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.