Using Our Minds in Spiritual Warfare

Oct. 23, 2017 | By Creflo Dollar

Our beliefs control our conscious thoughts, and when we believe right we live right. We’ve been blessed with sound minds and the freedom to make our own choices; our minds are powerful weapons in our daily spiritual fight against the devil. As Christians, our job is to maintain the victory that Jesus died to obtain. The battle is over who gets to influence our minds, which is why it’s so important to be careful what we think.

If we let down our guard, random thoughts from the enemy that enter our minds will have a negative impact on our thinking. Idle musings that contradict the Word of God may seem harmless, but Satan uses these to trick us. We can’t stop birds from flying over our heads, but we can stop them from building a nest in our hair. “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

The enemy tries to fool us by twisting the truth and presenting a million variations of what God tells us. We fight back by digging into the Word and knowing exactly what God does and doesn’t say. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). The devil lied and tricked Adam and Eve, but he can’t do that with us when we’re confident about God’s promises.

The freedom Jesus has given us is real, and we don’t have to struggle along in self-effort. The enemy wants us to question who we are in Jesus. Satan hides behind religion and tells us that we’re still sinners, using guilt and fear to motivate us. But his efforts to increase sin-consciousness in us fail when we trust that Christ already did everything necessary to make us righteous in God’s eyes. “For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are” (Romans 3:20-22, NLT).

The more we study God’s Word and let it impact our minds, the stronger we become. The enemy is like a prowling predator, sneaking up and picking off the weakest and the most vulnerable. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). He’s rendered powerless against believers who absolutely know their identity in Christ. Our faith in God’s grace is one of our most effective weapons.

Regardless of what happens in our lives, maintaining our stance in Christ keeps us steady and anchors us firmly. When the enemy comes at us with lies and intimidation tactics, we win when we remain in Christ and refuse to budge from our belief in who we are. “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). When we completely turn over our minds to God, the victory is ours.

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