Paul encouraged his readers to stand no matter what. Ephesians 6:13 says, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

Consider that the evil day is the day we are bombarded with “what if’s” or assailed with doubts. We stand firm as we stand in God’s truth. Have you ever questioned God’s love for you? If so, that suggestion was a fiery dart.

When it comes, we have powerful weapons. Let verses of truth fill your mind. Let them assail against the evil thought. 1 John 4:8 plainly says, “…God is love.” It is His nature. It is Who He is at all times. His love will never be taken from us. Read Romans 8:38-39 again. Memorize it so that it is a ready shield against lying fiery darts.

Fiery darts are designed to assail and destroy our faith. We must have anchor Scriptures at the ready to quench each one. We stand because He stood in our place as He died on the cross.

I woke up thinking about sandwiched truths. Ephesians 1:4 says that He chose us before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before Him. Philippians 1:6 says, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun good work in your will complete it…”

Isaiah 54:17 says that no weapon formed against us will prosper. Psalm 31:20 says, “You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the plots of men.” Psalm 37:23-24. Our steps are ordered by the Lord, “Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand.”

We go from the beginning to the end. Jude verse 24 says, “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.”

Dialoguing with “what if’s” followed by all these possible ways how something might go wrong is a dead end trap. When doubts assail, run to the secret place and hide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1.

2 Corinthians 10:4 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.” Note that in Jeremiah after the destruction is the rebuilding. We rebuild by implanting His word. James 1:21.

Jeremiah 6:16 says, “…Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it: then you will find rest for your souls…” David’s prayer. Psalm 25:4 says, “Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths.”

God’s path is righteousness. Psalm, 23:3. His way is perfect. Psalm 18:30. We take the lie that we have believed, confess it as sin and ask forgiveness. Then we renounce it which means to disown it. 

We then take God’s truth. We implant it where the stronghold was through memorization. That hides it in our heart. His hidden word breaks up the fallow ground and sterilizes the weed seeds. 

Hosea 10:13 says, “…you have reaped iniquity. You have eaten the fruit of lies, because you trusted in your own way.” Independence entraps.

Psalm 119:11 says, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” Do you realize that the fiery darts we allow to penetrate are against God? When we hide God’s word in our heart, then our heart becomes a reservoir of His truth.

When we are walking in the Spirit, then the Holy Spirit recalls His hidden truth. It rises like a sentinel when a fiery dart comes. It is His word that quenches and negates the lie. It is His word that whacks the lie to pieces and renders it nontoxic. 

All thoughts against ourselves, others, or our circumstances are toxic. Matthew 15:19 calls them evil. It says, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts…” The evil thoughts are seeded fiery darts that continually seep into our thought processes. 

The seeded fiery darts accumulate and erect inner strongholds. The lobbed fiery dart is outside battle, but a seeded one is an inner battle. Jeremiah 1:10 is God’s way: root out, pull down, destroy, throw down. There is only one weapon to destroy those strongholds.

The battlefield becomes our mind when we accept and dialogue with a fiery dart. All fiery darts are an attack against our faith. Remember Isaiah 54:17. It says, “No weapon formed against us will prosper…” Think of a strategically forged spearhead, sharpened to penetrate a specific chink in a warrior’s armor.

What are the chinks in our spiritual armor? Areas of defeat that we have not conquered through God’s word. I love Isaiah 28:6. It says that He gives, “…strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.” Consider the gate as our mind. 

All words come from thoughts. It is good to adopt David’s prayer. Psalm 51:10 says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Matthew 15:18 says, “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.”

When we allow a fiery dart lie to penetrate, it gets seeded into our heart. Our heart is our belief center. That planted lie is designed to alter what we should believe about ourselves.

How do we bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ? Obedience is doing His will. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says that giving thanks is God’s will for us. We ‘capture’ the thought and render it powerless by making our next thought one of gratitude.

A thought comes against yourself, circumstances, or others ~ make your very next thought one of gratitude. Thank the Lord for one truth in His word. For instance your thought is “I’m a burden” and you say, “Thank You Lord for choosing me before the foundation of the world.”

Disobedience to His will is to accept “I’m a burden” and dialogue with it. Dialoguing ends up stringing one negative thought with another until it is a continuous loop that pulls you down physically, emotionally, and spiritually. 

Hebrews 5:14 says, “…who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” Admittedly it takes practice to learn to preempt and negate destructive thoughts through gratitude. However the more you do it, it will become the stepping stones along His path of righteousness in your progressive sanctification.

In the evening I was reading Psalm 140. The Holy Spirit stopped me at verse 7. It says, “O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, You have covered my head in the day of battle.” That morning I had a mentee explain what had overwhelmed her.

These were her thoughts. “You are in the way” “You are burden” “You don’t belong” “You are lazy” , then turns into “I want to disappear” “I don’t want to be here anymore” “I am a failure”. Do you see the downward spiral? Notice how they went from you to I.

Her next words will help you to see what they were doing physically. “It feels like someone wrapping their hand around your throat slowly taking all your oxygen. At first you can still think and you plead to God to help and takeover, then you lose your step. Then silence and empty.”

Until I explained that they were all fiery darts, she had believed they were her thoughts. Fiery darts are lies! 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, “…bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.”

Years ago I memorized 2 Corinthians 9:8. Then made it my verse for the year. I quoted it often. Note that all is used three times. It says, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”

God is able, but we have to remember how grace comes. James 4:6 says, “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Verse 10 says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

Grace is a gift. The path of obedience is strewn with His grace. Humility describes a person who is devoid of all arrogance and self-exultation. A humble person willingly submits to the Lord. 

1 Peter 5:5 says to be clothed with humility. Ephesians 5:17 says, “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” Verse 21 gives us that wisdom. It says, “Submitting to one another in the fear of God.”

Romans 5:1-2 says, “…through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Paul was given the ministry of grace..

Ephesians 3:8 says, “…this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.” In Romans 11:33 he wrote, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!…”

Paul declared to his readers that the grace we were saved by, is the same grace that we are to live by. The writer of the book Hebrews said that we can approach the throne of grace with boldness. Hebrews 4:16 says, “…that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

That was not the case with the kings in the Old Testament. We get a great picture of this with Esther when Mordecai told her to go to the king. Her reply was that unless the king held out his scepter, there was one law—death. Esther 4:11.

David’s example for us: He and his men had been walking for three days. I imagine that they were very weary. Their high expectations of getting home and being with their family, helped them to plod along step by step.

As they arrived at Ziklag, they discovered that it had been burned and their wives and children were gone. 1 Samuel 30:4 says, “Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep.”

Verse 6 says, “Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him…But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” After that he asked the Lord what to do.

Are you weary? Let Jesus’ words beckon you to still your heart and sit in His Presence. Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.”

Releasing

Everything

Simply

Trusting

God’s template: Hebrews 4:10 says, “For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.”