Dearly beloved COA family,
Last week I shared about the reality of spiritual warfare in our lives.
An arena of spiritual warfare is in our minds. This is a place where the devil seeks to plant deceptive
and harmful thoughts so that our minds are controlled by a different narrative. And once our minds
are controlled, they become the devil’s playground.
What kinds of thoughts does the devil seek to inject?
Firstly, he pits us against one another. He fills our minds with unkind and hateful thoughts
of one another. In other words, he fills our minds with accusations against others. It is not for
nothing that John the Apostle calls him the accuser: “(T)he accuser of our brothers and sisters, who
accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down” (Rev 12:10). When our minds
are filled with accusations against others, we begin to see each other as enemies rather than the
devil as our enemy.
Secondly, he fills our minds with worries that destroy our trust in God. He makes us think that God
either does not care or is unable to look after us or protect us. Yet Jesus commands us in the
Scriptures: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about
your body, what you will wear… But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things
will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:25-32).
Thirdly, he fills our minds with fears that calamities will happen against us. These may be
memories of past fears or dread of future ones. As he sows these terrors in our minds, he knows
that they will cripple us and keep us from accomplishing God’s will. This is why the Apostle Paul
writes: “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7). The
Holy Spirit releases us from fear, which is promoted by the devil, in order to empower us to do His will.
Why am I writing all of this to you at this time?
I am writing “in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes”
(2 Corinthians 2:11).
Let us all be fully aware of all that our enemy does in our minds so that we will not be taken captive
by unholy, harmful or wrong thoughts.
Instead, the Bible tells us in Philippians:
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such
things… And the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8-9).
Let us fill our minds with the remembrance of God’s words and songs of praise and thanksgivings to
Christ our Lord and so shut the door firmly against the devil’s flaming arrows in our minds.
God bless,
Revd Ian