Discerning when you are under spiritual attack

Did you ever wonder why certain thoughts pop into your mind?  Are you aware of the enemy's tactics in this realm?

You may have heard that the battlefield is in the mind.  Our thoughts steer our actions, our lives.

So as a Christian, it is crucial to know when a thought is a spiritual attack.  The enemy wants us to believe thoughts that mess with our identity.  But remember, he is crafty!  So it's not always so easy to discern.  He may even disguise himself as an angel of light (one of his guises) so that your thought may even seem "good."

He takes God-given desires and needs and twists them so that we want to get them met outside of God's will.  That road leads to disaster and our destruction and the devil knows it!

Now I much prefer focusing on the beauty of the Lord, and wish I could just ignore that the devil even exists.  But exist he does!  And once we are in Christ, he is truly our total enemy.  

He wants to get us so caught up in the attack that we are always on the defense.  This is not freedom in Christ!  

There are some ways to defeat the devil.  Every. Time.  Unfortunately, he doesn't just give up and leave us alone for good.  We are stuck with this foe until the next life.  He is like the Terminator - "I'll be back!"

Staying in worship, getting our focus back on the Lord through prayer helps.  Renouncing the thoughts he puts in our minds works.  Taking authority over him with Christ's authority in us works beautifully.  Remember - the devil is already a defeated foe!  Christ was the Victor on Calvary over the devil, alleluia!

But he is still on the loose!  And his agenda is to keep people from coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and also to work to destroy those of us who are already in Christ!  

So what's a girl to do?

Believe that we already have the victory!  Go into the battle knowing that we have already won!  It still has to be fought, but we are the winners through Christ Jesus!  Yes, the devil has power.  But God is all-powerful!  The devil is no match for Christ and he knows it!  

We do not have to be prey to the enemy's whims.  Yes, the battle is the Lord's.  But we have a part to play.  We must be active and not passive in this.

Remember that once we are in Christ, the enemy cannot touch us.  He can only taunt, tempt, and torment us.  That's enough!  

The closer we get to Christ, the more the devil comes after us!  Why?  Because he knows that the more we abide in and obey Christ, the stronger our witness for Christ will be, glorifying God and winning people to Christ.  

The war is that the devil wants to take as many people to hell with him, and God wants to bring as many souls to heaven with Him!  

The battle is real, folks!  And it can be intense.

Knowing when we are being attacked is half the battle!  

Persevere in the battle because when you are in Christ, you win!  Jesus Himself promises to always lead us in triumph!  But we have to follow Him, His ways!

Dear Lord.  Thank You for being Omnipotent.  Thank You for defeating the devil on Calvary.  Thank You that we are safe in You.  Please give us more spiritual discernment, Lord, to see what's what so that we may do spiritual warfare and come out victorious in You!  Purify our wills and desires to match Yours, O God, so that the enemy's wiles truly have no power over us.  For we belong to You, Lord Jesus.  What a gift!  Though it is a hard road to live life with an enemy after us, it will all be worth it in the end.  Help us to keep our eyes on You, Lord.  Set us free from rogue thoughts and give us a steadfast mind and heart set on You. In Jesus' Name.  Amen.