The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”
2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”
4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”
6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. Genesis 3:1-6
When I examine the interaction between the serpent and Eve in the scriptures above, it is interesting to note that all the enemy did was give Eve a thought. He introduced one thought to her, a thought that she pondered on, a thought she responded to, a thought she chose to engage. After their conversation, Eve was convinced the thought given to her by the serpent was right and she acted on it. The other interesting thing I saw was that the serpent did not take any action, he did not pluck the fruit, he did not give Eve the fruit, all he did was give her a thought. Eve saw the fruit, took the fruit, and ate the fruit. She acted because she believed what the serpent said. And this is how we lost what God gave to us at creation.
The enemy is still using the same tactics today, intending to steal what God has given us. There are many things God has given to you and me in this season that we must guard. What God has given is both physical and spiritual. There are answers to prayers, breakthroughs, and more that heaven has already released and we must guard their delivery so we do not lose them to the enemy. There are lives and destinies entrusted to us that we must guard. To do so, we must learn to be very attentive to our thoughts so we do not grant access to the enemy by receiving and acting on the evil deceptive thoughts he gives.
How the enemy introduces thoughts to us: While this list is not exhaustive, here are three ways
Your Mind: Not every thought that comes to your mind is yours, hence you must pay attention to your thoughts. You must be able to discern what thoughts are not consistent with the word, and you cannot do this if you do not know God’s word. You cannot afford to entertain every thought because you now know that the enemy steals by introducing thoughts to your mind.
Your Dreams: The enemy can send dreams to you. His intent most of the time is to create fear and gain access to your life. It is important to discern your dreams because he can access your mind through the dreams he sends to you. Many have believed the lies the enemy has communicated through dreams and have suffered loss or destruction.
Through People: The enemy sends thoughts through people, therfore you must guard your association. Someone who persistently communicates negative words or thoughts might have knowingly or unknowingly yielded themselves to the enemy as a channel.
Regardless of how these thoughts come, we must never allow them to sit in our minds. We must learn to pull them down so they do not become convictions upon which we act.
3 Ways You Can Protect Your Mind
Build convictions from the word: Eve only acted on the devil’s thought once she became convinced. Convictions always lead to actions. If we build our convictions on what God has said and hold on to those convictions, it would be easier to pull down the wrong thoughts. When the enemy came to Jesus saying “If thou be the son of God, turn these stones into bread”. Jesus could respond effectively with the word because he was convinced about who He was. If Jesus had been doubtful about his position as the son of God, the enemy would have had an advantage. It is not just about quoting scripture, the question is, are those scriptures coming from a place of conviction?
Convictions are built in the place of meditation. Stay with God’s truth until you are convinced it is true. It is not easy to be swayed when you have convictions.
Deny access: When you identify a channel via which the enemy sends thoughts to your mind, you can shut it down. If you notice that the enemy has accessed your dream life and is attacking you on that end, you can rise in prayer and shut access. God has given us authority and power. You must engage that and not allow the enemy access to your dream life. If the access is through a person, you can in the most loving way shut access. You can love people without giving them close access to keep speaking negative words into your life.
Don’t engage: There are times the thoughts come through your mind, and one way to respond is to not engage the thought and not get distracted by it. Once you notice this thought is from the enemy, don’t allow it. Don’t think about it, turn it off and focus on something truthful. I wonder what would have happened if Eve walked away and choose not to engage in that conversation.
The mind is truly the battlefield. It took just one thought to cause man to fall, It took one thought for the enemy to steal that which God had given to man. After thousands of years, the tactic of the enemy has still not changed. He is still causing many to fall with just one thought. He is still stealing blessings, breakthroughs, and more with just one thought. His entire plan is that you believe the thought and act on it, once you do, your actions give him access into your life to steal, kill, or destroy. One thought “you are not good enough”, “you cannot succeed”, ” you are not beautiful”, one thought from the enemy which you believe can wreck your day or your entire life.
Every sin begins as a thought, every obedience as a thought. Thoughts are powerful. Do not allow the enemy to make you doubt what God has given, it is how he steals. God has given you much, don’t lose it. Guard your mind.
Thank you for sharing
You’re most welcome. I thank God for His word.