Spiritual Warfare - November 9

As promised, I give you some Scripture that can help you remember who Satan is – and who YOU are.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. James 4:7-8 (ESV)

Notice that God isn’t a “get out of temptation free” card. You can resist the devil only if you’ve drawn near to and submitted yourself to God.

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.  1 Cor 10:13 (ESV)

“The devil made me do it” is not a reason or an excuse. God always provides a way out of temptation.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world— the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.  1 John 2:15-17 (ESV)

Turn off that TV. Close the magazines and “gimmie books” and stop focusing on keeping up with the Joneses. You don’t need to fornicate or have an adulterous relationship. God will provide your needs: you don’t need to steal. That car you love? Is it an idol? How do the words of that song uplift you and remind you of God’s goodness?

God’s stuff lasts for eternity. The stuff we are tempted by leads to idolatry, immorality, removal of inhibitions, improper thoughts and other things that will fade away.  I am reminded of the old song:

Only one life, so soon it will pass,

Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one chance to do His will.

So give to Jesus all your days

It’s the only life that pays.

When you recall you have but one life.

The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Romans 16:20 (ESV)

See you Monday.

Spiritual Warfare - November 7

Jesus knows all about the devil – from a human perspective. He gives us an example of how to prepare for and be aware of the devil’s schemes.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” Matt 4:1-4 (ESV)

First, let’s talk about this fasting thing. Most of us can’t go a whole day without saying, “I’m famished.” Jesus just spend more than a month without food. He had lost a lot of weight. His body strength was down. He looked skinny and bedraggled. He was physically at the lowest point of His life, and Satan taunts Him and tells Him to make bread from stones. Satan hit below the figurative belt, finding the biggest chink in the Savior’s armor.

Jesus took it all in stride and quoted Deuteronomy 8:3. Satan was talking about the temporary feeling of hunger from physical food. Jesus reminded Satan that real, eternal food comes from the mouth of God.

Jesus – 1 : Satan – 0

Satan’s not stupid. He responded to Jesus by quoting  the “word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”  Matt 4:5-6 (ESV)

Why did Satan take Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple? Why not to a mountain, or the ocean?

Jesus responded in kind by citing Deuteronomy 6:16 (remember how physically exhausted and depleted He was as He fought this battle!)

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” Matt 4:7 (ESV)

Jesus – 2 : Satan – 0

Third and final try:

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.  Matt 4:8-11 (ESV)

Jesus – 3 : Satan – 0

Satan couldn’t appeal to Jesus’ hunger. He couldn’t appeal to His pride. He couldn’t shake Jesus’ belief that God reigns supreme.

If Satan had “won” this final skirmish, God’s plan to save the world would have been lost and prophecy would have remained unfulfilled.

Satan knows Scripture – probably better than you do. How do you match wits? How will you respond if Satan twists Scripture as he tempts you? How does knowing Scripture help you to resist the devil?

On Friday, we’ll wrap this up with a few Scriptures that you can place in your arsenal to help you when Satan finds you at a point of temptation. See you then.

Spiritual Warfare - November 5

Last week we were reminded that we have an enemy – Satan. When a nation has an enemy, they [presumably] learn all they can about their operations and tactics before engaging in battle. Now that we’ve identified our enemy, we need to do the same.

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 1 Peter 5:8-9 (ESV)

A roaring lion is quite a fearsome creature. Like a lion, Satan wants to devour us – and if we are firm in the faith, we can resist him. But we are human, and we make mistakes. Some of those mistakes are serious, and may even result in our excommunication from fellowship (Matthew 18:15-17). However, once an individual has repented (and shown evidence of repentance), s/he must be allowed to re-enter the fellowship. We cannot hold a grudge.

Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs. 2 Cor 2:5-11 (ESV)

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Eph 6:11-12 (ESV)

Satan will use anything to trip us up. He is a schemer. I find it interesting to see that unforgiveness can lead to us being outwitted by Satan! He is only interested in confusing believers and throwing them off track. When we harbor resentment, anger, and bitterness, we are playing into his hands. When we justify our unrighteous behavior, we lose focus on the Savior and are falling for Satan’s schemes.

These last two verses remind me that we need to always live in love and harmony.

If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Romans 12:18 (KJV)

Is there someone you need to forgive? God isn’t interested in your justifications for being angry at that person. He wants you to forgive. When you’ve forgiven, you can stand stronger against Satan. But more important…

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Eph 4:31-32 (KJV)

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matt 6:14-15 (ESV)

Take some time to go through your list of friends and acquaintances and find out who you need to forgive. If you aren’t forgiving, Jesus tells you that God won’t be forgiving. We can’t resist the devil with a “chink” of unforgiveness in our armor!

It doesn’t matter what they did. It only matters that you let go of all resentment or bitterness toward everyone.

Please “pray up” and forgive. It’s the first step!

Speaking of prayer, for those of you in the United States, tomorrow is a momentous day. Please pray for our nation as we go to the polls. PLEASE VOTE. Be a part of the process. See you Wednesday.

Spiritual Warfare - November 2

Jesus spoke to His disciples about Satan’s workings. In the parable of the tares (weeds that look very similar to wheat), He told of a farmer that planted wheat. That very night, the enemy came through the same field and planted tares. Both the good and the bad seeds grew.

Why didn’t the farmer just get rid of the weeds? For those of us who garden, the answer is simple: when you remove a weed, there’s a danger that you will also remove a good plant. The farmer was wise because he knew that it would be easy to separate the wheat from the tares at harvest.

And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. Matt 13:36-43 (ESV)

Jesus makes it clear that our enemy is the devil and HE is the one who sowed the tares, and the tares are those who follow him.

There are only two sides: good and evil, represented by God and Satan. Each person will be sent to one place: heaven or hell based on one decision – faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation.

Through the ages, men have tried to make the devil into a cute cartoon character and a pithy saying. The devil never makes you do something. He does, however, put temptation in your path and you choose whether or not to follow his lead.

Mankind also wants to have temporal pleasures as well as heaven, but we can’t “have our cake and eat it too”. If we are not doing our best, with Christ’s help, to walk the Christian path, we deceive ourselves. Satan loves to tell us that we can do what we want and worry about our salvation later. The fact is that you don’t know when God has decided you will die. Going through life thinking that you can have a deathbed conversion is foolish.

If you listen to popular television, you’ll be bombarded with the message that there is more than one way to heaven. This is a lie from the pit itself! It’s another way that Satan is working as a deceiver. We also see churches that tell us that some portions of the Bible are irrelevant in our society because it was “different then”. We also hear that God is loving, so sins like homosexuality, elders who are openly living in sin, divorce for reasons other than sexual infidelity and so forth will all be forgiven. Love wins – the idea that good works and good intentions will bring us to heaven is completely wrong. God can and will forgive us, but the key is that we must REPENT and turn from our sins.

Satan is sneaky. He brings us glamor, glitter, temporary happiness, great feelings … and ultimately, death. We need to know who our enemy is so that we can fight him.

We are not the first generation to deal with Satan and his lies.  Jesus talked sternly to the religious leaders of His time because they didn’t want to hear the truth.

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44 (ESV)

Satan is a liar and a murderer. He is the father of all lies. He is the serpent that deceived Eve, and one day he will be thrown down. He is our enemy. He will do everything he can to get you to question God’s word, question your faith, question your walk, question your marriage. He will destroy you if you allow him to.

Satan cannot be ignored; however, we don’t need to live in fear of him. God gives us everything we need to defend ourselves against Satan. Next week we will begin to learn about the defenses God has given us.

May your weekend be blessed.