Discerning:- Devil's Deceptive Devices Series

Discerning:- Devil's Deceptive Devices

“A little girl was once asked how she defeats Satan. She said, “When Satan comes knocking at the door of my heart, I send Jesus to answer the door. When Satan sees Jesus, he says, “Ooops, I am sorry, I must have the wrong house.”

Every believer faces temptation and satanic encounter? The Devil is real. The Bible warns us not to be ignorant of Satan’s devices. (2 Corinthians 2:11). The word “Satan’s devices" carries the idea of evil plan, schemes, or an evil intention. We must resist the devil by renouncing his schemes. If you are ignorant of something, it means that you are unaware of the truth of its existence. It is important to know the devices of our enemy, the Devil. Otherwise he is likely to take advantage of us. In fact, Satan is the father of all lies (John 8:44) and his deceptive scheme is built on a lie; he is the master liar. He is a deceiver (Rev. 20:10). He lied to Eve by misrepresenting God, and he has been doing it ever since.

Scripture reveals that he leads an army of fallen angels and his attack is a deliberate assault upon an individual, which is designed to cause spiritual, physical, material, or emotional harm. Satan desires to thwart the Lord's purpose in believers' lives, to rob them of joy and peace, and ultimately to devastate. As in any war, knowing the enemy's plan helps us prepare for the attack. First, be aware that the battlefield takes place in our minds. To walk in a godly manner with Christ, we must first be sure that our thoughts are in submission to Holy Spirit. This takes daily surrender and meditation in God's Word. Second Satan tempts us during vulnerable moments. Be cautious when you are hungry, angry, upset, lonely, and discouraged. Third, Satan is deceptive; we won't recognize the trap as an evil scheme. Instead, it will seem good, and we'll likely wrestle with some sort of doubt. Satan desires to lure us into destructive actions that rob us of God's plan for a good, full.

One of Satan’s strongest weapons is pride. Pride is always a danger, especially when things are going well, such as in times of peace and prosperity (Deuteronomy 8:11-17).Perhaps the best example would be Lucifer himself, who became Satan. Since his creation, he had always lived under God’s perfect rule. Yet eventually his heart was lifted up with pride, and he rebelled (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:14-17). He uses that same device on us now. Paul warns that in these perilous “last days … men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy” (2 Timothy 3:1-2). Satan attacks right after great spiritual victories or mountaintop experiences, when the danger of pride is greatest. He looks for a weak spot in our armor, and shoots straight for it.

Another powerful device of Satan is envy. This goes all the way back to Cain’s envy of Abel, when Abel was blessed for his offering. Cain thought it wasn’t fair. God knew the attitude of both Cain and Abel, so in His eyes it was totally fair. So what does envy produce? “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there” (James 3:16).

Another tool that Satan uses is the lust for forbidden pleasures. We know that, through Satan’s influence, people don’t like to be told what to do. The “forbidden pleasures” grab people’s attention and focus. Satan makes them seem somehow more enticing and pleasurable than the true pleasures God wants us to have.

Satan also corrupts the minds of people (2 Cor. 11:3). He mixes a little truth with error. He knows that lies bound and cause grief. He also knows that truth sets free. So he tells lies and tries to get us to think pessimistically and cynically about God and His word. When you think negatively about God, it is easy to think skeptically about God. Anyone who causes skepticism concerning God’s Word is doing the work of the deceptive spirit. The best defense against the devil is to be so "God-centered" that we give no place to Satan. In today’s society, we have substituted five such lies against the truth. 1. Relativism, (There is no fixed truth), 2.Subjectivism. (Truth is based on feelings and experiences) 3. Pragmatism, (Do not ask if it’s true, but does it work.) 4. Rationalism. (Human reason and logic) 5. Postmodernism, (There is no absolute truth; it is subjective and individualistic.)

Paul warned about another device of Satan: Itching ears. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).Paul was warning Timothy of a natural tendency of human beings to want to hear new things, smooth things, things that appeal to us. Satan creates or exploits a quirk of human nature that allows even the amazing truths of God to seem boring! We must not fall prey to this weapon of Satan.