as we’re talking about the mind being a battlefield, because the mind is a battlefield, okay? It really is. I wanna take you through some quick steps and we’re going to get out of here quick steps. Because me, I like practical. Seriously. I love the practical part of it. I like the practical side. In other words, tell me what I can go do and make this thing better.

Jake Enriquez: 13:35 Work this thing out, right? Well, I’m going to use the acronym ACT, a-c-t. All right? ACT. First is acknowledge. So step one is you have to acknowledge that something is stirring up in my spirit today. Are you sitting well? Maybe you’re not, maybe you are. Do you have something going on that you know is really causing your spirit to be stirred. So that’s acknowledging that something really is going on. Right? So that’s step one. We have to come to a point where we acknowledge it. Okay, example, if I wake up this morning, right, and I’m thinking about my business, I’m thinking about where I may have fallen short in the business and I’m thinking about, Golly, I got to get this done, this done, this, done, but I don’t know where to start, so I’m, I’m operating in confusion and worried and all that stuff.

Jake Enriquez: 14:30 Stop right there. I have to acknowledge that my spirit is being stirred in this thing and I have to focus and come back to the point where I can rest upon the peace of Jesus Christ. That’s true. It’s real deal stuff and people always try to say, well man, you got to do something. There’s things we’re going to do. But first, I have to get back to focus on the mere fact that my spirit is being stirred because of something. Right? Acknowledge that. So step one is we have to come to acknowledgement, but “C” in ACT stands for confess. Now this part right here is not so easily done for a lot of us. Seriously. And, and, and again, I know, I know we’re gonna get some disagreement out of it, but we have to learn how to confess these things. Once I’ve learned, once I’ve acknowledged, yeah, I’m not doing so well in spirit today.

Jake Enriquez: 15:25 I got to confess what that really is. I have to confess that it is not in the will of God. It’s not in the will of God. Okay? Watch. Let’s say I woke up this morning and I can’t stop thinking about Billy down the road in business who really done ticked me off and cheated me. Now, I won’t tell you some about this. Now, if your name’s Billy, I’m not talking about you, brother. Okay? You know billy, I love you, but here’s. Here’s the thing I’m talking about. If you’re, if I’m thinking about Billy, who doesn’t mess me up in businessman is ticked me off. My heart is already stirred a wrong way. Is that in the will of God? That’s the question, because you have to confess that it is not in the will of God in order for us to see it the right way.

Jake Enriquez: 16:15 So have I become mad, have I become angry, have I become envious? You know, all those things. Just like for the guy who was telling me about a lust, pornography says I can’t seem to or whatever. I always find myself, you know this and that. Okay. Is that, number one, is that in the will of God to be looking at that stuff? Yes or no? It’s real simple. We have to come to the point of confessing if we’re in the will of God or not. So when we confess those things, now we’re able to deal with it, right? If I can, if I can confess it, I can deal with it. But here’s the problem that most of us have when it comes to this part. We don’t confess, we justify, we justify. We say, well, I’m okay to think that way about Billy down the road because he really did do this, or he really did do that, and I was really into right, but but brother already, I got to tell you were stirred up wrong in the spirit and God does not want us to be stirred up wrong in the spirit. He wants us at peace, trusting in Him. That’s the truth. And for the the gentleman who had the issue with lust, he may say, well, that’s my struggle.

Jake Enriquez: 17:33 You see what happens there when you say, that’s my struggle. We don’t admit anything. We don’t confess anything. We justify and if we’re going to justify man, it’s not going to get any better. Seriously, you’re not going to move past that part with justification in your heart. You just want to justify these things and say it’s okay. Well guess what? You’re going to convince you yourself in your mind. That is okay because the mind is a battlefield. It’s always been a battlefield friend. That’s why the scripture says that our minds are transformed by the continued renewing of our mind. Always renewing our mind. Always putting in those good things, right, whatever it may be, always take in the Word, but always have the positive stuff going on. Never allow the negativity even get in your mind and whatever you do and don’t allow yourself to lie to yourself and justify those things is if they really were okay to do. But “T” in ACT is to trust, not try. But here’s my thing.

Jake Enriquez: 18:34 In order for us to trust God’s word, we have to know God’s word. If you don’t know God’s word, then you can’t. You can’t trust it. You can’t lean on it. You can’t rely on it and man that’s so much. If you don’t have it to hold, trust it to lean on, to learn off of, a, to glean from you. Then we cannot stand on it, and if you don’t know it, then we can’t stand on it. Okay, so here it is. God’s Word is true and we know this, so trusting means that we would trust in the Lord and spend time with Him. I want you to think about this for a minute. If God is creator of Heaven and earth and of all that is seen and unseen-and He is- and He created me and you, He created us for a purpose.

Jake Enriquez: 19:18 Have you in fact visited that purpose of what God may have created us for? Well, God created us by the way God created us to be the praise unto His glory. That’s right. So if we understand those things about God’s word, then we understand how to operate in this life that we live. So we have to learn how to trust God, not try because if we’re trying out of the flesh, we’re going to fail. And then somebody says, well, do you got to do something? Absolutely. You got to do something. Just do what you’re supposed to do in the spirit of God, out of obedience. God doesn’t lie. He doesn’t play tricks on us or anything. He shows us and he teaches us in his word. He teaches us in spirit. He, he teaches us how to get better. We just need to trust him.

Jake Enriquez: 20:05 So here it is. I think about this for a minute. Romans chapter eight, verse two. It says, “for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death”. So if you were to take a sheet of paper and draw a line straight down the middle, this is how you trust His word. Okay? This is how you really put this act into place. If you took a piece of paper and you draw a line down the middle, you got to ask yourself, what side is it going on? You say, what side is what going on, Jake? Well I’m going through some things right now, okay? Uh, I’m mad at Billy down the road, right? What side does that go on? Does that go on the side that says the law of sin and death or the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus?

Jake Enriquez: 20:51 Well, if I’ve learned to acknowledge, confess and trust, I can quickly identify what that is. If I’m angry with Billy, that means I’m coming out of anger. So that’s the law of sin and death. I look at it as as that side. But if I’m looking at and say, well Lord, how do I get past this thing? Because here it is. I need some help. How am I going to get past it? Here comes the trust. You Ready? The trust is a word. You always lean back to the word of God. In Proverbs, for me, Proverbs four 23 says, guard your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. So I have to guard my heart. I know and understand where I’m at. I say, Lord, help me with this thing because I don’t want to be mad at Billy. You already know my heart.

Jake Enriquez: 21:38 You already know where I’m at. Help me that I’m not this way and you know what? I got to tell you this man, always pray this when I feel troubled this way, Lord, give me Your heart. Help me. Help me with this. I want Your heart, Lord God, and I’m telling you right now, in the spirit, God will walk you through that time because remember, he who sets his mind on those carnal things that flesh that leads to death, but the man who sets his mind on the spiritual things that sets his mind on life and peace, and God’s always willing to give us that. So draw the line, check it out. Identify. Remember, you have to acknowledge, oh, okay. Am I being stirred? Yes. It’s something really not right with this old, this guy right here. Yes. We’ll then confess what it is.

Jake Enriquez: 22:32 If I confess what it is, then I could start to trust in the Lord with His word, but I’m going to need a word. So today man, as you move forward, I want you to remember that the mind is a battlefield. It always has been, by the way. That’s the enemy. He always wants to take – remember this – he always wants to take what you already have, but he can only take what you’ll give him, so do not give in to that old battlefield and let the mind go. Continue to renew that mind. That’s the transformation process that we continue to renew our mind and walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. But I want to hear from you today. I want to know – what do you do? What about you? How do you intentionally walk this thing out, out here? I pray and hope that you have a blessed weekend, a pray and hope that you have a blessed week to come, man.

Jake Enriquez: 23:22 Set your mind on those heavenly things. Set your mind today on those things which are above because I tell you right now, you’ve already become victorious if you’re a believer in Christ Jesus. He said it on the cross. It is finished. The work is done. It is over, and I’m telling you right now, you and I are both victorious. So don’t ever ever speak that death over you. Don’t you ever speak to that stuff as like that you given away to defeat because we don’t. We’re not defeated. We are victorious in the Lord Jesus Christ. Man, praise God. I sure do love you guys and I pray and hope that you have a wonderful week.