Go ahead. Ask a friend or yourself this question:
Question #1
If you were the devil, where would you attack yourself?
I sort of don’t want to answer that question because what if Satan hadn’t already figured it out?
What if I clued him in?
It could feel like putting a club into his hands. Except . . .
Satan has been studying human nature since Adam and Eve walked in the Garden of Eden. There’s nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
Our human nature hasn’t changed since the beginning so we’re not throwing Satan any curveballs. He’s seen it all.
He could tell us our area of weakness if we asked him. But don’t. Ask your friend or yourself.
What’s the area Satan would target to take you out at your emotional, physical, or spiritual knee cap?
Where are you most vulnerable?
Then ask yourself this next question:
Question #2
What am I not believing about God that makes me weak in this area?
Every emotional and spiritual weakness sprouts from a lie and/or pride.
Satan — and our selfish pride — both use these lies to attack us.
The truth destroys the lies and humbles our pride. Not my truth or your truth, but real truth, which comes from the Bible.
God’s Word will reveal whatever it is we’re not believing about God and defeat whatever it is the devil can use against us.
The Holy Spirit will remind us of verse(s) that teach — or remind us — of the truth that strips the lies of their power over us.
and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.
– John 8:32 NASB
Think You Got What It Takes?
I used to thank God for revealing the thinner areas of my character, and then I’d set my heart to shore them up with intention and the force of my will.
If I just tried hard enough, I’d have what it takes because I’m a daughter of the King! Hear me roar!
The next sound would be me whimpering.
I didn’t — and don’t — have what it takes any more than Adam and Eve did.
And neither do you.
But Jesus does.
He proved it in the wilderness when Satan tempted Him with relentless vigor (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13).
Jesus stood strong against Satan’s temptations even while His body was weak. Forty days of fasting will do that. (Jesus was not only 100% God, but also 100% man (Philippians 2:5-8). A famished man at that point.)
Jesus has what it takes. And we have Him — if we’ve trusted in and called on His name for salvation (Romans 10:9-10).
The Lord shores up our weaknesses through the strength of His character, not through our believing we have what it takes.
Look for verses that reveal aspects of God’s powerful character. Study and memorize ones that will hold you up in your specific areas of weakness. And then believe.
Believe the truth and walk in it.
Know. Believe. Walk.
Walking in the truth isn’t a separate step. We naturally walk in it like water that naturally flows from a faucet.
When we turn the faucet handle, the next step isn’t to tell the water to flow. The gush of water is the natural result of turning on the faucet when the line is clear. And walking in belief is the natural result of believing God’s Word when our faith is clear of lies and pride.
If we’re not walking with confidence in the truth we’ve learned about the Lord, then we don’t really believe it.
Some days I believe, and I flow through the day, head high and peaceful.
Other days, Satan or my selfish nature clogs up my faith with a hairball of pride or a glob of lies. My confidence dries up and I wither back into unbelief. Sigh.
But each day is a new day.
Every moment we can remind ourselves of the truth we know, set our hearts to believe, and trust God to do the work in our hearts (Philippians 2:13). And then walk in the belief that day, that moment.
Slowly but surely we’ll stagger less in seasick faith, rising up and down in belief and unbelief like waves tossed on the sea (James 1:6).
We’ll stride more in steady faith and send Satan scrambling. He’ll be hunting for another lie to throw at us, but it will also fail so long as we keep our eyes off our human pride and Satan’s lies and locked onto Christ and His truth.
Don’t give up and your weaknesses will become glorious strengths. Whenever the world sees my weaknesses become strengths, they know there’s a God in heaven.
In summary:
Grab a friend and ask them these two questions:
1. If you were the devil, where would you attack yourself?
2. What am I not believing about God that makes me weak in this area?
Then PRAY, search the BIBLE together for TRUTH, and hold each other accountable to BELIEVE and OBEY.
Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning
— 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 NASBthis I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
A post on Tim Challies’ blog inspired this post. Check it out: One Great Question to Ask a Friend. While you’re there, check out his other posts. He’s great!
And then come back and hang out here. Leave a comment. I’d love to connect.
