The devil is ineffective against God’s power
Resist him when you see him in a situation
If he is luring you with his foul delicacies
Enticing you to desire something that is not of God,
something you know is against God’s word
Perhaps to hate
Or lust
Or to not forgive
To deal unjustly
Whatever it might be, resist that old Satan and he will have to flee
Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7
Jesus spoke to Peter harshly
Peter was trying to talk him out of dying on the cross:
But he turned, and said unto Peter,
Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me:
for thou savourest not the things that be of God,
but those that be of men. Matthew 16:23
Our minds can be swayed by Satan and his deceptions
He lurks about like a roaring lion:
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil,
as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour: 1 Peter 5:8
The disciples meant well here
They were trying to protect Jesus
and wanted people to have their just reward
The people had just rejected their Lord:
And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said,
Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven,
and consume them, even as Elias did?
But he turned, and rebuked them, and said,
Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives,
but to save them. And they went to another village. Luke 9:54-56
Jesus wanted them to walk in the love He had for the people
Satan even tried to tempt Jesus
Jesus resisted him
The Devil offered Him all the kingdoms of the world
if Jesus would just worship him:
And Jesus answered and said unto him,
Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,
and him only shalt thou serve. Luke 4:8
Are you stronger than Satan?
Not in your own strength
Rejoice not that you have power over devils
but rejoice that your name is written in the Lamb’s book of life
Isaiah describes the Devil’s fall from grace and a glimpse at The End of Time:
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
For thou hast said in thine heart,
I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:
I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation,
in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will be like the most High.
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee,
saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble,
that did shake kingdoms; Isaiah 14:12-16
Lucifer, that old Devil, Satan is not who he portrays himself to be
He is a liar and filled with mischief,
trying to deceive and turn us from serving the Most High God
With some, he will succeed
If he can twist the truth just enough that they buy into his lies
some will accept his deception
It is so important to love the truth
and to place our thoughts below God’s thoughts
The second we place our thoughts above God,
we have succumbed to pride, Satan’s most common weapon,
and it seems to be his favorite
Scriptural References:
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish;
because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion,
that they should believe a lie:
2 Thessalonians 2:10-11
Notwithstanding in this rejoice not,
that the spirits are subject unto you;
but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.
Luke 10:20