"Don't Listen to the Devil"

[Rev. Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks, PsyD]

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The devil is a master manipulator and he will create situations and convince us they are true!! We must use the power Jesus gave us (Luke 10:19) and the measure of faith God gave us to rebuke him (Romans 12:3)!!

Jesus already defeated the devil and He gave us power to rebuke him; the Word tells us if we submit ourselves to God and rebuke the devil he will flee (James 4:7)!! The problem is we are not rebuking him; we are allowing him to wreak havoc in our lives!! We must stop!!

When the first thought comes in our minds that is contrary to God's Word, we must pull that thought down, take it captive, and bring it under subjection to the Word of God; do not allow it to remain in our heads – otherwise, more thoughts will come and we will act on those thoughts (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)!! We cannot allow the devil to make puppets out of us; we are the ones who need to put a stop to it!!

All our actions begin with a thought; we must know who is talking to us: God, the devil, or is it coming out of our soul!! The devil puts the thought in our minds, then he creates a false image, then it seems as if what the thought said is true but it is not!! Then we begin to speak negativity out of our mouth which puts us in agreement with the devil and not God!! Let’s stop agreeing with the devil and be in agreement with God no matter what our situation looks like!!

The Bible tells us that the things we see are temporary but what we cannot see is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)!! We must stop living our lives out of our soul (mind, will, emotions are in our soul-the old man-if we do not allow God to purge our souls, the old man will continue to lead and guide us)!! We are dead to sin and alive to God; we are new creatures in Christ (Romans 6; 2 Corinthians 5:17 )!! However, as long as we are not walking in our new identity (true identity – created in God’s image and His likeness), the devil will tell us we are the same old person we were before accepting Christ as our personal Lord and Savior; he will have us living out of our old man still which creates a false identity in us and as long as we believe the devil, our lives will not get better!!

We need to believe who God says we are (New creation, old has passed away) and be led by the Holy Spirit instead of what we see, feel, think, etc. We must not lean to our own understanding but acknowledge God in all our ways so He can direct our paths!!

Let's make up in our minds once and for all to stop living by what we see and think and ask God to lead us!!

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May the peace of God guard your hearts and minds ALWAYS!!!

Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks

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