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January 27, 2009
Know Thy Enemy - Part 1
The wiles of the Devil |
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Greetings!
I hope this email finds you well and in victory.
The Lord has been stirring a message in my heart about the way followers of Jesus fight. Over the next weeks, we will grow together from God's Word as we review His plan for victory and understand the enemy we face. The first step is a reality check.
It's time to wake up and understand we are at war! There is a terrorist in our midst. His name is Satan! It is not that he is invading our homeland but that we are on his! The enemy of our soul has sway over this world and it's systems. We are truly at war on foreign soil. In fact, we are behind enemy lines!
This world is not our home. We are destined to live in a "new heaven and earth". We are destined to spend eternity with our God and King! It is the goal of the enemy to make life as unbearable as possible and to steal our faith, rob our joy and kill our dreams! The enemy of Jesus Christ is on attack to keep us from doing all we can for our King and His Kingdom.
Consider these next weeks special training on the enemy of your soul. If we are to win this war, by bringing God glory with our lives, then we must know our enemy and fight unto death. We must be strategic and follow the wisdom, commands, and training of Jesus Christ ... our true Commander in Chief! |
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10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[c] against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 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.
~ Ephesians 6:10-13 ~ |
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The Schemer ... Satan and his schemes to destroy
The enemy of your soul is a schemer! He practices and employs cunning arts, deceit, craft, and trickery to fulfill his mission of "killing, stealing and destroying" you and God's Kingdom that you enforce. Thayer's Lexicon provides this definition for the Greek word interpreted "wiles", "to follow and or investigate by method and settled plan".
To know thy enemy is to know that he is rarely going to come at you in recognizable fashion. No, he is a schemer and will use his base nature of lies and deceit to confuse and manipulate. He has a "settled plan" he has been using for generations. It is to use us against each other!
Your enemy is a liar and a deceiver. Remember, you don't fight "against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:13). Your battle is not with people but with the schemer. His tactic is to get you to believe you are fighting against other souls that God loves. His scheme is to actually use you to get to others and to use others to get to you!
Many of us are in battles right now. It may be a spouse, a child, a friend, a co-worker, a boss, a family member or a neighbor. It doesn't matter who your are at odds with but is does matter who you blame! The devil is the source of all conflict, confusion and pain! Your fight is not with a person but with the enemy that has the person under his sway!
This week, when you are facing a nasty, mean, cruel person that is simply getting under your skin try to remember the schemer is at work. According to God's Word, the fight isn't with these bitter and bound folks but against the Devil that has them bound. There is no confusion. The schemer attempts to take God's love and compassion out of the equation. He wants us to fight against other souls so they don't receive God's message and so we feel shame, guilt and pain.
To know thy enemy is to know that thy enemy will scheme to accomplish his plan to kill, steal and destroy. To know thy enemy means to know he will raise a question that casts confusion on God's plan as Satan lifts his own agenda to the surface. To know thy enemy is to know that he has come to stand in opposition of God's plan to reach the world with the hope and love only found in Jesus Christ. To know thy enemy is to know that he is a schemer that inhabits the land, the airways, and the windows of our world.
To know Jesus is to know the Destroyer of our enemy!
To Battle!!!! |
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For King and Kingdom,
Randy Martin |
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