Satan's Strategy

 

    Satan's strategy to defeat God is to destroy God's creation, so he attacks God's people the most.  He doesn't have to attack other people as much since they are his already.  Satan focuses on the Christians that follow Jesus.  

    Satan's strategy is simple.  He plants something in the mind.  If you allow yourself to dwell on it, then it will turn into a temptation.  Then he starts planting lies and deception in your mind.  The purpose is to push you away from God and other people.  If you are isolated, then you are an easy target.  He may lead you to a place of being content, so you don't strive to do more.  If that doesn't work, then he will throw discouragement at you full force.

    Satan gets his foot hold through the mind.  Every action starts in the mind.  If he can place doubt in your mind, then you start to question God.  If you question God, then you will loose some of you trust in Him.  If you don't trust God, then you will not listen to His commands and sin begins.

    Satan is polite, charming, and manipulative.  He is like a flirty date that tells you everything you want to hear.  It may seem innocent, but if he can place pride in your heart, then he has his chains binding you.  

    God is the only way to real freedom.  He has all the answers and security.  If you will trust Him, then He will set you free from the burden of sin's control over your life. That is why Satan wants you to question what is best for you.  He will have you believe that he knows what is better for you than God.  He will have you thinking God doesn't exist or that He is the enemy.  It starts with wrong assumptions and then Satan will twist how you evaluate life.

    Questioning God's authority is allowing doubt free rain.  It is good to ask God questions, but it is a sin to question His authority.  It disrespects your creator.  It insults His name.  Instead embrace the name Yahweh (Lord God) and Elohim (God).  You can't remove His sovereignty, but listening to Satan does insult His power.  

    God is personal, relational, and eternal.  Satan only uses you.  He doesn't want you to realize that, so he will distract you from the truth.  He will have you question what is right and wrong, so that you will rationalize what is wrong to make it good in your mind.  It doesn't change the truth.  He wants you to question God's character, so you will not believe the consequences for your sins.

    Over time, Satan will remove all that is good in your life.  You will be left an empty shell with no answers to life.  You will be alone, but you may have money or fame to make you feel better.  If he can keep you from seeing how much you need Jesus, then he will be able to use you as a pawn until the day you die and then you are only more fuel for the fires of hell.

    You know the truth, so why does Satan's strategy work?  It works because you are focusing on the wrong things.  It works because Satan has you believing that God is restrictive, when in reality God's boundaries make your life easier.  Satan wants you to believe that God's boundaries are limitation on life and that Satan is the great liberator.  It is all a lie.

    Satan's freedom may bring pleasure, but at a high cost.  He may allow you feel like you are in control, but you are not.  You are his slave.  He wants you to believe he cares, but He doesn't care about you at all.  Don't believe the lies like whatever makes you happy.  Happy is situational.  God gives joy which can endure in the bad times.

    Satan wants you to fight the faith of Christianity.  God wants you to see what you have to be grateful for in life.  He wants you to live it fully, but in a way that you can live a long and healthy life.  You can fight Satan's lies by reading the Bible prayerfully.  That is how you are going to learn God's character.  Once you embrace the truth, following Jesus becomes a lot easier.  It becomes rational to see His goodness.  

    We all have to start somewhere.  Starting where you are right now is as good of a place as any.  Just place your trust in God and start talking to Him.  Ask Him to guard your heart and mind.  Then stop giving any of your attention to Satan's schemes.  Understand your human vulnerability and take personal responsibility over your life.  

    Learn to understand yourself as a child of God and your personal weaknesses that you need to give to God to protect you.  You can stop listening to Satan's lies right now because you are loved and special to God.  You are not a pawn to Him.

Genesis 3, Matthew 4:1-11, John 8:42-51, Ephesians 6:10-17, & 1 John 1:5-7