“The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.”
Revelation 12:9 says that the Dragon, Satan, has deceived the whole world. But has the import of that really sunk in? The doubtful resistance that is in each of us does not go away easily. It remains though we are converted. It still needs to be fought and overcome.
If we do not condition ourselves to be aware and choose the right way, it will continue to exert its influence. Much can be done to lessen its influence, particularly continuing to develop our relationship with God through study and prayer.
As we exercise God's way, the influence of Satan the Devil begins to slip. There is a negative side to this in that, as soon as his influence starts to slip away, he tries harder to ensure that it does not leave us entirely. In other words, he picks up the intensity of his pressure on us.
But do not be disheartened! I Corinthians 10:13 is still in the book. God only gives us what we can handle, and He provides a way of escape. God is always there protecting us, making sure that Satan does not increase the pressure to the point that we are unable to bear it. We can be sure that as we continue to grow, and Satan steps up the pressure, we will be equal to the task. Do we have faith in that? We had better have faith because the intensity of the pressure will get greater and greater.
— John W. Ritenbaugh
My notes:
This made me think of all the intricate ways we have been, and are, completely ignorant - deceived - about what has been truly going on, and is still going on, in our minds, our emotions, and our souls.
Satan has deceived the whole world. This means us; me and you. We have been deceived. What have we been deceived about? Nearly everything. Everything we thought we knew, experienced, felt and believed has been tainted in order to trick us; to deceive us. Deep subconscious beliefs about our worth, value, about love, about others; it has all been tainted with deception.
Through the years and experiences of pain, disappointment and heartache seeds of deception have been planted within us. Creating beliefs, perceptions and emotions within us that are unhealthy and untrue. Yet these are undetected, which is the whole purpose of deception; to be undetected due to our unawareness. You won't attempt to fix something if you aren't aware it is broken. You won't try to fix a belief if you think it is right.
Undoing this deception can be much like the unraveling of several tangled cords. It's neither quick nor easy, but it can be done. Realizing that this bundle of tangled cords represents our minds, can help us see the importance of why the unraveling must be done.
Contrary to many beliefs, not all of this deception goes away at the moment of our conversion. Even as "saved" individuals there is a lot of deception that needs to be discovered and changed; or renewed. Hence the instructional scripture, "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
Accepting the reality of our inherent deception is like accepting the sobering reality that most of us are addicted to something - we are addicts. Addicts to things, other than God, that bring us temporary relief, escape or comfort. Many of us were, or are, unaware, "deceived" to the fact that we have, or had, addictions.
We have also been deceived at what has been fueling and directing our addictions, or sins. Deception made us unaware of the traumas, hurts and incorrect beliefs within us, which are unconsciously directing us toward sin. Being unaware of, "deceived" of, deeper unconscious issues, has caused us to 'miss the mark'- to sin - in how we feel, think about, and view God, others, ourselves, our past, and life in general.
It takes more than just a conversion to break free from deception. It takes a conversion and then the long term process of salvation - continual saving from deceptions. It demands a continuous fight, and a "conditioning" of our minds to find, recognize and oppose the deceptions. It takes effort, study, introspection, ongoing communication with God, and continual learning to keep gaining freedom from deception.
Breaking free, and continuing to become more free from deception, requires the extreme efforts that Paul instructed us with in four familiar words, "Take every thought captive". Read those four words again, slowly. “Take… Every… Thought… Captive”.
Knowing that individuals, on average, think about 60,000 thoughts each day, this can seem like an overwhelming and impossible task. EVERY thought?! Yes, that's what it takes to continue breaking free. Like the untangling of the bundled cords, the task is performed one cord at a time; with patience and persistence.
This entire task begins with the change of the one, and most important thought. The agreement that we need a Savior, and the agreement that Jesus is just that. That's the conversion moment, the turning point and singular thought, or agreement that shifts the trajectory of our minds and souls from deception toward truth and freedom. It is the beginning, the first step of the untangling of our bundled cords; our deceived mind.
From there we need to continue becoming more skilled at recognizing, then "taking captive" even more of our thoughts. There are still many beliefs, false realities and perspectives within us that are under the spell of deception.
We crossed over into the Promised Land, by accepting Jesus, but we must not stop there. Don't be deceived, the fight for your complete freedom and healing is not over; it has only begun. It's not time to relax. We must travel, we must fight. We have to keep getting stronger, wiser and more skilled.
Once the conversion happens, metaphorically we have crossed over the Jordan; but there are several lands that still need to be taken over. Deception and unhealthy things will continue to live in many areas of the land until we purposely go there, conquer it and renew it.
Likewise there are several areas of our minds that have to be ventured, and overtaken. There are thousands of thoughts, beliefs, memories and emotions that have to be found, taken captive and dealt with; bringing them to the obedience of Christ. This does not happen without conscious effort, and practice. Our efforts and skill, at recognizing and then changing our thoughts and perspectives, needs to be progressing.
Israel entered the Promised Land that God gave them, but enemies, darkness and deception still resided in the land. Similarly there is still deception in us; sin in us. To believe otherwise is only proof of the deception. "If we say we have no sin, we delude ourselves and the truth is not in us." 1 John 1:8.
The promised land, the vast lands of our minds were promised to us. No longer would others own and control our minds; our beliefs, emotions and thoughts. God said it is now ours. He gave it to us to be able to rule, to use and enjoy; but we have to go fight for each section of it. We have to start traveling to each area, taking every inhabitant, every thought, captive. We have to become active in displaying our authority and ownership over our minds.
How do we start taking every thought captive when we have so many? We begin doing this one thought at a time, one day at a time. As we do this, purposely and repetitively, we will get better, quicker and more skilled. We may start out only taking 10 of our 60,000 thoughts a day captive. But that will grow to 1,000 thoughts a day. Then 10,000.
With constant effort we will begin to see the renewal of our minds. Renewed from the old deceptive ways of how we have viewed others, ourselves, our past experiences, etc., to the new, right and Godlike beliefs and perspectives. And with this renewal of our minds we will also see the transformation of our entire beings. We will see that we have been entirely “transformed by the renewing of our minds”.
Renew your mind by diligently learning to take every thought, memory, opinion, and even every emotion captive. The biblical instruction is to take "every" thought captive. So every thought should be our goal. The Israelites were instructed to take over "all" of Cannan, and not to rest until it was done.
The darkness and deception that has lived and ruled in the lands of Cannan (in our minds) will not leave willingly. In fact the current inhabitants of our minds (our old self, and the enemy) will try to deceive us into believing that "you don't need to tire yourselves with such a large task. All is well in your mind and in your life."
Here is where the original deception shows that it is still alive. Our logic, even our doctrines or theologies, have often come under the deception. The deception that says, "The battle is over, there are no enemies here. Go rest and relax."
Truth says, "Fight, and keep on fighting. Be diligent, be sober and alert. Be transformed by renewing your mind. Learn to rewire the way that you think."
Find each and every thought, memory, emotion, perception and belief. Discover each one of these living in the land of your mind, and detain it. Take it captive, identify it and investigate it. Determine if the thought, memory, emotion, perception or belief holds any deception. Bring all of these into alignment and into obedience, under Christ.
The battle and journey to freedom, to internal prosperity and blessing, is a continuous one. Don’t be overwhelmed, but be encouraged. God said that all of the land is yours. Believe it. Begin to live like you believe it. You have the strength, power and authority to take over everything God said is yours.
Begin catching your emotions and your thoughts. Stop them, detain them, hold them captive and investigate them. Where did they come from? Why is that thought or emotion there? Does that thought, emotion or memory speak the message of love and truth? Don’t allow the old inhabitants of deception, worry, and fear continue to freely roam in the lands of your mind. It is no longer their land, take it back!
The practice of taking emotions, thoughts and memories captive is the process and practice of renewing your mind. Renewing your mind creates a transformation in who you are, and transforms the environment of the world you live in. A transformation that can look just like “Heaven on earth”. There is deception that has tangled itself within us. Find it, recognize it and unravel it. Ask God to guide you through these steps, and to give you the wisdom and skill to perform it.
Needed to hear this today!!