We Are at War.

Last evening, I had a long conversation with a sister in Christ who is struggling deeply with life right now, but clinging to God with all her might.

After spending some time with her in counsel and prayer, these were the thoughts the Holy Spirit brought into my heart on the way home:

Satan is a master liar and manipulator, and his battleground is our minds. His warfare isn’t a series of bullets or bombs coming at us.

His greatest weapons are lies, manipulations, deceptions, and twisted narratives constantly streaming into our minds.

His victories manifest in us as depression, anxiety, fear, discouragement, doubt, insecurity; believing lies that spiral us into confusion and blindness to who God is and His intentions toward us.

And make no mistake: Satan does not simply want to deceive us, manipulate us, use us, weaken us, enslave us, discourage us and beat us down.

He wants to ultimately DESTROY us. We must take him seriously.

We are at war, brothers and sisters, and we are on the front lines.

Our greatest strategy against our most formidable enemy is 2 Cor. 10:5: “We demolish imaginations and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

This passage counsels us to flush out of our minds all lies and twisted narratives about God and life, and re-paint the walls of our hearts with the TRUTH of God’s word—who He is and what He says. This is real truth—the only truth.

And faith—BELIEVING God’s words and acting upon them—will set us FREE from Satan’s oppressive mental torture.

Understand this: when you are reciting Scripture to yourself to overcome discouragement, you’re wielding your sword against your enemy.

When you’re lifting your hands and heart in praise and gratitude, despite your desperate circumstances, you are striking a one-two punch into Satan’s ribs.

When you choose faith over fear and trust over trembling, you are landing a swift right hook to Satan’s head.

When you trustingly cry out to God in heart-wrenching, war-room prayers for your lost loved ones, You are sweeping Satan’s leg.

You are doing battle—and winning—every time you rest in who God is and what He says.

So fight on, brothers and sisters! And never forget that we don’t fight this war alone. God runs to our aid, and helps us in battles that are too difficult for us.

So take heart, family; We will win in the end!