Don't Receive That: Reject the lies of the enemy
The following devotion is written by EEW founder Dianna Hobbs and used by permission from her Daily Cup of Inspiration blog. For more encouragement like this, visit Dianna’s official blog.
When I was younger, I used to watch cowboy movies sometimes. I didn’t particularly like them, but we didn’t have unlimited channels or the Internet back then, and options were limited. So I’d veg out in front of the tube on a lazy afternoon and endure the black and white film that was set in some fictitious dusty town.
Though unamused for the most part, there was one thing about these old westerns that I thought was cool. I liked to see cowboys spin their ropes in the air and lasso horses. The idea that a cowboy could control such a strong animal once he got his rope around its neck was fascinating to me. Cowboys seemed powerful and in control. Horses could buck and kick, and try to get loose, but it didn’t work.
What if there were a way we could lasso the opposition that came against us, and control it like cowboys do in the movies?
As you know, oppositional forces can be strong, unpredictable and out of control like the huge, monstrous beast called the leviathan in Job 41. Verse 2 asks, “Can you lasso him with a rope, or snag him with an anchor?” And verse 9 says, “Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering.”
I may never see a terrifying sea creature like that in my lifetime (and I don’t want to!), but I have faced scary circumstances and intimidating foes. I’m sure you have too. And in Scripture, so did David.
In Psalm 13:1 NLT, he said, “O LORD, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way?”
Here, David was crying out to God from the depths of despondency. He was tired of waiting for deliverance and felt forgotten. He was in the throes of battle, and his rival was winning.
“How long will my enemy have the upper hand?” he asked in verse 2.
For David, a mighty warrior who had a reputation for defeating a notorious giant named Goliath and being skilled in battle, being on the losing end felt horrible. So he pleaded with God to step in and vindicate him.
Friend, some battles can really wear you down and make you feel like there’s no hope. And when you get really low, Satan, your chief adversary, will whisper in your ear and say, See? I have the upper hand. Where is your God? Has He forsaken you?
“Resist the lies of the enemy. Say no to defeated, toxic, negative thinking, and confess the word of God over your life. Any thought or idea that doesn’t align with God’s word, reject it, and return it to the sender.”
While we know that the devil is already defeated, and we have victory through Christ, when we’re staring at a leviathan-type trial, it can be hard to believe that we will overcome. But in times like these, there is something you can do: use your faith like a spiritual lasso to take every thought captive that comes to make you worry, doubt and fear.
Any self-defeating belief or idea that Satan tries to present must be rejected immediately. If it does not line up with the word of God, don’t accept it, internalize it, or be controlled by it. Get your lasso, and subdue that lie. Say no to that mental and emotional assault. Say, not today Satan!
Don’t let him have your joy, peace, faith and victory.
Be focused and intent on doing what 2 Corinthians 10:5 KJV says, which is what I’m stirring into your cup of inspiration: “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
As you drink down the contents of your cup, remember, instead of being held captive by the lies of the enemy, take those lies into captivity. Command your thoughts to submit to the authority of Christ. And that’s how you tap into real power, and defeat your leviathan-sized problem with your God-sized faith.
