Ephesians 4:27
27 nor give place to the devil.
Do not give the devil an open door or foothold on your life.
By entertaining sinful thoughts or ignoring divine wisdom, we create "footholds" for the enemy, which is giving the devil permissions that allow negative behaviors or thoughts to gain a foothold in our lives, often leading to deeper strongholds.
Lets look first at the aspects of Spiritual Footholds:
- Definition:A foothold is a temporary, small area of control for the enemy, whereas a stronghold is an deeply entrenched, habitual, or mental barrier.
- Root Causes:Common causes include harboring un-forgiveness, anger, or neglecting to follow biblical wisdom.
- Consequences:These areas rob believers of peace, joy, and spiritual power.
- Overcoming Them:To remove these footholds, we are encouraging ourselves to confess, renounce the behavior, and take our thoughts back to make them obedient to Christ.
How could we identify footholds in our lives?
A foothold could is a secure, strategic position from which one can advance.
We should not allow the devil a foothold in our lives. Those little things that we allow him to sneak into our mind and heart become destructive.
One of the things that we most hear about are cancer. If you go into the doctor and they find a spot in your body that looks like cancer they will immediately send you out for an MRI to find out if it may be cancer. If it turns out to be cancer they will want to immediately want to do surgery to make sure that it does not progress to take your life.
Satan can be like that spot that they discover is cancer. It may be something small like that thought about doing something bad or maybe it just that little seed of letting you do something that is small and making you think that it was nothing.
You see people don't start out just jumping right into drinking or drugs. I usually starts out with a sip or a pill that makes you feel good or feel nothing or it's that sip that just seems ok until you keep drinking.
Maybe it's that one scary movie that you like that seems minor, however it is evil and gets you started into movies that are more evil.
Satan is a liar, he will make you believe you are losing your mind.
He will make you think you should kill yourself.
He will make you think that you are worth nothing and you should take that drug.
He will make you think that someone is being mean to you and you should retaliate.
But, Satan is a liar!
This is not the time to fight against neighbors, family, friend, or acquaintances. It is the time to get on your knees and fight against the devil.
Have you ever had someone shut the door on you because they did not want you in where they were? I have even had the door slammed at times on me. We need to slam the door on Satan and say "Not Today Satan" God is in control of my life and mind
We must guard our hearts and minds from the enemy.
Proverbs 4:23
Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.
Guarding your mind involves filling it with God's word and truth. It also involves being on your knees in prayer.
Satan will also try to destroy you when you are seeking God and studying the Word of God.
Last night I was trying to get this message done and half way trough I started to feel very sick with my blood pressure going up and feeling really bad. However, I prayed and rebuked Satan and prayed for God to take control. We are fighting a spiritual warfare.
Ephesians 6:10-12
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
We are fighting again the rulers of darkness and it is a battle that we can only be over comers through Christ.
Paul listed the spiritual weapons he used: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.
So, we need to buckle up, pray, and put on the spiritual weapons that Paul talks about. Satan does not have control over our mind, our thoughts, and what we do unless we give it to him by letting him come in and take over our mind.
It is time for you to get control of those thoughts that Satan has been putting in you and cast them out and let God have control.