Spiritual Warfare
And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
John 8:32
Satan is always tempting our weaknesses at our weakest moment. By observation, he knows our weakness and exactly when to tempt us. His attacks normally start in the mind and is supported by our emotion. Satan’s desire is to trigger our emotions, causing us to sin, and then, he will use our emotion to trigger our thoughts. One of his best tactics is to have us justify our behavior thinking it’s satisfactory with God. We can fight all temptations with the truth from God.
Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:15) If we are observant, we will know when we will be tempted. Often, it is triggered by on our location, if we are alone, or from our memories. If we expect to be tempted, we can capture the thought before it is conceived. The longer we entertain the thought, the more it is conceived in our minds. Therefore, we must kill the thought immediately.
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5) If we can immediately demolish the thought and bring a scripture of Truth to memory, we will experience victory over the temptation. Victory over temptation is more rewarding and satisfying the more victories we experience. We have self-control to capture the tempting thought independent of how we feel. It’s like an alcoholic saying one drink is no harm, but later he finds himself drunk.
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13) This is a powerful promise from God because we will never be tempted beyond what we can bear. The Lord will provide a way to endure and overcome the temptation. When tempted, we pray for the Lord’s power to overcome, and we pray every day that the Lord’s power will enable us to overcome all temptations of the day. There is victory when we call on the Lord before we move into a known state that will trigger the temptation.
Today, think what might tempt you and pray for the Lord to help you overcome each possible temptation. Be spiritually prepared with the Truth prior to the temptation and be victorious over Satan and his demons.
Prayer: Lord, give me an escape to every temptation today, and help me to be still inside so I can capture every thought. In Jesus’ name, Amen.