Protecting Against Enemy Attacks (2 Ways)

Several years ago, thieves smashed the windows of 8 cars in our church parking lot during the Sunday morning worship service.

It was devastating. When those members came out to their cars after the service was over, they discovered shattered glass on the ground and found valuable property stolen.

How could such a thing happen on church grounds – on God’s property?

But it happens all the time. I’m not talking about just the natural but in the supernatural.

Let me explain.

Are you doing all you can to protect yourself against enemy attacks? Learn 2 tips to help.

I’ve been meditating on John 10:10 lately in which Jesus called Satan a “thief:”

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (John 10:10).

In the natural, you would take safety precautions if you knew you lived among thieves, wouldn’t you?

At our church, we normally have security guards patrolling the parking lot during our Sunday services.

But we found out later that no one was on guard that particular Sunday. It turned out to be a costly oversight.

Consider your life. Has the enemy destroyed or stolen something from you?

I can think of several things he is robbing Christians of right now:

  • Health
  • Relationships/marriages
  • Children’s futures
  • Finances
  • Peace of mind
  • Joy

Are we doing everything we can to protect our territory which the Lord has given us?

The enemy loves to use our emotions against us.

Scripture gives us another warning about the protection issue:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8).

We cannot allow ourselves to get “drunk” off food (gluttony/bingeing) or anything else in the natural that keeps us bound.

Too often in the Christian community, we minimize eating issues.

So while we are mentally impaired, the enemy is robbing us blind!

Isn’t it time that we sober up and start standing guard over our territory? The Lord is ready to help.

The following are 2 ways you can start protecting yourself better when it comes to your health:

   1. Internal Protection

To me, this is the area where Christians fail to protect ourselves most. We allow the enemy to sow lying thoughts into our minds and let them grow.

I define a lying thought as any pattern of thinking that contradicts God’s word.

When we don’t take the time to find out what God’s word says and implement it, then all we have is what the devil says.

That is the default programming of this world.

Many Christians are walking with the enemy in their daily lives without even knowing it. And of course, the devil is happy that they keep him close so that he can keep on stealing!

A good question to ask yourself in your thought life is:

“Where are these thoughts taking me?”

Some thoughts lead you where you don’t want to go! The enemy can deceive you into making darkness your closest friend.

2 Corinthians 10:5 gives us this guidance:

…casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,”

Romans 12:2 also says that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. So this is the main work that you must do if you want to take back what the devil is stealing from you.

If you are in bondage to negative thinking and mental strongholds, then I urge you to check out the Take Back Your Temple program because I show you how to get free in this area, using Biblical wisdom.

2. External protection

Assess your environment to see what foods you keep close. Here’s a simple guideline:

Keep close those things that help you to do good; keep away those things that lead you into doing bad.

Here’s an example from many years ago:

A lady wrote me about her weakness for cookie binges. She told me that she had cookies in her cabinet right then and was tempted to eat them.

She wrote that she didn’t know why the Lord didn’t remove the temptation from her.

Here’s a question for you: Let’s say you had a known thief who lived in your neighborhood. Would you leave the door to your house wide open for him to come in and steal what he wanted?

Of course not.

Would you expect the Lord to come down from heaven and shut the door for you?

I hope not – otherwise you’d be waiting a long time! You see, the Lord gives us wisdom on what to do. Our responsibility is to do what the Lord says.

I am sure that the Lord told the lady she needed to get rid of the cookies because they were a snare to her.

But here’s an uncomfortable truth; sometimes people want to have an affair with the enemy while being married to Jesus!

They want to leave the door open just a crack so that the enemy can sneak in for what they think will be a short, midnight visit.

But the enemy does not work like that.

If we give him an inch of territory, he will eventually take it all!

In the lady’s case, she wanted to keep the cookies close so that she could still eat them when she wanted. She was making provision for binge eating in her environment.

I understand this issue well. I’ve written about how I love the taste of Pepperidge Farm coconut cake. I used to buy a cake with the intention of just eating one slice a day.

But it never happened. I would always eat up eating the whole cake in one sitting.

Eventually, I faced the fact that this cake was a weakness of mine. Even though it’s been over 13 years since I ate a whole cake by myself, I still don’t tempt myself by bringing cake into our house.

I no longer make provision for binges/gluttony.

I live by a principle in the martial arts: “The best way to win a fight is to avoid getting into one in the first place.”

It is wise to keep your food weakness far from you. – at home, work, whatever territory you occupy.

Good planning beats great intentions every time!

If you are not willing to do this, then you need to confront the fear behind it. Ask yourself:

“What do I fear will happen if I don’t keep my food weakness close to me?”

If you are not sure what specific internal and external protections you need to put in place, then seek the Lord in prayer about it. Ask Him for wisdom.

Seek Him with all your heart. Your heart is the “Holy of Holies” in your temple.

The Lord is your best defense because He is committed to seeing you finish well. He wants you to walk in freedom in Him, not in bondage to anything.

God will do His part in securing your protection.

Will you do yours?

Kimberly Taylor

Author of the Take Back Your Temple program

P.S. Are you struggling with the challenges of emotional eating? Many people with eating issues know what to do but have a hard time doing it. That is where you need a community that supports each other!

In the Take Back Your Temple program, you will get all the support you need to overcome the Spiritual and emotional battles of weight loss, connected in our Overcomers community.

Click here to confirm the Take Back Your Temple program is right for you.

About the author 

Kimberly Taylor

Kimberly Taylor is a certified Christian life coach and has a heart to help others struggling with emotional eating and weight loss. Once 240 pounds and a size 22, she can testify of God’s goodness and healing power to overcome. She lost 85 pounds as a result of implementing techniques to overcome emotional eating and binge eating disorder.

Kim is the author of "The Take Back Your Temple Program," which teaches Christians how to take control of their weight God's way and the books "The Weight Loss Scriptures" and "The Weight Loss Prayers."

Kim has been featured in Prevention Magazine, Charisma Magazine and on CBN’s 'The 700 Club' television program.

  • This is a tough one but oh so full of truth. Wanting to be married to Jesus but leaving an opportunity to have an affair with the very thing that is a weakness and that will indeed ensnare us back to bondage.
    Dear Lord, please help me at all times to be SOBER and VIGILANT and trust in YOU only Lord Jesus. Please help me by ensuring I know the truth so that I may be free. Amen.

  • On your point about arranging your space to be as helpful as possible to success. I was reminded of a video I watched from a fellow adhd sufferer. She reorganized her fridge in way that made sense to her not just for health reasons but because she was wasting money on food. She put her condiments in the vegetable drawers because according to her “that’s where food goes to die”. With adhd its an put of site out of mind issue. She now preps her produce and puts it in highly visible and easy to grab areas. It works for her. She didn’t let what everyone else normally does affect her choice to make her kitchen work for her.

    • That is a great example, Ruth! As I often say, our health habits are meant to serve US, not us serve them 🙂

  • Thanks again Kim, Once again you have stepped on my toes of truth, It’s a good thing I know JESUS has healed me, Back in the day (almost 2 month’s on the 5th of Sept) when I even walked through my favorite drug store I could hear the MM”s calling my name and I finally got to the place I would walk and so “NO” or shut-up Satan” and keep it moving because if I got I small pack I would have to get 2 next time or the share size and yet I had no one I wanted to share with….Thanks Darling your wisdom comes straight from the throne of God and experience…..God Bless…..MsSpicy

    • I appreciate your confirmation, MsSpicy! Keep walking in the truth because that is the path of freedom in Jesus name!

  • Hello Sister,

    I am encouraged that I can reach my goal of 130 pounds which is my highschool weight. I have been speaking to the mountain of obesity and then I found your eBook.I feel like I have support on this journey.

    Thanks Robin. Walton
    Author of Ruthie: The Road from Bitterness to Blessing
    amazon.com/author/robinwalton

  • Thank you, dear Kimberly! I had been peeling off some weight but the last several weeks have been vacation, house guests, church gatherings, and other activities where (delicious) meals have been involved. Now I’m having trouble fitting back into my skinny jeans. I’m taking your words of wisdom to heart rather than allowing myself to be depressed and let the devil get a foothold.

  • I agree, “Where are these thoughts taking me? ” is a great question to stop and ask myself. Sometimes I don’t realize where they’re taking me until I’m in a place of negativity surrounding me.. A place I can’t afford to be! This was enlightening.

    • True Dee! Remember, the Lord is about restoration not condemnation. While you can’t do anything about the past, you can move forward into a better future with His help!

  • I like the part abt the martial arts rule the best way to win a fight is not being in one the first place God bless u just as Nehemiah was repairing the walls of Jerusalem the enemy tried to distract him but Nehemiah just ignored them like they wasnt even there I learned a stragedy..iron really do sharpen iron

  • Kim,
    Words cannot even express how much I enjoy your God insights!!!!
    Thank you for allowing God to use you to help me and all of us!!!
    You are truly a gift!
    I went to a funeral today for a woman that had stage 4 lung cancer. She smoked heavily. I wonder how many times she was warned not to do it. I drink Diet Coke heavily. My family and doctor have told me to stop. I wonder how many times must I be warned. With your post of trash on a plate and God not being able to use me and satan trying to tempt me, I have felt very convicted.
    I have felt defeated most of my life. I have said for a long time…Knowledge is power but implementation is key. So, why do I not implement what I know? (I even bought The Deserve a Doughnut book.) 🙂 Would you please pray for me? I don’t want another day to go by where I feel convicted and then go back to the Diet Coke and feel guilty. It is an addiction, I think.
    Thank you so much!!!! God bless you, Kim!!!!!
    Love, ‘
    Debbie

    • Hi Marion – thanks for writing! The Lord is ready to help you with making better choices as well because he is about restoration, not condemnation. So you can move forward with better choices, with His help.

  • OMGoodness Kimberly…this blessed me so much!!! The enemy is certainly crafty but our God has prepared and equipped us so throughly through His wisdom and knowledge. I am so gratedul for the reminder of these truths from His word…to be vigilant, to bring wayward thoughts into captivity, and to continually renew my thinking to align w/ the word of God. God bless you for your obedience to do His will thru TBYT. It is a true blessing. I too was that one want an illicit affair w/too much of the wrong food. Thank you so much for this insight.

  • I like what you said by keeping the things that easily beset you far away. More importantly, you mentioned prayer as the key when you don’t know. Finally, the key role is the one you play, because as the good book says, “Faith without works is dead.”

  • Excellent article backed by scripture! For me, my weakness is Coke Zero. I can’t stop with just one can. TODAY, that is going to change! I will not even open thast first can today!

  • Thank you Kimberly for sharing your article. It gave me a new perspective on how much the enemy is in my daily life. Blessing to you for shining for Christ.

  • Thanks Kimberly! You are such a God-send! I needed this today & it is helping me… In a funk… Feeling alone & down & the part about not listening to lies of the enemy hit home today! Also about being willing to sacrifice for a higher calling… Good stuff!

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