Know the Enemy Part 4

As we continue this look at who our enemy is in this spiritual war that we find ourselves in, we come to the fourth tactic that the devil uses against us: He fights to stop you.

This may seem redundant, but it is key to realizing that this enemy has a mission and will do everything possible to achieve his mission.  Satan realizes that every person who has placed their faith into Jesus Christ is also a minister of God's plan.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.  Everything is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us.  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, certain that God is appealing through us.  We plead on Christ's behalf, "Be reconciled to God."  (2 Corinthians 5:17-20 HCSB)

Satan will do whatever he can to stop you from carrying out God's purposes in your life.  We talked a little about how he will try to trip us up in a previous post.  He will also set potholes in front of you to sidetrack you.  Have you ever noticed that when you try to do something God's way, something always seems to go wrong?  You may decide to break free from the chains of debt and then there is a sale or the transmission falls out off the vehicle.  You may decide to lead your family the way God intends and then World War III breaks out over something insignificant to the big picture.  Maybe you decide to finally share the gospel with that one friend.  The moment you open your mouth to say something their cell phone goes off.

Paul the Apostle was no stranger to these tactics.  After he had committed his life to God's service and was being used in a great way, we see that even faced roadblocks.  1 Thessalonians 2:18 says, "So we wanted to come to you - even I, Paul, time and again - but Satan stopped us."  Paul wanted to come and spend time with the believers in Thessalonica, but was prevented many times by Satan.  Satan will do whatever he can to stop the work of God.

The encouraging thing about this is that though Satan may try over and over again  and even seem to succeed at times, he will not stop God's plan from being carried out.  Job reminds us that the plans of God will not be stopped...

I know that You can do anything and no plan of Yours can be thwarted. (Job 42:2 HSCB)

You can read previous posts in this series by clicking the following links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

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Know the Enemy Part 3

This is the third post in this series about recognizing our enemy in the spiritual war that we find ourselves in. You can see the previous posts here and here. As we continue identifying the tactics of our enemy, we come to this third tactic: He sets traps to ensnare you.

Flip Wilson, comedian from the 1970s, was famous for the phrase "the devil made me do it."  One of his characters would always say that phrase when they did something they were not supposed to.  The phrase became widely used by people around the country.  Many people still to this day will blame the devil on their behavior.

The Bible is very clear that the devil would like nothing more than to trap you in a lifestyle of sin.  Sin is destructive at all levels.  We can see how the abuse of drugs and alcohol destroys a person.  We can see the damage that murder and rape cause.  The "little sins" like "white lies" and lust can do just as much damage.

Isn't it interesting that we find ourselves tempted in our "weak areas" and not our "strong areas" most of the time.  For someone who struggles with finances there always seems to be another sale.  For someone who struggles with pornography there are images flashing before them at every turn.

The Bible tells us that the devil has a specific plan with the traps that he lays to ensnare us.  2 Timothy 2:26 says, “Then they may come to their senses and escape the Devil’s trap, having been captured by him to do his will.”  Do you see it?  The traps that the devil lays for us are to ensnare us and make our lives do what he wants, not God.  The traps of sin in our lives will keep us from doing God's will in our lives.

We need to be aware of our surroundings.  It would not be wise for a soldier in battle to just aimlessly walk around because there is no telling where mines have been placed to sideline him/her.  We need to walk with an awareness about us as Christians as well.  There are snares all around looking to get us off the field of play.  If we find ourselves ensnared, we have One that has paid for our deliverance (Jesus), and we need to call to Him and repent.

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