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The Enemy's Footholds in Your Life

In our attempts to move toward the future that God wants for us, we have to recognize how our enemy, the devil, is holding us back. In Genesis 3:1-7, he is a deceptive yet convincing snake sowing doubt about God’s goodness. In 1 Peter 5:8, he is a roaring lion seeking to devour us. In John 10:10, he is a thief seeking to kill and destroy us.

God wants us to understand who we are up against and how every single day of our lives this enemy comes after our hearts. It is what Paul described in Ephesians 4:26-27: “‘In your anger do not sin’: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.”

The Greek word for foothold is topos. It means a base for further advance, a place to come back to and operate from later.

In creating footholds, the enemy takes the things we’ve done and uses them against us. But he even more covertly, secretly, insidiously, and subtly uses the things that have been done to us, said to us, and said about us to establish footholds in our lives too.

So, what messages have you received? Perhaps one or more of these? You will never really matter, never be good enough, smart enough, strong enough, beautiful enough, handsome enough, successful, worth the time of day, desired or pursued, amount to anything.

Where has the enemy established footholds in your life? Your ability to experience the freedom that is available to you depends on your ability to answer that question.

Identify harmful messages you’ve told yourself as well as harmful messages from others that you’ve internalized. Ask God to rewrite those areas of your life with his truth.