Meaning: “conveying a significance that is not directly expressed . . .”
In Blog #129, I said I would go into how to resist, refute and rebuke the Trickster. Chiefly, I promised to explain how, in a nutshell, we best come against the Enemy by holding our thoughts, our feelings and our will captive to the Lord Jesus. You see, Dear Reader, the Trickster uses our thoughts to get to our emotions, which disrupts our will. That simple. That direct.
So when we interrupt that process by calling on Jesus and His power by Holy Spirit to anchor our thoughts, feelings and will in His Peace, to anchor them in His reasoning and His perfect value system; He keeps the Enemy from interfering with, blinding and tormenting us. As we learn over time not to indulge specious thinking, as we learn not to let emotion, especially negative emotion like guilt, rule our lives, and as we learn to keep our will congruent with that of the Lord; we prosper, much to the chagrin of the Trickster.
There is quite a list of negative emotions the Trickster’s poisonous thoughts can elicit. For example, guilt and discouragement are “partners in crime,” so to speak, Gentle Reader. As is true on the subject of guilt is true on the subject of discouragement: Remembering that attack from the Trickster comes, so often, through the mind and is aimed at our emotions, it is easy to see how a stray thought such as “I’ll never be good enough” is meant to disturb our emotions, to stir up guilt and then discouragement and ultimately despair (Blog #128)! Thus, beware discouragement!
Other negative emotions capable of being provoked by stray thoughts and mixed messages are pride, recklessness, fear, anger, humiliation, rage, hatred, bitterness, revenge, hostility, anxiety, worry, obsession, gluttony, lusts, misery, etc. Such emotions are never appropriate. God wants us to reject such emotions. He wants us to seize the stray thoughts and mixed messages meant to launch them, to bind and banish them, replace them with His Word, and not snatch them back.
God wants one to be ruled by His peace, His reasoning, and His value system, to let these things control one's life (Philippians 4:8-9; Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, . . . noble, . . . just, . . . pure, . . . lovely, . . . of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”). He wants us to inwardly resist, refute and rebuke the enemy regularly in Christ’s name, as a way of life. It is one’s protection.
As mentioned in Blog #126, lies, half truths, doubts and discouragement regularly assail our thinking because the Enemy knows we do not naturally discern (though we must learn to) between our own thoughts and those he can slip in. Sly insinuations in the form of a stray thought, or thoughts provoked by mixed messages in ordinary conversation, media messages, visual provocations, irrational arguments, and so on and so on, can play havoc with orderly mental processes, usually stable emotions, and good will. If one remembers that the Trickster counts on half-truths, through the Name of Christ Jesus of Nazareth one can successfully reject guilt-trips springing from stray thoughts and mixed messages from any source.
To be continued . . .
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