The Armor of God - Day 12 (The Helmet of Salvation - Session 7 - Part 2E-3)

[Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks, PsyD]

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II. The Whole Armor of God – Sessions 3-8 – Parts 2A-1 to 2F

E. The Helmet of Salvation – Session 7 – Parts 2E-1 to 2E-3:

*Session 7 – Part 2E-3 – Satan's primary objective is to entice us to sin, thereby separating us from God and rendering us useless in spiritual warfare. He targets our minds, with sin beginning in our thought life. That's why Paul insisted that we take every thought captive and avoid being snared by the devil.

Satan even targets our dreams. Have you ever had evil dreams, or dreams with sexual overtones? They surely didn't come from God. How do you deal with these? First, submit to God. Ask if there is a reason for the dreams? Is there a sexual fantasy running amok in your thoughts? If so, ask for God's forgiveness, and ask Him to remove harmful dreams, binding and breaking Satan's power. Satan will flee.

If you hear voices in your minds, don’t be afraid to talk about it; that does not mean you are insane. Hearing voices is evidence of the spiritual warfare in which we engage. Satan attacks us with evil thoughts in order to drown out the voice of God's indwelling Holy Spirit. Here is where we must diligently practice discernment. James 1:8 says, "A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways." This speaks of someone who sometimes chooses God and His ways, and other times choose Satan and his ways. James 4:8 says, "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded."

If we submit to God and resist the devil, he will flee from us. Then the ungodly voices and dreams will stop. Satan wants us to blame others or ourselves for these voices.  He wants us to believe there is something wrong with us. But we need to blame him and his demons.

In some way, we gave Satan an opening and he moved into our thought life. Just as we gave him an opening, so we can close him out. As the time for Jesus to cast Satan into the lake of fire draws closer, spiritual warfare will escalate. Revelation tells us that Satan won't just peaceably surrender. He will unleash his worst. Likewise, he won't leave us alone without a battle, and his primary battleground is our mind. He will constantly attack our thoughts.

Remember II Corinthians 10:3-5: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."

Taking every thought captive is a continual challenge, and forms an important aspect of spiritual warfare. Bringing thoughts into captivity means to bring them under control. Then we can submit ourselves more completely to God.

The devil shoots a fiery dart, a thought, to our mind: a lie, thought of rejection, wrong doctrine, self- condemnation, a suggestion to do evil, etc. At the moment we become aware of the thought, we must evaluate it and hold it up to God's Word. Does it meet the Philippians 4.8 test? Does it meet the Hebrews 5:12 test? If it doesn't meet these qualifications, we must reject it as instructed by James 4:7-8.

Sin occurs when a wrong thought turns into an action. This creates an appetite that becomes a weakness, then a habit. The habit brings oppression from the enemy. James 1:14-15 provides a warning about the steps that lead to sin.

Our families form another major battlefield for Satan. He is determined to destroy them. Families form the foundation of our nation and society. If they are destroyed, our children and all future generations will be destroyed. Exodus 20:5 warns us that the father's iniquity is passed on to the third and fourth generations. Satan targets the family because the relationship between husbands and wives, parents and children, is an earthly example of the interaction of our heavenly Father with His family. If he can destroy your relationship with your earthly father, he has created a rift between you and your Heavenly Father. The habits and attitudes learn from our parents are passed on to our children. This perpetuates Satan’s attack on the human race.

Even grown children don't have the ability to confront their dad. It lies with dads to examine their relationship with their children. What habits, fears, attitudes, beliefs or diseases have they learned or received from dad? If they have learned things that dad now regrets, then he must go to them and apologize, teaching them in God's way. Our children reap the harvest of the sin sown by their parents. Satan works overtime to keep parents from loving their children, and to alienate children from their parents. We need to take special care in our relationship with our spouse. Do we edify our mate, or tear him or her down? Do we neglect or take him or her for granted? Do we treat our spouse as a king or queen, or as our servant? We must guard our families. Ephesians 5:15-6:4 give instructions. Study what God's Word says about nurturing and loving your families.

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May the peace of God guard your hearts and minds ALWAYS!!! 

Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks

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