The devil wrestles with God, and the field of battle is the human heart.
~Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoyevski (1821-1881)
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we.
~ paul, The Least of The Apostles, in 2 Corinthians 10
Oh beloved, it is true. There is a place where we can begin to see the ruining of our joy, or the cementing of the same. For in the mind, there is a fulcrum from which we will tip towards the flesh (where death reigns), or towards the newly created spirit within (wherein is Life and Peace).
There does come from the irredeemable flesh we inhabit, and from the spiritual forces arrayed against us, a nearly relentless onslaught on our mind. And this hoard of lies seeks to find places of breach in our lives, or places where we have not implemented the full-armour He has provided for our continuous use.
We were (read all of us beloved) Designed to be hyper-victorious. We were Designed in the image of the Triune G_d Who did create us. We were Designed to take on the very nature of our Creator, and to be like Him one day.
This purpose is most elegantly spoken in the Word (in 2 Peter 1), and echoed in the catechisms of the Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions of His body on earth…. We are to participate in the divine nature. And to become these partakers (“metochoi” in the original language) of G_d is to simply fulfill the purpose of our creation by the Creator:
We are the echo of His Voice.
We are the image of His glory.
We are a phase wave of His power.
We are the vessels in which His Divine Love may rest well-pleased.
We are the sons and daughters of The Father.
We are the brothers and sisters of the Son.
We are the free slaves of the Kingdom of Heaven.
We are the right action of G_d in this world, and the next.
We are the joyful inheritance of the Father.
We are His.
Forever.
And in moments, we understand. But then, the battle for the soul of our mind resumes. The hammering onslaught of the lies of worry and lust and doubt and fear and envy and pride and all things fallen, fall on us continuously. And in their lying tongue, they seek to tell us that we are about to be overwhelmed.
Give up…
Give in…
Give over…
Just this once…
It will be OK…
G_d doesn’t mind…
You are forgiven anyway…
She/he doesn’t like you…
You will be hurt…
You can’t make it…
For a moment (sometimes a protracted one) we begin to listen to the lies as they weave their threads into some sort of tapestry which almost makes sense. The threads play upon the things we see and hear in media, and our own former experiences in the flesh. Further, as the threads come together, they threaten to bind us up like lilliputians tying Gulliver down in his travels.
Stop beloved. Take that thought captive. It is not who you are.
Can we see it? The problem is not really the problem. The problem is that we look at the problems and give them false validation. And further, in looking at the problems more closely than is warranted, we look away from both the Solution and the reality of who we are. Said a different way, taking a thought captive is a matter of our identity, rather than some sort of mental exercise.
Beloved, the liar’s only hope is to get us to look at a problem and try to solve it from our former footing of before we became new through the obedience of faith. For the liar knows that flesh will always end up failing.
However, the beauty of the issue is that false thoughts are actually easy to dismiss when we know who we truly are. And in fact, as we cast away the fear, it becomes a weapon we can thrust back at the one trying to use it on us.
So, are you you fighting some thoughts you know you should not even be having? Perhaps it is time for you to remember who you are – and obey the strength that flows from that truth. Perhaps it is time for you to become the one who punishes the liar, instead of being the soft target of the enemy of your soul. Tonight is your night beloved. Time to believe who you are in Him.
