Day 81 – Liar, liar, pants on fire! (John)

Spiritual battles are not just fought over the unsaved, though Satan is vigorously waging war for them.  Satan is still interested in Christians.  Not for our souls, as Jesus has already claimed us.  Satan is  busy crafting new and innovative ways of bringing us down, attacking our character, destroying our families, and eliminating our influence.  We are infantry for Christ unless Satan can wound us, pulling us from battle.

“…the devil…was a murderer from the beginning, and he has nothing to do with truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)  Satan uses lies to distract us, deceive us, and destroy us.  He often uses our sinful tendencies against us but very subtly (at first).  Have you ever made a decision to stop doing something and then found yourself doing it again?  There’s a good chance that if you traced it back, it started very small and innocent. 

Adultery is an easy example to follow of Satan’s simple attack.  At first, you just enjoy having random conversations with your co-worker during your normal shift.  After some time, you start to seek one another out to talk about your lives.  Then, you decide to go to lunch with one another.  Soon, you seek other opportunities to spend time together like work-related training, team projects, after-hours work.  It seems perfectly harmless, but Satan is slowly and surely making you more comfortable with the growing intimacy in your conversations and incidental physical contact.  Once the heart desires a deeper relationship, Satan is using every opportunity to promote adultery.  Once adultery has occurred, the circumstances are ripe for TWO destroyed families, TWO destroyed reputations, loss of influences for Christ, and greater influence for Satan among the extended persons watching and experiencing the meltdown of these lives (family members, friends, co-workers, neighbors, church members etc).

Satan can and will influence the desires of your heart.  Faith in Christ does not protect your heart from Satan’s attack.  “…the devil had already put in into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray [Jesus]…” (John 13:3)  Judas was a disciple!  Judas was one of Jesus’ companions who had the lucky opportunity to be with Jesus physically and learn from Jesus first hand.  If Judas, with all of those advantages, was subject to Satan’s influence, how much more are we at risk?

For you, adultery may not be an issue, but what is?  You can be sure that Satan knows your weakness.  As Christians, we need to acknowledge our sins and shortcomings, ask God to forgive us and strengthen us against their hold in our lives, and guard against Satan wielding those weapons against us.  Memorize scripture related to your weakness, recite it in times of struggle, pray for protection, share your struggle with a trusted Christian friend who will pray for you, and be a soldier for Christ!

My prayer today:

Whew!  Lord, the fighting can be fierce!  Thank you for the tools you’ve given me to fight against Satan’s attacks.  Give me strength through Bible study, prayer, and Christian fellowship.  Forgive me for my sins, and thank you for releasing me from their bondage.  Help me to be a warrior for you, Lord, through my character, behavior, and transparency.  Thank you for loving me despite my losing record.  Amen

Add a comment August 10, 2010