Fighting the Enemy with Our Salvation

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.  18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. 

A helmet is a pretty important part of any soldiers armor.  Protecting our heads, metaphorically, means protecting our minds -- our thoughts, which govern our feelings, our thoughts that can keep us awake at night and have us churning with anxiety, our thoughts that help us figure out life.  So the last thing we want is for the enemy to attack our minds.

And yet he does.  Every day.  Slow and subtle he creeps in and eventually we find that he has settled in.  Negativity, hopelessness, despondency, judgmental and critical thoughts of others, thoughts of revenge or harm.  The list of his potential detractors from a hope filled life are endless.  And he enters through our mind.

Paul tells us that the one thing that can protect us from the enemy's invasion of our thoughts is salvation.  It is God's ultimate win.   Sending His son to die for us, once and for all and then rising from the dead defeated the enemy forever.

Remembering our salvation and reminding the enemy that God has already been victorious has the power to transform our thinking.   Today you might find yourself going to a dark place in your mind.  If you do just remember your salvation -- and that God is undefeated.  It is in this hope that we can transform our minds and conquer negative thinking.