Wednesday, May 1, 2019

Win

“God is up to something or [Satan] wouldn't be fighting you this hard! You're going to win.” (Spiritual Inspiration)

What is Satan’s plan for your life?  There are daily strategies, cultural strategies, geographical strategies of the enemy set to “steal, kill and destroy” (John 10:10) us.  There are also the personal strategies, brilliantly and mischievously crafted that take into account our vulnerable places in the hopes that we can be destroyed before we ever become unstoppable forces of good in a broken world. No matter who you are or what your current circumstances are, the one thing we all have in common is this: Two beings have opposing plans for your life today. Jesus’ plan is to give you life-life to the full.

I can only imagine what the temptations are in your life today. The temptation is not sin, it’s the yielding to it that kills me. When I succumb, I’m agreeing with my enemy. Whomever I believe will determine my destiny. If I allow him, Satan will get in my mind to play lies from my past and present. I won’t fool around with Satan. What sin in your life is keeping you from freedom? How long has God been telling you to forgive that person? How long has God been asking you to quit smoking? How long has God been warning you about that relationship? How long has God been asking you to release your disappointment with His path for your life?

When will you go where He told you to go? How long do you have to wear the mask of being a perfect Christian before you suffocate beneath it? Is your sin really working for you? Who you believe will determine your life’s work, your relationships, and your effectiveness as a Christ-follower. Don’t buy into Satan’s deceit. Jesus came to save you from a lost eternity. He offers you Living Water to quench the thirst that you keep trying to satiate with sin. The way of escape is right before you. Satan has a plan for your life. God has a plan for your life. Whom do you believe?

Satan wants nothing more than to enter certain areas of your life so he can gain a stronghold. He’ll try anything to throw you off center, distract you from your focus, and render you ineffective for the Kingdom of God. As long as we’re aware of Satan’s strategies, we can be on guard to keep him out of his targeted entry points.  These are the five areas of your life Satan wants to enter: 

1.   Our bodies - so they no longer glorify God-Why are it that when people get depressed they overeat or drink excessively or turn to substances? I believe it’s because Satan will turn us against our bodies if he can, as a way of “getting back at God.” Our bodies are precious to God.  Satan knows that God considers our bodies His temple and therefore God wants us to keep our bodies holy, healthy and honoring to Him.

Because our bodies are holy to God, Satan would love to have us harm them, mutilate them, starve them, and destroy them with substances. Don’t let him in. Not in how you dress. Not in how you see yourself. Not in how you treat yourself. Ask God for a healthy body image and a desire to protect your body so you can serve Him on this earth in it for as long as possible. 

2.   Your everyday thinking – so you’re just like the world-It’s amazing how many people profess to know God and follow Him yet their thinking patterns are just like those of anyone else in the world. Satan loves that. He wants you to be so absorbed with the ways of the world that you are clueless about what God’s Word says.

He will do this through subtle messages in music lyrics, statements from your favorite celebrity, and words of advice from friends. Satan would rather have us in mental anguish by listening to the world, rather than God. Guard your everyday thinking by soaking it in scripture. It’s the only way to keep Satan and his worldly philosophies from entering in.

3.   Your heart – so it’s not God’s alone-Satan knows he has an entry point into your life if God is not first in your heart. Satan’s greatest desire is to prevent you from giving God all of your heart so he will constantly dangle people, things, and desires in front of you. He uses anything to distract you so he can erect a false god in front of you that you don’t even realize you have. 

It’s a subtle way of starting to love other things more than God. Some of us love food, money, recreation, our children, a substance, or a “feeling” (like being in love, or feeling energetic) more than God. Guard your heart by keeping Christ on the throne of your life so Satan doesn’t try to sneak anything else in. 

4.   Your speech – so you tear others apart-God wants us to be holy mouthpieces for Him people who heal and help with our words. Satan would rather have you messing up with your mouth. A few critical words here, a few complaints there, some profanity mixed in with a little gossip on the side, and you have given him permission to make you a person who tears others apart and sounds no different (and sometimes worse) than unbelievers.

Satan knows you can cause much damage with your mouth if you do not bring it under God’s control. Whether it is gossip, criticism or unkind remarks, our mouths can be instruments of decency or destruction. Close that door to Satan. Be a verbally thankful person who speaks only to lift others up, not tear them down. That will diminish and destroy a critical and complaining spirit that gives Satan a stronghold in your life. 

5.   Your worries – to make you doubt God’s love and provision-Satan wants you stressing because then you’re not resting in God’s ability to care for you. Women tend to stress over the temporal – bills that must be paid, whether or not a man will come into our lives, if we’ll be able to have a child, what someone is saying about us, how our body looks, and so on. Men tend to stress about their jobs, providing for their families, and whether or not they are “making the cut” in several areas of life.

Then there’s health concerns, fears about our aging parents, and other situations that can crowd out God’s peace in our lives and even cause us to begin to blame God for our circumstances. Don’t let Satan in this door through his tantalizing “what if?” questions and the doubts he weaves through your mind. Keep praying about your concerns and keep thanking God ahead of time for what He’s about to do so Satan doesn’t get a stronghold in your mind through your worries and fears. 

“You present a challenge to Satan’s plan. You carry something of God within you, something noble and holy, something the world needs – wisdom, kindness, mercy, skill. If Satan can neutralize you, he can mute your influence.” (Max Lucado)[i]



[i] Sources used:
·        “5 Areas of Your Life Satan Wants to Enter” by Cindi McMenamin
·        Satan's Plan for Your Life” by Amber Lia

·        “What is Satan’s Plan for Your Life?” by Become Good Soil

 

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