Overcoming Bad Habits and Addictions — Part 22
Jesus is very wise. He knows that if we even allow our thoughts to focus on cravings from our old habits of our old lives, we’ve already lost the battle. The way He said it was that when that happens, when we allow the focus of our thoughts to linger on those old desires, we’ve already done the act. It happens in the thoughts first. And if we allow it to happen in our thoughts, our bodies will soon follow.
“You have heard the commandment that says, ‘You must not commit adultery.’ But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”—Matthew 5:27-28 (NLT)
Remember King David, who in one unguarded moment caught sight of Bathsheba bathing and, instead of immediately realizing what was happening and rejecting the lustful thoughts, continued to gaze and indulge his imagination, committing adultery with her in his thoughts. When he made the choice to indulge his imagination, rather than to turn away, the battle was lost. Because David lost this battle with his thoughts, his body soon followed and he took action to fulfill those desires. Because these lustful thoughts were not taken captive and rejected, many people were hurt and much damage was done.
Jesus wisely taught us that the battle is not with our actions. The battle is in our thoughts. If we win the battle there, then the battle to control our actions will have already been won.
To do this, we need to adopt a new lifestyle habit of taking every thought captive, and not just allowing thoughts to enter into our minds unchallenged. This is an essential key to living a victorious life in complete freedom from any temptations to engage in harmful behaviors. This discipline is described by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5:
“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.** **We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (ESV).
How Wrong Thoughts Cause People to Fall
We must be decisive and merciless in dealing with lies that try to work their way into our thoughts and beliefs. At the very first realization that thoughts have come into our minds that contradict the truth of God’s Word, we must address them firmly, reject them, and not allow them to remain in our thoughts.
Eve failed to do this, and it led to her fall.
When the devil planted lies in the thoughts of Eve, her guard was down. She did not recognize the danger of the lie. Instead of recognizing the lie for what it was and rejecting it, she allowed it into her thoughts, and then accepted it as truth. At that moment, the truth of God was replaced with a lie. Once the lie was accepted and believed, it led to her fall.
The Truth: “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”—Genesis 2:16-17 (NKJV).
How Temptation Happens
(Genesis 3:1-7 NKJV)
1. God’s Truth is Questioned
The devil sets us up to believe his lies by first trying to get us to question God’s truth:
“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
“And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
2. Lies Come Into Our Thoughts
If we take the bait and begin to question God’s truth, then the devil presents his lies. When we experience this, it will seem like the lie is coming from our own thoughts and feelings, but it is actually coming from the voices of devils that are *foreign *to us. These lies are coming into our thoughts from that *outside *source.
In this way, the voices of devils try to make you doubt your own new nature that is free from all bad habits and their cravings.
These lies will deny the consequences of sin. This is necessary in order to make sin look attractive. If the truth about the consequences of sin were clearly seen, people would be more inclined to avoid sinful behavior.
“Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die.’”
This lie is spoken to us in a variety of ways. For example:
“Just one time won’t hurt.”
“Other people do a lot worse than this.”
“It’s not really wrong. Look at how good it makes you feel.”
3. Lies Focus on “Benefits” of Sinful Behavior
To reinforce the lie, the devil tells us that what God said would happen will not happen at all. Instead, the devil presents false promises to lead us to believe that this sin will actually benefit us and bring good things into our lives.
“For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
As Jamie Lash points out, the voices of devils try to get us to question God’s character. They try to make us believe that God doesn’t really have our best interests in mind, and that there is something good for us apart from God.
**4. The Lies are Accepted and Believed **
If we allow the lie to stay in our thoughts—allowing ourselves to ponder it—then we will eventually accept it and reject God’s truth, choosing to believe the lie instead.
“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.”
**5. Regret **
Later, after paying a high price, we realize that God’s Word was true all along.
“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.”
How to Defeat Temptation by Taking Every Thought Captive
Jesus gave us the model for what to do and how to react when we are tempted.
By the way, Jesus faced these temptations when he was at a weak point. He was fasting for 40 days at the time of His temptations.
Be aware that your toughest temptations my come at the worst possible moments for you — when you are experiencing weakness, hunger, loneliness, exhaustion, pain, grieving a loss … .
I once heard Charles Stanley recommend the useful acronym HALT. He warned us to watch out when we get Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired, because that is when we are most vulnerable to temptations of wrong thoughts. Devils like to attack at times of weakness when we are most vulnerable. They don’t play fair.
“Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!”—Matthew 26:41 (NLT)
“Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin!”—Hebrews 4:15 (CEV)
Jesus was tempted at a time of weakness in His life, but He was never caught off-guard. That is one of the main reasons that He was victorious over every temptation. No matter how exhausted or weak He was, even when He was dying on the cross, He never let His guard down. He always stayed alert to what was happening.
Always on His guard, Jesus showed us how to respond effectively when devils lie to us.
(Matthew 4:3-11 NKJV)
**1. God’s Truth was Questioned. **
The devil first tried to get Jesus to question what God said about Him:
“Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’”
The devil questioned God’s truth in order to urge Jesus to satisfy His needs in a wrong way.
2. Lying Thoughts are Recognized and Rejected. Truth is Reaffirmed.
Jesus did not even consider this wrong idea. Jesus immediately recognized the deception, rejected it, and immediately quoted God’s truth that contradicted what Satan had suggested.
“But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”
This temptation might have worked if Jesus was focused on satisfying his own needs, as many Christians are, but Jesus was focused on something higher. He did not live to satisfy His own needs. He lived to do the will of His Father.
“Then Jesus explained: ‘My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.’”—John 4:34 (NLT)
**3. God’s Truth was Questioned. **
The devil tried again to get Jesus to question what God had said about Him. This time Satan even quoted Scripture to try to make it seem more legitimate. Remember, when you experience this,* the devil’s voice will seem like your own thoughts!*
“Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”
Again, devil questioned God’s truth in order to urge Jesus to do things in the wrong way.
**4. Lying Thoughts are Recognized and Rejected. Truth is Reaffirmed. **
Again, Jesus did not even consider for a moment this wrong idea. Rejecting this wrong thought, Jesus immediately reaffirmed the truth of God that contradicted what Satan had suggested.
“Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’”
This temptation might have worked if Jesus was willing to act presumptuously and use questionable methods in order to achieve His goals, as many Christians are, but Jesus was committed to doing God’s will in God’s way. He only did those things that He saw His Father doing.
“Jesus told the people: I tell you for certain that the Son cannot do anything on his own. He can do only what he sees the Father doing, and he does exactly what he sees the Father do.”—John 5:19 (CEV)
**5. Lies Focus on “Benefits” of Sinful Behavior **
Having no success with his first two approaches, Satan tries to cause Jesus to focus on short-term “benefits” of sinful behavior.
“Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
Once again, the devil is urging Jesus to do things in the wrong way.
This temptation might have worked if Jesus was focused on short-term pleasures and goals of enriching Himself in this life, as many Christians are. Instead, His focus was on the far greater eternal rewards.
“And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth”—Philippians 2:8-10 (ESV)
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.”—Hebrews 12:1-2 (NLT)
**6. Lying Thoughts are Recognized and Rejected. Truth is Reaffirmed. **
When Satan persists, Jesus tells him to go away, demonstrating the truth of James 4:7:
“So submit to [the authority of] God. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you.” (AMP)
Again, rejecting the wrong ideas, Jesus immediately reaffirmed God’s truth that contradicted what Satan had suggested.
“Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”
“Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.”
Later, when Satan could make no progress speaking directly to Jesus, he spoke to Peter. Peter, *being caught off-guard, *accepted the lies and relayed the message to Jesus. Again, Jesus, who was *not *caught off-guard, immediately recognized the source of these wrong thoughts and rejected them immediately and firmly.
“From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”—Matthew 16:21-23 (NKJV)
Anytime we have thoughts that contradict the truth of God’s Word, we must not entertain them, even for a moment. We must immediately and firmly reject them. We must not allow any compromise, even for an instant. We must instead hold fast to the truth of God’s word and quote it, concentrating our focus on God’s truth until only God’s truth fills our thoughts.
Extinguishing Every Flaming Dart
When his daughter was little, Jamie Lash trained her to take every thought captive by playing a game with her. Jamie would look for opportunities to try to catch his daughter off guard. Then using his finger to symbolize a fiery dart of the enemy, he would point to her and slowly move his finger closer to her little stomach. As he did this, he would speak lies to her in the same way that the devil lies to all of us in our thoughts.
“You know, God doesn’t really love you,” Jamie would say.
His daughter, Jenna, would immediately recognize this ridiculous statement as a lie. That was her cue to know that the battle was on! Quickly, Jenna would raise her arm to protect herself with her invisible shield of faith that was powerful enough to quench every fiery dart of the enemy. (See Ephesians 6:6.)
At the same time, Jenna would respond by speaking truth based on Scripture that would prove that what her daddy had just spoken to her was a lie.
“Nothing can separate me from the love of God. Ever!” she might say. (See Romans 8:39.)
The fiery dart of her daddy’s finger would be blocked by her invisible shield of faith so that the fiery dart would not be able to touch her.
Continuing the game, Jamie might come at her from a different angle. As his finger (the fiery dart of the enemy) moved slowly toward his daughter, Jamie would speak another lie.
“Jesus has abandoned you. He has left you. He is not with you anymore.”
Again, recognizing this ridiculous statement as the lie that it is, Jenna would quickly raise her arm on which was strapped her invisible shield of faith to block the fiery dart that her enemy (her daddy) was hurling at her.
“That’s not true!” she might say. “Jesus will never leave me or abandon me!” (See Hebrews 13:5.)
In this way, Jamie trained his daughter to be alert to recognize any thought that entered her head which was contrary to the truth. Jenna learned early in her life to take every thought captive and to reject any thought that did not agree with the truth of Scripture.
It would be good for all of us to practice daily, taking every thought captive, rejecting lies, and responding to them with God’s truth!
“God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”—James 1:12 (NLT)
