The devil would rather that his own counsel be enforced in the earth realm than have God's counsel established instead.
Our struggle with sin is basically a manifestation of the war going on between the forces of good and evil in the spirit realm where the human mind is the battle ground and consequently the medium of expression in the earth realm.
Spirit beings cannot operate on the earth without a human body and as such there is constant contention for the body of man. Your body is the divine license you have to function on earth. Without it, you cannot operate.
And so Apostle Paul says, if you want to live a victorious life and dominion over sin, you will need to take full possession and control of your mind. "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind i myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin".
What he is saying here is this, every time your focus is the flesh you serve the law of sin. When your mind is preoccupied with carnal things you become a salve to sin: you become helpless so much that even when you desire to do good, as long as you focus on the flesh, sin dominates and overpowers you.
How then do you engage your mind to serve the law of God for victory over sin then? By casting down evil imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.
Occupy your mind with the knowledge of the Word of God and through obedience to God and his word, and bring every contrary imagination into the captivity. 2 Cor 10:3-6.
So the believer who struggles with sin, who is still being held down by the stronghold of sin is carnal in his mind. It means he feeds his mind with carnal things and so long as he continues like that, his mind will gradually become too weak.
When such a person looks at a woman all he is probably thinking in his head is how to have sex with her. When he sees money all he is probably thinking is how to corner some of it into his pocket even if it means to tell a lie or to steal either by pen or by a gun.
When he sees something with someone else all he is thinking is how to make it his own (covetousness).
His mind is preoccupied with the works of the flesh. A person whose mind is filled with all these things will fall cheap to the adversary's enticement.
The devil's access into any life is through the person's greatest area of weakness. If you have a problem with the opposite sex, that becomes the devil's target. if you have a problem handling money, that becomes his target. If you have a problem with sloth (laziness), that becomes his target. The list goes on for fear, pride, anger e.t.c.
You don't have to be careful, you must have your mind full of the word of God which is the word of his grace that is able to build you up and give you an inheritance amongst the sanctified.
A mind full of God's word is all you need to live a victorious life over sin, when the mind is filled with the Word of God there will be no room for evil desires and plans; there will be no room for the devil to carry out his agenda. .....Excerpts from Terminating the Cycle of Slavery.. Bola Odutola
"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth ; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shall have good success."
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