Purify Your Mind Series (Part 1) by Joe KirbyExemplo

Make the Devil Run

Every problem the human race has ever faced is because of the first four words in the verse above. Man hates submitting to God. Why do we keep returning to the same sin over and over again? Because our hearts refuse to submit to God’s authority. We want to be our own master. We like steering our own ship, but the truth is, the day you hand the wheel to God is the day you find rest. God’s power cannot be matched, and when we hide behind Jesus, we have a new power to resist the Devil.

So, let’s get practical. What does resisting Satan look like? I’m hoping my wife will never read this book, but let me tell you a secret about my wife. Emma loves chocolate. And in our house you don’t have to look hard to find chocolate—next to the fridge there are chocolate eggs, in the freezer is chocolate ice cream, in the family room is chocolate cake, and upstairs in the bedroom, there are chocolate bars. And because there was always a plethora of sweet stuff around me, I found myself yielding to the temptation. But, here’s what’s interesting. When I filled the house up with pumpkin seeds, walnuts, vegetables, and tangerines, I started eating those things and, suddenly, I didn’t have the same room for those bad, sugary, dopamine hits. It’s similar when we submit to God. This means that we should seek to obey His word, read it daily, have fellowship with other Christians, wrestle with Him in prayer daily, and seek to reach the lost every week. If you fill yourself up with those kinds of things, suddenly you will find it much easier to resist the Devil when he dangles a juicy piece of bait in front of your nose.