Winning the Battle

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (II Corinthians 10:4-5 NIV)

I received a friend request from “Catherine” earlier this week.  Thinking she was a student in our ministry, I clicked to look at her profile to see if I recognized her.  Quickly, I realized I didn’t know her and didn’t want to. In her profile pic, “Catherine” was seductively looking at me in a pose that could have been from a Playboy centerfold.  The battle was on.

I was tempted to accept her friend request and access her other pictures, but instead I clicked the “report this person” button.  But that image got stuck in my mind.  And throughout the day, I had to take it captive and give it over to Jesus, and not let it take control.  It wasn’t easy and there were a couple of times that I foolishly sought to see if the profile had been blocked, only to be faced with the same picture. The enemy was trying to drag me into a swamp of lust, but even in the midst of my weakness, divine power won out.  Eventually, the thought became powerless.  

We live in the midst of a spiritual battlefield and at any moment we may find ourselves in a battle.  We must be ready to fight.  Yet, if we attempt to fight with our own strength, we will inevitably fail.  Trying harder to avoid lashing out in anger, or trying harder not to give into lust, or trying harder to avoid gossiping is doomed to failure, because we are relying on our strength or ability to do it.  That’s the world’s approach—just try harder to be a better person.  

The message of the Gospel is that we cannot save ourselves; we cannot transform ourselves.  Only God can do that.  So, too, when we face temptation.   We need the power of God to help us overcome it. Taking a thought captive, whether it be one of anger, lust, or something else contrary to the will of God, means handing it over to Him.  Literally, “Jesus, take this from me!”  That’s what I did with the picture of “Catherine.”  “Jesus, take this.  It is sin and I do not want it in my mind.” And He took it.  But then it came back into my mind and I immediately gave it over to Him again.  That sequence occurred several times throughout the day, but, as James 4:7 promises, I continued to resist and the devil eventually fled.  

Today, recognize you are entering a spiritual battlefield on which you are a target for attack.  Therefore, be ready to cry out to Jesus to take control of whatever temptation comes your way.  You may not have the strength to overcome it, but He does.

© Jim Musser 2015