Many people reach out saying, “I’m under spiritual attack. Help me.” Sometimes that’s true. Sometimes it’s our own mind, but sometimes it is a genuine spiritual attack. Let me share what I believe is the number one weapon against spiritual attacks and the enemy’s schemes.
The Enemy Cannot Defeat You
The enemy can’t defeat you. I could stop right there. He can’t defeat you. He can only deceive you, and by deceiving you, he can slow you from reaching your purpose and stepping into your power. He can delay you, but he cannot defeat you.
You can’t be defeated by the enemy because the Christ in you has already defeated him. He’s already overcome the world. Jesus said, “You will face troubles, but rest easy. I’ve overcome the world.” The enemy cannot defeat you.
If you don’t understand that you’re more than a conqueror, then you’re going to think you can be defeated. You can’t be defeated. The Jesus in you cannot be defeated, but you can be deceived.
The Enemy’s Only Strategy: Make You Like Him
The only thing the enemy can do is make you like him. How is he? Anxious, fearful, worried. He’s all those things: resentful, bitter, angry, judgmental, unkind. All he can do is make you like him and get you to believe a lie about yourself.
This is why I often say: speak to yourself more than you listen to yourself. If you find yourself in a funk, in a non-Christ-like state, then get yourself some scriptures:
- “We are not given a spirit of fear”
- “Fear of man proves to be a snare”
- “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”
- “With the Lord at my right hand, I will not be shaken”
- “The nearness of my God is my good”
There are so many verses you can tap into to empower yourself versus falling prey to what the enemy wants you to do. He wants to attack your identity (who you are) and your integrity. He wants to make you second-guess yourself: “Should I be doing this? Is this right? Did I do them wrong?”
Your identity and your integrity are two areas the enemy will continue to pummel you as long as you’re susceptible.
Low Self-Esteem Is Actually Sacrilege
Under negative pressure, we can default to prior behavior rooted in low self-esteem or bad habits. I see low self-esteem as different from being humble. Humble means “I’m nothing without God.” It doesn’t mean “I’m nothing.”
I actually see low self-esteem as sacrilege because Jesus died for me, and He didn’t die for someone of low self-esteem. He died for you too. If He valued me so much to die for me and die for you, then us not feeling worthy isn’t honoring Christ or God who gave His firstborn.
Humility is “I’m nothing without God.” Humility isn’t “I’m nothing. I’m a filthy, worthless whatever.” That’s not humility. That’s stepping into sacrilege, in my opinion.
You Don’t Have a Sin Identity, Only Sin Habits
When you accepted Christ, you got rid of your sin identity. You may still have sin habits, but the purpose of the Holy Spirit is to help make you more Christ-like.
Here’s something that might sound strange: God loves your war on the flesh. Why? Because He loves to be your deliverer. He loves to be your rescuer. He loves you making war on the flesh when you say, “I want to get rid of this lust, this addiction, this hatred, this anger.”
He loves that because He loves to be your deliverer. When someone gets helped out of something, aren’t they more grateful? Someone who’s never been rescued might say, “Yeah, salvation is cool and stuff,” but someone who’s been rescued out of bad stuff? They’re really grateful.
Use Pressure to Define Who You Are in Christ
We don’t have to go into prior behavior rooted in low self-esteem or bad habits. We can actually use situations to define who we are in Christ and establish that as a fact in our lifestyle with new habits.
Romans 5:3-4 makes perfect sense here: “Not only so, but we glory in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
Hope is future-based. When we’ve gone through a trial and God has brought us out of it, it builds us up for anything in the future. We know, “Hey, we got through that, and we can get through that too.”
Look at David. When King Saul said, “This guy’s been a warrior longer than you’ve been alive,” David never once focused on the size of Goliath. David said, “I’ve protected my sheep, I’ve killed lions and bears.” He used his past to create hope for the future.
This is the difference between focusing on the gap versus the gain. Most people focus on the gap between where they are and where they think they should be. The gain is looking at what you’ve overcome, what you’ve survived, what you’ve progressed through.
You Went Through It to Help Others Through It
Judges 3:1-2 says the Lord allowed some Israelites to experience war so they could prepare those who had not been through war. You went through a war so you could prepare and help someone currently going through war but who doesn’t know how to handle it.
You may have gone through trauma, abuse, betrayal, or health challenges. You went through it. Now you’re equipped, anointed, called, and guided to direct others through their struggle.
Stop Empowering the Liar
When you believe a lie, you empower the liar. When you believe that lie that you’re not enough, not good enough, a filthy, worthless sinner, you can’t possibly step into your identity in Christ, which is exactly where the enemy wants you.
The enemy does not want you to understand your true identity. He wants you confused, overwhelmed, frustrated, disappointed. Do any of these words ring a bell?
Can we just stop opposing God with our own thoughts? Can we learn how to have our thoughts in alignment with who He is for us? Jesus said, “Be of good cheer. I’ve overcome the world,” which means He’s overcome all the negativity, everything against you in the world. “Cheer up, stop being duped.”
What Would You Do with No Fear?
What would you do if you had no fear? What would your life look like? What would you attempt for God if you knew you couldn’t fail? What would you plan to do if you were convinced God would resource you? What would your approach be to setbacks and challenges if you were empowered by God’s faithfulness?
Remember, faith is backed by how much you understand He loves you. If you know He loves you, if you really know how much He loves you, then faith is easy. If you don’t know that, then faith is really difficult.
This is true of anything. My wife is a high-end luxury realtor in Naples. She’s with male clients and realtors all day, every day. I never know where she is. If I didn’t know how much she loved me, how could I possibly have faith in our relationship? But because I know how much she loves me, I don’t think about that.
If you knew how much God loved you, then that storm, trial, challenge, obstacle, or betrayal would be met with: “Okay, God. Lord, thank you for upgrading me in this. Thank you for allowing this so I can see you in a different light. I know you love me, so this isn’t to crush me. This is somehow, because you love me so much, to help me.”
The New Self Occupies Circumstances Differently
Your new self in Christ is being raised up so you can occupy your circumstances completely differently. This doesn’t mean you won’t have circumstances, trials, challenges, or obstacles. Jesus said you’ll have those things, but those things now have different meaning to you.
You’ll have surprises and perceived letdowns, but they’re there to upgrade you and give you a glimpse of how He can show up in that situation.
One of the best questions I learned is: “Lord, who do you want to be for me in this situation?” For those going through financial difficulties, I bet who He wants to be for you is your provider.
John 3:27 says we can’t receive anything unless it’s from the Father. James 1:17 says all good and perfect gifts come from our Heavenly Father. I’m absolutely convinced that every single result comes from God.
If you’re going through financial difficulties, I bet He wants you to trust and rely on Him. Our worldly nature is to hustle harder, double up our work. But who will we blame for our results if we get them? Who will we praise? Us: “I decided to work harder and I got this result.”
This doesn’t mean not to work hard. Proverbs tells us “the hand of the diligent shall rule.” But who do you give credit to when you get a result? Do you see that result as from God?
If He’s calling you to trust Him more, you may actually see some tougher financial difficulties if you still believe you create all your results. Something to consider.
The enemy can’t defeat you. He can only deceive you. Stop believing his lies about who you are and start walking in the truth of your identity in Christ. When you do, his power over you crumbles because deception only works when you believe it.
