Agreement or Rebuke | Overcoming Spiritual Attacks | Psalms 23

In this episode, Belinda and Jennifer explore how Satan subtly infiltrates our thoughts and relationships, often disguising himself as a friend. They share insights on recognizing spiritual attacks, the importance of faith, and how to combat the enemy using scripture, prayer, and awareness.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 1:26

You don't hear it's like it's like squeak, squeak, squeak.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

Hey, how's it Ajahn? How are you? I'm good, Linda. How are you? I'm good. Are you enjoying your so far? Yes. Good. Happy Holy Week.

SPEAKER_02 1:40

Yes, ma'am. Happy Holy Week to you too. And good Friday. Yes, ma'am. Gonna take a day off. Yeah. Yes. Yep. Let's pray in the Heavenly Father, we just come to you today on this special day. Lord, we just thank you for sending your son to die on the cross for us. This is a very special time, and we just, there's no way we could repay you for what you've done. Lord, we just love you and we we thank you for the ability to do this podcast and pray that we reach people. Lord, I just thank you for the relationship that Belinda and I have and her suggesting that we even do this podcast and be closer to each other and be closer to you and bring others closer to you. Lord, it's in your mighty name we pray that we love you. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

Amen. Okay, so we read the chapter called Mind If I Sit Down. And it was a really short chapter. Yes, it was. What did you think?

SPEAKER_02 2:55

But good chapter. Yeah, it was. So what did you good little nuggets? Um, so you know, Louis Giglio talked about how Satan only needs like a tiny little crack to just get his foot in the door. So anytime we doubt, anytime we have uncertainty, those are giving him the the little entrance that he needs to get in and make us start doubting all of the promises that God has for us and doubting our relationships, doubting people, doubting ourselves. And um, so it really kind of made me start thinking and focusing on my personal weaknesses because we know that Satan doesn't, he he basically studies us and learns us and what are our weaknesses, and he doesn't learn new things, he just keeps doing the same old thing. Right. And so I really kind of started focusing on, you know, what are my weaknesses? Where am I letting him in? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. How long am I letting him stay there before I realize that duh, this is him again.

SPEAKER_01 3:59

Right. Yeah. I learned that he doesn't only just attack us with personal attacks, but that he sometimes shows up like as a friend. Okay. So we talked in the last two episodes about those entries of thoughts. So those personal attacks where in the moment he's telling you you're unlovable, you're not worthy, you know, you're you're always screwing up, like nobody wants to be around you or whatever, right? Like whatever your uh intrusive thought is, whatever your lie is. Um, but in this chapter, he talked about how the enemy sometimes shows up as a friend. And I think that's a trap that I can fall into, and I'm sure other people fall into as well. Um, and it can look a couple of different ways. So that can either be him bringing up a past issue that you had with someone that you either thought you had moved past from, um, he can bring that back up. So it can be it could sound something like, Hey, you remember that that one time with that one person when this happened, and kind of see if he can get that door open where you're like, Oh yeah, yeah, I remember that. And he kind of feeds you these offenses of like, well, you know, that was really rude of them, and they shouldn't have, you know, spoken to you that way, or you know, you're always helping them, and then you kind of add to that offense and say things like, Well, yeah, like I don't even think we ever resolved that issue, or I haven't really talked to them since then, and they must still be mad at me, and why are they mad at me, or whatever it is, right? Like we can either come into agreement with what it is that he is saying to us and then provide our own offenses. Um, and then he can get us like in this emotional state where maybe, you know, five minutes ago you were just fine and you were happy and things were going great, and then all of a sudden that, you know, he brings that thought back or brings that issue back, and now you're upset because now you've replayed that whole thing in your head. And so now you're upset, and he's like, Okay, now I got her, got her where I want her. So now I'm gonna just personally attack her, and now I'm gonna use her faith against her, and I'm gonna say, Well, gosh, aren't you supposed to be a Christian? Like, I thought you guys were supposed to be loving and forgiving, and look at you, you're still holding this grudge against this person, and then you know, then he's like, Okay, we'll see you later, you know, and off he goes, and you're just left here with like, okay, well, I was happy and then I was mad, and now I feel shame and guilt. And now I'm just like in a whole mess of emotions, and that's kind of what he does, you know, he just kind of brings in that chaos, and so like I said, you can either come to agreement or you can rebuke it, right? And you can say, Hey, you don't have any authority over my emotions and over my thoughts, and you don't get to come in here and create chaos, and you know, in the name of Jesus, I rebuke you and you have to go, or whatever it is that you need to say, right? And so I really liked that because I I do feel like I get caught in that trap sometimes of like, hey, remember when this happened? And I'm like, yeah, you know what? I do remember. And that made me really mad, or that really hurt my feelings. And then I just and then I'm like thinking about it for the rest of the day. And there he goes, he has stolen my my joy and he's stolen my time and he's stolen my peace. And and I just let him energy and energy, and I just let him do it.

SPEAKER_02 7:23

Well, like you said, he doesn't always come in as this evil, scary looking monster. He comes in as a friend, like, hey, you deserve to be treated better. Hey, you're a good person. They shouldn't have done you this way. Hey, maybe you should have said this, or you know, he's on your side, and you come in agreement with those thoughts. And if you're anything like me, sometimes you stay there for a long time. Like, oh, I should have said this and I should have done that, and would you know, I should have stood up for myself and I should have set a boundary and I should, you know, shoulda, coulda, woulda, and replayed the scenario 5,000 times in my head. Yeah, and then I'm angry, and yeah, you know, I've created a fence, and then you get to start this whole process of I think you know, the struggle is recognizing it. How quickly can you recognize that that's yes, that you've let that happen? Yes, yes, I agree. I agree. Some things, you know, some like I said, I've been kind of trying to focus on my weaknesses and some things I can I can nope, and I catch it right then and I shut it down.

SPEAKER_01 8:34

And some I can just they can stay there for weeks. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Yeah, that is something that I am trying to be more aware of is and sometimes it's like I feel like those thoughts happen at the most random times where it's just like, I don't know, or sometimes it can happen with even like if somebody came up comes up to you and they're like, hey, I know you had that issue with so and so a couple of weeks ago. Like, how's that going? If you can recognize it in that moment and listen to the Holy Spirit where it where the Holy Spirit's saying, Hey, you've got to let that go. Like, don't get into a discussion about it. And you can just simply say, like, everything's fine. You know, I saw them last week, we're good. And and in the conversation there, yeah, shut it down. Or you can say, you know what, I don't know, I haven't really seen them in a couple of days. I'm not real sure. And then the person just keeps kind of egging it on, like, oh well, I mean, I still can't believe that happened. And right, because sometimes people do that because that's just gossiping and no, we we just kind of want to stir up trouble or whatever for whatever reason. But sometimes you feel good when you know all the everybody's details of everything. Yes, yeah. And so learning to just kind of recognize that and shut it down. So whether it's that thought, taking that thought captive, or if you're dealing with a person, knowing like, okay, I'm gonna shut it down here. And there could even be times when the person is meaning well and just wanting to check in and say, Are you doing okay with that? Because I know that was really hard. And um I just want to make sure, you know, it could be genuine and and there is no ill intention behind it, but sometimes it could be bad. So you just never know. But listening to the Holy Spirit and being like, Okay, guide me through this, like what can I say and what should I not say? So we definitely depend on that guidance from Holy Spirit. Yes, he will never steer you wrong. I know there's been many times whenever you know, I tend to can overshare sometimes, and there's been moments when he's like, Stop talking. Stop talking. I'm like, okay, you know, or like you don't need to go any further. Like, just let's end this here. And I'm like, okay, and that's and and I get confirmation from that because then something, you know, those moments like when you're gonna put your foot in your mouth, and something kind of keeps you from doing that, where you're like, and then you don't, and then you realize, like, thank goodness I didn't, because I just got confirmation that if I would have said that, that really would have been a bad, bad situation for me.

SPEAKER_02 11:09

So yeah, he protects us when we just say attention.

unknown 11:13

Yes, he does.

SPEAKER_02 11:15

Yes, he does. That we just like we've come to accept the enemy as normal. You know, he talked about anxiety and our value and about how if we care what other people think, or how we just want to be stuck in our lust or in our pleasure, that we just we think, well, you know, we live in a fallen world. This is what's gonna happen. God promises that there's gonna be trials, and we just kind of accept that that's that's normal instead of going, no, I'm not gonna live like this. And it just reminded me how important it is to put on our armor of God every day. Put on that armor before you even get started, before the enemy even has an attempt to, he even has the opportunity to attempt to attack you. And I am guilty of not putting on that armor every morning like I should. Same. And it just, it just amazed me, you know, how he said we accept it. Because how often is the term anxiety thrown around these days? So anxiety or I'll have depression, and it's they have a whole song about it. God never intended us to live with that, to live like that. And we need to, you know, remember our identity in Christ, you know. I'm a child of God and I am created in his image, and I know God does not have anxiety or depression. Right. So therefore, we are not supposed to accept it and live with it either. So, you know, just remember, I am chosen, I am loved, I am a child of God. Play those over and over in your mind instead of the have this, I have that, this is wrong. Nobody loves me. Right. And I know it can be weird or different if you're if it's something you're not used to doing. But it can be very freeing. I agree. Very lifting.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Yes, yeah. Kind, you know, just going back to that speaking words of life into yourself and and just not coming into agreement with all those negative things and yes.

SPEAKER_02 13:20

And you know, something also that needs to happen is to repent of believing those lies. Yeah, yeah. We have to repent of that of that sin to believe believing Satan over believing God. Um so that that can that path can be cleared out, yeah. So that we can believe the promises of God. Yes, I agree. So I think we have, well, I know, I know that we have an amazing God that loves us very much. I mean, he sent his son to die on the cross for us, regardless of our sinful nature. And man, if we would just live like yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_01 13:57

If we could just see ourselves the way that God sees us. Yes, that's so hard to do. It is like I'm curious how he looks at us and what does he think of us? Because you know it's nothing but just pure love and adoration, you know. He he loves us so much, but that's so hard to comprehend.

SPEAKER_02 14:16

It is that is especially sorry, go ahead.

SPEAKER_01 14:19

We're just so flawed, and and there's just so much sin that it's like, how could he possibly love me? And he does, he really does, he really does.

SPEAKER_02 14:32

Yeah, someday, someday we're really gonna feel the extent of it, and it's going to be such an amazing day. Gosh, it's gonna be an amazing just in you know, our eternity. Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

I just cannot wait for that day. Wait for that day when, you know, we get to just sit at the table with with Jesus, and you know, we get to see like all of what God intended our world to be and what creation was supposed to be, and just to sit in our purpose and sit in love and get to worship and uh be in peace and harmony. Like I can't wait for that. It sounds amazing, it sounds too good to be true.

SPEAKER_02 15:13

I know it does, it really does. Yeah, it is kind of going back to you know, some of my weaknesses, and I don't know if I'm sure other people do deal with comparison and having to, you know, kind of monitor how long you actually stay on social media. And if you know that watching certain TV shows aren't good for you because that opens doors to lust or anything like that, you know, you you just have to realize where your weaknesses are and try to steer away from them. Yeah, absolutely. So that I kind of had a little note on that. Resist the devil, like it says in James 4. Yeah. So we have to be watchful, we have to pay attention, stop being complacent in our in our walk with God. Yes, I agree. All right, well, anything else? That's pretty much all I have. Okay. Do you have fun plans for Easter? I know we tried to you tried to mention that before we started. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 16:16

No, we are so we're we're going to church, and then um we're gonna have Easter dinner, and then we are gonna do oh goes my microphone again. Um, and then we're gonna do, you know, the boys are older, so 21 and 16, but we're gonna do a family Easter egg hunt. Fine. And we're gonna fill our little plastic eggs, some of them with scripture, some of them with candy, and yeah. And just do that because that's not something that, you know, we haven't done that in forever because the boys are they're too big.

SPEAKER_02 16:47

But at the moment, they get to a point where they're like, we're too cool for that.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

Yeah, we're too cool for that. And so I told them I was like, hey, we're doing an Easter egg, and they're like, Okay. I was like, okay, like well, let's do it. So we'll do that around we just do that here around the house and make it fun, you know. I don't have any family here, so it's like we're just spending Easter together. So it'll be nice.

SPEAKER_00 17:12

You have your family. I have my little family, yes. Well, we have no plans, I'm not sure what we're doing yet.

SPEAKER_02 17:19

Yes. All right. So I've gotten really bad. I used to be really good at planning a way ahead, and these last few years I've just completely dropped the ball and I'm like, oh wait, tomorrow's Easter. I guess I guess we should get something going.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

I hope that you guys have a good Easter, whatever you do. The weather's supposed to be nice. Good. So it's not gonna be a hundred degrees. Won't be a hundred. So that's what I'm saying. Thank you. I cannot believe this weather either. I'm like, I know. Feels like summer, which is fine. I mean, until it actually gets to summer and then it gets, you know, it's gonna be like a hundred and fifty.

SPEAKER_02 17:58

I know that's what scares me. If it's already hit a hundred, it was like the second day of spring was a hundred. Mm-hmm. Yep. Oh goodness. Yep. I'm kind of scared to see what our summer holds. I just pray we get moisture and so these fires can stop. Me too. I hope we get lots of rain.

SPEAKER_01 18:18

All right. Well, thanks everybody for listening. Yes. And we hope you all have a good Easter.

SPEAKER_02 18:26

Yes. All right. We'll see y'all soon.

SPEAKER_01 18:29

All right, bye.

SPEAKER_02 18:30

Bye.