Resist The Devil and He Will Flee

     In a physical fight we will defend ourselves in order to resist in being hurt. If we have a spiritual fight we need to resist the devil in order to protect our minds from his influence. James 4:7 "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." 1 Peter 5:8-9 "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world." In our spiritual fight, we must stand firm in our faith and resist the devil for he is trying turn us against God.
     The devil and his demons cannot read our minds like God can. 1 Kings 8:39 "....(for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind)." However after thousands of years in dealing with the human race, Satan knows how to tempt us and cause us to doubt our faith. The devil was able to make someone who was close to Jesus to betray him. John 13:2 "During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him" Satan caused Ananias to sin by holding back charitable money. Acts 5:3 "But Peter said, "Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?"
     Satan and his demons can influence your mind from the outside. They can plant thoughts within your mind making you think that their thoughts are yours. Satan planted thoughts of betrayal within Judas's mind as well as putting thoughts in Ananias's mind to hold back money. In 1 Chronicles 21:1, Satan put the thought in King David's mind to take a census of Israel and he did as Satan wanted. It was against God's will so the nation of Israel was punished for what he had done.
     Our minds are so vulnerable to Satan's spiritual attacks. In my own personal experience I fought against one of those spiritual attacks. I was up late at night while others were sleeping. I was watching Christian music videos on YouTube. I like to watch them because their lyrics about Jesus Christ is so uplifting and positive. To counter this negative world of ours, the videos that I watch brings me peace to my soul. Even during the day, I found singing Christian songs can lessen my worries and anxieties.
      When I was watching these Christian music videos at night, bad, hateful and vile thoughts were slowly entering into my head.  I know they were not from watching Christian videos that was about God's love and the salvation we have from Jesus Christ. I could not understand why this was happening. All I was doing sitting in a chair and listening to the wonderful music. I could not understand where these thoughts was coming from. I was asking myself were these some unresolved thoughts that had not dealt with before. I just could not identify with them. The bad thoughts that I was thinking about did not fit the person that I am.
     Then something happen another thought cross my mind. The words resist the devil and he will flee came into my mind. I suddenly realize that I was under a spiritual attack. The Holy Spirit within me was warning me that I was under attack and need to do something about it, Now! I realize that the devil or one of demons was in my room standing right next to me emptying his vile disgusting thoughts right into my mind like it was his own personal trash can.
     In this time of my distress, the Holy Spirit of God was helping me to do what I needed to do. I remembered that the whole armor of God had a piece that I needed to use, the sword of truth which is God's word. I remembered the words that Jesus said to the apostle Peter in Matthew16:23 "....Get behind me, Satan! You are a hinderance to me For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." Zechariah 3:2 "And the LORD said to Satan, "The LORD rebuke you, O Satan!....." I also said in the name of Jesus Christ, Be gone Satan!
     After about ten or twenty minutes of saying these words in silence. Why, because it was the middle of the night and people were sleeping. The words that I was saying in silence was just as effective if I were saying them out loud because those bad words from that evil demon was no longer in my mind. In fact, my mind felt like it was washed clean by the clearest water. My mind felt like the verse in Psalm 51:7 "....and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." My mind felt whiter than snow purged of all the evil that was there. It was a ten out of ten good feeling that I was experiencing after the encounter.
     I have learned from the encounter that you cannot accept all the thoughts in your head as yours. You have to be cautious because the devil and his demons are looking for someone to devour. I did not know I was under a spiritual attack until Holy Spirit warned me with the words resist the devil and he will flee. In a physical fight you will know immediately that you are under attack but in a spiritual fight you have to rely on the Holy Spirit's help. So be careful, if you think you are being spiritually attacked then do something about and do not just stand there and take it. Defend yourself with God's word because God's word backed by the power of the Holy Spirit is a powerful combination that no devil or demon can withstand.
         

Live in The Spirit of Christ

     Live in Spirit of Christ for his death and resurrection took away our sins and made us righteous in the eyes of God. Romans 8:9 "You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, If in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him." If we have the Spirit of Christ within us, we are accepted by God to be washed clean from our sins. Adam's disobedience to God made us all sinners whereas Jesus obedience to God made us righteous in his eyes. Romans 5:19 "For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous."
     Jesus saved not only us from our sins but also from the wrath of God. Romans 5:9-10 "Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life." Jesus Christ brought us closer to God by shedding his blood upon the cross that washed away our sins, making us look sinless before God. This act of Jesus Christ's sacrifice justified us, meaning to be declared righteous before God through faith in Jesus Christ. This is why I say to live in the Spirit of Christ and receive God's blessing instead of his wrath. Put your faith in Jesus and be looked upon as God's friend rather than he seeing you as his enemy.
     How hard it must have been for God to allow his only begotten so to hang upon the cross. He brought his son into our world to free us from the wages of sin which is death and to give us eternal life in his Kingdom. Death has no power over the resurrection that we received through Jesus Christ. The devil lost and Jesus won for we now have a way into heaven. Sin cannot hold us captive anymore for in Jesus name our sins are forgiven and by his example, we have a new way to live our life. Live in the Spirit of Christ and you will be accepted into God's Kingdom and there you will have eternal life.

Our Spiritual Warfare

      In our spiritual warfare, we our not using physical weapons but spiritual ones against strongholds which are false reasonings, arguments and opinions. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 "For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ," We do our best to use God's word so to open people's eyes to the error of their ways and lead them to repentance of their sins. The apostle Paul told us we should correct our opponents with gentleness. 2 Timothy 2:25-26 "correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snares of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will."
     Jesus at the very beginning of Paul's ministry, he told him to go to the gentiles and open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness. Acts 26:18 "to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me." In our spiritual warfare, people's minds are becoming open to the truth and starting to see Satan was the one who hid the truth from them. Why did Satan try to hide the truth because he is the father of lies. John 8:44 "....He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies."
     In Revelation, Satan is called the deceiver of the whole world. Revelation 12:9 "And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world--he was thrown down to earth, and his angels were thrown down with him." This is why our warfare is a spiritual one because Satan is a spirit and so are his angels. Ephesians 6:12 "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places."
     The apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:11 to fight against the devil, we need to put on the whole armor of God. In Ephesians 6:14-17, he tells us what those pieces of armor are, the belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of readiness, shield of faith, helmet of salvation and sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. He tells us also to pray and keep alert with all perseverance. 
     Even though our fight against the devil is an ongoing one, there will be a time when the Lord will return and have the devil cast into the abyss. Revelations 20:1-2 "Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years."