Shut Up, Devil

Silencing the 10 Lies behind Every Battle You Face

Kyle Winkler

• Publisher: Chosen Books
• Year: 2022
• Print ISBN: 9780800762438
• eBook ISBN: 9781493435883
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

Your Mind Is the Devil's Playground

Here's the truth: The devil can't beat you on even ground.

So he creeps his way into your mind, weaving words and situations into lies you take as truth: I'm a failure. Something's wrong with me. God's mad at me. Nobody cares about me. 

These devil-crafted lies create the emotional, psychological and spiritual conflicts that rob you of your God-given purpose. Yet you can win these battles. Here are the biblical tools you need to recognize the sour, subtle voice of the Accuser. Once you do, you will see his toxic thought-patterns and destructive lies for the slander they are. And you will say with unshakable confidence and courage: "Shut up, devil!"

"In this insightful message, my friend Kyle Winkler exposes the lies of the enemy and empowers us to fight back. If you've ever wrestled with the accusations of the devil, then this book will equip you to shut him up."--JOHN BEVERE, bestselling author and co-founder of Messenger International and MessengerX

"I'm thrilled about Kyle's new book. Using biblical wisdom, neuroscience and his own experience in battle, Kyle will help you silence the enemy's taunts, break free from the lies that bind you and live life with bold, humble faith."--SUSIE LARSON, talk radio host, bestselling author and national speaker

1
The Slanderer

When you imagine a lion, what comes to your mind?

For me, I envision a lion’s strong, giant, catlike torso that is covered with a tan coat and moving with a cocky strut. I see his unflinching facial expression, made by a stoic stare and down-turned mouth, all surrounded by a wispy, reddish-brown mane. I wince at the thought of his jaw-stretching yawn that exposes all four of his three-inch canine teeth. I can almost hear his ground-shaking roar.

Thoughts of encountering such a beast in the wild are enough to induce paralyzing fear into most of us. But those familiar with the lion’s ways, like his peers in the animal kingdom, know that behind that ferocious exterior is good reason not to be afraid. A lion has a relatively small heart and lungs in relation to the rest of its body. What this means is that it is an incredibly inefficient runner. In fact, the lion is considered one of the slowest runners in the animal kingdom. While it can reach up to fifty miles per hour, it can only do so in short bursts. A lion simply does not have much stamina.1

Being a sprinter rather than a marathon runner affects how the lion hunts. When it happens upon one of its favorite meals, such as a wildebeest, zebra or antelope, it cannot launch after it in the moment. Any of those animals would likely outrun it in the long run. So it stalks.

Later in this chapter, I will discuss the particulars of what a lion does when it decides to attack. But perhaps you are wondering why I am detailing the biology and behaviors of a lion. What does a lion have to do with shutting up the devil? Everything.

❚ Stay Alert!

Writing to battle-weary Christians, the apostle Peter warned, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

As with all illustrations in the Bible, Peter’s likening of the devil to a lion is not coincidental. It is strategic and insightful. Peter penned this at a time when wild lions still roamed parts of the Middle East. Whereas most of us only know lions from what we see on TV or in captivity, Peter and his original readers were familiar with how they behaved in their natural habitat. To them, a lion was not a rare or even somewhat mythical creature—it was a very real threat of which they needed to be ever mindful. Peter warned his readers that this lion was like the devil.

As I begin a book about shutting up the devil, I understand that I write at a time when the very idea of his existence is debated. Today, the rise of secularism has minimized many of the issues we wrestle with into merely the products of science and psychology, giving little-to-no room for spiritual explanations or solutions.

Do not get me wrong. I am not someone who sees the devil in everything. But I am concerned that the spiritual side of what we fight, from anxiety, fear, depression, insecurity, offense and so on, is not being fully represented. Too many suffer, therefore, with no effective solutions. I believe this is because we are afraid to talk about the enemy, because we either consider him mythical, not worthy of our attention, or fear that mentioning him is not encouraging or positive.

Certainly, we do not want to give the enemy too much credit, nor do we want to sensationalize him in any way that provokes paranoia or fear in people. You will not find either in this book. Like the lion, behind the devil’s frightening exterior is someone who is not so frightening. That is what the prophet Isaiah acknowledged when he caught a glimpse of the enemy. He exclaimed, “Everyone there will stare at you and ask, ‘Can this be the one who shook the earth and made the kingdoms of the world tremble?’” (Isaiah 14:16). When you see the devil for who he really is, you will say the same. This is precisely why we need to talk about him, at least occasionally. People should not be afraid. People should see him for who he really is: a sneaky, but defeated, foe.

❚ The Roar

Following his warning to stay alert, Peter gives a job description of what the enemy does. It is packed into a single word. A single name, actually. It is devil.

Just like when you heard the word lion certain images appeared in your mind, so it is when you read the word devil. Chances are you thought of a reddish creature with horns and a pitchfork. Maybe you imagined him orchestrating all the evil in the world from his command center in hell.

But to the original reader, devil said something specific about how he works against us. That is because the name devil in the original Greek is diabolos, which means “slanderer.”2

Surely, you have heard that word before. Slander means, “the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person’s reputation.”3

In other words, to slander someone is to tell a lie not only to someone, but also about someone for the purpose of damaging them. Perhaps we see this most in the world of politics, whereby an opponent makes a juicy claim about his rival in order that others might see him or her negatively.

During college and shortly thereafter, I worked on a few high-profile political campaigns. I have seen this play work all too often. The claim does not have to be based on any truth. The simple accusation is enough to give people pause. And that is what the devil counts on for you, too.

I believe this is why Peter compares the enemy to a roaring lion. Wildlife experts contend that most of a lion’s roars are mock roars that are meant only to intimidate his victim or assert his power.4

Beyond its volume, however, the roar itself has little substance.

It is the same with the enemy’s slander. The devil is always shouting about your faults, failures and inadequacies. While his accusations may actually be whispers or nagging thoughts that only you can hear, they can reverberate like roars in your mind until you cower to them.

What you need to know is that the devil’s roars, while they can shake you at your core, have absolutely no merit. That is because as a Christian, you are in Christ. The moment you said yes to Jesus, the Bible assures that you became a new person who is defined by His character: “The old life is gone; a new life has begun” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This means that even if an accusation contains some truth about something you did in the past, it has no bearing on who you are today. Because God calls you new!

The title of in Christ carries with it an incredibly threatening reputation to the devil. Because people who believe that their past is gone—that they are made new and right with God—have an unshakable confidence and courage to follow God’s plan for their lives. They can take whatever risks are necessary to do so.

The devil is not as powerful as he wants you to believe he is. He cannot destroy your reputation—he cannot take it away. He cannot separate you from God’s love (see Romans 8:38). But his slander that is made of lies and accusations can make you believe some horrible things that can negatively affect every area of your life.

Have you ever heard any of these statements?

• You are a failure.
• You will never be good enough.
• You are unforgivable.
• You are unlovable.
• You are a horrible person.
• You are not a Christian.

These are only a handful of the devil’s slanderous roars. What makes them so dangerous is that you might believe that they are true. As it is said, perception is reality.

Here is how it works: if you believe you are a failure, you will never take risks. If you believe you are unforgivable, you will be shackled by shame and a downcast spirit. If you believe you are unlovable, you will hold yourself back from meaningful relationships. I could go on and on. Belief influences behavior.

I know the power of this because this was my story. For whatever reason, in my early elementary years, I always felt like an outsider. This feeling kept me almost debilitatingly shy and insecure for most of my childhood. Not surprisingly, nobody wanted to be friends with the kid who did not talk. And my pathetic athletic ability also attracted the snickers and name-calling for which kids are known.

Suffice it to say, in my first ten years of life, my reputation became cemented as an outcast and reject—in my mind, at least. And even after I became a Christian, the enemy used all those old identifiers to hold me back from the blessings and call of God on my life.

I will unfold more of my story throughout this book, but essentially, until I discovered what I am teaching you, my everyday life was limited by lies. I do not want that for you. I do not want you to spend one more day held hostage to hopelessness, condemnation, shame or the myriad of other battles you might be facing. That is why I am so passionate about alerting you to the enemy’s schemes.

❚ The Prowl

Continuing with Peter’s warning, we return to his analogy of the lion. At this point, I should note that Peter does not liken the devil to a lion itself. That is, he does not say the devil is a lion. He says, “He prowls . . . like a roaring lion.” In other words, the devil hunts like a lion. That says so much about how the enemy goes after us.

As I mentioned earlier, a lion’s small heart and lungs relative to its overall body size means that it does not have the stamina to chase its prey for long. This changes the way it hunts. Rather than going in for the attack in the moment, the lion studies and stalks its prey. From its study over time, a lion learns the common behaviors, weaknesses and habits of its victims. Then the lion creates a plan of attack, which includes how and when to pounce.

Typically, a lion does most of its attacking at night under the cover of darkness. Its tan coat provides a natural camouflage that blends its 6-foot, 400-pound body into its surroundings. Coupled with its acute sense of smell and excellent night vision, it is able to be extra deceptive, slowly creeping up to its prey completely unnoticed.

By now, some spiritual comparisons should be obvious. Let’s pause to consider them.

We know that the devil is slyly deceptive. People do not fall for his temptations and lies because he is obvious. No, as the Bible reveals, sometimes he disguises himself as an angel of light (see 2 Corinthians 11:14). In this way, he uses crafty arguments, half-truths and seemingly reasonable logic to convince people of falsehoods. In the next chapter, we will explore the sneaky way he pulls this off.

But still, many times the devil remains completely unseen, working his wiles behind the scenes, and waiting for the opportune time to attack. Like the lion, he concocts his plan for how and when to attack based off of what he has studied about your life.

To determine how to attack, the enemy looks no further than our weaknesses. Of course, these include repetitive patterns of sin from the past or present. But our weaknesses do not always have to be sins. Sometimes a weakness may be something we did not chose for ourselves, like a personality quirk or a physical disability. A weakness might be an emotional struggle such as anxiety or depression. Our weaknesses may also include the labels that attached to us when hurtful words were spoken about us by others. Whatever the case, we all have something that weakens us.

Knowing how to attack is one thing, but the right timing is crucial to the success of any assault. From his studies, the enemy knows when you are most vulnerable. Your times of vulnerability could include moments of stress, disappointment, anger, loneliness or exhaustion. The enemy collects all this information while most of us are completely unaware. That is why Peter instructs to stay alert. The devil prowls quietly around each of us camouflaged inside of everyday life and waiting to make his next move.

❚ The Attack

Once a lion selects its target, it attacks in a revealing way as it relates to our battles. Usually coming from an angle that its victim cannot see, the lion uses its powerful back loins to hurl itself toward his target. Taken off guard, its prey has little-to-no time to defend i...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• 1. The Slanderer
• 2. The Secret Strategy against Your Mind
• 3. Mastering Your Mind
• 4. The Mind-Mouth Connection
• Confronting the Lies
• Notes
• About the Author
• Back Ad
• Back Cover