{"id":21579,"date":"2026-06-06T10:49:51","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T08:49:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cantonuovo.org\/training\/video-courses\/the-battle-in-the-mind\/lesson-three\/"},"modified":"2026-06-07T17:31:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-07T15:31:11","slug":"lesson-three","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.cantonuovo.org\/en\/training\/video-courses\/the-battle-in-the-mind\/lesson-three\/","title":{"rendered":"Lesson three"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section full_width=\u201dstretch_row_content\u201d css=\u201d.vc_custom_1780732037446{margin-top: -250px !important;padding-top: 50px !important;padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;background-color: #efefef !important;}\u201d el_id=\u201dvideo\u201d][vc_row][vc_column width=\u201d1\/6\u2033][\/vc_column][vc_column width=\u201d2\/3\u2033][vc_video link=\u201dhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/pRKItGZbgao\u201d][vc_column_text el_class=\u201dsmall\u201d css=\u201d.vc_custom_1780741629855{margin-top: -20px !important;}\u201d]Recorded in Siena \u2013 2013[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=\u201d1\/6\u2033][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row el_id=\u201dappunti\u201d css=\u201d.vc_custom_1780740133545{padding-top: 10% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;}\u201d][vc_column width=\u201d1\/6\u2033][\/vc_column][vc_column width=\u201d2\/3\u2033 awb_type=\u201dcolor\u201d awb_color=\u201d#fcfcfc\u201d el_class=\u201dshadownew\u201d css=\u201d.vc_custom_1780731836230{padding-top: 5% !important;padding-right: 5% !important;padding-bottom: 5% !important;padding-left: 5% !important;}\u201d][vc_tta_accordion active_section=\u201d0\u2033 no_fill=\u201dtrue\u201d collapsible_all=\u201dtrue\u201d title=\u201dLecture 3 notes\u201d][vc_tta_section title=\u201dClick to read more\u201d tab_id=\u201d1780733730298-b1a434ef-da77\u2033][vc_column_text]

THE BATTLE IN THE MIND<\/b><\/p>
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Lesson 3<\/b><\/p>
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Renewal<\/b><\/p>
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Cantonuovo Foundation  <\/span>\u00b7  <\/span>Maurizio Tiezzi<\/p>
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 <\/p>
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1. The foundation: the Cross and free will<\/p>
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There is a message we must not lose sight of whilst speaking of strongholds, orders and convictions: the Lord has secured our liberation through his death and resurrection. God had \u201cplaced\u201d each of us in Him; since He died in our stead and with us, every person descended from Adam according to the flesh had been placed by God in Jesus, so that when Jesus died, all those who identified with Him by faith died to sin. By rising again, He offered new life to all who believed in Him. The fact is accomplished.<\/p>
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This truth, however, does not mean that our subsequent response is irrelevant. There are those who think that since Jesus has already done everything, the way we live is of no consequence. This is not what the Lord has told us and set us to do. He said: \u201cDo what I tell you.\u201d<\/i> He said that unless we deny ourselves, we cannot be His disciples. That death is real for us today \u2014 two thousand years later \u2014 and I experience it to the extent that I apply it to my life. The life I live matters, but it depends on the death to which I have already died.<\/p>
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Renewing the mind is exactly this: wanting to experience in our lives what Jesus has already accomplished. If everything were already accomplished without our free, voluntary, conscious acceptance, it would be an imposition. That is why we are called by Jesus to deny ourselves \u2014 to no longer desire that old nature, which is now dead. It is the old nature that sins, but if it is dead, it can no longer sin, unless we bring it back to life by choosing to follow the world. The novelty of the Lord\u2019s work is this: those who embrace it by conforming their lives to the will of Jesus can live by His life of resurrection.<\/p>
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2. Demolishing and building: two inseparable movements<\/p>
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The theme of this lesson is renewal. The Bible invites us to renew our minds because, if with our minds we do not adhere to God\u2019s plan \u2014 to His will, which we receive in our spirit \u2014 we are as though divided: our inner man receives the light, but if the brain  <\/span>remains turned towards darkness, we do not see where we are going.<\/p>
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I want to return to Jeremiah 1:10 in relation to 2 Corinthians 10:3\u20135. I have already said several times that we are not called merely to destroy the strongholds and the haughty reasoning of our minds: we are also called to bring them into submission to the Messiah. I repeat this, because I think it is useful.<\/p><\/p>\n


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Jeremiah 1:10<\/i><\/b><\/p>
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\u201cBehold, today I give you authority over the nations and over the kingdoms to uproot and to tear down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.\u201d<\/i><\/p>
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On the one hand, God speaks of destruction; on the other, of building. If a person focuses solely on destroying the strongholds of the mind, but then does not submit their thoughts to the Messiah, that destruction may last for a time, but then the strongholds will reform. If you are not aligned with the thoughts of the Lord Jesus by making them your own, you align yourself with the mindset of the world (by placing faith in the old way of thinking that the brain proposes by default). Knowing from Jesus that the prince of this world is the devil, without changing you risk following his twisted ways, consciously or otherwise. Merely destroying without rebuilding makes no sense.<\/p>
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But rebuilding does not mean undergoing psychotherapy. However much I devote myself to the sciences of the mind (transactional analysis in particular) , that is not what can rebuild according to God\u2019s will<\/i>. Rebuilding means knowing, through the Word of God, His thoughts and ways, thinking them as our own  <\/span>and living them. The bricks for building God\u2019s holy temple \u2014 which is us \u2014 are His Word, thought, believed and then acted upon, not other reasoning.<\/p>
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There is also the reverse movement, which is just as dangerous: those who, believing in the Lord Jesus, enthusiastically plunge into submitting their thoughts to the Messiah without first going through the process of demolition, risk carrying their old mental baggage with them, mix things up and end up returning to the old ways. The two actions must be done together; they must be done together.<\/p>
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3. The strong man in the stronghold<\/p>
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Since we are speaking of strongholds \u2014 of structures built to protect something which, being proud, rises up to prevent the knowledge of God \u2014 within these strongholds that are in our minds there is a strong man. Listen: to destroy a man, it is not necessary to kill him physically. To destroy a man, it is enough\u2014even unconsciously\u2014through the family, the environment, the events of life and unknown forces\u2014to lead him away from his destiny. A single deviation is enough.<\/p>
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When a person, from a very young age\u2014indeed, from the moment of conception\u2014is led to deviate from their destiny\u2014and destiny is God\u2019s plan for that person in every moment of their life, not just the final destination\u2014it is enough for the devil, by placing his strong men in people\u2019s minds, manages to lead them astray by inducing them to plan a different story: that person is destroyed.<\/p>
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According to God\u2019s plan, we are called to bear the image of God, to represent Him on earth and to live in glory. Not only after death, but from this moment onwards. The Kingdom has been restored and is among us, from this moment onwards. Those who do not realise this have failed to understand that there is someone who does not want them to live out their destiny. This is precisely where we must intervene.<\/p><\/p>\n


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Luke 11:21\u201322<\/i><\/b><\/p>
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\u201dWhen a strong man, fully armed for battle, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger than him attacks and defeats him, he takes away all the armour and weapons he relied on and divides the spoils.\u201d<\/i><\/p>
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The \u2018possessions\u2019 that the strong man guards are the rubbish he has created in our minds: all our wrong decisions, false beliefs, the lies we have swallowed, the life plans built solely to try to survive since childhood. He guards them because he is well-armed.<\/p>
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But this strong man is not the strongest. There is one stronger than him \u2014 Jesus was speaking of himself in relation to the devil and his demons, saying that He is stronger. When He comes, He defeats him, destroys him, and the victory is total: when the spoils of the vanquished are distributed, it means that the victory has been total, that we have taken everything that had been defended.<\/p><\/p>\n


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Luke 11:23<\/i><\/b><\/p>
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\u201dWhoever is not with Me is against Me; and whoever does not gather with Me scatters.\u201d<\/i><\/p>
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Many maintain that, whilst living in religiosity and legalism\u2014not being against God, but living their lives according to the old nature\u2014they are nonetheless with Jesus. I have my doubts. Jesus is clear: either with Me or against Me. If you are not with Me, you scatter; if you are with Me, you gather with Me. All religious activities carried out outside this fellowship come to nothing.<\/p>
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4. The house filled with the Spirit<\/p><\/p>\n


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Luke 11:24\u201326<\/i><\/b><\/p>
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\u201dWhen an unclean spirit comes out of a person, it wanders through arid places seeking rest, and finding none, it says: \u2018I will return to my house from which I came. On returning, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the final condition of that person becomes worse than the first.\u201d<\/i><\/p>
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This is the secret. When Jesus comes and overcomes the strong man, he drives him out; the demons are cast out in his name. But when the demon is cast out, he wants to return to the place from which he was sent away. If the house is swept and made ready, but not filled, it is ready for the return of eight strong men. That is why it is not enough to demolish the strongholds, defeat him and destroy him. It is not enough to understand the workings of the mind and make a fresh decision. Human therapy alone is not enough: to be truly solid, every \u2018space\u2019 within us must be filled by the Holy Spirit.<\/p>
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I challenge anyone who has gone through only demolition and human therapy to say that this was enough in their life.<\/p><\/p>\n


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Ephesians 5:18<\/i><\/b><\/p>
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\u201d\u2026be continually filled with the Spirit\u201d<\/i><\/p>
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If the house is filled with the Spirit, no one can enter it again. That is why, when we pray for deliverance, we cast out demons and then ask the Holy Spirit to come and fill this person, to fill all the empty spaces left by these demons who have departed, so that, even if they return, they find them occupied by Him and cannot return. It is a prayer in which the person voluntarily submits to Jesus and asks to be filled by Him so that they may then live for Him, doing His will.<\/p>
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5. The case of Pietro<\/p>
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I want to talk about another specific case. There is no real Pietro: it is a made-up name, just as Adam was last time.<\/p>
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Pietro worked tirelessly and worked hard all day long. He was always busy and, if what he was doing wasn\u2019t enough, he would invent other things: almost strangely, new tasks always seemed to come his way. He thought he couldn\u2019t escape them, but in reality, without realising it, it was he himself who, when they came along, welcomed them with open arms because they allowed him to respond to an inner urge he felt:<\/p>
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\u201dPush yourself, give it your all, try to please the people who expect you to work hard, to do your duty. Hurry up, get a move on, quickly.\u201d<\/i><\/p>
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These commands he heard within himself were inner urges that unconsciously led him to act accordingly. Speaking at length with Pietro, it emerged that these things had always been said to him by his parents and relatives, and that he saw them put into practice in his parents\u2019 own lives. On the one hand he heard it said, on the other he saw it done. As a child he had concluded that this was the only possible way to please his parents and have a place in the family.<\/p>
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Yet, faced with these urges that produced constant fatigue and anger, he reached a point of maximum exertion where he felt a counter-urge: no longer \u201cdo, do, do\u2019, but a sense of total futility. Inside, he had a stop sign, a prohibition: do not relax, do not be intimate with people, do not form bonds, do not trust the world. And despite all his efforts, he found himself facing a black hole that told him: \u201cYou are destined never to feel joy, you are destined never to relax, you are destined never to see relationships through to the end because they\u2019ll leave you anyway.\u201d<\/p>
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This vortex drew him back into a sense of futility regarding everything he did. Once there, he could have two reactions: either to cloak himself in sadness and frustration, or \u2014 before embracing that feeling \u2014 to blame others for what had happened to him, playing the \u2018it\u2019s all your fault\u2019 game. The two positions alternated. And once he reached the point of anger and frustration, the conviction would kick in: \u2018Try again! You see, it\u2019s true that you can\u2019t enjoy what you\u2019re doing, but perhaps you haven\u2019t tried hard enough yet.\u201d And that was the impetus for him to start working hard all over again.<\/p>
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Look at this vicious circle: it was continuous, repetitive, and could occur within ten minutes just as easily as it could recur over the years. The person could not escape because there were magnets, as it were, drawing him in. Inside him was a strong man who had led him to form specific beliefs: there was no security in relationships, he could not receive love from others, he would not survive under that level of stress.<\/p><\/p>\n


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Pietro\u2019s situation is more common than one might think, except that it occurs on an unconscious level \u2014 due to decisions made as children, orders conveyed verbally by parents or parental figures, and unspoken but enforced prohibitions and restrictions. On this basis, the person began to form beliefs about themselves, others and life; and those beliefs, increasingly reinforced, led them to conclude that the only way to live is to devise a life plan in which their beliefs are always confirmed.<\/p>
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6. Inner commands<\/p>
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There are messages that parents \u2014 and other parental figures: grandparents, uncles and aunts, tutors, teachers \u2014 convey to children, both verbally and through their example. Children \u2018soak them up\u2019 when they are young, nurture them as they grow up, and then pass them on to subsequent generations. This is not merely a matter of psychological transmission: this stuff is driven by an evil force that accompanies them from generation to generation.<\/p>
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Here are the main commands:<\/p><\/p>\n