September 28
WINNING THE BATTLE
Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ
Here's a wonderful example of what can happen to a Christian when the strongholds of the mind are overthrown by God's truth.
Jeannie is a beautiful and talented woman in her mid-twenties. As an active Christian for 13 years, she sings in a professional singing group, writes music, leads worship at her church, and oversees a discipleship group.
Jeannie recently attended one of my conferences. As I saw her smiling at me from her seat at the conference, what I didn't know was that she was bulimic, having been in bondage to the strongholds of food and fear for 11 years. When she was home alone she would be captivated by Satan's lies about food, her appearance, and her self-worth for hours at a time. She had submitted to counseling without success. All the while she believed that the thoughts prompting her to induce vomiting were her own based on a traumatic experience from her childhood.
When I was talking during the conference about destroying strongholds, I happened to be looking at Jeannie--quite unintentionally--when I said, "Every person I know with an eating disorder has been the victim of a stronghold based on the lies of Satan."
"You have no idea how that statement impacted my life," she told me the next morning. "I have been battling myself all these years, and I suddenly understood that my enemy was not me but Satan. That was the most profound truth I have ever heard. It was like I had been blind for 11 years and could suddenly see. I cried all the way home. When the old thoughts came back last night, I simply rejected them for the truth. For the first night in years I was able to go to sleep without vomiting. The truth has set me free."
If you think Jeannie's experience of finding freedom in Christ is unique, you're wrong. Winning the battle for the mind is possible for everyone who is in Christ.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ today. I choose to think upon that which is true.
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