The strategy of coming against God's people with negativity is a strategy the devil has employed since the beginning. Satan inquired of Eve, “…Yea, hath God said…?” (Genesis 3: 1). He implied that God was withholding something good from Eve by preventing her from eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The real situation was that God was protecting Eve and all of mankind from the negatives of the curse that would come upon them once she and Adam partook of the forbidden fruit. Eve believed the negatives. She also believed Satan's other negative, “Ye shall not surely die…” (Genesis 3:4).

We need to know Satan's devices and how we can combat them. Paul declared: “… we are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Corinthians 2:11).

In the time of Nehemiah when the Jews began to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, Satan threw a whole book of negatives at the Jews. Through enemy leaders named Sanballat and Tobiah, the builders were subjected to all sorts of ploys and ridicule.

And he (Sanballat) spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall. (Nehemiah 4:2-3)

This did not move the Jews at all. They just called on God and kept working. Nehemiah reports: “So built we the wall…” (Nehemiah 4:6).

Next the enemy tried another tactic:

And conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder it. (Nehemiah 4:8)

The spirit of negativism is very contagious if we allow it to get started. Soon it had infected even some of the Jews who began to worry.

And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall. And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease. (Nehemiah 8:10-11)

Thank God that He was still on the scene and again the enemy was defeated and the work for God continued (Nehemiah 8:15).

Have you been infected by the spirit of negativity? If so, be sure to make today's declaration!

I rebuke the spirit of negativity from operating in my mind, heart, or spirit.