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Peter wrote, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)


I’ve been reading the book of Job, and one note in my Bible says that the Hebrew root word for adversary means “accuser.” Satan likes to accuse us of things. In Job, he is accusing Job of being faithful to God only because God has blessed him so abundantly. “Take away all his blessings, and he will curse you!” Satan says.


Spoiler alert: I’ve peeked ahead at the ending, and Job remains faithful and never curses God, no matter what Satan does to him.


Satan’s favorite person to accuse is God. “God didn’t tell you the whole story,” he told Eve. “He didn’t want you to know that if you eat that fruit, you will become like him.” (I’m paraphrasing here.)


Satan’s best trick, though, is to get us to accuse ourselves. I’m thinking about how many times in my life I have said, “I’m stupid.” Or thought that I’m ugly, or a failure. God would never say any of these things to me or about me. The Bible tells me that God made me, and that everything he made is wonderful. Every book of the Bible tells me over and over again that God loves me. And  Zephaniah 3:17 tells me that he will take great delight in me and will rejoice over me with singing. Singing! Can you imagine God singing to you? Singing ABOUT you?


While I was married, I was often guilty of thinking about my husband, “If he really loved me, he would…” I am sure a lot of you can fill in that blank. Now when something bad happens in my life, Satan is quick to hiss in my ear, ‘If God really loved you, he wouldn’t let this happen.”


Joshua told the Israelites to choose whom they would serve — whom they would believe. (Joshua 24:15) Well, I know whom I believe. And I know that I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.

I recently heard a preacher talk about trying to stop the thoughts we don’t want to have. It isn’t enough to just get rid of a bad thought, he said. You have to replace it with something. So don’t focus on what you’re trying to get rid of. Instead, put all of your attention on the good thought you are replacing it with.


In other words, focus on what God has to say to you, not what Satan is whispering. “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things,” Paul advised. (Philippians 4:8)


“We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ,” Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:5. I’ve decided that when I have a negative thought, I’m going to imagine dragging it over to a little trash can, like I do with unwanted files on my computer. And in its place I’ll plant a flower — a positive thought from God’s Word. Because God is definitely the one I want to be listening to.