Prepare For a Fight

“In between where you are and where God is leading you, the fight gets real. God sets you apart, things constantly change, and the enemy tries to devour you. Find comfort in knowing God will never leave nor forsake You, He never changes, and greater is He that is in you than he that is in this world!”

Chenise Miller

Can I be transparent with You?

I’m assuming you said yes.

Well, 2 weeks ago I felt so moved by God. I really felt like our relationship went to new heights. I was so amazed by what God did in a week, and how much hope He gave me. I spent so much time with Him and things just started to happen. I gained courage in places it lacked; He helped me create this blog to reach you…it was just awesome!

Then…

Last week, after I published my first blog on Monday, the attacks begin to come. It’s funny; I knew once I stepped out in faith the enemy’s advances to make me give in were going to hit me left and right. I mean I knew it was next, yet I really struggled with combating his lies with the truth—the word of God.

But before we go there let’s recap…

Last week, in my first post (which you can find here) I talked about stepping out in faith (stepping out of the boat like Peter) and not being distracted when you do. But the truth is it gets HARD. Things happen and we begin to struggle sometimes. I won’t sugar coat it, because it was hard for me last week until I made some changes.

Today…

I want to help anyone going through a tough time of attacks and prepare those who aren’t currently going through any for the future battles, because they are sure to come. Saying attack sounds so harsh, but I want to note that an attack from the enemy can be something so small to entice you, to get your attention away from what God has told you. Sometimes we think we’re going to know when we’re attacked because it’ll be something crazy, but that’s not always true. The devil wants you to think little of his schemes, or even better, to not even recognize them at all.

The first thing you should know is that the devil is a liar!

The devil wants to confuse you! He schemes to deceive you! He wants you to reconsider whatever it is that God placed in you to accomplish. It can be something extreme or something simple, but whatever you set out to do for God, the enemy wants to destroy it. He loved it when you didn’t know God. He loved it when you were complacent in your walk with God. But now, your focused faith is a threat to him!

Testimony Time!

So like I said earlier, last week was crazy! I literally only had my faith to get me through. I made a decision to publish my first blog post and reach out to you all and that Monday I felt so humbled and amazed at how many people were blessed by the words God placed on my heart. Then, Tuesday the enemy started to play with my mind. “Are you sure you can really post these blogs? I mean you weren’t always living for God. Who are you to tell people about Him?” It was a lot. By the end of each day I felt drained, but I still cried out to God, and because of that He sustained me.

 

I want to give you 3 tips on combating the enemy’s attacks, all of which are found in the word of God.

 

1. Combat the devils lies, with the truth in the word of God.

I was watching a short clip of Bishop T.D. Jakes titled, “Why the Enemy Attacks Your Mind” and it helped me so much. He proceeded to say, “it is with the mind that we serve the Lord.” I thought about that for a moment and realized just how mighty our minds are. The devil knows how powerful renewing your mind is (Romans 12:2 HCSB) so he wants to rattle things up there. He knows how mighty you are when you have focused faith, so instead he wants you to focus on your worries, your insecurities, your past etc. Remember, he’s a liar!

This past week, when the devil tried to remind me of my past, I had to tell him that I am in Christ and old things have passed away, new things have come (2Cor 5:17). When the enemy tried to remind me of what all of those people from my past would think, I had to tell him that if I wanted to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ (Gal 1:10).

EVERYTHING the enemy tries to enitce you with is a lie!

2. Being set apart and being alone are two different things.

The devil is such a coward. He tries to do his damage when you think you’re alone. A lot of times it’s when you step out in faith and do something for God that you are set apart. Usually, because God wants you to rely on Him. I have learned that that’s when the devil tries to entangle you in his lies and confusion, and if you aren’t quick to shut him down and speak the truth, he can make you feel like you are alone. Being set apart and being alone, are two different things, remember that!

Last week, I was in a place where I felt alone because I wasn’t shutting down the nonsense the enemy was putting in my mind. That’s why it’s important to know our word and what God truly says, so we won’t believe the lies. However, I get that sometimes we aren’t always on guard; sometimes our shields of faith (Eph 6:16) are down and we get hit hard with the devil’s fibs. We get to this place where we may feel by ourselves, but we’re not! God’s promises are forever, so when He said, He’d never leave nor forsake, that is eternal (Deut 31:6).

3. We can learn so much from Jesus; He overcame the devil too!

In Matthew 4:1 HCSB, the Bible says that the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. Where he fasted for 40 days and for 40 nights, and the devil came to tempt Him. Every lie and everything thing the devil tried to tell him, Jesus corrected with the truth. (Matt 4:4,7,10) And after that Jesus demanded that the devil go away, and IMMEDIATELY angels came minister to Him. (Matt 4:11)

Let’s get this straight; Jesus is the ultimate example.

Jesus was fasting for 40 days and 40 nights. I don’t know about you, but I struggled fasting for 24 hours. The devil approached Him because he thought he’d be weak. Usually, when the devil comes at us things in our lives aren’t ideal. I’m going to be honest, last weak I was TIRED: my boyfriend was consumed with the testing of his faith— so our lines of communication got tangled—, I had financial issues in the back of my mind, and the environment I was in wasn’t always peaceful. The devil approached me in a weak moment.

Jesus corrected the devil right away; it took me some time. It wasn’t until I spent time with God and was reminded of whom He was and what power I had in Him and His word that I was able to cast down all those lies. I was strengthened by the truth in God’s words and not in the twistedness of what the devil was trying to feed me, because the word of God is a sword (Eph 6:17).

Simply put, we have to demand the devil to go away. When Jesus did, angels came and ministered to Him. Synonyms of the word minister are help and serve. The angels came to help Jesus, and they will come to help you too!

So with that said,

If you are being pestered by the lies of the enemy, I want to encourage you to find scriptures that will help you expose the lies he’s trying to feed you. Know that you are who God says you are! It’s also very important to pray and spend time with God so that you are able to differentiate the devil’s lies and God’s truth.

Remember that You aren’t alone; I’m praying for You!