You only have 2 choices in life: You can believe what the devil says about you and to you OR, you can believe what God, your Heavenly Father and Creator, says about you and to you. It’s up to you to choose wisely.
Our verse that we looked at last week is from James 4:7. (Part 1 is here for you to read in case you missed it.)
“So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you.”
The devil knew what I had planned to share with you this week so he came at me full force to see if I actually believed and practiced what I am going to share with you. He hit me with 4 different circumstances that sent me reeling (way more than I ever expected) in the space of 6 days. Bang, bang, bang, bang ….. one after the other. Can you relate?
It was literally time for me to ‘practice what I was preaching’. I will be honest and tell you that it took me a couple of days to come back fighting, but fight I did.
The devil is an outright liar, he is the father of lies.
The lies immediately started after the first hit. “Who do you think you are to fight against me?” “What makes you think you can win this battle?” “Nobody wanted you from birth so what makes you think anyone wants you now?” “God can’t use you, you’re too broken.” “You are ……… ” (fill in the blank here). I am sure that he will have thrown countless similar statements at you from time to time. Am I right?
The onslaught was horrendous.
Ok. So now I needed to resist the devil so he would flee. What part did I need to resist? The lies that he consistently tells me. His voice that seems to consistently speak, uninvited. He is an outright liar. He will distort the truth to make you and me question it. He has done that right from Adam and Eve until now and will continue to do so until the end of time itself.
But the question is, how do you do that? How do you resist the lies?
Transform Your Mind – The Way You Think.
OK, and how do you do that?
This is what I had to do during the onslaught of lies and circumstances that were coming against me. It was time to take out the big guns ….. the Word of God, as well as the prophecies and promises that I had received in the past.
Romans 12:2 says in the New Living Translation version of the Bible,
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, BUT let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”
You need to discover who God actually is and what He thinks and says about you. THEN, you need to memorise it, meditate on it (roll it around and around in your mind until it becomes revelation) and speak the truth out of your mouth – each and EVERY SINGLE DAY!
I have discovered that God is constrained in different boxes of beliefs, including my own. There is the Anglican Box, the Baptist Box, the Catholic Box, the Church of Christ box, the Pentecostal/Charismatic Box, the Polytheistic Box, the Emergency Box and many, many more. Now, I am in no way criticising these differing belief systems as I have been a part of many of them. I have just found that different characteristics of God are found in each belief system – some are correct and some are not. None of us, no matter who we are, will have our ‘doctrine’ 100% correct this side of eternity. What I am saying is that you need to find out for yourself who God truly is and not just accept what is told to you from the pulpit, your family, or your friend. It is imperative to search the Scriptures out for yourself and to know the truth. Psalm 103, for example, gives just a glimpse of how amazing God is and for me, it dispelled many beliefs that I had heard over the years.
You also need to seek, discover, believe, declare and KNOW what God says and thinks about you. Psalm 139 is a brilliant place to start.
Next …..
You Need To Fight
You need to fight for liberty from the enemy’s lies. You need to know and settle within yourself the beliefs that you have about who God is, who He is for you and what He thinks about you. Get rid of the wrong beliefs and focus continually on the true ones.
““If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.”” John 8:31-32 (ESV)
The Word is the Bible and the Word is Jesus.
“In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.” John 1:1 (AMP)
Know the One who is the Truth.
“Jesus said to him, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”” John 14:6 (ESV)
Who Is The Greatest In Your Mind?
What do you think about the most? Who do you think about the most?
“We should never have a thought in our mind that isn’t in God’s mind. We shouldn’t have thoughts that reduce us.” Bill Johnson
Your thoughts determine the outcome of your life. Be careful what you spend your time worrying about. You might just worry your worries into being and no-one wants that.
Philippians 4:8 is a perfect example of the ONLY thoughts that we should allow to settle and take up residence in our minds.
Magnify God Only
I believe the best way to defeat the devil so that he MUST flee from you is to magnify God to His rightful place – make Him bigger than EVERYTHING that’s in your mind, including yourself. Remember that the devil is a created being – he is not the opposite of God. He is a defeated foe and the only tactics he has is lying, stealing, murdering and his biggest weapon is ……. fear. If he can get you to live in fear, then he has disabled you and you cannot, and will not, use the faith that God has given you to fulfil your purpose and destiny.
One Final Note
“We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ“ 2 Corinthians 10:5 (ESV)
Be aware of your thoughts. Know what is going on inside your mind at any given time. If it doesn’t line up with what the Bible says, replace it with a thought that does.
I know this has been a longer post than usual but it is an important subject that I didn’t want to gloss over. I would love to hear your own thoughts (no pun intended) on this subject and if you would like prayer if you are struggling in this area, please leave a comment below or send me an email here and I will answer asap.
If you are finding these posts encouraging, please feel free to pass them on and share them on your favourite social media site.
As always, I am so truly grateful for you and I pray for the presence of God to surround you today.
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