saltandlight

Have you ever noticed that when things are going well for you spiritually, the devil begins to attack? Satan and his demons are busy trying to make us Christians fail and damage our testimony. See, he has already lost us. The next best thing is to make us do or say something that will ruin our testimony and our character.

A lot of times this very thing is what gives Christians a bad name. There are many Christians living their daily lives unprepared for the enemy and when he comes knocking they fall right into his trap. And when that happens, it makes them look like they aren’t really walking the walk. And others may look at that and think “well they are no better than I am” or “if that is what Christianity looks like, I think I’ll pass.” I’ve actually heard these statements before.

And let me stop right here and say that Christians do not think we are better than others. Well, we shouldn’t think that anyways. Some do have that type of arrogant spirit, and that is a shame. That is falling right into the devil’s trap.

What I am talking about though is spiritual warfare.

When you get busy doing something for the Lord that He has called on you to do, watch out. Because Satan doesn’t like that. He can’t stand it when God is being glorified and when His kingdom is being expanded! Satan can’t have God’s children, but he sure can tempt us to make us fail.

My husband and I have both been under attack lately. My husband pastor’s a small church that has really been growing! Not just in number but spiritually growing! And of course the enemy is trying his best to cause problems. I am very close to publishing a book that the Lord has been urging me to complete for a while now! And the enemy doesn’t like that. So he is trying to cause me problems. He is trying to make us lose our testimony. He wants us to quit.

The good news is that we can be prepared for this.

Just as Jesus was prepared for Satan when he was tempted. (Matthew 41:1-11) Jesus had been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights before Satan came to tempt Him. He was ready! And that is the example He has set for us. My favorite verse from this is verse 10: 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.’” And what did Satan do? He left. And then angels came and ministered to Jesus.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7

We can’t handle Satan on our own. We must rely on God and His power to defeat the enemy and the darkness of this world. Sometimes that might require taking some serious time away, alone with God in fasting and prayer.

The more we are studying God’s Word, the closer we are to Him. The closer we are to Him, the easier it is to recognize Satan’s attacks and go ahead and block them. The sooner we see these attacks and/or temptations from the enemy, the sooner we can get stop them with the power of God’s Word.

If you go back and read Matthew 41:1-11 you will notice that Jesus combatted Satan with the Word of God every time!

If we have His word hidden in our hearts, we can do the same. And I don’t only mean memorizing scripture. I mean by studying and meditating on His Word.

And finally I want to point you to Ephesians 6:13-18. These scriptures describe the full armor of God:

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Blessings,

~ Cheryl