Think Again!

40 • Think Again: Transformation That Yields a Return on God’s Investment

So like a con artist he says, “Give me what you have and I’ll give you double the happiness. Give up your wife and kids through an affair; you’ll be happy. Give up your peace by worrying; life will be better. Give up your self-control through pornography; you’ll escape loneliness. Give up your relationships by joining a faction; you will feel vindicated.” In all these examples, you won’t get what was promised, and you will lose what little you already had. You end up with nothing. He wants to steal, kill, destroy, but by your own hand. He deceived Adam and Even to give up their blessings of their own accord. In the same way, he wants to dispossess you by abandoning your own fortune. Christ has acquired priceless treasures for us. We have possessions! But Satan wants to see that we are separated from God’s good gifts, causing us damage and regret in the process. The devil will use doubt, intimidation, temptation, division, harassment, confusion, and the element of surprise – anything that will be useful in a personalized scheme to harm ourselves. 18 He tailors the con depending on his mark, whether the person is a CEO, a prostitute, a pastor, a drug addict, or a suburban soccer mom. No one is exempt. Pillaging in the Brain The unseen pillaging by the adversary manifests itself in the physical world via our brains . A chaotic mind, filled with rogue thoughts of anxiety, worry, and fear sends a signal forming DNA in our brains. For example, those who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have experienced crushing events that altered their brain structure. During the trauma, the person reacted to the event in such a way that wired in toxic thoughts. As the