1. I REFUSE TO BELIEVE that God uses circumstances in life to punish me for sins I have already asked Him to forgive me for having committed. Actions do have consequences, but God works in us through them.
2. I REFUSE TO BELIEVE that my relationship with my heavenly Father is based on performance. Fellowship is not relational but responsive, and intimacy with the Lord does have its rewards.
3. I REFUSE TO BELIEVE that Satan has any authority over me, that evil spirits have the power to torment me, or that any person has the right to oppress me. Persecution takes place from time to time, but God enables me to glory in that for Christ’s sake.
4. I REFUSE TO BELIEVE that any illness I suffer from is God’s way of bringing me closer to Him. They may attack my mortal body, but “by Christ’s wounds, I was healed (1 Peter 2:24) And if I was, then I am!
5. I REFUSE TO BELIEVE that poverty equals spirituality, or that I should submit to injustice or unlawful acts. The Apostle Paul did not. Times of piety are either sacrificial choices or “Can Do” opportunities (Philippians 4:11-13).
THE BASIS FOR MY UNBELIEF in the above things is that they are contrary to God’s will and purpose for me, as revealed in (a) His Word; (b) the life of His Son Jesus Christ; and (c) the New Testament Epistles.
If Jesus could do no mighty works in Nazareth “because of their unbelief” — their view of him as merely “the carpenter’s son” — then Satan can do nothing of any account in my life because of my unbelief — seeing him as merely the enemy defeated by Jesus at the Cross and three days later shamed openly through the Lord’s resurrection.
This list is not complete. There are things that I once believed Satan or demons could do to me, but I no longer believe that he has such authority! I am creating a total zone of unbelief in any authority or power other than God’s, a zone in which any person with evil intent will be rendered dysfunctional when it encounters my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and my unbelief in the power of anything else, and by that, I mean nothing whatever.