The Battlefield
The battle always starts with our thought life. No one can spoil a house of a strong man before binding him (Mark 3:27). Satan attacks our mind; since he has no power to destroy us he keeps firing his darts of lies into our mind (Ephesians 6:16). This verse says we must use the shield of faith to extinguish the flames caused by these fiery darts. It means his firing darts are inevitable. In 1 Peter 5:8, we read, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” Demons are like vultures. They hover anticipating the death of anyone who garners their allusive lies. Once we accept his deceits we lose ground and Satan advances with more lies, which are his weapons. He tries to make us destroy ourselves since he cannot touch us any other way.
Satan has a simple method. He knows we act upon our emotions; that is why he tries to steal our joy (Nehemiah 8:10) – no joy, no strength to fight him. Emotions are reflections of knowledge. A distorted or deceiving knowledge (Revelation 12:9) causes a downfall in any given area of our lives. So demons work hard trying to convince us of a lie, which is contrary to God’s Word. If he wins our thoughts he wins the battle without doing anything else. With corrupted thoughts we destroy ourselves. “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober” (1 Peter 1:13).
When God gave the great commandment He instructed the people of Israel to have it in their heart (most inner part, mind, understanding). He commanded them to talk about it at home, on the way, when lying down, and when getting up. He also told them to make themselves reminders so the Word would be always present in their lives (Deuteronomy 6:6-9). He knew Satan would target their minds to shoot arrows of doubt. The Lord was giving the Israelites instructions to prevent their fall. The same Word applies to us today (Isaiah 40:8) if we want to live abundantly.
Today I am renewing my mind as commanded in Ephesians 4:23 and Romans 12:2 because I want to live a victorious life in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3). I don’t want to pass through life dragging my days and touching the divine only from time to time. I want to walk on earth rooted in the promises of God. So, I have been taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). The Bible declares that through the knowledge of God and Jesus we have life and promises (2 Peter 1:2-4). I pray that the minds that have been blinded by the devil (2 Corinthians 4:4) may be set free to see the Light (Matthew 4:16).
I walk in a dark world but not in darkness (Colossians 1:13).
I am a child of the light (1 Thessalonians 5:5).
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8).
--Jaqueline Assis