Power over the Enemy: Breaking Free from Spiritual Strongholds (8 page)

Such a wonderful testimony to the glory of Jesus! It was His promises that she relied on. It was the power of His Word that set her free! She pulled down the strongholds and was set free from her suffering!

Perhaps you are held captive by a thought, and that thought brings fear. Here are some of the thoughts Satan drops into our minds:

The thoughts go on and on. The devil introduces thousands of lies to your mind. When you accept them as your own thoughts, you begin to say with your mouth what Satan has said to your mind.

I hear people doing this all the time. They hear the thought, it brings fear, and then they begin to say what Satan has planted in their mind. They speak the thoughts:

They verbalize the thoughts, signifying that they have accepted them. The lie causes them to say, in fear:

Does some thought hold you strongly today? Be aware of the tricks of the enemy. The Bible says, “We are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Corinthians 2:11). So don’t fall into his trap. The Bible says to bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

It can be as basic as this. One night as I lay in bed waiting for our son to return home, I was bombarded with thoughts that came thick and fast. “He has had a bad wreck.” “He will never make it home.” “You have seen him alive for the last time.” On and on they came. Without realizing it, I let these thoughts linger, and I began to have
imaginations
. I could see him in that wreck. I could
see the ambulance rushing to get to him. I could see him bleeding. Fear hit the pit of my stomach.

Then I suddenly caught on to what was happening. I was listening to the thoughts of the enemy. He wanted to torment me. I began to quote the Word of God! I told the devil what God had said about my household and me. I told him the promises God had made to me. I rebuked the bad thoughts and replaced them with the Word of God. I began to say what God had promised in His Word.

The fear left, and peace, like a gentle dove, came into my heart. I was so happy! As I rearranged my pillow to enjoy a good night’s sleep, I heard the front door open. It was my son, safe and sound!

When you repeat out loud the lies Satan puts in your thoughts, you become fearful and live in torment. But when you accept God’s thoughts and promises and repeat them out loud in faith, they bring peace to your heart.

The Bible is full of God’s thoughts. Replace every thought the devil tries to force on you with one of God’s thoughts.

Remember, the devil is a liar and the father of all lies (John 8:44). He cannot tell the truth. If you will take just the opposite of what the devil has told you, you will know the truth!

The way we practice this in our home is this; when the devil comes along with a thought to create fear, we say, “Why, thank you so much, Mr. Devil, for telling me that, but I know the truth! I’ll just take the opposite of what you say and know the truth about the situation.” Then we replace that thought with a scripture to back it up!

If the devil says you are not saved, replace that thought with the scripture, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:12). Confess that boldly, and the lie will leave.

If the devil says you are going to die early in life and leave your family, shout loudly what David said, “With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation” (Psalm 91:16).

If the devil says you will never get well, cry out joyfully, “By His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

If the enemy tells you God will not forgive your sin or heal your particular disease, replace that thought with one of God’s precious healing, delivering thoughts: “Bless the L
ORD
, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the L
ORD
, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases” (Psalm 103:1–3).

If the thought comes that you are rejected and destitute, replace it with the scripture, “He shall regard the prayer of the destitute, and shall not despise their prayer” (Psalm 102:17).

If the devil drops the thought into your mind that you have a sexual obsession or problem, don’t let fear grip you. Replace that thought with God’s Word. Say, “The Bible says that ‘if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new’ (2 Corinthians 5:17). I am a new creature in Christ! I am more than a conqueror! ‘He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world’ (1 John 4:4). I rebuke you, you
lying demon! In the Name of Jesus Christ, I cast you and your thoughts out of my mind. Go, in Jesus’ Name!”

He will go… the thoughts will go… and fear will go! You will smile and stand up tall for Jesus!

Your Father in heaven will say about you what He said about Job. “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth” (Job 1:8).

This is the plan Jesus used when He whipped the devil, and you can apply this to your own situation. Satan placed the thought in His mind, “Command that these stones become bread” (Matthew 4:3). Jesus rejected that thought and replaced it with one of God’s thoughts by saying, “It is written” (Matthew 4:1–10).

You, too, can whip the devil every time by saying, “It is written!” Then, go on to say what is written in the promises of God.

“Bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). That means, bring every thought under the dominion of the Word of God. Make the devil’s thoughts bow to the infallible Word of God. Drive them out with the promises of God. Pull them down with, “Thus says the Lord!”

In Isaiah 54:17, the Lord says, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the L
ORD
, and their righteousness is from Me.”

What
weapon
? What
tongue
? A
thought
from Satan is a weapon, as is an accusation by an enemy. And this scripture says no weapon or tongue formed against you can prosper—unless you let it!

Many suffering, tormented people cry out to God to help them. But He has said, “… every tongue which rises against you in judgment
you shall condemn
.” In other words,
you
are the one who is to condemn that tongue;
you
are the one who is to condemn that thought;
you
are the one who will rebuke Satan and his lies!

Don’t ask God to do it! Don’t expect Jesus to do it!
He told you to do it!

Every tongue or thought that rises against you to bring condemnation, fear, torment, and defeat shall be condemned and cast down and out by
you
. He said, “You shall condemn.”

Jesus conquered Satan for you and then gave you His authority to demonstrate the devil’s defeat. “Behold, I give you the authority… over all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19).

Your thought life is the battlefield, so guard your thoughts.

Watch what you read.

Watch what you look at.

Watch what you let into your mind.

Do not let wrong thoughts linger there.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1–2).

How are we transformed? “By the renewing of our minds.” Live in the Word. Walk daily with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Peter, Paul, and the others. Take the hand of Jesus and walk with Him through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Think God’s thoughts daily! Renew your mind. Learn to think as God thinks about salvation, forgiveness, mercy, sickness, healing, deliverance, love, goodness, and all the other wonderful things in the Bible.

David said he was blessed. Why? Listen to him: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the L
ORD
, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper” (Psalm 1:1–3).

Notice, he says that “his
delight
is in the law of the L
ORD
, and in His law he
meditates.”
Then he tells us
when
he meditates: he meditates in the Word of God
day and night.