How long do I have to put up with this?

Last year, I taught a 12-week Bible study on spiritual warfare based on the information in my book ‘Take Captive Every Thought’.  I offered a question-and-answer period during the final session, and this was one of the more interesting questions.  “What was the primary motivation for writing your book?”

"If I were being completely honest,” I answered, “the primary motivation was personal. I was sick and tired of being victim to a bully that was tormenting me over my past failures.”  Let’s face it, if you have ever been bullied in this temporal world, the results can be devastating.  Whether it is verbal, physical, or in today’s world – digital, the bully will always seek to demean, demoralize, and establish dominance over you (enslave you in fear).  The battle in the spiritual realm is no different. 

Satan and his demons are bullies!  Scripture tells us that their temptation, accusation, and condemnation are aimed at you for a specific reason: to steal, kill, and destroy the plans God has in store for you (John 10:10).  However, their primary strategy is not physical but instead intended to consume and control your thought life.

God created each one of us as a unique individual with our own gifts, talents, personality, and purpose.  Of course, the other side of that coin is that we all have our own shortcomings, pitfalls, and tendencies toward sin.  God focuses on the former, Satan focuses on the latter. 

Satan is very adept at directing his temptations and accusations towards our weaknesses and insecurities.  But even as we grow in our faith, different levels of spiritual maturity elicit various and sometimes specific attack strategies from the enemy. 

A constant mental assault.

We see a perfect example of this in the apostle Paul’s life as recorded in 2 Corinthians 12:7-9.  “I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.”  When Paul used this language, he knew exactly what he was saying.  There was a persistent adversary that was harassing his ministry.  His thorn was demonic - a constant mental assault on his ability to serve as an apostle of Jesus Christ. 

A ‘messenger of Satan’ would be a bully in the spiritual realm.  And the demonic’s primary weapon in that realm is a constant mental barrage meant to dominate your mind.   During a time of intense personal struggle, in which I lost my business of 12 years (due to an economic downturn), and later separated from my wife and two daughters because of an unwanted divorce, the Holy Spirit began to open my eyes to a common struggle among all Christians – the struggle with spiritual warfare.  

Satan was bombarding my mind with thoughts of failure, insecurity, doubt, rejection, and suggesting I give up on life. (You’ll never marry again, your children don’t love you, you’ll never recover financially.  God isn’t real.  If He loved you, why is all this happening to you?  God has given up on you, why don’t you just disappear?  Nobody will care.) 

Determined not to fail in my walk with Christ, I kept reading the Bible, desperately searching for answers.  The tide began to turn when I read Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, especially the section titled; ‘Life Through the Spirit’.  It follows the infamous passage in Chapter 7 describing his inner conflict between good and evil, and Chapter 8 begins this way.

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2)

Then in verses 16-17, Paul continues.

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:16-17)

Through these verses, I realized I was not fighting against the temptation to sin which leads to failure.  I had already failed and the battle in my mind was against blame, accusation, condemnation, and lies about what the future held.  But the word of God, penned by the apostle Paul, became a beacon of hope for me.

• Satan was condemning me, but the Bible says; there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

• Satan was trying to chain me to my failure, but the Bible says; through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

• Satan was trying to separate me from the God who loved me, but the Bible says; The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.

• I was suffering under the weight and gravity of Satan’s schemes, but the Bible says; we are co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

Look closely at the promise in that last verse and pay special attention to this hidden truth.  Jesus himself suffered under the weight and gravity of Satan’s same schemes, but the Bible says; ”we are co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

God’s plan for His Son (and the plan of salvation) included a time of suffering brought on by Satan’s schemes.  However, that brief period of suffering led to a future glory as Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God with rule and dominion over all of creation. 

Listen, if you profess Jesus Christ as your Savior, you will experience periods of spiritual warfare in this lifetime.  But as sons and daughters of God, and co-heirs with Christ, find joy in the fact that we share in the same spiritual battle as Christ did, and are therefore promised that we too will share in a future glory to grand for us to envision while on this earth.

Satan has a plan to defeat every Christian, but we've already obtained the victory.  God’s abundant provision, power, and enabling are more than sufficient to meet your need.  It reminds me of Mike Tyson's famous quote before a fight with Evander Holyfield.  When asked if he was worried about Holyfield’s plan, Tyson responded: "Everybody has a plan - until they get punched in the mouth."

The best way to dissuade a bully is to punch him or her in the mouth.  When Satan or his minions attack as bullies, punch them in the mouth with Scripture.  “Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee.” (James 4:7)  Stop trying to defeat the enemy in your power.  Submit to God's plan to defeat the enemy - use the Word of God as your two-edged sword and the demonic will have no choice but to flee! 

You can have faith that a God given scripture, spoken with God given authority, and appropriate to the situation, will defeat Satan’s attempt to derail you.  Now, I realize there are many Christians that have never been taught to use the Bible as a resource for defeating an area of Satanic influence in their lives.  And even if they believe that is possible, they may not know where to look in the Bible to find reassurance and achieve victory in their personal battle with the enemy. 

The Bible speaks directly to our human frailties and provides us the same remedy used so effectively by Jesus during His temptation in the desert. (Matthew 4:1-11)  Guided by God’s word, I’ve written extensively in my book on how to defend yourself and eventually win the war against this demonic assault.  Chapter 12 titled ‘Choose Your Weapon’ will instruct and encourage you to choose a passage of scripture that is appropriate to the situation and needed for your specific battle. 

Truth be told, Satan will continue his attacks for as long as you allow him to.  Once the truth was revealed to me in Scripture, I simply refused to become a trophy on evil’s wall. 

To find out more:  

• Visit our website at: www.spiritofinfluence.org

• Follow our blog ‘Layman’s Logic’ at: www.spiritofinfluence.org/blog

• Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook/spiritofinfluence.org