I love it when the truth wins!

"If you surrender to God, as the Scripture says, then you will be resisting the devil."

THE ENEMY WILL say whatever pleases you.
The enemy will say whatever makes you angry.

Whichever one works to his advantage, that’s what he’ll use to steal your peace of mind, to steal your common sense, to kill your progress in God, to kill your body (knowingly or unknowingly), and then destroy your future.

We must know what God’s heart is. We must recognize His nature. We must be intimately familiar with His character, be aware of His principles, and practice His methods, so that we recognize the enemy’s thought pattern and do not fall into his traps.

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

To the devil, no lie is worthless. He will “pump you up” or toss you over a cliff, whichever works. He is incredibly good at taking one thought in our mind and making correct assumptions about how we’ll react, and then using them against us. The mind is a bag of water. Make a hole, however small, or squeeze it too hard, and stuff leaks. It isn’t entirely preventable.

Knowing this, and hoping we’re too ignorant of it, he then pours in the guilt. “You couldn’t stop thinking about …” whatever the errant thought was, and from there, he makes a million other inferences.

I refuse to hang onto of any of them. No, stupid fathead, you put that thought in my mind. You magnified it. It is not of me, and I don’t have to feel guilty about it.

Oh, the guilt. He slaps that on, hoping we’ll take hold, and if we do, then we give him a foothold to pour in more. Pretty soon, we’re in a cesspool and feeling hopeless and depressed. Suicidal. It all comes from too much thinking.

We should remember, JESUS SAVES. GOD FORGIVES. WE HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT. Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. Ding. Insert fireworks. Because that’s the best news EVER.

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8)

“Think carefully about Jesus. Bad people did such very bad things against him, but he continued to be brave and strong. Think about him, and then you will not become tired and weak as Christians.” (Heb 12:3 EasyEnglish)

If you’re unsure if you should have thought that thought, then go to God and just say, “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” If you’re sure you shouldn’t have thought that thought, then go to God and say, “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” If you know you didn’t think it, but it was the devil, just say, “I love you. I know I am forgiven.” In all three cases, you’re free of it, and you can move on.

The church has magnified guilt and turned it into judgment, spouting words for all the wrong reasons. I have more good news. God loves you no matter what you’re wearing, how you’ve done your hair, what you’ve done in the past or present, who you’re related to, what job you have or used to have, and any other reason. People are full of incorrect judgment. But Jesus loves you and wants to be your Savior and best friend.

There is NO REASON He will EVER reject you. That thought would erase John 3:16. “For God SO LOVED the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” My mom once had a guy say he wasn’t sure if he was a “whosoever.” Forehead smack. Everyone is a whosoever. Jesus loves whosoever.

Jesus came to erase our sins and make us brand new. The enemy works to rehash our sins and create new ones. Strife in the church over doctrines, denominations, service structures, and any other reason however inane or stupid is perfect fodder for him. He’d rather we were fighting like cats and dogs because our unity is his death sentence. Our unity is our power. We have one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all (Ephesians 4:4-6).

Or his alternative, he’ll get us to agree over the wrong thing and use it to keep us confused. Stuff like doctrines, denominations, service structures, and any other reason however inane or stupid.

In our personal lives, the list of things we should avoid doing is simply too long. But there are verses with King-Jamesy lists with things like ”fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry (Colossians 3:5). See also Galatians 5:19-21. Even better, though, I have a solution to all of them. PUT GOD FIRST.

Yes! I love it when the truth wins. If you surrender to God, as the Scripture says, then you will be resisting the devil. We tend to resist the devil in our own strength. Playing two fast, loud resist-the-devil songs and vigorously quoting Scripture won’t do in our own strength what God wants to do in us through His.

We are saved THROUGH HIM. We are protected BY HIM. He’s given us His name, His authority, and His ability. When we concentrate on our relationship with Jesus, with the Spirit, with the Father, then we won’t do what the devil wants, and we’ll learn to walk after God. That’s seeing absolutely everything from Their perspective.

And if you don’t want to do this, then admit it to God and ask Him for a hunger for His righteousness (Matthew 5:6). I did this years ago, saying, “The Bible is SO BORING.” Now, it’s all I do. Read the Word. Pray in the Spirit. Read the Word. Worship. Read the Word. I realize others may not have as much time as I do to study. There are kids, jobs, school stuff, life to attend to. But I do a lot of meditation (thinking about) the Word when driving or shopping or doing daily tasks.

Point is, the devil wants to deceive us. He wants us to think he’s on our side or the opposite, we’re against him when we’re acting like him. He wants to sneak fear in there when there’s no need for us to ever be afraid. Within our heart is the Holy Spirit, who you might remember, once created all the world. Like, He took dirt and breathed on it, and Hey, Dude, there’s Adam. Then He made man a help meet. From one of Adam’s ribs, He made woe-man. Or is it woah-man?

So we don’t need to fear. Not the devil. Jesus de-feeted the enemy. He’s just a vapor with no feet now. Not people. We are to love people, our neighbors, our enemies, everyone. God’s love in us is that big. We must keep our eyes on God’s Word and walk continually in the Spirit (and not just on Sundays). We carry His presence everywhere, and He makes a difference in them through us.

The devil is not our friend. He can appear friendly, but he always has our worst moment at heart. Whereas, we know the truth and so recognize the lie and, in Christ, are completely free of it. Though we walk in this world, we are not of this world, but we are the salt and light of God that shines on every corner of the plate. Free of fear and condemnation toward ourselves and others, we look like and sound like Christ. This is the image projected in Ephesians 6. Dressed in the armor of God, the enemy should look at us and see Jesus. He should hear Jesus. And git.

“Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:14-22)

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay


----------
Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com