The access and power the devil has over us depends not on him, but on us.  Indeed, the ‘sway of the wicked one is over the whole world’ 1 John 5:19, meaning, those who are not of the Kingdom of God, through Christ are under the sway of the wicked one and he has power over you.  You are fair game according to the rulers and principalities of this world because you are under their jurisdiction.  Though God, extends grace to us, even while we walk in darkness, shielding us from untold schemes of the enemy we are still captive to Satan through our sin.  When we surrender our life to Jesus Christ and commit to walk with Him in His Spirit by faith – the power of the devil, no longer remains over us.  The power of the Satanic Kingdom does continue however to have dominion in us after we have received the Holy Spirit – IF we continue in unbelief and sin.  There are laws that God has put in place, physical laws, moral laws, and spiritual laws and when we violate them, there are consequences that will ensue.  You put your hand in a burning flame, the law of this is that you will be burned.  If you walk out in sub-zero weather unclothed – you will freeze.  When we continue to walk in sin as a believer – the judgment of that (unconfessed) sin will remain on us as we continue to walk in darkness, not in the light.  We are cleansed by the blood of Christ, as we walk in the light, and are blameless before the Lord. Alternatively, when we willfully continue to walk in darkness, we are in dangerous territory.  There is confusion among us regarding sin.  Some believe that when they become saved they don’t have to worry about sin (past, present, and future) because it has been dealt with at the cross.  So, in this kind of thinking, they continue to sin – because they walk in the grace and forgiveness of Christ now.  Wrong!  1 John 1:5-10  reveals to us how we are to see and treat sin.  If we say we have no sin, that needs to be confessed and dealt with, John says we are liars.  He says that AS we walk in the light of truth (that is God’s Word), and as the Lord exposes to us – sin, wrong attitudes and mindsets, bad habits etc. we are to confess this to the Lord as sin, and when we do, the blood of Christ cleanses us. A sin confessed, is no longer practiced.  This is also part of the sanctification process and how we grow in Christ.  John says, we will sin, and when we do, we have an advocate who will wash us, but he also states that to continue in darkness, to willfully sin – we are lying. This is where Satan, takes advantage of wrong teaching and ignorance and why we have so many believers in Christ who struggle needlessly.   A great majority of sickly saints have one foot in the kingdom of Satan and one foot in the kingdom of God because of this great folly regarding sin. The unfavorable outcome is spoken by  Paul when he says, ‘what you sow into the flesh, you will reap corruption’ Gal 6:8.

It boils down to committing our minds to the Lord and no longer being double-minded.  We are encouraged many times in scripture to have ‘one mind’, the ‘same mind’ or the ‘mind of Christ’ and it is not a suggestion – it is the only way we will be able to receive the fullness of Christ and what He provides for us.  He says ‘My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid’ John 14:27.  His peace is of the Spirit and is rooted in eternity and His peace will guard our hearts and minds as we read in Phil 4:6,7; Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Sadly, there are many whose minds are falling apart – among the Christian community, and who look to doctors and pharmaceuticals to ‘deliver’ them from what afflicts them, rather than the Lord and is unbelief.

The early church experienced many things that would give them cause to have mental health issues.  Many no longer were allowed to continue as they previously lived, in the comfort of their homes and jobs due to the faith they refused to denounce.  Some were stripped from their families and thrown in prison, even worse, were fed to the lions as the day’s entertainment for the Coliseum.  Dying as a martyr was a consequence of standing firm in their faith.

What is the difference between then and today?  Where we can’t cope with life’s dealings, and depend on drugs and doctors so much?  I believe it is faith then, that was not an option.  It was not only a belief but it was a power that gave them what they needed to endure the trials that assailed them.

Jer 17, tells us that when we put our trust in men, and their ways of dealing with things, we actually put ourselves under a curse.  A curse that will not let us see what is true, even becoming delusional.  We will not find stability – because the problem is putting our trust in men and not God.  Conversely, he says that when we put our trust in the Lord and seek Him for our needs, He will care for us and give us stability and blessing to keep us firmly planted in reality.

Thus says the Lord:

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
And makes flesh his strength,
Whose heart departs from the Lord.
For he shall be like a shrub in the desert,
And shall not see when good comes,
But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,
In a salt land which is not inhabited.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
And whose hope is the Lord.
 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

“The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
 I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings. Jer 17:5-10

Our minds are where the battle lies and worth the fight. And who we put our faith in – will determine victory.  Along with this is keeping sin in its proper place in our lives – under the blood – and being vigilant to walk in the light of the Lord’s truth, not men’s.