Recently the Lord has given me some great insight and encouragement in the area of my thought life. This may not be something you struggle with, but for the last 40 plus years it has been a regular struggle, battle, and annoyance in my life. What I am talking about is the access to my thoughts that the enemy had and his ability to plant thoughts in my mind.
You may not be real familiar with this if you do not regularly monitor your thoughts and their point of origination, but it something that the Lord has made me increasingly aware of in my life. As I have paid attention to my thoughts, I have recognized that some do not originate from me. Some, and I find this number increasing, are clearly from the Lord, and others are clearly not from the Lord (most likely originating from dark spiritual entities). For years I have just assumed that this was part of the struggle that we as Christians learned to deal with, and that we learned how to walk victoriously, rejecting the thoughts from the enemy. However, I also found myself regularly listening to the thoughts and agreeing in some ways with their accusations against God, against others, and always drawing my eyes away from God. I have grown increasingly frustrated with this particular struggle, believing that as a mature Christian I should see more victory in my life in this area.
The other day I was thinking about this situation and I asked the Lord why the enemy has access to my thoughts. I felt like the Lord responded, "because you allow him to have access." He then pointed to my belief that this was just a normal part of a Christian's life, and said that this was the access point the enemy used, as I was allowing him in because I didn't realize it could be any different. I just assumed that because he (the enemy) was a spiritual entity I had no way to stop him.
The Lord then took me through a quick litany of scriptures and showed how He had defeated the enemy completely and had all authority and power (Matt 28:18), and how I was now a new creation (2 Cor 5:17), hidden in Him (Col 3:3) and had authority to drive out the enemy (Mark 3:15). The enemy has no authority in His kingdom, and I am in His Kingdom!
I have heard Graham Cooke and Bill Johnson both talk about how the enemy only has power in our lives in areas where we allow him, where we are in agreement, and this finally made sense to me in this area. My thought and belief that it was a normal part of Christian life, was the very point of access for him, where I was unwittingly in agreement with him.
The Lord's point was very simple, in Him, I have authority over my mind. I can shut the door on the enemy, and any other source, and they don't have any right of access. As His follower, I have authority over the enemy, and I just need to walk in that authority. I am a new creation, I no longer have to allow what was present in the 'old man', access to the 'new man'.
As I was thinking about this an analogy popped into my head - that of buying a house. When we buy a new house, part of the contract is NOT that we allow the old owner access to the house whenever he wants. When we purchase the house, all the keys are handed over and it is now our house, and we have authority and power over who we allow into that house. In the same way when we experience salvation in Christ, we become a new creation in Him, casting away the old. The old no longer has any right or access, unless we grant it. Paul talks quite a bit about this subject in a more thorough way in Romans 6-8.
Upon realizing this truth in my life, I quickly repented (changed the way I am thinking) and shut that door. Since that time, I have noticed a complete freedom from the accusing and lying, self-focused thoughts that don't originate with me. I still have my own selfishness, but those thoughts are not the same as what I was struggling with before.
I share this in the hopes that some of you might recognize a similar situation in your lives, and discover truth that will set you free from the lies and accusations of the enemy, especially in the area of your thoughts.
Peace, Sam
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