From the inside out
When we become new creatures in Christ we begin to change from the inside out. The Holy Spirit, our Comforter, takes up residence inside us and replaces our old fleshly desires with desires to be like Jesus.
Change happens when the Holy Spirit starts the change process in our spirits and also when we ask Jesus to be free from being enslaved and in bondage, such as from a bad habit, an addiction, immorality, being in debt, making an idol out of something that has become more important than the Lord are several examples of bondage that we have trouble in overcoming.
Satan is like a roaring lion seeking to defeat and devour you. We try in our own efforts to change but we lose our momentum and fail. It is a mind game of will and Satan delights in playing self defeating messages and temptation through your mind. The battlefield is in the mind but you don’t have to own those self defeating destructive messages that run rampant through your brain . That is not you. It comes from Satan. Take authority over it, put it into captivity and make it obedient unto Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV
Those thoughts will leave you if you exercise the Word, (the Bible), and wear the Armor of God to defeat the devil. We know the Holy Spirit transforms us to new creatures from the inside out and as change begins to happen, increasingly we don’t desire to do those bad habits.
But we need to remember that Satan and his demons will try to bring those bad habits back into our lives in the form of suggestive thoughts that enter into your mind. Turn to the Lord and He will strengthen you to reject it. You may fail; but don’t let it discourage you. Ask the Lord for forgiveness and get up because you have a new identity in Christ. Over time, the suggestive thoughts become fainter and you can laugh as the temptation that comes unbidden in your mind becomes feebler, because the Holy Spirit that dwells within you has strengthened you to reject it.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 NKJV
”No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
1 Corinthians 10:13. NIV
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