Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis Satan's Mind Games

Today on Truth Matters, Dr. Cheryl Davis explores how Satan targets people by attacking their mind, filling it with lies, worries, anxiety, depression, and causing feelings of being overwhelmed. Here's Dr. Davis and Satan's Mind Games.

I'm Dr. Cheryl Davis. Last week, we explored the life of a person that has truly surrendered their life to Christ. Today, let us examine how Satan will target that saint as he did the apostles and early followers of Jesus. Satan knows the power of God. Therefore, if we have the power of God dwelling within us, he is fighting a losing battle. Satan is not slow by any means. He sees the God in us and is continuously tempting us so that we will feed our flesh and lose power.

This is an age-old tactic for him. When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, he was led into the wilderness to be tempted. In Matthew 4, 1-4, then Jesus led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, afterward he was hungry. Now when the tempter came to him, he said, If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Jesus was tempted in the same condition as Esau. He was weary, hungry, and then he met the enemy. But Jesus valued the word of God more than he valued his fleshly desire to eat, even after having not eaten for 40 days.

The devil will come consistently to us to tempt us to feed our flesh over the spiritual man. But we can see how Jesus handled this situation. Compared to Esau, who profaned his birthright, Jesus honored his birthright. Jesus knew the importance of the will of God for him. In Colossians 1-18 it says, And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may have preeminence. Jesus' purpose was to come to the earth to die as the ultimate fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant.

In Genesis 12-3, And in you all families of the earth shall be blessed. We see the perfect example of surrender in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus said in Matthew 26-39, He went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, Oh, my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. Jesus did not refuse to die. He surrendered his own will to live to the supreme will of God, which was for him to be the spotless sacrifice for our sins.

Esau, on the other hand, refused to die. Therefore, he chose the flesh over the spiritual. As we review the story of Esau, we find that he made a critical decision, one that changed the rest of the course of his life and history. If we are truly saved and on the path of sanctification, we will be faced with some critical decisions. I can assure you more than once, these critical decisions can change the course of our walk with Christ. It can open the door to blessings or step us out of the will of God. For those of you listening that are not saved, the most critical decision that you will ever make is accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior. As God attempts to mature Christians in the faith, we will have to die to self even more. To get more, we have to give more. To be fuller of God's Spirit, we have to empty ourselves more of us.

Esau, in this case, refused to die to self. We must die to self in order for Jesus to be Lord rather than just our Savior. When Jesus is Lord of our life, then we will do his will and walk in his righteousness and will receive his eternal glory. Where are you today in your walk with Christ? Are you walking with him? Is he asking you to lay down certain things off the throne of your heart in order that he may be Lord of your life?

Is he asking you to do something radical for him? I would encourage you to seek God today while he is near. And do not be like Esau, who sold his birthright for a cheap bowl of stew. God has promised to give his children the riches of heaven and the wealth of the wicked. Don't give this away for a short season of worldly pleasure. Come to Jesus.

Let him fill your heart with the good pleasures of his Father. They are for today and for eternity. I'm Dr. Cheryl Davis, encouraging you to claim your birthright in Jesus.

It is available today. Jeremiah 33, 3 says, Call on me, and I will show you great and mighty things. God is waiting for you to call. Can you reach him with a simple prayer of repentance and confession? He will not turn you away.

He has been waiting for you. There are several signs that you can look for when you are under a spiritual attack. The most common are feelings of worthlessness and condemnation, or feeling unable to pray or read your Bible. Satan targets the mind with lies, but your defense against him is God's word. If you are experiencing these and other negative feelings, Dr. Davis would like to help you. You can reach her at Cheryl Davis at ProjectTruthMatters.com or connect with her on Facebook at Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis. This has been a production of The Truth Project.