I find it very interesting that in our mixed nature (flesh+spirit) men tend to doubt what God says - yet they dont get the idea to doubt what the devil says? This is very illogical, because have the spiritual not been true, we would have doubted the good and the bad equally, but this is not so. Another very illogical thing that speaks for God in a similar way is what I call "demonic magical thinking". When good things continually happen to us, we dont start strongly expecting them naturally to happen always and will always have some dose of stress in a new situation. However, if bad things happen in a row, we start believing that another bad thing will happen in any future situation more and more. In this case, it is readily believed that the past determines the future and very broadly and negatively so. This is the demonic magical thinking. Yet blessings of the past do not condition the mind in the same way and to expect blessings to the same degree, because of man's carnality in the mind. This one-sidednes in both cases defies logic, and thereby it is a powerful witness of spiritual truth.
The devil is always the intruder, the stranger, the alienated one, trying to enter through our minds. He is always presenting a new information to counter the unchanging Word which has been received in the beginning. He always comes second and as a stranger, he should be rejected as the child well taught not to trust strangers runs to the parent for safety...
I've found the resolution to doubt the devil very effective when lacking faith at the moment to just slam him with the Word of God. I struggle with anxiety sometimes and the devil wants to make me worry. So when I get thoughts how the situation will bring something bad or that I will be defeated by something I struggle with, I am like,
Well, I doubt that./I think that's not true.
Or, I dont think I have to do that, I've been set free at the Cross.
Silence following? Oh wow yay.
It surprises devils so much that their jaw drops and they have nothing more to say... It is really shocking to them to be doubted because a natural reaction is for the man to listen, and then strive/argue with the thought until he gets tired (for Christians).
This approach achieves three things, first you acknowledge who it is from, second you instantly stop entertaining the nag-gative thoughts by nullifying it with the source, and the third is that it increases the faith into the Word of God, as you can focus on what God says more easily when the nagging thought (and this is how demons talk) is removed. When I destroyed the bad thoughts by doubting them, I simply move on to meditate on the opposing Word of God...
What I'm saying is that we should overturn the doubt, by which we men so readily doubt God's precious Word when we feel weak, against the devil, and doubt everything the liar devil who comes in to steal and destroy has to say in the future instead... And I want to remember it as a rule of the thumb. I repent of having at all doubted the Word that is true at any time!
When lacking instant faith to pluck it out, we can still kill the bad thoughts with drought. Entertaining is like watering, arguing with the bad thoughts validates them. Sharing this as it really helps me with rooted-in negative beliefs...
And as this was made out of a forum thread, I'm updating that by applying this, it got easier to detect the enemy. I also started reacting to bad thoughts like "you're lying, what you suggest will destroy me and not profit me". Like this morning, I was being late for work first time so far. And I was late without just cause. The devil whispered into my ear quickly to tempt me "Invent some reason why you are late!". And I recognized it was the intruder and was like "No, God does not approve it except if I was saving someone's life... and I'm not saving a life so NO..." And he pressed on with temptation trying to induce me to lie by omission somehow and how it would not actually be a lie, but I was firm - "No I already DECIDED I wont lie. It cant profit me in the end you're a LIAR you're out to destroy me. I'll tell pure truth if asked why I'm late." And the devil knew he couldnt have his way and left me. He might try to fight back but quickly leaves. God provided this to test this new defensive provision He gave me to guard my mind. Eventually nobody even noticed I was late a few minutes, and I gave thanks to God. My mind is definitely better guarded now I detect the enemy faster and fight him with more decisiveness... Woohoo praised God for amazing help!!!
The devil is always the intruder, the stranger, the alienated one, trying to enter through our minds. He is always presenting a new information to counter the unchanging Word which has been received in the beginning. He always comes second and as a stranger, he should be rejected as the child well taught not to trust strangers runs to the parent for safety...
I've found the resolution to doubt the devil very effective when lacking faith at the moment to just slam him with the Word of God. I struggle with anxiety sometimes and the devil wants to make me worry. So when I get thoughts how the situation will bring something bad or that I will be defeated by something I struggle with, I am like,
Well, I doubt that./I think that's not true.
Or, I dont think I have to do that, I've been set free at the Cross.
Silence following? Oh wow yay.
It surprises devils so much that their jaw drops and they have nothing more to say... It is really shocking to them to be doubted because a natural reaction is for the man to listen, and then strive/argue with the thought until he gets tired (for Christians).
This approach achieves three things, first you acknowledge who it is from, second you instantly stop entertaining the nag-gative thoughts by nullifying it with the source, and the third is that it increases the faith into the Word of God, as you can focus on what God says more easily when the nagging thought (and this is how demons talk) is removed. When I destroyed the bad thoughts by doubting them, I simply move on to meditate on the opposing Word of God...
What I'm saying is that we should overturn the doubt, by which we men so readily doubt God's precious Word when we feel weak, against the devil, and doubt everything the liar devil who comes in to steal and destroy has to say in the future instead... And I want to remember it as a rule of the thumb. I repent of having at all doubted the Word that is true at any time!
When lacking instant faith to pluck it out, we can still kill the bad thoughts with drought. Entertaining is like watering, arguing with the bad thoughts validates them. Sharing this as it really helps me with rooted-in negative beliefs...
And as this was made out of a forum thread, I'm updating that by applying this, it got easier to detect the enemy. I also started reacting to bad thoughts like "you're lying, what you suggest will destroy me and not profit me". Like this morning, I was being late for work first time so far. And I was late without just cause. The devil whispered into my ear quickly to tempt me "Invent some reason why you are late!". And I recognized it was the intruder and was like "No, God does not approve it except if I was saving someone's life... and I'm not saving a life so NO..." And he pressed on with temptation trying to induce me to lie by omission somehow and how it would not actually be a lie, but I was firm - "No I already DECIDED I wont lie. It cant profit me in the end you're a LIAR you're out to destroy me. I'll tell pure truth if asked why I'm late." And the devil knew he couldnt have his way and left me. He might try to fight back but quickly leaves. God provided this to test this new defensive provision He gave me to guard my mind. Eventually nobody even noticed I was late a few minutes, and I gave thanks to God. My mind is definitely better guarded now I detect the enemy faster and fight him with more decisiveness... Woohoo praised God for amazing help!!!
