In the short time it took me to turn off my alarm clock and stumble to my coffee pot, I had questioned what was I really accomplishing in my life, whether today would be useless or not, and if my dreams would ever come true.
How can someone become discouraged in such a short time? Thoughts. They come at us quickly and furiously. I can be lulled into thinking, They’re my own thoughts so they must be true. But oh no, it is quite to the contrary. Our Bible tells us that the enemy is the father of lies. He wants to twist the truth, bring condemnation, and offer discouragement even before our feet hit the ground in the morning.
As I cracked open my Bible this morning and lifted my heart to the Lord, all those cloudy thoughts disappeared like the make-believe fog that they were. Surrounded by peace, I could clearly see that these were not only not my thoughts, they were also bait. Bait that the enemy wanted me to take hook, line, and sinker. If I hadn’t gone to God’s word, I would have chewed on those lies all day. Our enemy comes and offers thoughts as if they are true and dependable, but when we choose to put God first, we are reminded of what our Father has said. With His word we can refute the lies.
The definition of refute is “to prove wrong by argument or evidence.” (merriam-webster.com)
It reminds me of a lawyer holding up evidence to prove that what has just been stated from his adversary is incorrect. The thought comes, and instead of using the outdated phrase “talk to the hand,” we can tell the enemy to “talk to the Word.”
Lies of you are not smart enough to do this are combated with “I have the mind of Christ.”
You have too many failures is slaughtered with the verse “In my weakness He is strong.”
The thoughts are there to bring discouragement . . . to take our courage. Our enemy knows that greater is God within us than he (the enemy) who is in the world (1 John 4:4). When we can identify these thoughts as lies and believe that we are who God says we are, then we live our days knowing that we have already conquered because Christ in us has already conquered. We will take our days and lead our lives with Godly courage.
Those nagging thoughts are not your own. They are suggestions masked as truth. Let us reply to our enemy as our Savior did: “It is written.” (Matthew 4:1-11)
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 — For the weapons of our warfare are not physical (weapons of flesh and blood), but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds, (Inasmuch as we) refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the (true) knowledge of God: and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).