EXPERIENCE VICTORY OVER THE DEVIL!

TAKE EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE

            The devil never takes a vacation from his plans to steal, kill, and destroy each and every believer in Jesus Christ.  He wants to steal our love, joy, and peace in Christ, take our lives, and destroy our testimony.  He attempts to do all this through his three greatest weapons: temptation, accusation, and deception.

In Matthew 4: 3, the devil is called the tempter.  Temptation is one of Satan’s most effective tools against us.  He offers all manner of enticements to lure believers away from an obedient and faithful walk with Christ. He knows he can’t take a person’s life without getting permission from God, so he tries to destroy his or her testimony.  Unfortunately, no one is exempt from Satanic attacks, and no one is always victorious over temptation.  However, the Bible does tell us how to fight it.

The first thing every Christian must learn is that temptation begins in the mind.  The Scriptures say that we only fall into temptation and sin when we allow ourselves to be enticed.  This usually happens by not knowing what to do when temptation faces us.

Dr. Henry Morris gave this insight in his book, The Bible Has The Answer, “The Psalmist stated, ‘Thy Word have I hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee’ (Psalms 119:11). When God’s Word becomes an important part of the believer’s life, it fortifies that person against temptation’s power.  Christ Himself demonstrated the Word’s power when He resisted Satan’s temptations with a quote from the Old Testament (Matt 4:7)…  Another essential to victory is to avoid temptation. On several occasions, Christ told His disciples to pray that they might not fall into temptation (Matthew 6:13; Luke 22:40). Some believers understand that temptation is not the same as sin, so then feel that they can enjoy the enticements of temptation without any harm. This behavior becomes a type of game—seeing how much fun one can “enjoy” without falling into overt sin. Such an attitude is sinful in itself, for it fails to take seriously God’s commands for holiness in attitude as well as in action.”

While the devil knows our personal weaknesses and will send some of the strongest temptations our way, God promised to make a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13).  Christians must always be on guard against temptation because it can lead us in bondage to the devil.

            A story is told about a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. He was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit the target.  Getting a little discouraged, he headed back for dinner. As he was walking back he saw Grandma’s pet duck. Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head, and killed it. He was shocked and grieved. In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile, only to see his sister watching! Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing.

After lunch the next day Grandma said, “Sally, let’s wash the dishes.”  But Sally said, “Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen.” Then she whispered to him, “Remember the duck?” So Johnny did the dishes.  Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and Grandma said, “I’m sorry but I need Sally to help make supper.”  Sally just smiled and said, “Well that’s all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help.” She whispered again, “Remember the duck?” So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help.

After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally’s he finally couldn’t stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck.  Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug, and said, “Sweetheart, I know. You see, I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing, but because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you.”

This is exactly how the devil operates.  He loves to use whatever sins are in your past (lying, cheating, debt, fear, bad habits, hatred, anger, bitterness, etc.) as a weapon against you.  He will try to make you his slave through his false accusations and deceptions.  But always know that God saw it all too.  The devil does not own a monopoly on your past.  God was there too!  And if you already confessed it to God, then you are forgiven and the devil’s accusations mean nothing.  God does not want the devil to make a slave of you out of what has already been forgiven.  The greatest thing about God’s forgiveness is that He not only forgives you, but He forgets. It is by God’s grace and mercy that we are saved.

            Revelation 12:9, 10 calls the devil “the deceiver” and “the accuser of the brethren.”  Through his accusations and deceptions, millions of Christians are living defeated lives because they have allowed the devil to rob them of the joy God gave them.  Many times, these people wind up severely depressed or committing suicide.  The attack that the devil launches against believers is not a physical attack but it is fought on the battlefield of the mind.  That’s why Paul warned believers to “take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)  So, whenever depressing or evil thoughts enter your mind, grab them and give them to Jesus.  Don’t dwell on them or they will gain control.  Choose to change your thoughts to think Godly thoughts or just confess them to God and claim the victory in Christ for their removal.  Don’t let him steal your joy.