Recognizing Our Enemy

Recognizing Our Enemy

      Who is the enemy of our soul? Who is it that tries to rob us of our peace, our joy, and our happiness? Who is it that searches us out to find a weak spot in our faith and character, so that he can take advantage of us and weaken us still further? Who is it that constantly tries to hold our sins and our faults before us, and accuse us before God and all the Holy angels? Who is it that goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour?

      Our enemy is none other than God's enemy, Satan. Our true enemies are not those who can destroy the body, but those who can destroy the mind and soul as well as the body. We must beware of our enemy and be acquainted with his tactics. Satan will accuse God's children before him. He will show us our past sins, mistakes, and failures, and try to convince us that nothing has changed, that we are the same persons that we ever were before we were saved. He will try to persuade us that God is not concerned with us. He will try to divide husband and wife, son and daughter, and every family member. If Satan can divide families, he has gained an important foothold, because family unity is the foundation of strength and a fortress against infidelity.

      Satan does not want us to be happy while serving God, so he causes depression, he brings morbid thoughts to the mind, and he wants us to believe that serving God is a drag, and that we are missing out on the joys of living. He would like for us to believe that the only way we can be truly happy is if we are pursuing the things of the world. So, he tries to get our minds off God and focused on the things of the world. As children of God, we must be aware of him and his tactics, and put our trust in God. As the psalmist said in psalm 7: 1-2 “O Lord my God in thee do I put my trust, save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me. Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.” Who is it that persecutes us and tears our soul like a lion other than the emissaries of darkness? When we know that Satan is afflicting us we can call out to the Lord as the psalmist did in psalm 7:6, “Arise O Lord, in thine anger; lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies; and awake for me tothe judgment that thou hast commanded.” Psalm 7: 8 says: “The Lord shall judge the peoples: judge me O Lord according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me.”

      Our defense against Satan and his demons is in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I claim none of my own righteousness because I have none, except that which I have received from Christ by his grace. Psalm 7: 9 says: “Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just, for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.,” verse 10 says: “My defense is with God which saveth the upright in heart.”

      Other scripture says: “resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Whenever Satan tries to plague us and destroy us, let us sing praises in our heart to God, and remind ourselves that we are a child of God, and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, ask the Lord to rebuke Satan and cause him to flee away from us. Then we will have victory, and peace and joy and happiness will return to us.