Run Him Down Like a Dog

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. II Timothy 1:7 (New Living Translation, NLT)

I personally believe that the enemy’s primary weapon against us is fear. The spirit of fear is what the devil sends to every believer to intimidate them into backing off and giving up. But, like everything else the devil does, it is based on lies. Fear is a lie trying to become reality.

For example, let’s say you look at your bank account and you see that funds are low. You know that bills are coming due and according to the bank statement, there will not be enough to cover everything. And who is the first one knocking at your door? Fear, of course. That unsettled and uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach starts up. Thoughts begin to pour in about checks bouncing or losing your car. You have a choice. Will you give in to the feelings and thoughts bombarding you or will you turn to the Word of God?

It can be so tempting to go tell someone how bad things look and how worried you are that your bills won’t be paid. But, in reality, talking about those things won’t make you feel any better and it won’t solve anything. As a matter of fact, it will make you feel worse, and speaking it forth gives power to the lie that the devil is using against you. You already know this- we’ve talked about it plenty on this blog. Your words have power- power to build up and help or to tear down and harm. We have to choose to align our words with the words of God.

If we do, we won’t speak about the problem and moan and groan about how concerned we are. Instead we’ll speak that God is our supply. We’ll say that He gives us everything that we need through Christ Jesus. What we speak will manifest in the natural realm.

Now, that was just one example. We all know that the enemy doesn’t give up with just one try. When it doesn’t work to scare us with finances, he’ll try to make us think we’re getting a disease. Or he’ll bring thoughts that our children will be harmed. Then he’ll try to bring fear about something at work. He will continue to try to make us give in to fear. And we have to make a quality decision that we will not stand for it. Just when you feel like you’ve done everything possible to stand against fear and you’re tired and worn out from the battle- make the decision to stand against it one more time. Every time he comes against us, he thinks he’s dealing us the knockout punch. He thinks if he can’t get us to speak his lies, at least he can get us to stop speaking God’s Word. But, we have to be like those fighters in the movies where the hero is struck down by what seems to be a fatal blow. And the referee is counting him down. And as he counts, the fighter somehow manages to find one last ounce of strength and he pulls himself slowly up off the mat. And once he is on his feet, he may be swaying, but he is determined to strike the opponent with everything left in him. And, as the enemy sees it in his eyes, he begins to get afraid. The devil does not want us to get determined. When he hits us with another blow of fear, he wants us to give in to weariness and decide just to stop fighting. But, find that last ounce of strength and decide you are not going down. And go after the devil with everything you’ve got. Speak every word of prophecy you’ve ever received, every promise you’ve read in the Bible, and everything you know in your heart is true. Get so angry at him for trying to make you afraid that you run him down like the dog that he is.

So that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes. II Corinthians 2:11 (New Living Translation, NLT)

We know the enemy’s strategy. We don’t have to give in to fear. After all, Jesus has already won the battle over satan, which means we have too. Don’t stand for the lies and don’t fall for his tricks. When you don’t think you can stand against fear one more time, stand anyway. When you do, he’ll see that his plan failed, and he’ll flee.