Mental warfare is one of the worst battles you can fight--but nothing is impossible to beat when Christ is in you. God revealed to me that as we continue to elevate this year, we will face tougher demons. But what makes these demons tougher is they are more subtle. These demon's insults won't be blatant. In fact their words will be so subtle that it will sound like your own thoughts.
Satan's goal through these attacks is to get us to slow the wheels down as we progress this year. If he had it his way we would just pull the emergency brake and flee from our destiny. He knows God is never going to give up on us, so his strategy is to get us to forfeit our promises, by depression and even suicide. The only way we can get through this season is by staying close to God and trusting we are close to Him despite what the enemy will try to convince us.
Satan used the same strategy when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness. He tells Jesus,
Matthew 4:3 "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
Notice the tactic satan tried to use against Jesus. He tells Jesus IF He is the Son of God tell these stones to become bread. Satan wants us to doubt God and in doing so doubt ourselves. By questioning whether or not Jesus is the Son of Man, satan was doubting Jesus' relationship with God. This is a common attack I'm sure we have all experienced. Satan will throw your mistakes in your face to give you a reason to believe God doesn't love you the way He did before you messed up. And as soon as we begin to give into that doubt, we walk away from God leaving us vulnerable to satan's temptations.
Remember the context. Before confronting satan in the wilderness, Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights. So I bet the thought of bread was pretty tempting to Him. So satan tried to take advantage of that. He tried to doubt Jesus to weaken Him, and he then slammed a fleshy desire in His face.
Jesus set the example for us. As it says in Corinthians 10:13, for every temptation we face, God provides us with a way out. Jesus clung to the word and used it as His sword. He replied to satan saying,
“It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’"
Two things to note here. Jesus didn't try to use His own logic to battle satan. He instead entrusted in the word of God. He let God battle satan through the word. This is one of many examples of why Jesus is the living word. Lets look at what Jesus is teaching us here. He didn't bother to try to prove to satan that He is the Son of God. He didn't entertain it. In saying that He lives on the word that comes from the mouth of God, He is telling satan that his words mean nothing. Jesus only listened to the words that came from God and not the lies of the enemy. In saying this Jesus overcame the temptation of bread because He fed off of God's forever fulfilling word instead of satan's temporary fill of bread that wouldn't have kept Him full for long.
We must handle the lies satan tries to tell us in this same way. Instead of answering these lies by using our own ability we must stick to God.
To drive this point home, let's look at Jesus' final moments. After Jesus was arrested and brought to Pilate, the elders and chief priests asked Him,
If you are the Messiah,” they said, “tell us.”
If you are the Messiah,” they said, “tell us.”
There's that "if" word again. Notice that this is the same way satan spoke to Jesus in the wilderness. Let this attest to the ways satan will try to speak through people to get to you. The enemy's goal is to rub away your foundation thus exposing fear and insecurities, and he will do this through people you love or even strangers. But as long as we continue to focus on God, we dodge satan's shots.
Jesus replied,
"If I tell you, you will not believe me, and if I asked you, you would not answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.”
It's clear Jesus didn't bother proving Himself. He knew just like in the wilderness, it was satan working behind these people. He only replied by mentioning His destiny. When people question who you are and try to kill you with insults, remember it is satan working behind these people and remind yourself of your destiny.
Why this message, and why now?
Elevation. Acceleration.
These are the words God has been putting in my spirit these past couple of weeks.
Your elevation is going to be instant and supernatural. God is going to literally take you from one place and put you in a better place. Once you are in your garden of peace, satan will be there lurking to get you to forfeit what God has given you. We know this from the garden of Eden. The same way he tried to attack Jesus is the same way he will try to attack you. First he will try to get you to question who you are, by trying to flare insecurities in you. The enemy will try to convince you that you don't belong where you are. He will try to tell you that you are not smart enough, you're not proper enough--you name it. If you give into those insecurities, then he will dangle temptation in your face. Maybe he might start by saying you're not smart enough to keep up at your new job. So you need a drink to calm your nerves.
Beware of this formula.
God is going to move you into places you know you wouldn't be without Him. Instead of focusing on what you don't have compared to the others in that same position, use your "shortcomings" as a reason to praise God. Because despite your mistakes and despite your weaknesses, you made the cut because God made you fit.
Everything we have is from God and not from our own doing--and there's nothing wrong with that.
Bask in that humility and God will continue to elevate you.
You are made in God's image.
You are smart because God is smart. You are mature because God is mature. You are beautiful because God is beautiful. You are rich because God is rich and you are his heir/heiress. Your shortcomings are forgiven because Jesus redeemed you. You are destined for greatness because God is great.
You are all God says you are.
