Satan: Master Deceiver

Satan is the ultimate deceiver - he plays on our weaknesses, tempts us, and ensnares us. He is a dangerous enemy. The older I get (and the more time I spend in the Bible), the more aware I become of how dangerous Satan truly is. I realized today how many different times we are warned about keeping our guard up, and maintaining faithfulness in the Bible. This life is a war against the ruler of darkness, in a very literal sense. Many of us fight spiritual battles every single day of our lives. I believe that Satan is hard at work doing his very best to thwart us from doing God's work. Luckily for us, God gives us a lot of inside information on Satan and his tricks, in the Bible.

This is something I have been really enlightened about today. One of the things I like to do is flip through my Bible, at random, and start reading. Sometimes I feel like God leads me to certain passages, and it really feels like He is giving me whatever wisdom I need at that moment. Well, today I happened to notice a theme in the passages I was led to read.

First, I stumbled upon Ephesians 6:10 - the message of putting on the armor of God.

Finally, brothers and sisters, draw your strength and might from God. Put on the full armor of God to protect yourselves from the devil and his evil schemes. We’re not waging war against enemies of flesh and blood alone. No, this fight is against tyrants, against authorities, against supernatural powers and demon princes that slither in the darkness of this world, and against wicked spiritual armies that lurk about in heavenly places. And this is why you need to be head-to-toe in the full armor of God: so you can resist during these evil days and be fully prepared to hold your ground.

Then, 2 Corinthians 4:4:

Because the evil god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers. As a result the light of the good news, the radiant glory of the Anointed—who is the very image of God—cannot shine down on them.

And then 2 Peter 5:8:

Most importantly, be disciplined and stay on guard. Your enemy the devil is prowling around outside like a roaring lion, just waiting and hoping for the chance to devour someone. Resist him and be strong in your faith, knowing that your brothers and sisters throughout the world are fellow sufferers with you.

And Ephesians 4:26:

When you are angry, don’t let it carry you into sin. Don’t let the sun set with anger in your heart or give the devil room to work.

Then it dawned on me - all of these warnings, all of the armor that we have to put on in order to be ready for battle - it isn't for a battle in the distant future.. it is for right now. It is for the daily fight that we face in keeping God at the forefront of our life. It is for fighting the constant temptation that Satan throws our way. It is for maintaining our faith in the midst of a morally dysfunctional world.

Now these verses spoke to me, personally, and the things going on in my life. Satan only comes to destroy.  And if you give him one inch, he will take a mile. And he'll niche out a nice little foothold in your life. And once he has done this, it becomes harder and harder to connect with God, and grow spiritually. And then Satan has won. I refuse to let him win.