Creflo Dollar - How to Defeat the Devil In Your Mind - Part 2
I want you to realize something. Do you realize that marketing today is built on the power of suggestion? Follow me now. All you have to do is look at Genesis chapter 3, how the Bible talked about how Satan was subtle, let's do that, Genesis chapter 3, verse 1, I wanna show you something now, this is what you've got to get ahold of because this is really messing a lot of Christians up. He not gonna tell you exactly what to do, because you're a free moral agent, you gotta make that decision for yourself, but he's certainly going to make a lot of suggestions.
The Bible says, "The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, 'Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?'" He didn't come out and directly accuse God of saying that he didn't do that, he just said, "Did he really say it? Did he, did he? I'm just making a suggestion, I'm just making an observation, did he really say it"? "'Of course, we may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden,' the woman replied. 'It's only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. And God said, "You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die".' And Satan said, 'You won't die!' the serpent replied to the woman. 'God knows,'" "'God knows.'"
Now watch this, watch this, watch this marketing now. "'God knows that your eyes will be open as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.' And the woman was convinced". She just fell pray to a marketing scheme, Satan didn't compel Eve to eat, he just suggested the benefits if she ate. How many benefits is Satan suggesting in your life? He didn't necessarily tell you to commit adultery, he just said, "Boy, you're a real man if you can handle two or three women, I ain't saying do nothing, you know what I'm saying, I'm just saying".
1 Peter chapter 5, verse 8, in the NLT, 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 8, in the NLT, and I want to get real practical on this one. He says, "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil". He says that's your great enemy. "He prowls around like a roaring lion," look at this, "Looking for someone to devour". Now, if he's looking for someone to devour, that means that he can't just devour anybody. Say out loud, "I am not devourable, Satan can't devour me". You better get your butt out of here, you gotta go look somewhere else, not here, not here, devil, not here, not today. He's looking for someone to devour, and I declare over your life you don't qualify for him to devour. But it says, "Stay alert! Watch out, your great enemy, the devil. He prowls, prowls around like a roaring lion," he's not a roaring lion, but he's trying to act like one, "Looking for someone to devour".
Now, just in case you don't think this is talking about you, you know how church folks are, "Yeah, I hear what you're saying, praise the Lord, I know that scripture. Oh yes, hallelujah," let me bring it down on a practical level. What are some of the things Satan suggests to us about God? And see if you've heard any of these suggestions.
"You can't trust God, God doesn't mean what he says, God isn't absolutely righteous, I mean, you know he turned tables over. You know, I would do so. If Jesus turned some tables over, I'm finna go ahead and turn this thing out, because Jesus turned some tables over. God doesn't mind if you sin a little every now and then, he know you are human, I'm not telling you to sin, I'm just saying. God can't or God won't help you. God can't help you, you gotta help yourself, God helps those," what a demonic slogan that's nowhere in the Bible, "God helps those who help themselves," a suggestion from the devil somehow got in the pulpit.
"God isn't concerned about you, he doesn't love you. Well, it seems like, all the stuff you're going through, God has abandoned you". And while these are lies, most of the time Satan does not call God an outright liar, he'll only point you to circumstances so you can come up with the idea on your own, because you're a free moral agent, his job is, "How can I lead you so you can ultimately come up with the idea"? Satan also suggests things about ourselves, suggestions like, "You're strong enough now to handle this temptation on your own, I mean, you ain't did nothing in six months, so you're strong enough now".
You're laughing because you remember. "It's obvious that a lie here would be more beneficial than to tell the truth. You can compromise a little bit here, you'll get closer to the line without going over, just don't go over the line, just go right on up there, step on it a little bit, but God knows what a weak-willed person you are, he'll understand if you fall into this, he know". You know how we used to say, I'm not even gonna say that, that's how ridiculous it is.
"You can get away with this one small sin because others have gotten away with it much worse. Besides, God understands and he'll forgive you. Your way is better than God's way, you will be happier if you do things your way rather than God's way, you'll be safer if you do things your way instead of God's way. You will have the right to hold a grudge, you have a right to hold a grudge, you have a right to hold a grudge and you have a right to revenge, God knows, God knows you're human".
He trying to lead you down that path, now, you got to eventually make the idea. He not gonna tell you to do that, now, because you're a free moral agent and at the end of the whole thing he want to be able to say, "No, I just made a suggestion, I didn't tell them to do that, I just made a suggestion". "You can love the things of the world and still be a Christian, you can love the things of the world and still be a Christian". And don't forget, Satan also suggests things about other people. "That person intentionally did you wrong, they don't like you, they've been talking about you for the last six months, you didn't even know it".
Right up here, every attack from your enemy is gonna be in your head, every one. There's not one attack from the devil can be anywhere else but in your head, in your mind is the arena where this fight takes place, in your head, in your mind is where it all begins. And one of the best ways to maintain deception in your life is by having an opinion. Now follow me carefully, now. "Well, let me light this sage," I think that's what they call it, is it? "Let me light this sage so I can change the energy". "Well, honey, you don't need to do that". "Well, that's not my opinion, I don't think nothing wrong with it, because it came from the earth and there's nothing wrong with it".
See, your opinion is protecting your deception, because the problem with that is if you want the energy change, choose Jesus. Listen, don't assign a value to the sage that's greater than the value you give Jesus, because when you value the sage and the crystal more than you value Jesus, then the sage and the crystal is your new idol. It has now gone from tenth place to now first place, because you're not even considering Jesus, your eyes are not on Jesus, you're not focused on Jesus, you're focused on the sage and, in your opinion, ain't nothing wrong with it. And it ain't changing the energy, it's just changing the atmosphere.
And what's really happening is, when the sage is lit and the crystal is activated, all you're doing is is applauding Satan, and Satan said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, getcha, attaboy, keep your eyes off Jesus. There you go, don't pay no attention to Jesus. All right, knock him out of first place, put the sage up there, at least you can see the smoke. God do stuff, you can't see nothing". And it is amazing how we come up with what we call truth, that doesn't appear in the Word of God, and we assign a greater value to Satan's suggestion. And you'll look up one day and you have given him an open door for him to come and sit in your life. And now, instead of just your mind being there, you got two or three other minds there.
And now you are double-minded, you are psychotic, you are bipolar, you don't even know how to think right because it started with a suggestion of using something else and assigning it a greater value than Jesus. And right now, there are some people that are saying, "I don't agree with that". Let me give you the definition of an opinion. An opinion is "a view or a judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge". You're just talking, an opinion is not based on fact, an opinion is not based on knowledge, an opinion is, most of the time, let me tell you the truth, based on some suggestion that the devil done gave you in your head, and you stated your opinion, which he loves because it could be based on deception.
Your opinion could be based on deception, opinion that's not based on truth must be based on deception. See, in the Bible, when he said in Deuteronomy, "Choose life or death, choose blessing or cursing," he didn't say, "State your opinion". Now, continue to add that on top of more opinions that are not based in knowledge, not based in fact, continue to add that, and let the years go by and continue to add that. And before you know it, you are so convinced about a suggestion, now that deception in you causes you to be in self-deception. And I can tell because when I tell you the truth, that devil starts acting up. He ain't all the way in there, but it's enough to get you feeling some kind of way.
Now you don't like me, now you don't like God, now you don't want to see Jesus, now you don't want to go to church, and the devil's almost there, he's almost moved completely in your house. And guess what? You opened the window and the door, and you let him in, because a sage and a crystal is supposed to have more power than the Jesus that died and went to hell for you, and got up on the third day and seated on the right hand of God the Father Almighty. Normally, I wouldn't even say nothing about this, but it's the devil using this kind of stuff. You know the internet has some sites to show you how to give your life to him. We're not paying attention. "Well, you know, this is the time, this is just how people do things".
You ain't doing nothing different than what it did before, it's the same marketing principle he used with Baal and them that he using with us today. Or take a real innocent thing, like "God helps those who helps themselves," that's deception, that's just as bad, why? Because that's designed for you to put the dependence on yourself and not on God. The fact of the matter is, God helps those who need help. One of the best ways to maintain deception in your life is by having an opinion, and it's something we all gotta deal with. "Well, you know, I want my child to grow up with an opinion". Okay, girl, okay. He gonna grow up one day and he gonna think, "Mom, you need to go to hell, and I'm going to tell you you need to go to hell, that's my opinion".
No, what you need to do is allow your child, now, I'm not talking about allowing your child to grow up, to know how to think and how to process things, but your child needs to grow up knowing those things that lead to death and those things that lead to life. And that's not open to opinion, Jesus has already stated that truth. Yeah, I might go viral today. "You don't mess with my sage". I ain't trying to mess with your sage, you can do whatever you want to, you know why? Because you are a free moral agent, and you can make a decision to accept the benefits of the suggestions that's coming from the devil or you can make a decision to stick with the promises of God and get to know Jesus, because he gonna be the only way out.
This world is about gone, they believe in stuff, I don't even know where it came from, I do, it came from the devil. And so you wanna make it facetious, "Uh-huh, the devil, right," because you don't believe in the devil, and he is making progress in your life. At the very moment you say you don't believe it, he's making progress in your life. And then, one of these days, when all hell done come against you, and you can't seem to handle it because there's no truth that you've been meditating on, then everything just goes nuts.
And your emotions, now, begin to step in front, and they start guiding your life and leading you. And now your emotions are gonna move you in a direction that's gonna cause you to do something that you would have not normally done had you been in truth. Your mama took you to church, you went to Sunday school, she did the best she could, but that was hogwash, and you opened yourself to the marketing plan of the devil. "How can I use advertising to get you in self-deception"? And once it's deception by self, then, "Hey, I ain't do nothing, all I did was say," and now you're sitting on the window talking about, "I feel I'm gonna jump out".
That ain't even you, you're trying to figure out how is this in your head, how is this in your head, how is jumping out of a window in your head, how is it you're in New York, and you're beautiful, beautiful, successful young lady, and you jump out the window, and before you jump out, you say, "Life is overrated". That's the devil. That actually happened. That's the devil, and you walk around because he's convinced you. He say, "I know you hear what I'm saying, but remember, I'm not real, I'm not real, I'm not real, so when the church folks talk about me, just laugh at them, they're telling another fable," when he's the one telling fables. This is how he works.
Your life would be so fulfilling if you could just recognize truth from the suggestions of the enemy, and learn how to cast them down. "What that Bible got to do with it"? It is your safeguard against deception. Okay, now, so what's happened is that the preachers, through their inferiority, went into ministry and started trying to preach the Bible that they don't understand, and they preach the law, where you're trying to do your best to get God to do something for you.
What is the devil doing? "I'm doing my best to get God to do something to me". And so, when it's not done, because it's already done, you're mad at God and say, "It don't work," and now you're an open situation for the devil to come in to deceive because you're mad at God, because, "I did that, I fasted, I prayed, I went to church for 30 days in a row, I did this, I did that, I did that, I did that, I was good, and God ain't been good to me, I was sweating but God didn't pay me back. You know, I gave this, I gave that, nothing happened, I'm through with God".
And the whole time, what you got was a fable, and you didn't get the truth, because grace is the truth that makes men free, grace is the truth that makes men free. Now, when you don't understand grace, you're not empowered to change. If you will read the life and testimony of any apostle of grace that has ever been on the planet, the attack was humongous, because the enemy cannot afford to allow this message of the gospel to get too far.
So then our generation came, and Taffi and I got ahold of it, and we're teaching it like our hair is on fire, and Satan says, "I am going to kill Creflo Dollar," back to back to back, and I'm trying to figure out what's going on. "God, are you mad at me? God, this," and I had to get it together. "Wait a minute, God's not punishing me, God's not mad at me. Wait a minute," I had to get that truth together. If that truth had been missing out of my life, he might have been successful, but you cannot be successful when you know you serve a God who has already healed you, already delivered you, already made you free.