mind games the devil plays

for years i have tried to read "the screwtape letters" by c.s. lewis. i have started reading it over and over again, but can never finish because i know that it is the mind game that the devil plays with each of us. i didn't always believe that he could so easily penetrate your life, but he can and will always try to find a door to slip through.

the games he plays with your mind and heart can destroy you if you're not careful. the way he always gets me is to feed on my insecurities and low self-esteem. i am quite an emotional person by nature. my heart breaks very easily. i used to be much better at putting a wall up around myself that was hard to break, not always, but most of the time. now that i have let GOD in the devil is trying harder to get in and since i have been writing this blog he is constantly at my door knocking.

the misconception that most christians believe is that if they sin they will be forgiven. you have to confess your sin and then try you damnedest not to do it again. that is hard, because some things are hard to stop. anger is probably his greatest ally. when you are angry about something he feeds on it and makes you fester about it. in our anger we sometimes become something we're not and lash out. i have failed at this many, many times. i have a terrible temper.

yesterday, a dear friend emailed me beautiful affirmation about myself and in only my way i had a very hard time believing it. they are beautiful compliments about who i am as a person and a friend. for the last couple of months i have been put through some of the hardest tests that i have had to face in my life; some in my control and some out of my control. i didn't handle the stress of some of them very well and i got sick with all of them combined. GOD JUST PULLED ME RIGHT BACK TO HIM! HE is pulling me deeper into HIS words and what i need to learn from them, but the devil is playing his game much harder now.

spiritual warfare goes on all day, everyday if we don't know how to fight it. we must be aware of what is going on inside us and let GOD take over to flow freely to help us. age plays a big role in it. i can see things differently than i did 10, 15, or 20 years ago when my mind was still growing to maturity. when we continually seek wisdom and discernment from GOD it may take HIM a while to show you the error of your ways, or what that trial is about over the long term but HE will show you the greater picture.

with that said GOD will show you where you were right also. if you are following his rules to best of your ability then you are right. GOD knows your not perfect, but HE also knows that you are capable of following HIS laws the best way you can.

over the last few weeks i have been reading and studying mostly about paul. his letters and teachings to the churches that GOD instructed him to write were by far in my opinion one of the greatest gifts to the new testament. paul was favored as most of you know by GOD, but at one time he was a murderer of christians. GOD knew his spiritual gifts and HE made sure to pull him back to HIM, so that he would become one of the greatest apostles that world has known.

the devil is betting on each one of us right now to fail to go to GOD. with all the anger in the world he is winning whether you believe that or not. we are losing hope in GOD as a nation, but we are also allowing it. when i continue to let my insecurities take over he is winning in me. it scares me that i would allow that to happen. we all have fight in us. we all have great strength. we just have to use GOD's words and rules to fight. don't ever let someone tell you that you are not a worthy person - GOD thinks your worthy when you follow HIM and that is all that matters.

"Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." james 4:7

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” - John 16:33