Part 1 - Is Satan Real?

 

Satan is not a little man in a red suit with a pointy tail and pitchfork, but he certainly is real. God created him as an angel of light with mighty power (Isaiah 14). Yet, this was not enough for him. He led a rebellion of angels against God and he lost (Isaiah 14:13-14). He was demoted as the “ruler” of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11), the “spirit” of this world (1 Corinthians 2:12), the prince of the “power” of the air (Ephesians 2:2), the “enemy” (Matthew 13:25,28,39), and the “god” of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4).

Due to his rebellion and unbelief, Satan will spend eternity bound up in the lake of fire, along with every other rebellious unbeliever on this earth (Revelation 20:10). For now, Satan inspires human beings to seek worldly gratification, ambition, status and riches to the detriment of our relationship with God and our family. He encourages us to enable and rescue others, to boast with pride, to take whatever we want, to surrender to the desires of our flesh, and to make life miserable for everyone around us (1 John 2:16).

Satan whispers lies into our mind about other people, and we react to them with accusations, unforgiveness, bitterness, spitefulness and revenge. He keeps us living in fear. Therefore, we often abandon our responsibilities, thwart our blessings from God, and escape into the fantasy of addictions. Self-preservation causes us to build walls around our heart, which makes us run when confronted or easily angered to keep people from hurting us. Self-indulgence is our motive behind our every action.

Satan condemns us until we hide behind masks, because we are afraid for people to see who we really are (Matthew 4:1; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:2; 1 Corinthians 7:5; 1 Thessalonians 3:5). The last thing Satan wants us to realize is that although we live in the world, we do not have to live as part of the world (John 17:11,14,16). He encourages us to fit in with the crowd, and to covet our neighbor’s wife and goods (Exodus 20:17). He tempted Jesus too, but our Savior contradicted Satan’s accusations with the Word of God (Matthew 4:1-11).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, we can follow in Your footsteps when we deal with the devil. You were tempted in every area that Satan tempts us (Hebrews 4:15), with the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). Yet, You remained faithful. We too can stand against the wiles of the devil by the dynamite power of the Trinity within us (Colossians 1:27). I am so glad that Satan does not have Your powers of omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience.


Thought for the Day:

Spiritual warfare is very real and constant, but Satan would rather make you believe that it does not exist at all. - Ephesians 6:10-20

 

 

 

Exposing the Devil

 

God gave us five senses to filter information from the world around us and to process it in our mind. What we see, hear, smell, taste and feel turns into thoughts. Our thoughts are powerful. They can build up or destroy (Proverbs 18:21). They occupy both the right and left lobes of our brain. Most of them are stored for our whole lifetime in our subconscious mind. They create pictures that make a lasting impression on our mind and influence our outlook and choices in life. That is why God wants us to bring all of our thoughts under the Lordship of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Satan wages war on the battleground of our mind. We can ask God to expose Satan’s deceptive thoughts and to replace them with His truth. We spend time reading God’s Word so we can combat Satan with it like Jesus did (Matthew 4:4). It takes three weeks to change a habit, so start submitting your thoughts to God today. Our thoughts only have as much influence over us as we permit them to have. As we submit to the Holy Spirit, He helps us to make Godly choices. We live a life of praise by reading and believing God’s Word and by entering into private and corporate worship and prayer.

The Israelites gave us an example of the way to live our life. They followed the leading of the cloud, which shaded the burning sun by day; and the pillar of fire, which lit and warmed the desert night. When the Lord commanded them to do so, they camped; and when He commanded, they moved (Numbers 9:22-23). None of the tribes deviated from this pattern for a whole generation. This had to be nerve-wracking. They never knew how long they would stay in one place; yet they conformed to the will of the Lord.

Although, they failed to walk in trust and obedience prior to their forty-year trek in the desert, they soon developed a dependence upon the Lord. They learned the hard way to trust Him and they obeyed Him one step at a time. He miraculously gave them a wealth of riches from Egypt when they left, quail and manna to eat, water from a rock and their shoes and clothing never wore out. This same Heavenly Father who provided for and protected the Israelite nation will also guide us by His Spirit as we too learn to trust and obey only Him.

We determine our eternal destiny by the simple act of belief or unbelief (John 3:16-18). Our unbelief condemns us to hell with Satan. Our belief accesses the Salvation made possible by Jesus on the cross. God takes our heart of stone, and gives us a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). He writes His laws upon our heart, so that we obey Him from a changed nature (Hebrews 8:10). If we wisely choose to believe, we are saved from sin, delivered from condemnation, resurrected from spiritual death, sanctified until purified, and eventually at Christ’s return, glorified in body, soul and spirit.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, You made Yourself of no reputation, even though You shared in God’s very nature (Philippians 2:6-7). Now, You give us Your nature (2 Corinthians 5:17). You inspire us to dedicate our whole life to You (2 Corinthians 12:15). You empower us to turn away from the lusts of the eye and flesh, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). Faith without Godly works is dead (James 2:14-26). We believe and obey You; otherwise, our efforts in life result in nothing more than dead works. Dead works prove that we merely believed in a philosophy of life, instead of making a life-changing commitment to You.

Thought for the Day:

As we trust in God, He leads us by His Spirit to obey His truth and His commandments moment by moment throughout the day. - Ezekiel 36:27