Do you ever wrestle with your thoughts? thinking thoughts you don’t want to think or that you know are contrary to God’s truth? If so, don’t feel alone, we are all engaged in spiritual warfare; the world is the battle ground, and the battle is in our mind! For years, I struggled with thoughts of fear, anxiety, worry, doubt, insecurity, condemnation, pride, perfectionism and many other self-defeating and ungodly thoughts. I believed that these were my thoughts, this is just who I am, and I would have to live this way forever! What’s worse, after turning my life and will over to God, I still found myself struggling with these same types of thoughts. That’s when I found out that there was actually a battle going on for my mind and Satan was behind it. All these years, he has been studying me and been setting up strongholds (lies) in my mind to keep me in bondage to unhealthy thought patterns and they don’t disappear just because you’re a Christian. You can be a Christian and still have a mind full of toxic and ungodly thoughts that can hinder your walk, thwart your purpose and leave you feeling weary and defeated. The thoughts that I am referring to aren’t regular every day thoughts, they are strongholds which have been burned into our brains over time and they are fiercely guarded, defended, and secure in our minds. Vines Dictionary calls these strongholds fortresses; think military stronghold fortified against outside influence. I don’t know about you but this makes me really mad that he has been stalking me to exploit the vulnerable and weak areas of my life where he can set up these lies in my mind about myself, God and others. He uses our childhood experiences, hurtful words spoken, generational patterns, damage from relationships, trauma, betrayal, whatever he can to influence our thoughts, feelings and behaviors and to convince us of his lies and keep us in bondage. He is subtle, crafty, and stays hidden so deception is his master weapon to deceive us into thinking his lies as our own thoughts completely unaware of the war waging in our mind. He knows that if we get wise to his schemes and win this battle in our mind that we will win it in life and he will do anything he can to stop us from becoming all that God created us to be. Well thankfully for us, we don’t have to be deceived anymore because God tells us it is him we are fighting in His Word and how to defeat him.
Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms”
Now we know who we are fighting, how do we win it? The answer is through Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit! Yes, He is the only way because it is Jesus who overcomes and through Him, we too can overcome! Hallelujah! Sunday at church, during worship we sang Victor’s Crown declaring these exact words:
“Every high thing must come down!
Every stronghold shall be broken!
You wear the Victors crown!
You overcome! You overcome!”
Wow what joy filled my spirit because lately I have been battling with anxiety, fear, condemnation, shame, and insecurity as I try to move forward in my ministry. During worship, I heard the Lord saying stop trying to fight this battle on your own give it to me! At that moment I determined in my heart to stop fighting in my own strength, put down my human weapons, and pick up the only weapons that will work, God’s weapons as we are told in His Word and kick the enemy out of my head!
2 Corinthians 10:4,5 “The weapons we use are not human ones. Our weapons have power from God and can destroy the enemy’s strong places. We destroy people’s arguments, and we tear down every proud idea that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We also capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ”
That’s right, no amount of positive thinking, human reasoning, trying not to think a thought, or psychology will work; we must rely on God’s power to bring them down. So, after service, I sought prayer for a strategy from God to tear down these strongholds because no soldier goes into battle to fight their enemy without a strategy and neither should we! Actually, God is so awesome he already tells us what His strategy is in His Word and if we want to have victory, we must use it. However, before we engage in combat we have to first submit to God because we can’t resist the devil if we aren’t submitted to God! It’s impossible!
James 4:7 “So then, submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you”
After we’ve submitted to God, we must put on God’s armor every day not just some days because the days are evil and we are in a fight for our minds and our life. The armor includes; walking in truth, right living, shoes of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God! This is actually the armor that God himself wore and he gives it to us to use as warriors in Christ!
Isaiah 59:17 “He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak”
Ephesians 6:13-17 “Therefore, put on the whole armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”
Another imperative is that we must renew our mind daily to the truth of God’s Word so that not only will we know His truth with deep conviction and be able to spot deception but the Holy Spirit will be able to bring that truth to our remembrance when the lies are raised up in our mind and wield it as a sword against Satan just as Jesus did. After all, if Jesus used the Word against Satan, how much more do we need to use it!
Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will”
Matthew 4:4 “But Jesus told him, “No For the scriptures tells us that bread won’t feed men’s souls: obedience to every word of God is what we need”
Also, prayer everyday and about everything is a vital weapon in our arsenal as it’s accesses all the other weapons, is our direct communication with God and our power source and without it, we are left to our own defenses. Yikes! Also, its essential to walk with like-minded believers for accountability, encouragement, support, to confide in, and to build each other up in love and truth because Satan would like nothing more than for us to isolate when we are struggling just like a wolf would a stray sheep, an easy target!
Ephesians 6:18-19 “In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out”
Finally, one of the most powerful weapons in our strategy, is worship and praise with songs of victory and thankfulness! King Jehoshaphat showed us how powerful a weapon worship is when Judah was attacked by the Moabites and the Ammonites. As soon as they began to praise and worship, the Lord caused their enemies to be defeated and they destroyed each other. Plus, when we worship God, it invites the Holy Spirit’s presence and His power into our minds and our circumstances. Best of all, Satan hates it when we worship God and he flees!
2 Chronicles 20:22 “As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated”
Psalm 100:4 “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name”
Well, I don’t know about you but I am ready to break these strongholds in my life, fed up with listening to Satan’s lies, and ready to go to war! If so, let’s call on the name of Jesus, suit up in His armor, use the spiritual weapons that He has provided. and take our minds back from the enemy!
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