Know the Wiles of Your Enemy! Part Two

Satan is a deceiver.  We all know that.  But how does he do it?  In the last blog I discussed the "wiles" of the enemy.  If you haven't read Part 1, I highly suggest you stop reading this, and go back and read it first because I lay a firm foundation concerning Satan's methods of attack.  For the sake of this current blog, we will discuss deception and how the enemy uses deception to defeat Christians.

 

Revelation 12:9 says that Satan deceived the entire world!  Yikes!  If he does that, we need to be forewarned that he is on the prowl NOW to deceive you and me.  If you think about the word "deception" we easily picture someone ( like ourselves!) believing that a lie is to be the truth.  Someone who is deceived is convinced that right is wrong and therefore wrong is right.  If Satan can convince us that God is a liar, that He will not watch over His Word and perform it, and that God cannot be trusted...then we have been deceived! 

 

Demons are constantly at work attempting to cause us to believe that God is a liar and cannot be trusted.  If we believe his lies, then we can conclude why unbelief structures are erected in our lives, over our businesses, families, churches, etc.  Satan perverts God's Word.  We must be on guard!  We must be determined to believe ONLY what God says and not be seduced by Satan's "wiles" to cause us to believe otherwise. 

 

Test the Spirits

We must learn to test the spirits that speak out of a man or a devil.  Believe me, there are many ministers that do not believe that God heals today.  But He does!  He states in His Word that He is our Healer!   How do we do test the spirits?  Well, we test by using the Word of God.   1 John 4:1 states, " Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world."

 

Many preachers and teachers are falsely prophesying.  Precious believer, if someone is teaching that God does not heal, bless, and restore His children,  then that teacher is falsely prophesying.  I believe that many of God's teachers have been deceived by the enemy.  We need to pray that their eyes be opened to God's truths.  We need not condemn  or judge them, but rather pray for them.  For us, we need to simply continue to test the spirits and align ourselves completely with God's Word. 

 

Our enemy will attempt to deceive us and tell us that God is to blame for our sickness.    But God does not put sickness and disease on His children.  He does not put sickness on us to teach us a lesson.  Our God is a good God.  He is our Healer.  He is our Deliverer!  He is our Provider! 

 

Dear believer, let's clothe ourselves today with God's full armor and live in the victory that has been provided for us at the Cross!  Believe and agree with the Word of God.  Be healed today.  Be delivered today!  Be restored today!  Put the enemy under your feet and take every inch of your Promised Land!

 

I believe!!!!  I know you do also!!!

Know the Wiles of Your Enemy! Part One

Covert operations.  The enemy specializes in this type of warfare.    Yes, Satan strategizes to maintain hidden and subtle forms of warfare.  In the governments of the world (in the natural) there are visible armies in warfare.  Specialized units strategize  undercover strategies executed by every single branch of the military.  It is a known factor that even special operations and certain agencies such as the CIA and the FBI operate often in covert strategies.  As I said, Satan goes to great length to remain hidden.  And if you think about it, much of what he does is hidden from our view.  We need strong spiritual discernment in times like these,don't we?  If you haven't been praying for spiritual discernment, please begin to do so.  These  are perilous times that we live in.  However, God is bigger than the enemy and we need never to forget that fact.  We don't want to give the enemy too much credit, but, to walk in victory, we must understand his strategies.  A wise general knows the strengths and weaknesses of his enemy.  For us, it is wise to know Satan's wicked "wiles" and methods.


The Wiles of Satan
2 Corinthians 2:11 exhorts us to not be ignorant of the "wiles of Satan." And Ephesians 6:11 reminds us to "...put on the whole armour of God that ye would be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." (KJV).    The word "wiles" comes from a Greek word "methodeia."  Our English word "method" also originates with the word "wiles."  Interestingly, it is derived from two specific Greek words: "meta"and "hodos."  The word "meta" means "in the midst," and the word "hodos" means "to travel over ( as in a journey) and to lie in wait." Therefore it is clear that a method of the enemy is to get us off the paths of God and lie in wait to attack us if we do!  Believers, the enemy desires to derail us, sidetrack us, steal our vision, change our route and pull us off purpose!  How does he do this?  Keep reading- there's more!

Satan uses temptation and spiritual seductions to lure us away from God's very best for our lives.  Have you ever done a thorough study on the word "temptation?"  Dear one, listen up! "Temptation" is the word "peirasmos," which means to "lure" and "solicit."  If you stop and think about it for a minute, think of how the enemy solicits us to surrender to temptation.  Keep in mind that Satan can only "tempt" us, but it is up to us to agree and submit to the temptation. 

Jesus Christ was tempted, but He did not sin.  Temptation is not sin- so be careful that you don't confuse the two.  Satan can tempt us but we can resist temptation by not allowing wrong desires to take root in our hearts and minds.  The Word teaches us that temptation is common to all of us (1 Cor 10:13)  In fact, it's important for us to pray as the Bible teaches..." Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." (Matthew 6:13).

Satan's covert operation involves deceit, solicitation to sin, and perversion, to draw us away from God. Satan uses perversion to destroy that which is Good.  The word "perversion comes from a Hebrew word meaning " to twist" and " to make crooked."  The enemy loves to twist God's Word!  For instance, Scripture says that we are healed, yet the enemy speaks lies to us saying "you've sinned today, God won't heal you!"  Satan works covertly with his lies of deception to get us off track and draw us away from God.

Precious ones, it's time to wise up!  Let's not be deceived by the enemy.  Victory and breakthrough are ours because of what Christ accomplished at the Cross.

I'm praying for each of you.  If my blogs are empowering you, please comment below.

Part Two on "deception" will be my next blog.

God bless!