Devo 53: Check or Checkmate?

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they are mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…
II Corinthians 10:4-6

Growing up, my dad taught me to play chess and one thing he always said was, “If your opponent is about to get you in check-mate, then do something to suddenly get them in check. You won’t be able to take them, but it throws off their offensive plan and gets them playing defense. It is about shaking up his mind and keeping the focus on his own problem rather than on taking your king.”

This is the same way that the enemy destroys us and makes us ineffective. We step out in some area, and then the enemy comes in like a flood and tries to destroy us. There are many reasons this happens, but one primary reason in the little areas in our lives that are not fully given over to the Lord yet.

Even if they are small, those areas are open doors for the enemy to come in and get us in check so we will stop declaring the checkmate the Lord already has on Him. It is in God’s grace that He allows those areas to be exposed before they completely destroy us.

The Lord will use us to take out mighty strongholds over nations—like he did with Daniel (Dan. 9-10)—but first, we must be adamantly pulling down strongholds in our own minds. According to this verse in II Corinthians, a stronghold is an argument or anything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. This means lies, false doctrines, false ideas about God, wrong perspectives of how He relates to us, etc…

We are not usually aware of them until the Lord exposes them to us. Psalm 19 calls them “secret faults” (Ps. 19:12). However, as the Word of God penetrates our hearts, we begin to be “transformed by the renewing of our mind” (Rom. 12:2). Psalm 19 speaks of the law of the Lord converting (or restoring) the soul (Ps. 19:7-8). As the Word is revealed, it is measuring line for everything else in us.

All manners of sin and evil start in our mind and heart. Romans 8 says that the carnal mind is “enmity” against God, which means that our fleshly mind is “set against” or “opposed to” God. He says, however, that a life in the Spirit is “life and peace.”

As a people who desire to live by the Spirit, we are called to put everything in subjection to the spirit and the Word. As human beings, we are made of body, soul (mind, will, emotions), and spirit. When we accept Jesus into our hearts, the Holy Spirit comes and makes a home in us, then we begin the journey of “being transformed from glory to glory” (II Cor. 3:18).

Walking according to the Spirit means that we must bring our body and soul under the control of the spirit. Usually, when we are first saved, we tackle the body first—drinking, smoking, sexual immorality, gluttony, etc. However, many stop there, and their mind, will, and emotions (heart) are never brought under the reign of the spirit. So, this is the reason why many fall back into immorality, drunkenness, etc, because they never one the battle in their soul.

However, Jesus commanded us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mt 22:37). One of the primary ways we do that is through the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 says that “the Word of God is living and powerful (or active), sharper than any two-edged sword, dividing soul from spirit” (author paraphrase).

Ephesians 6 is one of the primary chapters in the Bible that talks about “the weapons of our warfare” and two of the primary weapons listed are the sword and shield. It is interesting that one is an offensive weapon and one is a defensive weapon. We were made to fight and we were made to be a threat to the kingdom of darkness, not merely a target.

We use the sword as our offensive weapon. It is the Word of God. With it, we wage war not only on the strongholds in our own minds, but on everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. Jesus used the word over and over again when Satan tempted Him in the wilderness.

For your primary defensive weapon (although the others are defensive as well), we are to take up the shield of faith. When lies come against us, we must believe that what God said is true. Period. If we believe it, then the lies will have no affect on us. However, many times, those subtle offenses in our hearts toward God or the false ideas we have about Him, strip us of our faith, which is not only our primary defensive weapon, but is the foundation of using our offensive weapon—the Word.

I hear of so many people who completely leave faith in God and begin to believe that the Bible is not the inspired Word of God. At some point, you just have to believe it is true, even when you do not see it. That is faith, and that is your protection.

Another weapon mentioned in Ephesians 6 is “praying with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to the end…” This is another important weapon that builds our defense so that we can be on offense. Jude 20 says to “build yourself up in the most holy faith, praying with in the Holy Spirit.”

So, how do we practically apply this? First we must hold every thought captive and examine it according to the Word. This means that when we think wrong thoughts, we must grab them as soon as we realize it and stop the thought from progressing.

Several steps I personally practice are these:

1) I know that a life in the spirit is life and peace, so I ask myself, “Do I have life and peace right now? Is this thought producing a fruit of the spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control?”

2) If not, then I am not walking in the spirit and I am not exhibiting the fruits of the spirit. So, I then, I examine what I am thinking about, “Is it whatsoever is lovely, true, pure, noble…?” (Phil. 4:8).

3) If not, then I am not “thinking on these things” so I refocus my mind on something is pure, noble, lovely…Well, that would be the Lord. Oh yeah. As we behold Him we become more like Him (II Cor. 3:18). So, I must find the attribute of God to meditate on that will pull me from my wrong thought.

4) So, am I afraid? Then I meditate on His perfect love that drives out fear, or God the Father whose spirit of adoption breaks the bondage of fear. Is it lust or sin? Then I meditate on His holiness and His sacrifice on the cross that broke the power of that sin over my life. Is it sickness? Then I meditate on His benefits that heal all my infirmities or Him taking all my diseases on the cross. Is it finances? Then I meditate on “the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want” or “Yahweh Yireh, God the Provider,” or Luke 12, “the Good Father that gives good gifts. Whatever it is, there is an attribute of God to fill that space.

5) Finally, SPEAK IT OUT! There is power in speaking it, singing it, writing it, praying it, thinking on it—anything and everything that will release it into the atmosphere and into your spirit.

From day one, Satan has been in check-mate, but he just tries to get the saints into check so they will quit playing offense. Let’s use our weapons. Amen.

Love,

Amanda

Copyright © 2010, Amanda Rich, All Rights Reserved