Subtle tricks of the devil!
“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil,” (Ephesians 6:11).
After and before intense fasting and prayer days, I tell you, I had to be vigilant, cautious and alert to the wiles of the devil! The devil would come subtly to sabotage your painstaking efforts and plans. Certain fortuitous circumstances may crop up and all your astute, meticulous planning may come to naught! Are you hearing me? He can attack you from any side, just when you think you are safe on one side, he would send his missiles where you least expect; for those of you who are basking under the hallucination that devils don’t exist then this message would sound weird; nevertheless read it for enlightenment. Don’t look around for two horns and twisted teeth, most of the time, he is at his best beautiful form! Caveat!
When the devil cannot attack you from the front lines, when he knows you are prayerfully covered, he would not retread and be cowed down, but would try other methods! Are you listening? A mother of two kids who study in our school was working as a cook in our school, it was one of those days when I was running the various projects with scanty staff that she and her children along with other kids of the same area were coming late to school regularly. Just one word and she walked away at the most crucial time of preparing food for the children; however, I pitched in that day and got the work done. I thank God for his training in my life as an-all-rounder! Nevertheless, it did zap my energy and affect my prayer, personal and spiritually life! Perpetually I was tired! Now, I look around 1000 times before I utter a word, lest the devil grabs away my peace and help. When I feel and smell the work of the enemy against me, I get cautious!
Friend, I write this devotion with a broken heart having lost many young people who fell drastically to the wiles of the devil; most of them fell at the first stroke of the devil. The sad part is that the devil does not have to try very hard, our young people are like egg shells – breakable, fragile and hardly covered! Just one look from the devil and they are flat on the floor! One young girl who did not attend the fasting prayer at church said, ‘sister, I sit at home and pray during that time!’ Oh! How easily he had kept the girl away from the House of God! There are other smart intellectuals who say, “God is everywhere!” People skip church go to work on Sundays and say, ‘God understands me!’ Do not be misled by the devil, God cannot bless disobedience! Caveat! Read His Words: “You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death. Whoever does any work on it, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.”(Exodus 31:14)
The devil is guffawing at the poor prayer life, careless behavior, arrogance towards church and the elders and most important ‘I know it all’ attitude. Beware! He will whisk you in such way that it would be hard for you to stand erect after that! Pride, greed for money and lust are the most important tools that the devil uses! Stay away!
Why would educated, intelligent, shrewd business men and executives fall for cyber frauds and lose crores of money? Greed for more! The enemy starts with excitement, entices you with captions like: ‘You have won a lottery’ and then takes you down the path of devastation. A married man who has an affair outside the marriage is comfortable in his conscience that he has not divorced his wife but is taking care of ‘both’ the homes. Lie of the devil! People attend church on Sunday mornings and get drunk in the evening and celebrate the Sabbath day with the devil! No wonder Christian homes are in shambles!
Jesus said: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” (John 15:4)
Christians have a task at hand, and it will be unwise to take the devil lightly. Buck up!
