Stepping Stones: Choose Your Commander and Don’t be a POW

Transformational Thought

Conflict, war, disputes, battles. Even the words themselves cause us to brace ourselves. Uneasiness, discomfort, and even fear can tense up our muscles causing stress that get our hearts beating more quickly. And that’s just when the battles are concrete struggles played out on a field with a tangible opponent we can see.

Conflict is one of the biggest areas of struggle I hear and help with as a psychiatrist. So many of us struggle to manage and deal with tension and difficulty with other people. We avoid, procrastinate, and self-medicate to deal with the discomfort. Then we are often either too passive, or too aggressive when we finally step up to address the conflict.

Know clearly, our real wars are not human or physical battles; they are actually spiritual battles. The evil one is so crafty, so deceptive. And he is not flesh and blood of this world. The battlefield … our mind. That is why we all have struggles with insecurity, competency, purpose, value, uncertainty, importance, love, acceptance, and the list goes on. One of Satan’s favorite strategies is using deceptions and lies to subtly intrude into our minds and erode our confidence in God’s unconditional love and the power of our relationship with Him.

Fight back and do not let these lies go unchallenged. Be armed with the truth. Thoroughly know the Christmas and Easter stories, as they are the total and ultimate representation of God’s love and Jesus’ sacrifice for you. Who else, other than your parent, and maybe your spouse, would endure humiliation to that degree and actually die for you? Better yet, God promises to love us unconditionally and backs it up ALL the time with action.

Put Satan to the test … scrutinize his activity and love for you. Does it come close to God’s? Of course not. Does Satan ever say anywhere he loves you or wants to help you? Then why do you accept or trust anything from Satan? He is a great tempter and masquerader. The choice is yours. Don’t be tricked.

Your life management, and its course, success, and fulfillment all come down to this one simple question and decision. Who are you choosing as your Commander-in-Chief? God or Satan. No other choices exist. You think you can choose yourself. But you’ll get sucked into Satan’s strategies and become his POW and will quickly get brainwashed.

Today, don’t fall for Satan’s tricks. Resist his brainwashing, because he just laughs at you behind your back. Meanwhile God cries for you; He died for you. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you”. In each choice you have today (you actually have around 10,000 per day), identify God’s path and Satan’s path. Which should you trust? You often know what is right and wrong, but still choose wrong. Why? Journal about it today and determine to get to the bottom of your motives. WITHIN REACH will help you.

Prayer
Dear Father, Help me open my mind and my heart to You today … to open my entire being to receive Your love to the fullest. So many of Your children limp through life starved for Your love because they have not learned the art of receiving You. I know that receiving You is an act of faith: believing that You love me with unlimited, everlasting love. Train my mind, Lord, to trust You as I come close to You with confidence. I know that one of Satan’s favorite deceptions and intrusions into my mind and thoughts is to undermine my confidence in Your unconditional love. I fight back against this lie today ... I do not let it go unchallenged. I resist the devil in Your name and know that he will shrink away from me as I draw closer to Your presence. Give me Your strength today. Envelope me today and everyday with Your love and a peace that passes all human understanding. I pray this in the name of the One who rebuked the lies and endured many battle scars, Jesus Christ; and all God’s children say - AMEN!

The Truth
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
John 8:44

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:7