Fighting and making the Devil Flee
James 4:7,8 Submit yourselves then to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.
1 Peter 5:8,9 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.
Ephesians 6:11,12 Put on all the armor that God gives, so you can defend yourself against the devil’s tricks. We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world
Matthew 4:1-11, 1 Peter 5:8, James 4:7, 1 John 3:8
Satan is alive and well. He is sneaky and slithers into us to tempt, to lie, to deceive, to urge us to follow him for the sole purpose of damaging our soul. He is so happy when he finds those who are not well versed in the Bible, and don’t know Jesus as their personal companion. And as we grow closer and learn more about the way we want to live walking with God, we are able to discern more easily the lies, and deception that he whispers while we sleep, when we are uncertain. His glee knows no bounds when we start to follow or believe his lies. He is clever and sometimes so subtle it may take a while to recognize the deception. It has become easier for me to recognize his lying whispers instead of God’s. And of course, once you are able to identify the lies, it is easier to step away from them, and rebuke him, sending him on his way, away from you. He hates us to identify him so easily, stop worrying and fretting, stop feeling inferior, burdened, and when we quote God’s words to him, he knows he has to find some empty vessel somewhere, someone who is not attuned to his lying ways to bother, taunt and tempt.
One of the ways the tormentor tries to damage me is to lie about my abilities, lies that God’s promises are never going to take place in my life, and Satan tries to make me lose my tenuous grip on confidence. That is his favorite attack, and as I start to hear and wonder, I have learned to immediately rebuke him and push him away for the liar he is. He is firmly told to leave me and not return.
And he goes for a time. But he always returns. Most times I can spot the slithering ways he’s tried to hurt me fairly quickly, but the more stress I’m under, the more physically unwell I might be, he gets a firmer hold and then it’s easy to force him away by denouncing his lies with God’s promises and assurances. so as I feel more burdened, I turn to my bible, my devotionals, and of course it will then dawn on me, ‘Oh, yeah, this is the enemy. He’s got to go!’
But one has to recognize the attack by always being prepared for an attack, and being armed and knowledgeable about and with God’s word. And when not sure, immediately pray seeking God’s direction.
That is ONE of the reasons it is so important to read and learn and imprint God’s words on your mind and heart. You can stand firm on God’s word and promise and send the devil away…and he will flee. He will also try to sneak back, maybe with a different plan of attack. But you have the knowledge to beat him. So study, learn and imprint the promises so you can recognize his attack, rebuke him, and beat the devil.
I am glad I know enough to guard against most times of sneaky attacks and protect “mybellaviews.”
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