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Give The Devil Nothing - Master Your Thoughts

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His Word is life and the light that shone into the darkness we were living in before coming into a relationship with God, through His Son, Jesus Christ. The worldly thinking will be contrary then to the Word. They are represented as arguments or pretensions because they are oppositional in nature. They set themselves up against the Word of God. They are not obedient to the Word meaning they are rebelling against it. These are the thoughts which we must make captive to Christ if we are to avoid the pitfalls in this world that the enemy lays out for us.

 

That is the battle we face every day. The world will constantly reinforce lines of thought that are in opposition to what we should know through God's Word. The argument the world makes may even seem "logical" because the world has moved so far away from Godly thinking. One needs to only watch some prime time television to see what the world embraces. We live in a culture saturated in sex, adultery, violence, greed and all forms of debauchery and that is just reality television! Two thirds of all television programming contains violence and by the age of 18, the average child has witnessed through TV over 200,000 violent acts and over 16,000 murders. Seventy percent of the top 20 shows watched by teens contain sexual content. These are the thought battles we sometimes lose every day.

 

In addition to the saturation strategy, the devil is more direct as well. Let's be honest, the enemy knows what buttons to push on us. We give him material to work with. Whatever we give him, he will use against us. If you give him pride, he will use pride against you. If you have been hurt he will use that against you. If you give him lust, he will use your lust against you. It does not matter what it is anger, resentment, prejudice, bitterness, hatred, greed, selfishness he will wield it against you in your thought life.

 

Which bring us to our key verses from the Book of Acts. The story of Ananias and Sapphira. The property was theirs. It belonged to them and the money they made from selling it belonged to them. Their problem was not in wanting to keep a portion but rather in misrepresenting to the Apostles that what they were giving was the entire proceeds from the sale. They were trying to make themselves look better than they really were. Ananias and Sapphira were not only greedy but very prideful. The enemy pounced and used their weaknesses against them. You can almost hear the enemy whispering in Ananias' ear "they will never know. Keep some of it, you deserve it. Look how nice you are to be donating as much as you are!" The key verse shows us this when Peter asks Ananias how it is that Satan has so filled his heart. How? Through greed and pride because that is what he gave the enemy to work with.

 

These are the thoughts we need to make obedient to Christ. There are multiple Scriptures against using honest scales and the evil of greed. Peter asks Ananias incredulously what would make him think to do such a thing. The answer is simple - the devil. Now, this does not mean "the devil made him do it." But the devil certainly planted the thought. It was his choice what to do with that thought. The devil can't make us do anything. All he can do is suggest something for us to consider. A thought that is not quite in alignment with Godly thinking. We already know the truth:

 

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. John 17:17

 

If the Word of God is the truth and the devil is trying to get us to consider a thought contrary to it, then we see Satan revealed as the liar he is:

 

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

 

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Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to (more...)
 
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