SATAN’S DEVICES 12:12:99
2Cor 2:11 "…lest satan should take advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices."
I believe we are about to see the greatest move of the spirit on the face of the earth. I believe the many prophesies spoken about end-time revival and great signs and wonders. I see God preparing His people, through greater revelation and understanding of the word of God, and the authority of the believer. Through manifestations and moves of the spirit that, though not new, are more common and widespread than ever. With modern travel and the internet, what God is doing in one place is immediately known in another. Satan can’t keep it under wraps any more, or confine it to a handfull of holy rollers on the other side of the tracks. The front page of Truth last week (Nov 26 issue) says: "Hand of God Heals Child" and the article talks of signs and miracles of healings happening in the Elim Church in Timaru – identical to what is happening in Brownsville.
As we take hold of our spiritual weapons, and begin to move in the Spirit, and the Authority of the Name of Jesus, we become a tremendous threat to the kingdom of darkness.
The enemy’s first strategy is to try to keep God’s people in ignorance, playing church and doing anything as long as they don’t find out about the power of God’s word, the anointing that destroys the yoke, the gifts of the spirit etc. Then those that are able to break free from the shackles of religion, tradition and ignorance – those that refuse to compromise God’s word and begin to rise up in power come under special attack from the enemy. As Joyce Meyer warns: "New level., new devil." Only satan doesn’t really have anything new. He has no weapons that can overcome the Name, the Blood, the Word or the anointing.
Spiritually in Christ we are more than conquerors. So his only chance is to identify our own weaknesses and exploit them.
Peter was the one who had the revelation of the Christ. (Matthew 16) And therefore he became number two on Hell’s hit list. And Jesus warned him: "Simon, Simon! Indeed, satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to me, strengthen your brethren." (Luke 22:31&32) To ‘ask’ here literally means that satan is demanding to put Peter on trial, and to seek to get him from Jesus power and under his own. This was not something satan could do without Peter’s co-operation. He had to get a legal right, and the strategy was to sift though Peters life as wheat is sifted, to identify and exploit whatever chaff – weaknesses or impurities he could find. Which
Which turned out to be Peter’s insecurities and fear. Then he just turned the heat up until Peter cracked. Jesus understood this principle, because he had endured it himself – being in all ways tempted, tested and tried as we are, yet without sin. (Hebrews 4) Many are aware that Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, but fail to discern that He was: "Led by the spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted by the devil." (Luke 4:1) This was before He started His public ministry. This had to be settled before He could really start the battle for real. Any strongholds in His life had to be exposed and dealt with. Forty days fasting weakens the flesh and strengthens the spirit – strategically satan picked the worst possible time and place to attack. Because he’s a loser.
Here’s a vitally important life principle: If you don’t deal with that situation in your time, it will deal with you in its time.
Any good General will tell you that to ensure victory you must choose the time, and place, of the battle. So that a) You are not taken by surprise, but are prepared for war, and b) that strategically you have the higher ground and the sun behind you. The enemy has to attack up hill, with the sun in his eyes, and against a prepared and determined foe.
We have far better weapons than Peter had at that point, to resist and defeat satan. Because Jesus has been to the Cross! And He is risen!
When satan demands us for trial, to expose and capitalize on our weaknesses, we can boldly stand in that courtroom, and say: "I claim the blood of Jesus." Anything acknowledged and confessed to the Father is covered by the Blood. But there’s the rub. It only works for that which is acknowledged and confessed. The reaction of the flesh is always pride, and denial. "Whosoever covers his sin will not prosper." Col Stringer teaches that self-preservation is the language of the soul. "I don’t have a problem" it screams. The more the heat from satan, or Holy Spirit conviction, the more the soulish person will bawl and squall and point to ‘everyone else but me.’
"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." "Satan is King over all the children of pride." Because as long as we are in the pride of denial, satan can exploit our weakness, until it destroys us. God works through our spirit. Satan works through our flesh. Put it this way – with our born again spirit man we participate in God’s kingdom, a spiritual kingdom where Jesus is Lord.
With our natural, carnal (or soulish) man we participate in the natural kingdom, which is the kingdom of satan, and self is Lord in that kingdom.
Let’s look at how satan took out Saul. That Saul had an insecurity problem is evidenced right at the start, when Samuel came to make him King. He was in hiding, and they found him among the baggage. (1Samuel 10:12)
Two years later Saul started a campaign against the Phillistines, so they gathered an army of 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and people as the sand on the sea shore. God’s Prophet Samuel instructed Saul to wait seven days, at which time he would meet Saul and make offerings to God. On the seventh day Samuel hadn’t arrived, and the people were scattering from him. So Saul took it on himself to do the burnt offering. Which was actually rebellion against God’s instructions through Samuel. Only Saul didn’t recognize it as such. His self-justification is in 1Sam 13:11. "When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you didn’t come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash… " Satan was able to bring sufficient pressure against Saul to totally distort his perspective - for him to succumb to the dictates of his anxieties, and justify himself in the process. To take a step in rebellion against God and intrude into an office to which he was not called. Did he think he could be prophet as well as king, because Samuel wasn’t playing the game to his satisfaction and distorted ego?
Again Saul made a serious mistake when God told him to destroy Amalek – ‘man, woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ (1Sam15) (God had abundant reason for this action, whiich we don’t have time to go into here.) Saul saved the Amelakite King alive, and the people took the plunder – sheep oxen etc that should have been destroyed. Even worse, which is not mentioned until later in the word. Saul also killed the Gibeonites, who through deception had induced Joshua to make a covenant with them, and yet God honoured it. When confronted with his disobedience, Saul went into denial., and spiritualized it by saying they kept the animals for sacrifice.
Samuel declared that: "Rebellion is as the sin of wiitchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatory." Idolatory because stubbornness places the throne of self above the throne of God.
Saul’s pride (his need to be popular with the people, which was really rooted in insecurity) caused his downfall. It became his obsession, and a distressing spirit troubled him. Because of his evident weakness of character, we can guess what that spirit was saying to him. It would have been hammering and exploiting his insecurity. When David killed Goliath, in Saul’s tormented eyes David had stolen away from him the thing he craved most: "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands." (1Sam 18:10)
Satan sifted Saul’s life, located his insecurities, and used them against him to destroy him. At any time Saul could have stopped the slide by acknowledging his pride and insecurities before God, and repenting.
It continues to amaze me, that when certain people have particularly obnoxious manners or attitude, it quickly becomes evident to everyone but themselves (or others like them.) The more insecure, the less open they are to an honest appraisal of their attitudes or performance.
They become a majority of one, and gradually isolate themselves.
"A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgment." (Proverbs 18:1) While there is often an outward show of seeking God, their heart motives are actually self – serving. Entrenched in denial and tormented by satan’s whisperings, they become more and more desperate to cover it up – criticising others, straining at gnats and swallowing camels. Forever seeking ways to blot out the whisperings, and conviction of their heart – sometimes through drugs, sometimes just by becoming obsessively busy – not daring to stop long enough for reality to catch up with them. There is a discernable difference between enthuisiasm or zeal, and obsession.
Sometimes they are driven to put on an outward show of perfection, to cover the major imperfections inside.
Okay, okay, so what’s the answer?
Make Jesus Lord of your life. Not just your saviour, your Lord!
Stubbornness means unyielding, obstinate. Making Jesus your Lord means yielding, submitting to Him. To pray: "Not my will, but your will be done Lord" doesn’t mean that you have arrived at that place. It means that it is your goal – your desire.
2) Understand that you are a unique and special creation of God,
regardless of your weaknesses or failings. So that you can separate your person from your performance (separate your who from your do, as Joyce says.) So that you can risk an honest evaluation of yourself and your attitudes. My spirit man is a righteous and perfect son of God – my flesh is a jerk! His attitudes suck! But he’s not who I am, I just whimp out and allow him to bully me sometimes.
I am reminded of a favourite story: A guy went to a ‘holy man’ and begged: "show me the path to enlightenment." He instructed him to go home and spend ten minutes outside with his arms raised, and to return the next day. Sure enough he came round the next day, and the Holy man asked how it went. "Well, I did like you said. I went outside and raised my arms for ten minutes. It was raining so the water ran down my neck, and I felt like a complete fool." The Holy man replied:
"Well, for the first day, that’s quite a revelation!" The path of enlightenment begins with that revelation. As Paul said: "I am convinced that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing."
Be quick to repent! In other words, keep short accounts with God.
The right of repentance gives us victory over all satan’s devices. No matter how far down the road you’ve gone, how deep into sin or attitudes, how great the captivity by satan, you can always repent. And the moment you do, it breaks satan’s hold. Don’t bury it away where satan can dig it up – dissolve it in the Blood of Jesus!
Judge yourself, and you will not be judged.
Understand that no-one but Jesus will be there when you have to
stand before God and give account. I imagine myself standing before God trying to explain why I got ugly. "Brother Dodad did this, so I did that…." It’s going to sound so lame! I’m not accountable for Brother Dodad’s attitudes or actions. But I am accountable for my own.
David prayed: "Examine me, O Lord, and prove me (try me);
Try my mind and my heart." (Psalm 26:2)
In essence he is saying: "I stand before the courts of heaven. Bring on the prosecutor and examiner. Let the attitudes of my heart, and the motives of my mind be laid out for examination. Imagine yourself in such a court. Before the Holy and Righteous Judge of all. There’s the accuser and prosecutor, satan. Rubbing his hands with glee, and pointing an accusing finger at me. There’s my defense lawyer, Jesus, beside me. The gallery is packed with a great crowd of witnesses – there’s Abraham, I spotted Paul and Barnabus in the back there. Barnabus (the son of encouragement) gives me a wave and a smile.
The court official sets up a big screen out front where everyone can see. They dim the lights, and at a word from God the show starts. And to my shock and horror, what is shown on the screen for all to see is the attitudes of my heart! The petty resentment against my neighbour, the lust toward the foxy lady in Church. All the shameful and petty attitudes of my heart exposed to all!
Sound horrendous. Reality check! This is the way it is. God knows your heart. So does Jesus. And satan can soon figure it out, because he seeded those things in there in the first place!
Any areas you cover and deny before God is an area that satan can lay claim to. Your only hope to avoid the humiliation of exposure is acknowledgment and repentance.
Be a worshipper! David, the Psalmist of Israel, was the greatest
worshipper of all. Worship invites the presence and power of God. And that will expose your heart attitudes and motives. I love those times of corporate worship in church, when the Father’s presence is so tangible, and our hearts become so tender and open toward Him. But have you noticed that not everyone participates? Some dive right on in, others begin to get agitated and restless. Their hearts are exposed by the presence of God. Again, let me illustrate. Here’s the throne room with the Father in His Glory cloud. Here’s Jesus inviting you to come boldly to the throne. But you have this garbage hidden away, and you know that there’s no way you can keep it hidden in the presence of the God of omniscience (all knowledge!) You only have two choices. You can give it to Jesus, and ask Him to get rid of it for you. Which means acknowledging that you have it, and that you know it is wrong.
Or you can deny that you have it, but that means you can’t go in to the Father’s presence, knowing that He knows. Instead you will pull back, run and hide. Try it out on yourself, or better still, someone else.
Say they want to have a good old gossip session, and slag off at someone else. Wait till they get good and warmed up, getting in their stride and fully yielding to the bitterness and resentment in their heart, then just lift your hands and start to worship the Lord. "Precious Jesus.
I love you Lord. I am so thankful you that you are always with us…"
"What? Nobody told me that Jesus was here. I wouldn’t have said those things.." If you can’t say it in the presence of Jesus, don’t say it at all, you ugly thing!
6) Yield to the Holy Spirit. He’s a gentleman, and speaks with a still, small voice. Satan works through the flesh, which manipulates, controls, demands, pressures. The Holy Spirit leads, guides, prompts. As you yield to him, He will develop His fruit in your life – love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control.
By this you can discern what spirit you are yielding to, who you are giving place to.
7) Walk in integrity. Which means to be honest, open and forthright.
Straight up. Hidden agenda’s are not integrity. Although my actions will not always be right, and though I may not always do the right things, I do my best at all times to keep my motives and attitudes pure before God. That my motive is for God’s highest good for my fellow man.
There are no skeletons in my closet, I spend no time looking over my shoulder. "He is near who justifies me; who will contend with me? Let us stand together." (Isaiah 50:8) This chapter is written about Jesus. The picture here is: "Do you have a problem with me? Let’s you and I stand before the throne of God, and let Him be the judge."
It’s not the fact that you have sin that becomes your undoing, and gives place to the devil. It is what you do with your sin.
We have this treasure in earthen vessels. (2Corinthians 4:7) The treasure is the Grace, Glory and Power of God. The deposit that the Spirit of God has placed in our lives, and made our spirits alive. The earthen vessel – the attitudes and actions of our natural man.
The awareness of being an earthen vessel keeps me humble and teachable. Awed that God is so loving and gracious, that He would see me as dear and precious, warts and all! And that He could use one such as I in His plans and purposes on the earth. There’s a world of lost and hurting people out there, and God wants to use you to be an example of His Grace, Amazing Grace!
God help me to be vigilant, and to be honest and open before you, and before all men.
-Steve
