Ephesians 4:27, New International Version

“…do not give the devil a foothold.”

Dr. Charles Stanley, an American Southern Baptist pastor and writer, talked about how strongholds develop. He said, “They begin with a thought. One thought becomes a consideration. A consideration develops into an attitude, which leads them to action. Action repeated becomes a habit, and a habit establishes a ‘power base for the enemy,’ that is, a stronghold.”

Can we truly tell where every thought comes from? We entertain it in our mind, and then boom, we fantasize about it, and it starts consuming us. We often over-image the work of the enemy and God. We think of their work; their manifestation would be like a dramatic scene – the earthquake or the fire. The fact is this: God is in our stillness, and He whispers often. The devil is a thief and a robber, who sneak in. Whenever you are not paying attention or do not watch carefully, he comes in through even just a little rat hole or a crack in the floor.

Recently, my husband and I were blessed to return to my homeland to visit. A couple weeks before we left for the vacation, a young adult in the youth group showed me his new headphones, which were a color I really like. This led me to think of how much I have been bothered by my ear pressure when the plane lands. I also remembered the research I had done about what causes this pain and how it can affect the ear. The more I thought about this I began to consider earplugs which can help. Then from there I thought about a set of headphones which could also allow me to listen to movies at the same time. Wanting turned into needing. What’s next? I started to take action. I began more research – trying to compare costs of various headphones at online stores. This action became a habit. Suddenly, every advertisement on my social media page was all about headphones. Temptations were coming my way, and slowly a door for the enemy began to open, a stronghold was in development.

How sneaky does the enemy work? It started with a simple thought about headphones! A thought, a sense of fear, maybe even a desire for something or someone. But the Bible says, “…do not give the devil a foothold.” (Ephesians 4:27, NIV) What do I need to do then?

Thank you for the Word, “…I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it…  Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord…” (Romans 7:18-20, 24-25, NLT)

“…If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32, NIV)

This is the end of the story about the headphones: Thanks be to God for helping me to have the knowledge to know exactly what I needed so that I no longer was consumed by these thoughts. The truth set me free!