What to do when the enemy keeps trying to remind you of your past?

andreha said:

Hey bro

^^^That there - it's been the story of my life, up until a decade ago or so. All those negative thoughts/anything reminding you of the past in a negative way comes from down under. The only solution, is to verbally ask the Holy Spirit to protect your mind from this noise. Verbally declare your submission, from your heart, to Him, His love, guidance and power. Keep on doing that. Every day. Until the noise fades into nothing. That is the one thing that worked for me, and I know it will work for you. Just ask Him directly, verbally, from the heart.

Edit:
Here's a testimony on just that. Were it not for submission to the Spirit, I would have lost my job.

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aiki said:

To see what you'll do with the thoughts. This is how Satan works. God's allowing the devil to test you. To what end?

1). To show you where you're really at with God.
2.) To teach you how to do battle spiritually.



2 Corinthians 10:4-5
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

How do you "take captive every thought to obey Christ"?

1.) By humbly submitting yourself - your desires, your feelings, your thoughts, your conduct - to God all throughout every day. (Romans 12:1; Romans 6:13-22; James 4:7, 10; 1 Peter 5:6, etc.) When God is in control of you, He will fill you with Himself and transform you, in the process freeing you from all bondage to the World, the Flesh and the devil.

2.) Love God with all of your being. This is the First and Great Commandment from which obedience to all of God's other commands is to arise. (Matthew 22:35-38) Love - a deep longing, a deep heart's desire - for God is the only motivation powerful enough to overcome our natural, sinful selfishness (to which Satan always appeals) and lead us into rich, joyful, holy fellowship with God. And it is this wonderful fellowship with God that is supposed to be the fundamental safeguard we have against the tempting wiles of the devil. Loving God deeply, we reject anything that would negatively affect our precious fellowship with Him.

This is how God has made us to work: We follow our desires. Consequently, if God is the object of our greatest desire (as He should be), we follow after Him - even when it may cost us severely to do so, even when it means we must put aside friendships, distracting entertainments or hobbies, illicit sexual gratification, that unnecessary extra piece of cake or pizza, or suffer the unjust assassination of our reputation for His sake, and so on. The Love Motive is so vital to Christian living that the apostle Paul went so far as to say that no matter what we say, or know, or do, if it doesn't all come from a motive of love for God, first of all, and then for those He loves, it is all useless. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)

3.) By "piercing" the devil's lying thoughts and feelings with the Truth of God's word (Hebrews 4:12). Use the "sword of the Spirit which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:17) to expose false, devilish thoughts and feelings and then reject them, standing by faith upon God's truth, anchoring yourself to it.

4.) By focusing yourself upon the things of God. We are always in some measure conformed to our focus: The more a thing occupies your focus, the more it gains influencing power over you. So, "look unto Jesus" (Hebrews 12:2-3), "behold the glory of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18), think on what is "true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of a good report" (Philippians 4:8) and you will find that as you do, by the Spirit, you are conformed to your focus and become more like Christ rather than succumbing to the lying thoughts and feelings the devil places in your mind.

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