Battle of the Mind - Stand Up to the Devil!

Hello everyone,

Have you ever found yourself facing a circumstance that has left you feeling hopeless, or perhaps driven you to a place of despair?  What would you say if I told you your circumstance does not have the power to define you, or your future?  That no matter how difficult or wretched your situation may seem, it doesn’t have to determine who you are now, or the person you will be in the future. 

Since we’ve been doing a study on the battle of the mind, I’ve learnt some remarkable truths from the Word.  Yes, we do have an enemy, the devil, who is relentless in his pursuit to destroy all hope and peace and joy in our lives.  But we also have a Saviour Who has overcome him and his power to harm us. Jesus has made it possible for us to not only be protected from the enemy’s onslaught, but to push him back and cause him to flee from us in fear.

No matter how we may have come to be in the challenging circumstances we face, whether by our own doing, or not - there is a way for us to overcome and rise above victoriously.  And in the next two letters I want to show you how.  Throughout this series, I’ve been referring to material that I found from Dr. Michelle Strydom, Katie Souza, and Rick Renner’s teaching on the subject.  

What I’m trying to explain, is that there is a a way we can stand up to the devil and build a wall of defence around our minds to keep him out.  There is a strategy to set him on the run, so we can continuously remain victorious and free from hopelessness and despair.

Now, in the previous letters we learnt how cracks in the personal walls of our lives give the devil legal access to not only steal from us, but torment us, and destroy our hope.  These cracks could be areas in our past where we violated a spiritual law or principle.  They could also be caused from the way we responded to an attack that was spiritually manipulated and launched against us. Our emotions could have spun out of control where we blindly lashed out in grief or anger. Many times a traumatic experience can leave us emotionally shattered and broken, forming wounds in our souls. We could have been so overcome with fear, or hurt, that we chose to align our thoughts with ideas and lies that are contrary to God’s Word of truth.

Either way, it’s important for us to understand that if we allow him to, the devil will push us around and manipulate us with thoughts that instil mistrust, worry and fear.   Not only do these negative thoughts dominate our attention, they form negative strongholds in our minds.  Attached to those thoughts are dangerous emotions, that trigger off and release toxic chemicals making our physical bodies sick.

Praise God, for Jesus!  His blood is more than powerful to cover over every wound and sickness, and heal us.  Once we have repented and surrendered our lives anew, it’s time to move forward in victory.  We can stand up to the devil, cast him right out our affairs and build a wall of defence to keep him out, making us free from his hold over us.

Since we are familiar with repenting and by faith, believing our past is under the blood of Jesus; let’s talk about standing up to the devil and casting him out of our affairs. 

James 4:7 says, “So be subject to God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him], and he will flee from you.”  

Now, the word submit means to agree with and surrender to an acknowledged higher authority. One translation says it means to hide behind someone’s back, showing there is protection in submission.

In other words, before we stand up to and resist the devil, this is the position the Bible tells us to take.  We completely surrender to the protection and safety of our Saviour.  We find ourselves tucked in, close up against Him, and under His covering of love and the protection of His Presence.  

Then, in that position of confidence in the One Who covers us, we resist the devil.  The word resist means to stand against.  It speaks of a military terms that suggests a pre- planned resistance.  Don’t you just love that phrase?  A pre-planned resistance.  In other words, a well thought out strategy.  One that I’m going to share with you in next weeks letter.

But for now, understand that in order for you to walk in your emotional freedom and physical healing from the sickness that came from the wounds in your soul; repentance is only the first step.  

You must decide to find your identity in Christ again. Spend quality time with the Holy Spirit surrendering to His Presence, while you saturate your mind in the promises of God’s Word.  This is how you are going to find yourself in that position of being fully submitted to God, a place from which you can confidently stand against the devil and push him right out of your personal affairs.

Katie Souza, founder of Expected End Ministries, has some powerful teachings on how to soak your soul in the healing Presence of Jesus, while the promises of His Word saturate your mind.  If you are needing to move forward in your freedom and healing, I recommend looking her up on YouTube, her ministry is powerful.  

As I mentioned, in next weeks letter we are going to look at the Bible’s pre-planned resistance strategy - making sure the devil keeps out your personal life.

Much love,

Jenny