Satan is the father of lies. All he does is lie. There’s no doubt that he is powerful to an extent, but, most importantly, we must never forget that he is not invincible. Satan will always be lesser because he is a created being. He will always answer to the Creator, God.
If we believe Satan is invincible, then we are already defeated. Done. If we give Satan the position of being unbeatable, we’ve given him free reign and in turn have delegated ourselves to the role of victim in every aspect of life. Embrace that lie and we enter into a cycle of defeat that will become harder and harder to break.
We need to remember Satan is a defeated foe. Christ assures us that through His power we are more than conquerors.
But we can feel like easy targets because, if Satan has the audacity to take Christ, the sinless Son of God to a high mountain demanding that He (Jesus) worship him (Satan), then we know he has no problem working that same angle on us.
Unable to get the Creator to worship him, Satan turns to the next best target, that which is those who are most precious to the intended target; he puts a crosshair on the minds of the sons and daughters of Christ.
Satan’s brazen boldness to God’s face is the result of thinking he can speak to God as an equal. But God does not, never has had, and never will have an equal or a rival. No one stands in His way of being the One True God.
Satan takes on a slightly different strategy when it comes to God’s children. He will focus on the fact that God gave us free choice. Satan knows that God does not give and take our free will based on whether or not we’re using our freedom to choose as God intended for us.
Satan will seek to put a wedge between us and God. He’ll manipulate us with practical needs, desires, and circumstances that are typical to life. He’ll use those things to misrepresent the heart of our Father. He knows how easily we are swayed to look at our self-defined need through the lens of self-sufficiency.
Something as small as keeping us too busy to spend time with God, being exhausted, over- obligated, or unorganized makes us easy targets. And he uses what may be his favorite weapon: offense. We break relationship because we get our feelings hurt. And we may even use the ill behavior of another person as an excuse to disbelieve God and fail to draw close to discover who He is for ourselves.
Causing us to question God’s goodness or thinking that God is withholding something that should rightfully be ours spurs us into action in search of the solution in our own strength and reasoning.
Anxiety, doubt, confusion, chaos, division, and strife are a few of the basic human conditions that have Satan’s fingerprints all over them. Seeing us struggle with these emotional and mental mindsets brings great satisfaction to Satan. Even if—or when—we return to the Lord, he’s thrilled with knowing we will have to deal with the pain of discipline, regret, and consequences.
In Satan’s web, we find ourselves caught in a psychological defeat. That is not what God has intended for His sons and daughters. Once we become entangled in the web, we create and maintain a victim mentality. This belief of self-defeat offers up the type of worship Satan is looking for. When we buy into the lie that his power is invincible, we make that belief real in our lives.
Daily renewal of our hearts and minds is the remedy to Satan’s schemes. If we’re familiar with the truth of God’s Word, then we can easily identify a lie. When we build up our understanding of who God is, we better understand who we are. Anything that does not align with the truth of who God is and who He says we are can be swiftly deflected. When we make peace our “normal,” there’s a quick fix when chaos comes at us.
Spiritual warfare calls for spiritual weapons. The armor of God is not a trite idea; it’s the required weaponry of warfare. Like it or not, this life is a battle. I think we can all agree on that given the simple examples of our daily thought lives and the pain that is woven into the fabric of life.
Not only are we in a battle, we are smack dab in the middle of the battlefield. We must either suit up with all that God makes available to us or be struck down for a lack of knowledge and inability to put into action the protection needed.
A good Father sees the value of the battle and therefore doesn’t remove the challenge. Instead, He provides the tools, strategies, and solutions needed to be victorious against every evil lie that comes for us. Suit up and live with confidence, a strong identity, and continue toward a destination that is above anything we can imagine or think to ask for!
Live Loved and Thrive!
Self-Reflection:
These questions are in no way a substitute for healthcare professionals or any level of professional counseling. I’m an advocate for taking care of oneself mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. These questions reflect my heart, NOT my profession.
This questionnaire is an opportunity to journal your thoughts and feelings. It can serve as a launching pad on which to evaluate your heart condition as you understand it. My hope is that you will take the truths you discover about yourself and hold them up to the Light to evaluate them against who God says you are.
- Do you have a victim attitude? Explain.
- What lie have you believed about yourself?
- What lie have you believed about God?
- What lie have you believed about Satan’s abilities?
- How can you defeat Satan?
- What scripture can you use to rewrite any lies you are struggling with?
Take Action
Use God’s Word to take control over the traumas in your life. Whenever you feel terrorized by your thoughts take them captive by replacing them with the truth of God’s promises in His Word.
Here is a scripture for you to print, cut and carry with you and/or post in places where you will see it often. Ground yourself in God’s truths not Satan’s attacks. Encourage your heart and mind every time you are reminded of His great love for YOU!
Here is what God’s Word says about His unfailing, relentless, unending love for you:
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NIV (https://biblehub.com/niv/2_corinthians/10.htm)
Translation: Every thought that enters our minds must be tested and held up to who God is and who He says we are. In doing so, we can discern whether or not it is for our destruction or for our good. Does it align with who God is? Does it steal, kill, or destroy any aspect of our life?
