1. I can’t win
The first lie we need to overcome during spiritual warfare says “I can’t win.” When under spiritual attack, you may begin to feel this battle is too much and you will never be victorious. What you must understand is that no matter how it looks, you will always have victory in Christ, because the enemy is already defeated. He can make you feel or think he’s won, but he can never actually win in the end. In John 16:33, Jesus tells us:
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 ESV)
The enemy may look like he’s won, but looks are deceiving, because in Christ, you are victorious. When faced with the lie that we can’t win or this battle is just too much, we must reevaluate how we see victory. Victory isn’t our life being perfect, it’s us placing our faith in our perfect God. As long as we do that, we will always find victory.
2. God left me
The second lie we need to overcome during spiritual warfare says “God left me.” It’s easy to feel abandoned when tested in spiritual battle. Maybe you don’t feel God’s presence and your hope in Him has been overtaken with discouragement and despair. We must remember our feelings don’t dictate God’s truth. The truth is God has promised never to leave or forsake you and He’s not about to break that promise now, no matter how intense this battle gets. Psalm 46:1 says:
“God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.” (Psalm 46:1 CSB)
God is always found in times of trouble, the scripture says. That means your challenges are not a sign that God is absent, but a promise that God is there. When it comes to spiritual warfare, there is so much going on that we don’t know about. God is fighting unseen battles for us in the Heavenly places and winning victories for us we aren’t even aware of. If God sent His one and only Son Jesus Christ to win the ultimate battle for our souls, we can trust that He’s not about to leave us now.
3. It would be easier if I stop following God
The third lie we need to overcome during spiritual warfare says “It would be easier if I just stopped following God.” The thought is that it’s our following God that’s making us a target for spiritual attack and that is true. The enemy is not attacking people on his side and doing his work. And it’s also true that the battle might not be as intense if we switch sides, but knowing this, easier doesn’t mean it will be worth it. We will face trials as believers, but we are figuring on the right side and the eternal victory we have in Christ is worth more than anything we can gain here in the physical world. This is why, like in the words of Paul, we must “fight the good fight.” (2 Timothy 6:12) We’re going to have to fight, so we might as well fight on the right side. Living for God will make you a target for spiritual battle, but it also guarantees your victory. 1 Corinthians 15:57 tells us:
“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57 ESV)
We find victory in believing the truth of God and not the lies of the enemy. Why would we choose to believe him anyway? He’s not for us. God is for us and we can always know that this battle will be worth it, God is always with us, and victory is already ours in Christ.
Spiritual Warfare
Have you ever stepped back and listened to your thoughts? Have you been surprised by them and wondered where they were coming from? In his book Wild at Heart, John Eldredge wrote, “We are being lied to all the time. Yet, we never stop to say, “Wait a minute…Who else is speaking here? Where are those ideas coming from? Where are those feelings coming from?”
The Apostle Peter warned us “ Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) We have a real enemy, a cunning schemer, highly skilled in the art of combat whose chief goal is to destroy God’s children. But he is a crafty one, he knows if he were to show up as a dark, scary figure with a pitchfork we would immediately flee sensing danger. So instead, he is a master deceiver who uses our fears, hurts, and insecurities to influence our thought life. The enemy knows that if he can control our minds, he can control our emotions and behavior. His weapon is lies. When we believe Satan’s lies over God’s truth, it leads to faulty thinking and wrong behaviors that enslave our souls. Our defense is the truth of the inerrant word of God.
The Bible gives a detailed combat strategy for defeating the enemy. We are to pull down strongholds and bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). Simply put lies have become strongholds in our lives that speak death into our souls preventing us from walking in the fullness of Christ. Satan’s lies must be demolished and replaced with God truth. If your thoughts are telling you that you are not good enough, that you are unworthy, that you are ugly, that you will always live in fear, that you will never, heal, that you will always live in bondage, stop for one moment and ask yourself…”Whose voice am I hearing?” God’s word tells us that Jesus is the Good Shepherd and His sheep hear His voice and protects them from the thief who wants to destroy them. Our beloved Savior would never harm His sheep by speaking lies.
If you hearing that you will never amount to anything, that’s a lie from the enemy, choose instead to listen to your Shepherd, who says “For I know the thoughts I have towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil to bring you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11. The enemy is a liar and cannot stand against God’s truth. Choose to walk in truth. When you do that it will render the enemy powerless and defeated.
If you are hear that you will never amount to anything, that’s a lie from the enemy, choose instead to listen to your Shepherd, who says “For I know the thoughts I have towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil to bring you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11. The enemy is a liar and cannot stand against God’s truth. Choose to walk in truth. When you do that it will render the enemy powerless and defeated.
Emotions & Spiritual Warfare
Our emotions are tied to our thought life. Have you ever stepped back and listened to your thoughts? Have you been surprised by them and wondered where they were coming from? In his book ‚Wild at Heart,‛ John Eldredge wrote, ‚We are being lied to all the time. Yet, we never stop to say, ‘Wait a minute who else is speaking here? Where are these ideas coming from? Where are these feelings coming from?‛ Satan is at war with God’s children. He is a crafty one and a deceiver; and, he knows if he were to show up as a dark, scary figure, with a pitchfork, we would immediately flee, sensing danger. So, instead, he uses our fears, hurts, and insecurities to influence us through our thought life.
The enemy knows that if he can control our minds, he can control our behavior; and, what is his most used weapon to do so? Lies! When we believe Satan’s lies, rather than God’s truth, it leads to faulty ways of thinking and wrong behaviors that enslave our souls. The only defense we have to protect our minds from being lost in the darkness of lies, is the truth: the inerrant Word of God.
God’s word gives a detailed combat strategy for defeating the enemy. We are to pull down strongholds (rooted lies) and bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). Simply put, we must replace Satan’s lies with God’s truth. If your thoughts are telling you that you are not good enough; that you are unworthy; that you are ugly; that you will always live in fear; that you will never heal; or that you will always live in bondage, stop for one moment and ask yourself, ‛Whose voice am I hearing? Who is it that is telling me that?‛ God’s word tells us that Jesus is the Good Shepherd and His sheep hear His voice and His voice protects them from the thief who wants to destroy them. Our beloved Savior would never harm His sheep by speaking such lies. If you hear that you will never amount to anything, that’s a lie from the enemy; choose, instead, to listen to your Shepherd who says, ‘For I know the thoughts I have towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to bring you a future and a hope‛ (Jeremiah 29:11). The enemy is a liar and cannot stand against God’s truth. Choose to walk in truth. When you do that, it will render the enemy powerless and defeated, and you will start to thrive in the name of Jesus.
If you are hearing that you will never amount to anything, that’s a lie from the enemy; choose, instead, to listen to your Shepherd who says, ‘For I know the thoughts I have towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to bring you a future and a hope‛ (Jeremiah 29:11). The enemy is a liar and cannot stand against God’s truth. Choose to walk in truth. When you do that, it will render the enemy powerless and defeated, and you will start to thrive in the name of Jesus.
A Tool of Purpose
So as we think about the inside-out work of the indwelling Holy Spirit, we must let Him engage and empower our emotions, but also govern them. Writer Jon Bloom counsels:
“God designed your emotions to be gauges, not guides. They’re meant to report to you, not dictate to you. The pattern of your emotions (not every caffeine-induced or sleep-deprived one!) will give you a reading on where your hope is because they are wired into what you believe and value — and how much. That’s why emotions like delight (Psalm 37:4), affection (Romans 12:10), fear (Luke 12:5), anger (Psalm 37:8), joy (Psalm 5:11), etc., are so important in the Bible. They reveal what your heart loves, trusts, and fears. ‘Pleasure is the measure of your treasure’, because the emotion of pleasure is a gauge that tells you what you love.”
Charles Swindoll wrote honestly about his experience of emotion: “I have found that my feelings often represent some of the most sensitive areas in my life touched by the Spirit of God. Not infrequently do my emotions play a vital role in how and where the Spirit is guiding me, giving me reason to make significant decisions, cautioning me to back off, and reproving me for something in my life that needs immediate attention.” Honest and helpful words. He continues, “We are strange creatures: proud of our brains, stubborn in our will, but ashamed of our emotions – though we deny all three!” He states that one of the benefits of a life sensitive to the Holy Spirit is that it “allows us to warm up to our emotions, which is nothing more than allowing ourselves the freedom to be real, to be whole. . . Expressing one’s emotions is not a mark of immaturity or carnality.” The Spirit-inspired Psalms, packed with emotion of all kinds, affirm and illustrate this reality.
Truth-Guided Emotions
Emotions are driven by our thoughts. Circumstances do not determine our emotions. Rather, our thoughts toward, and in response to, those circumstances drive our emotions. Clearly, there are real bio-chemical factors for some people. In some seasons of life the weight of a major trial or crisis puts us in disarray or complete brokenness. But most of the time, the emotional battle is won or lost at the level of our thinking . It’s not always what I am going through, but how I am thinking about what I am going through that sparks strong emotion.
So, this is where the “renewing of our minds” according to biblical truth is so essential. Ephesians 4:17–24 explains that the unsaved manifest sensuality and impurity based on hardened hearts, rooted in the futility of their minds. Believers, embracing the “truth that is in Jesus,” are renewed in the spirit of their minds and able to overcome deceitful desires to live out the truth of a “new self.” What we believe fuels how we behave. Lies instigate destructive feelings. Truth shapes godly reactions and profitable emotional behavior.
John Piper elaborates with these words: “My feelings are not God. God is God. My feelings do not define truth. God’s word defines truth. My feelings are echoes and responses to what my mind perceives. And sometimes—many times—my feelings are out of sync with the truth. When that happens—and it happens every day in some measure—I try not to bend the truth to justify my imperfect feelings, but rather, I plead with God: Purify my perceptions of your truth and transform my feelings so that they are in sync with the truth.”
Spirit- Activated Emotions
The New Testament presents a profound contrast between those whose lives are guided and oriented around the Holy Spirit and those ruled by their flesh. The fruit of these dissimilar lifestyles is seen in some emotionally-infused terms. The flesh is evident in “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these” (Galatians 5:19–21). Some of these behaviors would be classified as emotional manifestations, the others involve emotional motivations.
But those whose regular conduct is ordered according to the life of the Holy Spirit embrace truth and exhibit trust in ways that demonstrate “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (5:22–23). Our emotions are transformed by the inside-out work of the Holy Spirit.
When we are filled with the Spirit, our truth-based and truly healthy emotions are focused on the astonishing wonder of the person and work of Jesus. The Spirit’s control overflows in song, gratitude, and willing submission (Ephesians 5:18–21). “Theologically speaking, emotions are ‘rightly ordered’ when they are appropriately directed. In order for an emotion to be considered ‘a full-fledged emotion’—as opposed to, say, a ‘mood’—it needs an object: something to be directed toward. To have our emotions rightly ordered, then, is to have them appropriately directed toward the right objects.” The right and best object is the person, purposes, and power of Christ.
Finding the Balance
We all live each day, and come together each weekend, with real needs. Many of these necessities affect our emotions. Unpredictable circumstances, strained relationships, financial pressure, health difficulties, work conflict, and many more dynamics can trigger difficult feelings within the course of any given week. To manage our emotional responses, we need to embrace biblical truth, applied by the indwelling Spirit, whose very life is one of holy emotion.
So, tomorrow as you wake up, and this weekend when you worship, here are some helpful questions to ask:
- Am I aware of and open to my God-given emotions?
- What is prompting this particular emotion?
- What thoughts may be fueling and shaping this emotion?
- Are these thoughts being transformed by the word of God?
- Based on God’s word, where should I focus my trust?
- Are these emotions consistent with the fruit of the Holy Spirit and submitted to His control?
- How can the Holy Spirit use these emotions to glorify Christ?
- How are these emotions affecting others?
- Is my emotional expression building up others or in some way distracting or discouraging them?
- If my regular emotions are proving to be destructive, how and when will I get outside help to maintain emotional health and spiritual maturity?
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