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- Apr 25, 2006
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SATAN IS DEFEATED (5)
'The serpent ... asked the woman, 'Did God really say you must not eat ...?'' Genesis 3:1,2
Satan's no doormat. His first strategy is to make you question and doubt God. Then he'll use your power of reasoning. 'That part's not relevant,' he'll mock. 'That was written to a specific culture, you don't have to listen to it now.' He'll do what he can to get you to hold scripture at arm's length - he might even cherry-pick bits of the Bible as part of his ploy. If he can, he'll rob you of your confidence in simply trusting God.
When satan's got under your skin, you can justify all sorts of things that are actually wrong. The lies he'll tell will sound like the truth. The very fact you're entertaining the conversation with him is dangerous. But don't go to war with satan armed with the last segment of James 4:7, 'Resist the devil', without going through the training ground of the first segment, 'submitting yourself to God'.
You won't hear from a talking snake, but satan's subtle messages are thrown at us 24/7 in all sorts of ways, including the media and the education system. Sometimes sneaky, sometimes outright, you'll have lies and licence-to-thrill pumped at you from everywhere. Even the people around you might be saying 'Whatever makes you happy! So long as you're not hurting anyone.' This is a pretty dangerous lie, so watch out. In everything, remember - if Jesus has already won your heart, the devil can't make you do anything.
What now? Read Psalm 51:7-13, then pray it as a prayer of committing and surrendering to God afresh today. (Sidenote: if you're struggling with reading the Bible and understanding what's written for you and what's not, try getting a hold of a good Bible commentary to help you. Our own suggestion would be Tom Wright's 'For Everyone' series - we think they're worth a buy, but look around for yourself!)
written by Bob Gass
'The serpent ... asked the woman, 'Did God really say you must not eat ...?'' Genesis 3:1,2
Satan's no doormat. His first strategy is to make you question and doubt God. Then he'll use your power of reasoning. 'That part's not relevant,' he'll mock. 'That was written to a specific culture, you don't have to listen to it now.' He'll do what he can to get you to hold scripture at arm's length - he might even cherry-pick bits of the Bible as part of his ploy. If he can, he'll rob you of your confidence in simply trusting God.
When satan's got under your skin, you can justify all sorts of things that are actually wrong. The lies he'll tell will sound like the truth. The very fact you're entertaining the conversation with him is dangerous. But don't go to war with satan armed with the last segment of James 4:7, 'Resist the devil', without going through the training ground of the first segment, 'submitting yourself to God'.
You won't hear from a talking snake, but satan's subtle messages are thrown at us 24/7 in all sorts of ways, including the media and the education system. Sometimes sneaky, sometimes outright, you'll have lies and licence-to-thrill pumped at you from everywhere. Even the people around you might be saying 'Whatever makes you happy! So long as you're not hurting anyone.' This is a pretty dangerous lie, so watch out. In everything, remember - if Jesus has already won your heart, the devil can't make you do anything.
What now? Read Psalm 51:7-13, then pray it as a prayer of committing and surrendering to God afresh today. (Sidenote: if you're struggling with reading the Bible and understanding what's written for you and what's not, try getting a hold of a good Bible commentary to help you. Our own suggestion would be Tom Wright's 'For Everyone' series - we think they're worth a buy, but look around for yourself!)
written by Bob Gass
