The Enemy

This week has been quite a challenging week for me. The enemy was attacking me with full force and truly testing my patience! Therefore, I wanted to briefly talk about the enemy and who he really is, that way someone reading this won't fall into his trap and can handle anything he may try to throw their way. I feel that most people have a huge misinterpretation on who the enemy is. They hear the word "devil" or "Satan" and they think of a burning red-suited demon with a pitchfork and horns coming out of his head. The truth is Satan was one of God's trusted angels that was cast out of heaven for his pride! Satan despised God so much that he figured, the best way to get back at God is to hurt the one thing God loves the most, His children! The devil is a master of disguise and knows how to use the word, your situation, and even the people around you to bring you down and away from God. "These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. In the end they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve" (2 Corinthians 11:13-15 NLT). 

The enemy tries to convince us to believe lies like, "You are not good enough", "You can't do that", "So-and-so is so much better than you", "You will never have those things", "You should just quit now while you're still ahead", "God is not really there and even if He was, He certainly doesn't care". The enemy doesn't want you to be happy and he certainly doesn't want you to have what God plans for you! He wants you to doubt God and yourself! The enemy has been using the same tricks of temptation and doubt since the beginning of mankind because he knows what works! Unfortunately for the enemy, him using the same tricks means that we are able to recognize his tricks and know how to resist them! "The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure" (1 Corinthians 10:13). Fortunately for us, Jesus came down and defeated the enemy on our behalf! When Jesus died on the cross for us, the enemy no longer had the power to take God's children away from Him! That's why the enemy tries to get into your head because he knows he can not take you away from God, so he tries to make YOU walk away yourself! You have the power and the resources to resist the enemy through Christ! You have the power to look the enemy in the face and declare, "You have no authority to take my joy, my strength, or my life!" My friends, rest assured and rejoice in the fact that the battle has already been fought and WON by our Savior , Jesus Christ! Don't let the enemy rob you of fulfilling your destiny. Know the Word so that the enemy can't use it against you! The most important thing I have learned about the enemy is when he attacks someone with full force, it's because he is afraid of what they are capable of and what God has in store for them! Stay Strong! 

Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen. (2 Timothy 4:18 NLT)