” The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” John 10:10

The thief of our joy. The thief of our love. The thief of our peace. The enemy of our souls seek to rob us, to kill us and to destroy us. And if we are not careful, we can find ourselves making the job easy for him. Like leaving a purse or iPad visibly in a vehicle, we can make ourselves targets for his thievery.

And a few times already this week he was nearly successful in ensnaring me. Boy, did he try it. At every turn, it was seeming like I couldn’t catch a break. He was relentless is his pursuit to devour me. I am standing right on the precipice of my kingdom NEXT. I can feel it stirring deep within. Do you know that feeling? The feeling so strong you can literally feel it on your physical person? God is up to something MAJOR! And the enemy is agitated. So he’s stirring strife with my children, planting false evidence, and even literally blindsiding me with objects. BUT GOD! I am determined all the more to KEEP PRESSING!

Here are three ways I’ve seen and experienced the enemy’s tactics. He’s being put on blast so you won’t be caught unaware. Then the next time he comes with some of this tomfoolery, you’ll see it a mile away and you’ll be able to defeat him as he is already a defeated foe. That work was completed on the cross so let’s walk it out. But this is what he tries to do.

DISCOURAGEMENT

Have you lost your enthusiasm, belief, and fervor in something you used to be passionate about? Have you tried at something and tried again with no success so you resigned that you were no good at it and you threw in the towel? Have you made a big mistake and felt like a failure? That was me yesterday. I made a big mistake and a costly one at that. And for a good part of the day I was so discouraged. I began to talk craziness to myself saying, “Why even bother? See you can’t even get this one small detail right. Just forget it! Everything you’ve worked for, just let it go.” One mistake and I was nearly ready to give up everything. That’s how discouraged I was. Then my kind teenage son said to me, “Mommy you got this!”, to which I nearly came undone because in that moment I didn’t feel I had “that” situation or anything else for that matter.

And this is exactly his MO, to get you to look confidence; to lose confidence in yourself and confidence in the God you serve. He wants you to become so disheartened that you lose hope. My friends, be reminded, God is THE GOD of HOPE! The God of hope will FILL you with all joy and peace as you trust Him (Romans 15:13) and He will renew your strength (Isaiah 40:31).

So how do you keep from being discouraged?

• Speak the Word of Truth over your situation
• Thank the Lord for all that He has taught you, shown you, and for the never-ending loved He has lavished on you
• Celebrate your wins! Yes you may have had a stumble, but you can get back up again to keep pressing toward the mark

DISSUASION

He starts whispering lies and half truths in your ear in an attempt to persuade you that God isn’t who He says He is and won’t do what He says He will do. Just like he did in the garden with Eve, deception slides off his tongue. He will try his best to scare you off, to convince you otherwise, to advise against and to get you to question what’s actually true.

How do you keep from being dissuaded?

• Encourage yourself in the Lord
• Have prayer partners and accountability partners who remind you of the truth and promises God has already declared over you
• When the deception comes slithering in, be armed by meditating on the word of God. Take the lies captive and replace them with truth. Continually abide in God by communing with Him all day, every day

DISTRACTION

God desires to be the focal point of our attention and affections. He urges us to seek the kingdom first. Let us keep our eyes, our hearts and our minds focused on Him. “Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.” Proverbs 4:25

But it is oh so easy to get distracted. Every second of the day things are clamoring for our attention. I told you that the enemy was trying me this week right? Just the other day I was heading to shoot the final photo for my upcoming book, 30 Days 30 Ways to Salad Heaven. (For some salad inspo while you wait for the new book, check this post HERE) If you’ve been around for any length of time, you know honoring the temple is near and dear to my heart. So I stayed up late prepping some of the food and rose extra early to head out. And on the way out the door, an item caught my eye that literally changed the trajectory of my entire morning. That one, insignificant item caused a whole ripple of friction with the children. I had to call my husband who was on his way to work. The whole scenario was just a MESS! By the time I headed out the door to go to the shoot, I was completely out of sorts. I was emotionally distraught, agitated and outright distracted. “Holy Spirit intervene! Help me God”, was my cry.

To be distracted is to have become DIS-TRACKED, off track and off the course God intends you to be on. Check out this video HERE as Minister Kevin Winters dives deep into the concept of being dis-tracked. This teaching was a real eye opener.

How do you keep from being distracted?

• STAY FOCUSED – be tethered to God’s word, not looking to the left or the right but eyes focused on the Father, observing to do all He has commanded (Joshua 1:8)
• Guard your ear and eye gates. Be very mindful of the type of information, words, and images you allow to enter your person
• Recognize the little things for what they are and don’t sweat the small stuff. Ask yourself will this matter in a day, in a month, in a year? If it’s insignificant, just chill as my 15 year old would tell me

The devil uses these D’s, discouragement, dissuasion and distraction to get our focus off the kingdom. He tries doubt, depression, deception and a whole host of other D words to try to break us. But my God knows a thing or two about D’s also. He is the God of deliverance, decisiveness, dexterity, diligence, defense, detail, distinction, and dunamis (power). With His Spirit empowering you, the Father loving you and Jesus’ blood covering you, you are duly equipped to conquer the D’s of the devil.

As always, it is my prayer that you’ve been Inspired To Live Fully!