Living Changed: Spiritual Warfare • Devotional

  One of the most common ways we experience spiritual warfare is in the mind. The enemy is constantly hurling lies at us and trying to get us to agree with the discouraging, destructive, and dangerous things he says. 

But Satan isn’t creative. Creation belongs to God. So the best he can do is figure out which lies hurt us the most and torment us with them over and over again. The attacks impacting us most today are probably the same attacks he’s been throwing at us our whole lives. But his lies only have power when we choose to agree with them.

When we agree with a lie, we give it credibility. We internalize it and let it become a part of who we believe we are. You’ll know you’ve made an agreement with a lie because it will sound like the voice in your head. If we heard an evil, hissing voice like something out of a movie, we’d never listen to it. But because it’s in our own voice, we’re so much more willing to believe it as truth. 

When our thoughts are aligned with God’s word, the devil can’t lie to us. The apostle Paul encourages us to take our thoughts captive. That means not letting our thoughts run wild, but checking our thoughts against the truth of God’s word. He also urges us to think on whatever is true, noble, lovely, and praiseworthy. He understood the mind is a battlefield, and he wanted us to cast out everything that doesn’t line up with God. 

Again, taking thoughts captive and casting out lies is active. We can’t simply think “go away.” Satan can’t read our minds. Sometimes we allow him to influence our thoughts when we pick up the lies he hurls at us, but only God is all-knowing and able to hear our thoughts. When Jesus was in the desert being tempted by Satan, Jesus spoke Scripture and told him to go away. In the same way, we have the authority to command him to flee in the name of Jesus.

With practice, it gets easier to spot the inconsistencies between what you’re hearing and what God promises. You’ll get faster at taking thoughts captive, speaking against lies, and realigning with truth. Ask God to help you spot the lies and remind you of the truth so you can more easily fight back!

Source 

“Habit 1: Flip the Script”

If your life isn’t what you want it to be, it may be because you’re telling yourself the wrong story. You are not the mistakes you’ve made. You are not the labels put on you by other people. You are who God says you are. Anything less is false humility. If you want to change your life, start by changing your story! 

If you want to win the day, you’ve got to flip the script. How? The Bible is a good starting point. Scripture is more than our script; it’s our script-cure. And that’s more than a play on words. Scripture confronts the false identities and false narratives perpetrated by the Father of Lies. It reveals the heavenly Father’s metanarrative and the unique role that each one of us plays in it.

Abraham thought he was too old. Jeremiah thought he was too young. Moses thought he was unqualified. Joseph thought he was overqualified. Gideon had an inferiority complex. Jonah had a superiority complex. Peter made too many mistakes. Nathanael was too cool for school. Paul had a thorn in the flesh. And King David was the runt of the litter. 

None of that matters! Who you are is not the issue. What really mat­ters is whose you are. “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). You are the apple of God’s eye. You are God’s work­manship. You are more than a conqueror, and nothing can change that. It is what it is; it is who you are. 

There never has been and never will be anyone like you. That isn’t a testament to you. It’s a testament to the God who created you. The sig­nificance of that truth is this: no one can take your place. No one can worship God like you or for you. No one can serve others like you or for you. Jesus doesn’t just live in us; Christ lives as us! 

Start living your life in a way that is worth telling stories about.

It’s time to flip the script!

Think on this: If you want to change your life, start by changing your story.

Source: A Bible Reading Plan By Mark Batterson