” … wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 2 Thessalonians 2:10 (emphasis mine) Read full chapter
“But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:3 NIV Read full chapter
“Satan disguises submission to himself under the ruse of personal autonomy. He never asks us to be his servants. Never once did the serpent say to Eve, ‘I want to be your master.’ The shift in commitment is never from Christ to evil; it is always from Christ to self. And instead of His will, self-interest now rules and what I want reigns. And that is the essence of sin.” (emphasis mine)
Dennis F. Kinlaw, “This Day With the Master”
“Personal autonomy” has become a popular theme in today’s society. Read Steve Brewer’s excellent post on how this relates to God’s Word HERE. I believe this message is essential for understanding today’s world.
Steve’s blog, The Brew Is Amusing, always brings an excellent message (and he does it in a few words!)
In His Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? See my page Who Is Jesus?
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper who love you.”
When it comes to truth, however, being close isn’t close enough. … Satan is smart. He wants to get people to deviate just enough in their thinking to get them off course, and if there isn’t a course correction, the result will be catastrophic.” Pastor Jack Hibbs, Living In the Daze of Deception
In His Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? See my page Who Is Jesus?
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you.” Psalm 122:6
“Now the serpent was more cunning than any animal of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” Genesis 3:1 NASB (emphasis mine) Read full chapter
Comment: Satan is crafty. He will try to make us doubt God’s Word. He is tricky, manipulative, deceitful, deceptive, shrewd, and clever. Don’t fall for his schemes!
In His Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? See my page Who Is Jesus?
“Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.” 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 NIV Read full chapter
In His Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? See my page Who Is Jesus?
One of Satan’s favorite weapons is discouragement. I get discouraged sometimes, but the Lord always picks me back up. Sometimes encouragement comes through another person who is walking closely with God. This happened recently when I read Devotional Treasures by Alan Kearns. You can read it here.
Alan said, “It is not our ability that matters, but rather the Might of our Father God.” That hit me right between the eyes!
The Lord was showing me that if I have doubts and fears about my ministry (and we all have a ministry, you know) it’s because I’m taking all the responsibility on myself instead of depending on Him and trusting Him to accomplish His will. He has promised,
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” Psalm 32:8 NIV
Satan likes to attack our minds, making us think his lies are true. Doubts, fears, frustrations, distractions, and even fatigue may be the attack of the enemy. The following verses show us that the enemy attacks our minds.
“But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:3 ESV
“In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:4 ESV
I love the story of Nehemiah and how he led the exiles back to Jerusalem where they were obeying God and rebuilding the demolished walls of the city. You can read about it in Nehemiah, chapters 4-6 here.
These chapters reveal how the enemy tried to stop the work God had given them to do: rebuilding the walls. So don’t be surprised if the enemy tries to stop the work God has given YOU to do!
Nehemiah and the Rebuilding of the Wall
Whether you are writing a blog, teaching a Bible Study, going to the mission field, pastoring a church, working in the nursery, or building a wall, the enemy’s plan is, first and foremost, to STOP THE WORK.
Satan’s plan is to make you give up!
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 NIV
If we depend on our own abilities and strength we will fail. Consider the words of the Apostle Paul.
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-11 NIV (emphasis mine)
Be strong in the Lord!
In His Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? See my page Who Is Jesus?
(Satan) is amazingly effective at making lies believable … the only hope we have of being able to spot his lies is to be intimately familiar with the truth. We must be so well versed in the truth, so faithful to the truth, and such a doer of truth that he will not be able to deceive us with his lies. Apart from the Word of God, we are sitting ducks!”
Jim Osman, Truth or Territory?
In His Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? See my page Who Is Jesus?
Many years ago, when I was in a Word of Faith church, I was wrongly taught that we had “revelation knowledge”. It was actually a prideful attitude, thinking we knew and understood so much more than that “religious” church down the street.
We naively sought understanding from the many books written by false teachers that could be found in our bookstore. Some of these errant teachings on spiritual warfare have permeated evangelical Christianity.
I decided to set aside everything I had learned from “Bible teachers” and books and to seek understanding about spiritual warfare from the Bible alone.
What the Bible says about spiritual warfare is straightforward and plain to see. There is no mysterious, hidden meaning that only the spiritual elite can understand. The Bible warns us about the ways of Satan. It also tells us how to stand against his schemes. Only by reading and studying God’s Word daily will we learn these things. There is no shortcut.
Spiritual Warfare isn’t some mysterious prayer technique. In fact, it really isn’t that complicated at all. In its purest form, engaging in spiritual warfare is proclaiming the Gospel and speaking the Truth in God’s Word.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” Romans 1:16
Stop and think about that for a moment. The world today believes many lies that literally shock the senses! I won’t list them here because you already know what they are.
“True spiritual warfare is a battle for the minds of men because they are held in bondage to Satan by believing the lies that he (Satan) has told them.”
The Christian’s battle (true spiritual warfare) is not a feeling, an intuition or an imaginative experience in the spirit realm – however real it might seem.”
To be a mighty warrior, we must trust in God’s Word. We must study it to be prepared. Consider this familiar passage on spiritual warfare. Notice that this passage is about how to “STAND”. Why do we need to know how to stand? Because in today’s world, standing for truth can have its dangers. You might not be executed if you are fortunate enough to live in the West. But you could lose your job, your friends, or be outright hated and persecuted.
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evilin the heavenly realms.Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Our battle is not against people. It’s against the devil and his demonic forces. Our only weapon is the Word of God, the Truth. But to stand against the devil’s schemes, we have been given “the armor of God”. Our faith (trust in God and His might) is our Shield.
Ultimately, spiritual warfare is not about a technique to battle demons. It is proclaiming God’s Word in a world under Satanic deception to a people who walk in darkness.
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Jesus (John 8:12 NIV)
In His Love, Cindy
Would you like to learn more about Jesus? See my page Who Is Jesus?
We must be so well versed in the truth, so faithful to the truth, and such a doer of truth that he (Satan) will not be able to deceive us with his lies. Apart from the Word of God, we are sitting ducks!
Jim Osman, Truth or Territory
In His Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? See my page Who Is Jesus?
Real Christian Women 