Know Your Enemy!
"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings." 1 Peter 5:8-9
It is imperative that we know our enemy and his schemes. He is a master deceiver and he masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) When satan works, he does not show you how sin will ruin your life-instead he makes it look beautiful and cons you into thinking, "I can get away with this" or "no one will know" or "what is it really going to hurt just this once?" I am quite sure the person who took their first drink never thought, "hey, I think I will become an alcoholic and ruin my life." satan is way too clever and too subtle for that. Friend, our struggle is not against flesh and blood (or against other people), but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12 We are told to be strong in the Lord and in HIS mighty power. We need to put on the full armor of God so that we can take our stand against the devil's schemes. Ephesians 6:10-11
Satan has been deceiving people for hundreds of years and it started in the Garden of Eden. He didn't tell Eve that if she ate of the fruit she would bring destruction, hatred, sadness, poverty and injustice in the world. No, instead he came to her deceptively and had her questioning what God had said. He asked her, "Can it really be that God has said you shall not eat from every tree of the garden? Genesis 3:1 He went on to tell her that she would be like God and would not really die if she ate the fruit but that she would know the difference between good and evil and blessing and calamity. Genesis 3:4-5 Do you see what satan is doing? He is making an wonderful appeal to her that she would be like God. Satan lures us into thinking we will gain something as he tempts us to sin. This battle of the mind that Eve lost years ago has been going on ever since. Do you see why it is so important to know your enemy? The battle begins in your mind. Have you ever had a bad thought that seems to come out of nowhere? Or maybe you feel miserable or doubt or have fear for no real reason? Now I am not saying that every evil thought that enters your mind is from satan or his demons because we also battle against our flesh, but you can be sure that if satan can get you to entertain certain thoughts then he has won half the battle. If we do not cast those harmful thoughts down, we will eventually act on those thoughts.
We, however, have the victory! When Christ died on the cross and rose again, He defeated satan once and for all. We don't fight for victory, we fight from it. As a follower of Christ, you have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of you. That same power that raised Christ up from the dead lives on the inside of us! Philippians 3:10 We are told to "resist the devil and he will flee." James 4:7 How do we resist him? For starters, we see the attacks as what they are and know where they are coming from. We take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 Rather, anything that does not line itself up with the word of God, we throw it out-we do not continue to think on it. We must also know the Word of God. Jesus spoke the Word to satan when he tempted Jesus after Jesus had fasted forty days and forty nights. satan had to leave. Speak the word my friend, speak it out loud! Turn on praise music in your car driving down the road and in your home. Don't give satan a foothold! Praise will defeat the devil quicker than anything else...praise from your heart, not just from your lips. Stay in prayer-pray about everything. God wants us to communicate with Him about everything. Yes, He already knows what you are thinking and what you are going to do before you do it, but prayer grows our relationship with our Father-staying in constant communion with Him. Remember also, the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." 1 John 4:4 satan is a created being-he is not the opposite of God! He can only do what God allows him to do.
Proverbs 23:7 tells us for as you think in your heart, so are you. Pray and ask God to help you. Ask Him to show you how to take a stand against the enemy, but remember, you don't do this alone. "Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power." Ephesians 6:10
Remember to line up your thinking with the word of God. "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2 We renew our minds with how God thinks, not anyone else, then we can be changed or transformed into who God intends for us to be.
"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things." Philippians 4:8
It is imperative that we know our enemy and his schemes. He is a master deceiver and he masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) When satan works, he does not show you how sin will ruin your life-instead he makes it look beautiful and cons you into thinking, "I can get away with this" or "no one will know" or "what is it really going to hurt just this once?" I am quite sure the person who took their first drink never thought, "hey, I think I will become an alcoholic and ruin my life." satan is way too clever and too subtle for that. Friend, our struggle is not against flesh and blood (or against other people), but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12 We are told to be strong in the Lord and in HIS mighty power. We need to put on the full armor of God so that we can take our stand against the devil's schemes. Ephesians 6:10-11
Satan has been deceiving people for hundreds of years and it started in the Garden of Eden. He didn't tell Eve that if she ate of the fruit she would bring destruction, hatred, sadness, poverty and injustice in the world. No, instead he came to her deceptively and had her questioning what God had said. He asked her, "Can it really be that God has said you shall not eat from every tree of the garden? Genesis 3:1 He went on to tell her that she would be like God and would not really die if she ate the fruit but that she would know the difference between good and evil and blessing and calamity. Genesis 3:4-5 Do you see what satan is doing? He is making an wonderful appeal to her that she would be like God. Satan lures us into thinking we will gain something as he tempts us to sin. This battle of the mind that Eve lost years ago has been going on ever since. Do you see why it is so important to know your enemy? The battle begins in your mind. Have you ever had a bad thought that seems to come out of nowhere? Or maybe you feel miserable or doubt or have fear for no real reason? Now I am not saying that every evil thought that enters your mind is from satan or his demons because we also battle against our flesh, but you can be sure that if satan can get you to entertain certain thoughts then he has won half the battle. If we do not cast those harmful thoughts down, we will eventually act on those thoughts.
We, however, have the victory! When Christ died on the cross and rose again, He defeated satan once and for all. We don't fight for victory, we fight from it. As a follower of Christ, you have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of you. That same power that raised Christ up from the dead lives on the inside of us! Philippians 3:10 We are told to "resist the devil and he will flee." James 4:7 How do we resist him? For starters, we see the attacks as what they are and know where they are coming from. We take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 Rather, anything that does not line itself up with the word of God, we throw it out-we do not continue to think on it. We must also know the Word of God. Jesus spoke the Word to satan when he tempted Jesus after Jesus had fasted forty days and forty nights. satan had to leave. Speak the word my friend, speak it out loud! Turn on praise music in your car driving down the road and in your home. Don't give satan a foothold! Praise will defeat the devil quicker than anything else...praise from your heart, not just from your lips. Stay in prayer-pray about everything. God wants us to communicate with Him about everything. Yes, He already knows what you are thinking and what you are going to do before you do it, but prayer grows our relationship with our Father-staying in constant communion with Him. Remember also, the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." 1 John 4:4 satan is a created being-he is not the opposite of God! He can only do what God allows him to do.
Proverbs 23:7 tells us for as you think in your heart, so are you. Pray and ask God to help you. Ask Him to show you how to take a stand against the enemy, but remember, you don't do this alone. "Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power." Ephesians 6:10
Remember to line up your thinking with the word of God. "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2 We renew our minds with how God thinks, not anyone else, then we can be changed or transformed into who God intends for us to be.
"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things." Philippians 4:8
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