How Guarding Your Mind Keeps You Safe | Star Wars Ahsoka Devotional – Geek Devotions
Transcription
Disney Plus’ Ahsoka is out, and it has been amazing. Some call it a return to what Star Wars really should be. In the latest episode, you see the Dark Side’s greatest weapon during a scene between Baylin and Sabine. For context, this is an intense scene as you see Sabine holding the map that will lead to her best friend. At the same time, Baylan has just seemingly killed her master and wants that map himself. Sabine knows that if he gets a hold of that map, one of the greatest fears of the galaxy will return. But if she also gets rid of that map, she’ll never see her friend again.
This is where the Dark Side’s greatest weapon comes out in full force. Baylan begins to talk to Sabine. He begins to talk about her fears and doubts. He begins to talk about her desires. He begins to use her mind against her. Now, inside, Sabine knows what is right. She knows what her master has asked her to do. She knows what her friend Ezra would want her to do. But there’s a desire, an emotional pull, and the enemy is using that against her. He is speaking into her fears and doubts and drawing things out of her that she thought she could handle.
Unfortunately, at the end of that situation, Sabine doesn’t overcome this Dark Lord and gives the map over to him. This manipulation of the mind, pulling at people’s emotions, pulling at their desires, and manipulating them to their own worth, to their own being, is the greatest weapon of the Darkseid. But also, to be honest, this is one of the greatest weapons of the enemy of the world. It has been said that any person’s greatest strength and weakness is their mind. And if the enemy can attack you in your mind, he could win or be defeated in a massive way. It depends on what you do as an individual.
So often, people who have fallen from great heights or have just suffered a significant failure of some sort. And when you ask them what happened, you dissect the situation. It boiled down to the issue of the mind. They allowed the enemy to speak into a situation, whether using fear or bolstering things that should never have been bolstered. It is a pride thing for some people, and their egos are stroked. For some people, though, the enemy attacks weaknesses from years of abuse and years of being let down and told that they’re not good enough. And what happens is the enemy comes in those situations, and he begins to introduce those thoughts and questions like, well, you’re not good enough. You’re not loved. Nobody truly cares about you. The enemy begins to throw in questions to make you doubt who you are as an individual, your identity, and the truth of a situation. And as that plays out, those thoughts begin to populate, leading people down a road of destruction.
So how do we handle this? How do we handle these intrusive thoughts that get deep into our spirit and destroy an individual? In 2 Corinthians chapter 10, starting in verse five, the apostle Paul says this:
“We are destroying arguments in all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”
Here, Paul is dealing with a particular situation, but this conversation of taking thoughts captive is exactly what we have to do. When we are first introduced to these intrusive thoughts that cause us to question, are leading us to question the truth of who we are in God, in Christ, we have to take those things captive. We have to honestly go, “Stop. That’s not the truth. That’s not really what’s taking place here.”
In truth, this is not an easy thing to do. It’s hard at times, especially when you have a history of being beaten down and then allowing those intrusive thoughts to really take root in your lives. We have to actively train and be willing to change our mindset when we are approached with these negative thoughts. However, Paul says, “Take every thought captive into the obedience of Christ, bringing things under the submission of God.” What does God say you are? Who does God say you are? What does the word of God really say? And this is an example that we see take place in the gospels when Satan tempts Jesus. He’s throwing his own intrusive thoughts, attempting to cause Jesus to question his identity in the Father. And all Jesus had to do was go, “No, no, let’s point back to what the scriptures say. What does the word of God say?” But even then, we must be careful because the enemy will take scripture, twist it, and try to use it against us. He’ll try to manipulate it to hurt us in some fashion.
So what does that mean? Well, what that means is that we have to take it in the proper context. At one point, when the enemy tries doing that, Jesus corrects the enemy’s understanding of the scriptures. He says, “No, no, this is what the Father says. Do not manipulate what is being said in the word of God.”
Going back to our example in Ahsoka, Sabine has forsaken her master’s teachings for a long time. She’s been isolated. She was already dealing with an emotional wound that was deep inside. And to be honest, her master kind of abandoned her at some point, and she was left to her own devices. So she didn’t have anyone there to train her well. And even though she was working on it, she was falling apart in this moment of weakness.
The one thing I could see that would have changed that moment was whether her master was still there or anybody who could speak the truth to her. She needed someone to remind her of A, the truth of the situation, and B, who she was as an individual. At the moment, she was being told that she was a victim, that she was lost and lonely and needed somebody specific. And the only way to get that person was to listen to the enemy’s lies.
This leads me to the second thing. We must have a healthy community to surround us, encourage us, and help us. We need people in our lives to say, “Stop. Listen, you’re saying this, but this is not the truth. Lean into the truth, trust the truth, because this is what’s gonna take place if you don’t.” We have to have people we’ve allowed to speak into our lives and truly help us snap out of listening to the lies of the enemy.
This is not an easy thing, honestly. I want to say, especially if you’ve dealt with wounds before, emotions are genuine. Your emotions are something you experienced that have played a significant portion in your life. But we have to remember that emotions do not equal truth. Emotions do not override truth. You may feel a certain way. You may have emotional thoughts about certain situations in your life, but that is not the truth of the situation. We have to learn to lean into the truth and trust the truth. And when we do that, when we develop a habit of trusting in the truth of God, trusting in what God says, bringing everything to submission to God, that’s when peace takes place. And when we’re truly doing that, then, and only then, can we walk in what God has for us.
On top of that, the more we do it, the easier it becomes. Because, like I said, the more we trust in the truth of God, the truth of Jesus, the more peace we have. The Bible says this:
“…the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
The more we do this, the more our mind will be guarded so that when the enemy comes out as well as we go, no, I’ve heard this before. And I don’t have to listen to this. I’m not going to submit to what the enemy has before me.
My encouragement to you guys is this: if you’re struggling and have all these intrusive thoughts taking place, saying that you’re less than that, not worthy, and not who God called you to be, stop listening. This is me speaking into you; stop it; you are loved and cared for. There is a plan and a purpose for your life. God has called you to do something great, but you have to trust in Him and the process that He has before you. It’s not easy, it’s hard, but you can do this. Do not give up. I also want to encourage you guys all to build a community that’s biblically based, that can remind us of what God is saying in graceful manners, in a way that is done with love and genuine care for each other. Not in an arrogant way, not in a lording over, trying to put your thumb on somebody’s way, but with grace and love, helping each other to grow in what God has for us.