Let’s Dance: Leading My Thoughts – Wednesday
Proverbs 4:23
Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts. (GNT)
Temptation attacks the mind, and Satan wants our mind. It’s the control center that shapes our lives for good or bad. As a child, someone may have said, “You’re worthless. You don’t matter.” Though the message was false, how you received it has shaped your life. Putting thoughts under the lens of truth is the key to a disciplined and productive life. The Bible calls that “Taking every thought captive.” (2 Corinthians 10:3).
Friend, there’s a cataclysmic, cosmic battle between God and Satan, which has continual implications for humanity. The Book of Job begins by telling us that Satan “roams the earth” looking for a target. (Job 1:7). He wants to attack and destroy God’s children.
A woman once told me, “I just feel like there’s someone evil inside me.” I could’ve whimsically responded, “Well, I’ll be praying for you!” Instead, we dove deep, “tested the spirits” (1 John 4:1), and ordered the enemy to leave. All believers have that power: it’s called authority in Christ.
Here are four things to remember about our authority in Christ. 1) It’s delegated. We don’t own it; we receive it. It’s His power, not ours. 2) It’s not a power encounter; it’s a truth encounter; God's truth, not ours, breaks the enemy’s power. 3) Don’t be weird. Spiritual warfare (including prayer for healing and deliverance) doesn’t have to be conducted in strange ways. We need not put on a show when our authority is in Christ. Truly, it’s not about us at all; it’s about Him and His authority over everything. 4) Choose to be bold. Christians have a million reasons to be bold once they understand the power of the Cross.
If you will, ponder the power in just one drop of Jesus's blood. One drop can cleanse all sin, transfer us from the Kingdom of Darkness to the Kingdom of Light, change our eternal destiny, and make a thousand demons take flight. We have no reason ever to be cowardly. We’re not tin soldiers, friends; we’re children of the King marching under the banner of the Cross.
Wednesday’s Reflection
Remember Jesus standing outside the tomb of Lazarus? Remember the two commands He gave, one to Lazarus and the other to the crowd? He first said, “Lazarus, come forth!” Then he said to the crowd, “Someone unbind him.” Notice that Lazarus couldn’t unbind himself; someone had to do it for him. This, my friend, is the ministry of the church of Jesus Christ—to unbind people—and set captives free. Never underestimate the privilege or the power we’ve been given. Hallelujah!
