by Joyce Meyer
When Satan talked to Jesus, Jesus talked back to him, and we need to do the same. Jesus used God’s Word and answered Satan’s temptations with Scripture. Satan doesn’t give up easily. Verses 9–11 say: “And he took Jesus to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,” and “On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone”’” (ESV). You will notice that Satan knows Scripture, and he will even try to use it in improper ways to draw us into disobedience. But since Jesus knew the truth He answered Satan, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test’” (Luke 4:12 ESV). The story concludes with these words: “And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13 ESV).
We can learn so much about doing warfare God’s way by studying this section of Scripture. Jesus fought the devil with the Word of God. He talked back to the devil, and we can and should do likewise. Jeremiah prophesied, “Let him who has my word speak my word faithfully” (Jer. 23:28 ESV). When Satan lies to you, do you recognize his lies and talk back to him? If not, you need to begin to do so. When thoughts you don’t want come into your head, the best way to get rid of them is to speak aloud something you do want to think about.
Remember, one piece of our armor is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Paul said the Word of God is sharp like a sword (see Heb. 4:12), but it does us no good unless we use it, and we do that by studying, meditating on, and speaking God’s Word. God’s Word contains truth to defeat every lie of Satan, and if we know that truth we can use it against him. The purpose of studying God’s Word is to meditate on it and let it renew our minds, teach us to think properly, and enable us to recognize the lies of the enemy. It is also so we can speak the Word and wage spiritual warfare with it.
Notice that two of the temptations Satan launched against Jesus concerned His identity as the Son of God. I believe identity is also an area about which Satan lies to us. He accuses us, hoping to make us feel worthless and guilty. He tries to make us feel insignificant and unloved, and he wants us to believe that God is not pleased with us. This is why I try so hard to teach people who they are in Christ and that God loves them unconditionally. It is so important for them to know they are gifted, valuable, and part of God’s plan. It is vital for them to know He adores them and will never leave or forsake them.
For many Christians, the thought of talking back to the devil, or speaking out loud against the lies of the devil, may seem foolish, but we can see that Jesus did it. If He did it, we should do it, too.
However, there is a time for everything (see Eccles. 3:1). There is a time to talk and a time to be quiet. We need to know not only when to talk and what to say, but when to say nothing at all. The power of life and death is in the tongue (see Prov. 18:21).
People who are emotionally distraught are usually tempted to talk about how they feel, and that can be dangerous. If we cannot say something positive during trials, we should choose to just be quiet. Jesus once told His disciples He would not be speaking with them much more because the evil ruler of the world was coming. He stated that the devil had no claim on Him, meaning that there was nothing in Him that belonged to the powers of darkness (see John 14:30). Evidently He was determined not to say anything that could give Satan an open door, so He intentionally stayed quiet.
A similar Scripture, a prophecy about Jesus, is Isaiah 53:7: “He was oppressed, [yet when] He was afflicted, He was submissive and opened not His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth” (AMPC).
We are often tempted to say things that should not be said, and I recommend that we pray about this regularly. Jesus said, “Pray that you may not fall into temptation” (Luke 22:46). I rarely miss a day without asking God to put a guard over my mouth so I don’t sin with my tongue (see Ps. 141:3). No one can tame the tongue without help from God. James said it is a restless evil full of deadly poison (see James 3:8). Wow! I think that sounds serious enough to warrant regular prayer, don’t you?
As I leave the subject of doing warfare with words, let me quote one of the Bible’s most powerful Scriptures about the words we speak.
Let no foul or polluting language, nor evil word nor unwholesome or worthless talk [ever] come out of your mouth, but only such [speech] as is good and beneficial to the spiritual progress of others, as is fitting to the need and the occasion, that it may be a blessing and give grace (God’s favor) to those who hear it.
Ephesians 4:29 AMPC
Strategy #7: Love
Learning that walking in love is spiritual warfare was very exciting to me, and it has benefited my life in many ways. As we study the Bible, although it teaches us many things, there are a few subjects we might say stand out as things we don’t want to miss or take lightly. The subject of love is one of them.
When asked what was the greatest and most important commandment, Jesus said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matt. 22:37–39).
In 1 Corinthians 13:2–3, Paul teaches that no matter what we do or how much faith we have—even if we give away everything we have and sacrifice our lives—if we don’t have love we gain nothing. He also teaches that faith works by and is energized by love (see Gal. 5:6). So no matter how much we try to exercise our faith, if we are not walking in love, our faith is powerless. Paul also wrote to Timothy, a young minister, that the aim of his calling and charge from God was love that comes “from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Tim. 1:5). These Scriptures all make essentially the same point: Love is the greatest, most important thing in the world.
God loves us, and it is His love that sent Jesus to save us. It is His love that heals us, and it is His love flowing through us to others that should be our goal. Satan tempts us with things that are the opposite of love because when we walk in genuine love, it provides a strong defense against him. For example, if you are angry with someone, and you choose to forgive that person and cover the offense with love right now, you would be waging spiritual warfare.
Everyone on the planet is searching for love. We want to be loved! Love has the power to accomplish many wonderful things. It heals broken hearts, gives hope to the hopeless, helps provide for the poor and needy, and edifies and encourages the discouraged and depressed. Loving people makes them feel valuable.
Love is not merely a word or a topic for a Sunday morning sermon; it is a power that can be seen and felt. Love takes action, and it has to flow in order to stay alive. We are never happier than when we are showing love to others. Most of us make the mistake of thinking happiness comes by getting everything we want, but that makes us selfish and miserable. Although it sounds like it couldn’t work, the truth is that doing things for others and giving to others is the source of true joy.
We recently met a financial need for a friend of ours, and although my flesh didn’t particularly want to let go of the money, I knew God wanted us to give it. By obeying God and showing love, we were doing spiritual warfare. Reaching out in love is like building walls of protection around oneself.
Strategy #8: Overcome Evil with Good
As I have mentioned several times in this book, Romans 12:21 says that we overcome evil with good; therefore, I say that we defeat the devil (wage spiritual warfare) by being good to and loving others. This is especially powerful when we are under attack from the enemy, going through circumstances that are difficult and painful. Instead of turning inward and thinking about how miserable we are and how unjustly we are being treated, we should purpose to pray about what we need God to help us with and then cast our care on Him and stay busy blessing others.
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Satan attacks he expects to make us miserable and self-centered, but if we respond to his attacks with acts of kindness and meeting the needs of others, he becomes confused and then defeated. If we tend to God’s business, which is loving people, then He will take care of ours. He will fight our battles and make sure we win.
Loving others, especially when we are hurting, is something we will never “feel” like doing, so we must do it on purpose. We must discipline ourselves to love, and although this type of discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, later on it yields good fruit (see Heb. 12:11).
The Danger of Anger
A large part of loving others involves letting go of anger when people hurt or disappoint us, and the way we do that is by forgiving them. We must be quick to forgive and always remember that God has forgiven us for far more than we will ever be required to forgive others.
Many Christians live angry lives and pay little attention to the Bible’s repeated teachings about the danger of anger and unforgiveness. Paul writes that we should not let our anger lead us into sin, nor should we let the sun go down on our anger. If we do, we give the devil an opportunity to work in our lives (see Eph. 4:26–27). God doesn’t expect us never to feel the emotion of anger, but He does expect us not to allow it to lead us into sin. We can feel wrong and still choose to do right.
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 2:10–11 that it is important to forgive in order to keep Satan from gaining an advantage over us and not to be ignorant of his schemes. Trying to keep us angry, bitter, resentful, and unforgiving is one of Satan’s most vicious strategies, and if we do not resist him in these areas, it will do untold damage to our lives.
Jesus teaches that if we do not forgive others when they trespass against us, God will not forgive our trespasses (see Matt. 6:15). I wonder how many people don’t understand why they can’t seem to feel close to the Lord or why their prayers are not answered, yet they harbor anger and refuse to forgive those who have wronged them.
I pray that you will take these thoughts seriously. There is no point in expecting God to fight our battles for us if we won’t obey Him by forgiving those who have hurt us.
Why Is It So Hard to Forgive?
Forgiving others can be very difficult unless we do it God’s way. He has told us to pray for our enemies and to bless, not curse, them. Luke even writes that we should be kind to them.
“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.”
Luke 6:27–28 ESV
We make the decision to obey God by doing what these Scriptures say to do. Then God will heal our wounded emotions and vindicate us. We can obey God’s Word if we don’t let our feelings rule over us. It may not seem fair, but God is a God of justice, and He makes wrong things right if we do as He instructs. We don’t have to fight with people. God will fight our battles for us if we fight with love rather than hatred.
I strongly encourage you to decide right now that with God’s help, you will not waste another day of your life being angry. Start fighting with love and forgiveness, and you will easily defeat the devil.
CHAPTER 17
The Power of a Thankful Life
When he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the LORD and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, “Give thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
2 Chronicles 20:21 ESV
Remember that Jehoshaphat won his battle by following the Lord’s instructions. He was told that he would not need to fight in the battle he faced, and to hold his position and see the salvation of the Lord. He bowed before God, worshipped Him, and sent singers out to sing. It’s interesting that the singers were to sing something very specific: “Give thanks to the LORD, for his steadfast love endures forever” (2 Chron. 20:21 ESV). When they began to sing, the Lord defeated their enemies.
The power of praise and worship is amazing, as is the giving of thanks. We are to “be thankful and say so to Him” (Ps. 100:4 AMPC). Apparently voicing thankfulness is important. Try taking one whole day each week to thank God for things like clean water, a warm home in the winter, food to eat, friends and family to love, and thousands of other things we can easily take for granted unless we purpose to recognize and be thankful for them.
If we keep our minds and mouths full of thanksgiving, we will do a lot less complaining. We have all heard “Count your blessings,” but what if we actually did it? Counting our blessings, or thinking about them regularly, is one way to never start taking them for granted nor to develop an attitude of entitlement. How long has it been since you thanked God for clean water, or for living in a home with heat and air-conditioning? Millions of people around the world have none of those conveniences, and they find other things to thank God for. We all have much for which to be thankful, but it is possible to be so focused on what we don’t have or what we need that we fail to see what we do have, let alone be thankful for it.
Complaining Does Not Defeat the Devil
There is no complaint department in Heaven! God doesn’t answer complaints. He only answers prayers and petitions offered with thanksgiving (see Phil. 4:6). Why should God give us more of anything if we are unhappy with what we already have and complaining about it? It is not what we have or don’t have that makes us grumpy or thankful, it is our attitude. It is an issue of character. There are hundreds of Scriptures that use the word thanksgiving, some form of it, or words related to it (such as gratitude) in the Bible. Anything repeated so often in God’s Word must surely be important. I have a feeling that merely being more thankful and focusing on our blessings would change a lot of things in our lives for the better. It would also disable the enemy and deny him access to us.
I have to go to a wedding tonight. It is a long way away from my home, and I have found myself murmuring in my heart to the Lord about how far away it is and how late I will get home. But the good news is that I got invited! I have something to do tonight while multitudes of people will sit home alone, people who would be delighted to have the invitation I received. I am sure we can all think of many situations like this in our lives, but we can be thankful on purpose. Our joy increases dramatically if we simply change our perspective and look for the things for which we can be thankful rather than complain about the inconveniences and challenges we encounter.
Complaining does not defeat the devil, but it does open a door of opportunity for him to harass us. The Israelites spent forty years in the wilderness on a journey that should have taken eleven days (see Deut. 1:2). They wandered around and around the same mountains, doing the same things over and over again. The Promised Land was in front of them, but they could not get there without defeating the enemies that stood between them and the land God had promised them. Instead of asking God for direction and being obedient to Him, they did a lot of complaining.
In 1 Corinthians 10:1–10, Paul writes about the Israelites’ plight, encouraging us not to make the same mistakes they did. He urges us to let what happened to the Israelites be an example to us so we can avoid the same behavior.
He told them not to indulge in immorality as some of the Israelites did, after which twenty-three thousand of them fell dead in a single day. He said we are not to put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents (representing the devil), nor should we murmur as some of them did and were destroyed by the destroyer (see 1 Cor. 10: 8–10).
I strongly encourage you to read these verses again and take them seriously. Complaining opens a door for the devil to bring destruction into our lives, but other Scriptures clearly show that thankfulness keeps doors tightly closed when he tries to enter. Complaining adds to our misery while thankfulness releases joy.
Meister Eckhart said, “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” One man said that he once complained about having no shoes until he met a man who had no feet.
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p; I doubt that any of us can even imagine how powerful our lives would be if we lived daily with hearts filled with gratitude. But even if we have made mistakes in the past by complaining too much and not being thankful enough, we can have a new beginning and it can start today.
Are You Willing to Take Action?
Don’t ever complain about something you are not willing to do anything about. As an example, you might complain about not getting enough sleep, but you could arrange your life in such a way that you do sleep enough. God can’t give you more sleep if you won’t go to bed at the time that is right for you. Or perhaps you complain frequently about how busy you are, but you keep saying yes to more and more things when you should be cutting some commitments out of your schedule. Or maybe you complain about debt, but you have forgotten that you are the one who spent the money. Perhaps you complain about how bad you feel physically, but you keep eating junk food and never exercise. I once felt tired most of the time and I prayed diligently for God to give me more energy. Instead, He led me to start walking a few miles daily. I did it and started to feel better. Sometimes we look for a miracle when all we need is common sense. There are many things we ask God to do for us and we don’t get answers, because we are not doing what He has already shown us to do.
Be content with what you have while you’re on your way to getting what you want. Hopefully you have a vision or a dream for your life, and I urge you to enjoy the journey while waiting to see it fulfilled. Each phase or season of life is necessary and valuable, so let your journey be one of gratitude rather than murmuring, grumbling, and complaining. Complaining doesn’t speed up your progress, but it will slow it down.
