Satanic Strategies

When we go through troubles we think God is mad at us.  “God’s punishing me,” or “Why is God doing this to me.”  But only good things come from God, so when we have bad things happen to us, we assume it’s the devil, and it is…in a way.  I want to look at some things in a different light.  I want to look at struggle and turmoil through Job’s experience, and apply it to our lives.

Job 1:6-12 (NKJV)
^1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. ⁷ And the Lord said to Satan, "From where do you come?" So Satan answered the Lord and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it." ⁸ Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?" ⁹ So Satan answered the Lord and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? ¹⁰ Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. ¹¹ But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!" ¹² And the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person." So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

God Allows Satan’s Attack

God called a meeting of the sons of God – wait what?  I thought God had only one Son.  Jesus the Son of God:  Jesus is the only begotten Son of God:  Begotten, means born.  The phrase “sons of God” in this usage refers to direct creation.  They have no mom.  Adam is a son of God.  Satan is a son of God, that’s why he’s at that meeting

The second thing we need to know about Satan is that he’s running to and fro on the earth.  He’s here; he’s there.  He isn’t omnipresent.  He can’t be in more than one place.  He’s not like God.  He’s not everywhere.  He’s running to and fro on the earth.  He’s here on earth.

Do you ever feel like you’re under spiritual attack, but then things get better for a while and then the attacks return?  It’s because he’s gone away and then comes back.  When he tempted Jesus in the desert in Luke 4 Jesus resisted.  Look at what it says:

Luke 4:13 (NKJV)
^4:13 Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

He does have helpers, though, so there are always attacks.

We have this idea that if we’re saved, love God, and live righteously then we won’t be attacked by the devil, because we’re under God’s protection, but look at our text.  Here’s Job, blameless and upright, he’s doing all the right things.  God even brags about him, but the devil says, “Yeah, because you give him everything, and you’ve built a hedge around him, (you protect him), so of course he loves you…but take it all away and he’ll curse you in this.”  So, the devil wants to attack Job, because he IS righteous.  The devil doesn’t go after you if you’re a Christian in name only.  If you’re not living the will of God, he doesn’t have to go after you.  He already owns you.  He doesn’t have to lead you into some gross sin.  He just needs to turn you away from God.  This is what he’s trying to do with Job.  “He’s blameless and upright?  I can make him curse you.” 

So here’s the hard part to understand – God says “Oh yeah, try it!  Do whatever you want, just don’t kill him.”  God allows us to be attacked.  Satan has to have permission to go after us.  This isn’t God testing us, it’s the devil:

Luke 22:31-32 (NKJV)
^22:31 And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. ³² But I have prayed for you; that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren."

Satan asks to test Peter, and Jesus permits it.  He even knows that Peter will fail:  “And when you have returned to me…”  In other words, “After you stop backsliding…” 

There is a level of protection there.  God does protect us, but when we allow Satan to turn us away from God we lose that protection, because we no longer belong to God.  If you don’t belong to God, to whom do you belong?  John 8:44 says, “You are of your father the devil…”  Even the Pharisees started out trying to do the right thing.  Their laws were created with the idea that those laws would keep them on the right side of God.  They wanted to be blameless and upright, but the devil slipped in and corrupted.  This is why it’s so important that our trust be in God and not in ourselves.  They tried to be righteous on their own and left a door open for the devil to corrupt them.  They trusted their laws and not God.  God wants us to trust Him.  Trusting God is what we call faith.

If you read the entire book of Job, faith is what keeps him.  Throughout the book, it says, “Job did not sin with his lips.”  He didn’t accuse God.  He didn’t blame God.  He recognized that blessing comes with testing.  He’s right; blessing comes in on the back of adversity.  If you don’t know suffering you can’t know blessing.

So, why does God allow the devil to attack?  He does that so you can see your need to trust God.  He does it so that you can experience blessing.  He does it all for His own glory.  Here He is, He’s bragging to Satan, “You can’t turn Job – He’s locked in – He’s going to worship me, no matter what!”

The devil is an opportunist.  He’s looking for ways to destroy.  He’s opposed to God.  He’s opposed to what God is doing in your life, and he’s looking for a way to take you out.  His goal is to separate you from God.

The Devil Has a Plan for You

The other thing that we can see in our text is that the devil’s a planner.  He has a plan for your life.  He devises a plan to take you away from God and puts it into play at an opportune time.  Remember, that in Luke four, he left Jesus until an opportune time.  He was looking for a time when Jesus would be vulnerable.  The devil looks for vulnerability.  He watches for us to open a door to sin. 

Genesis 4:7 (NKJV)
^4:7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."

There is an aggression there – Its desire is for you.  He’s watching for signs of potential temptation and sin.  He listens to the words you speak, looking for weaknesses in faith. 

Job 2:10b (NKJV)
^2:10b  In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

I’ve posted on the power of words a number of times.  The words we speak can provide the devil with an opportunity to attack us.  Complaining is a vulnerability.  Gossip and slander are vulnerabilities.  Speaking in unbelief is a vulnerability.  The devil is looking for those things that he can use against you.  His plan is to leave you discouraged and filled with unbelief.  Here’s an example:

Luke 22:33-34 (NKJV)
^22:33 But he said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death." ³⁴ Then He said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me."

Peter’s bragging that he will go to death with Jesus.  Throughout the New Testament we see Peter – He’s impulsive with words – He’s outspoken – He’s brash.  He speaks what his heart wants, but he doesn’t always have the resolve to see it through.  The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.  He’s vulnerable and the devil uses it:

Luke 22:55-60 (NKJV)
^22:55 Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. ⁵⁶ And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, "This man was also with Him." ⁵⁷ But he denied Him, saying, "Woman, I do not know Him." ⁵⁸ And after a little while another saw him and said, "You also are of them." But Peter said, "Man, I am not!" ⁵⁹ Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, "Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean." ⁶⁰ But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are saying!" Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.

Peter told Jesus that night that he would follow Jesus to death, but within hours he’s accused and he falls apart.  The devil saw his opportunity.  He saw Peter’s vulnerability and he took Peter out.  Peter went out weeping bitterly.  In a matter of days Peter was so discouraged and broken that he said, “I’m going fishing.”  He went back to his old life.  He’s backslidden.  He’s not trusting God; he’s lost.

That’s exactly what the devil planned for him.  “Simon, Simon the devil has asked to sift you like wheat.”  He knew where Peter was vulnerable.  He knows where your vulnerabilities are, too.  He’s listened to you.  He’s watched you.  He has a plan for you, and it’s the opposite of God’s plan for you.  God has destiny for you – The devil has discouragement.  He wants you so discouraged that you can’t serve God, either.  He wants you filled with unbelief, too.  He wants you to turn back to your old sin-filled life because then he wins.  That was his plan for Job.  That was his plan for Peter and that’s his plan for you.

The Devil’s a Strategist

In order to defeat an enemy you need three things:

1.        You need to understand your enemy’s vulnerabilities.

2.        You need to have a plan to defeat the enemy.

3.        You need a strategy to implement the plan.

The devil is a strategist.  Once he has determined your vulnerabilities and figured out what needs to be done to defeat you, he begins to build the steps to move you into that plan.  It’s like a game of chess.  One has to be able to think a number of moves ahead of your opponent.  The devil needs a strategy to move you out of God’s will.  He’ll come up with a series of steps to destroy you.

In Luke four, the devil had a three-part strategy to take Jesus out.  His plan was to keep Jesus from fulfilling His destiny on earth.  He wanted to keep Him from being the salvation of mankind.  So, he ran the first step in his plan:

Luke 4:1-4 (NKJV)
^4:1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, ² being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry. ³ And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."

He’s trying to get Jesus to be more human than He is God.  He’s trying to appeal to His flesh.  Hunger is the vulnerability.  “Give in to the flesh.  You don’t have to be hungry.  The stones will become bread for you.”  The flesh will take you out if you let it.  That didn’t work so the devil moved on:

Luke 4:5-7 (NKJV)
^4:5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. ⁶ And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. ⁷ Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours."

He’s trying to appeal to His carnal appetites – Lust.  Power and wealth are the vulnerabilities.  “You can be like a king here without having to suffer.”  Ruling the Kingdom of God is His destiny.  The devil says, “I’ll just hand it all over.”  It’s a shortcut to that destiny.  Trying to shortcut God’s will, will take you out.  That didn’t work, either, so the devil moved to the final step in the plan.

Luke 4:9-11 (NKJV)
^4:9 Then he brought Him to Jerusalem, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here. ¹⁰ For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you,' ¹¹ "and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.' "

He wants Jesus to demonstrate that He’s the Son of God.  Pride is the vulnerability that the devil wants to exploit, here.  In this case, it’s the pride of presumption.  “You’re the Son of God; you know that He will catch you.  You can manipulate God.  If they see God catch you they’ll accept you.  That’s a better plan than God’s.”  That’s presumption and pride:  Those things will take you out.

Satan is doing the same thing in your life.  He’s listening and looking for your vulnerabilities.  He’s developing a plan to destroy you, and he’s working out the strategy to get you there.  You need to get a handle on your heart.  You need to examine your words and your actions to find out where you’re vulnerable.  If you close the door on sin, protect your mind and heart, you can protect yourself from demonic attack.  People serve God successfully for fifty or sixty years.  They endure until the end.

Job did it.  He resisted the plan of Satan.  He guarded his heart and his lips.  Paul did it.  He said, “His grace is sufficient for me.”  I close with this:

James 4:7 (NKJV)
^4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

He will flee from you…until a more opportune time.  Just don’t give him one.  He’ll attack you throughout your whole life, but you don’t have to let him win.

Stealers Gonna Steal

None of us are crying out for hardship, are we?  I know what Paul said about rejoicing in tribulation.  I understand what he’s saying… but no one really looks forward to that. 

Don’t get me wrong, we need tribulation.  That’s how God works in us.  That’s how God changes us.  That’s how God completes us, but life on its own has a lot of stresses and struggles, too.  If we’re honest we have to admit that we need blessing, as well.  So this post today will look at how to get blessed.

John 10:10 (NKJV)
^10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Stealers Gonna Steal

Jesus has come that we may have life more abundantly.  God blesses – Isn’t that what you’ve heard?  I say that all the time, God wants to bless you.  I know that some of you think that this is just “preacher talk.”   It’s just what preachers say to keep people coming.  You’re thinking, “Yeah, he says that all the time but I’m just not seeing it.” 

This scripture tells you why.  Jesus came that we may have life more abundantly, but what else does it say?  It says that the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.  He’s a thief.  What does a thief do?  He steals.  So, there is someone who comes to steal the blessing of God from your life.  He’s a glutton; a devourer – He swallows your blessing.

That word devourer means an excessively greedy eater.  Devourer – One who swallows and eats ravenously.  That’s what God calls the devil in the book of Malachi.

Malachi 3:11 (NKJV)
^3:11 "And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field," Says the Lord of hosts;

Malachi is telling us that God will rebuke the devourer for our sakes.  The devil is the devourer.

Let me ask a question, here.  Have you ever felt like there isn’t enough money to make it to the end of the month?  Maybe that’s even a reality in your life.  Maybe you're constantly struggling to make ends meet.  Your credit cards are maxed out.  The bills are more than you get paid every month.  Creditors are calling and demanding payment.  If that’s you, you don’t have to be embarrassed.  The thief is doing what thieves do – stealing.  You know hater’s gonna hate?  Well stealers gonna steal.

The devil hates God and he hates you!  The thing that really makes him mad is you believing God.  The devil hates your faith.  He hates it when you believe God for His promises.  He will do whatever he needs to do to make you doubt.  He’s also looking for those that will be easy to trick into unbelief. 

1 Peter 5:8 (NKJV)
^5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

The devil is an adversary:  That means he opposes and resists you, and he’s looking to devour you.  Why would you let the devil win?  Look at what we need to do to beat him back:

1 Peter 5:9 (NKJV)
^5:9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.

Resist him – You don’t have to let him win.  Stay faithful – faithful means full of faith.

I know it’s hard, sometimes.  This happens in my family, too.  We’re getting near the end of the month and the end of the money, and we’re wondering what’s going to happen.  We start to waver in our faith.  We struggle in our faith, too and I’ve been a Christian for a long time.  I should be past that struggling with that, but there’s still that struggle of faith because the devil, that lying, cheating devourer wants me to doubt God.  He knows that if I can’t believe God for His provision; if I doubt that His promises are real, then he can cause me to doubt whether or not God’s really saved me.

That’s dangerous because if I lose faith that I’m really saved, the devil can turn me away from God, because I’ll begin to doubt that God is even real.  If you start to doubt God’s promises you’ll eventually doubt that God is real, and that’s all that he needs to do to win.  The devil doesn’t need to get you to commit serious sin, he just needs to make you doubt.  It’s the sin of unbelief that will cause a lot of Christians to miss heaven.  This is why resisting is so important, because he comes to steal your blessing, he comes to kill your faith, and he comes to destroy your soul. 

The devil wants to remove blessing, but Jesus is just the opposite of the devil.  Jesus doesn’t come to steal he comes to give.

Jesus Has Come to Give

“I have come that you may have life and that more abundantly.”  What does abundant mean?  Abundant means marked by great plenty – That means a lot of supply or support.  God is not stingy.  He doesn’t just keep it all for Himself.  God gives abundantly.  He will supply you. 

Matthew 6:30-32 (NKJV)
^6:30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹ Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

Again, it’s a matter of faith.  He says, “Don’t worry.”  God knows what you need  and God doesn’t withhold.

Malachi 3:10 (NKJV)
^3:10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the Lord of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.

Test me.  Check out what I say.  Here’s my promise, “I will open the windows of Heaven.”  Then remember Malachi 3:11, “I will rebuke the devourer.”  That’s God’s promise.  That’s life more abundantly.  Jesus has come to give that.  The Bible even says, “Test me now in this.”  There’s a way to test the promise of God.  God tells you how He can prove to you that He blesses.  Do you want to know what it is?  The following scripture is the key to getting blessed.

Malachi 3:10a (NKJV)
^3:10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house,

This is the test we can use to see if God will keep His promise.  When we do that God will show us this:

Malachi 3:10b (NKJV)
^3:10 "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.

The tithe – Tithe means tenth – a tenth of your resources.  If you make NTD $60,000 (US $2,000) then your tithe is NTD $6,000 (US $200).  Test it out.  God is challenging you to try it.  God says He will make you a believer.  

I know that some of you think that you can’t afford it.  You think that you don’t have enough, so you won’t test God in that.  But guess what – That’s exactly how the devil rips you off.  It’s how the stealer steals.  It’s a spirit:  It’s spiritual:  We call it a “Poverty Spirit.”  I call it the “Spirit of Not Enough.”  Uh-oh, some of you may be thinking, “He just wants our money.”  I’m not posting this so that I can get blessed; I’m posting it so that you can get blessed. 

As a pastor, I have seen people who have tested this and God has blessed them.  They’ve stood up and testified about God’s miracle provision.  There are others who tested this for a few weeks and then they backed off.  Maybe it wasn’t what they expected.  I don’t know.  Maybe they expected a pile of money to fall out of the sky.

How it Really Works

The following is a testimony by James Dobson:

“As an evangelist, my dad could never depend on the compensation he would be given.  The local church would collect a freewill offering for my father, but many times the gifts barely paid his traveling expenses.
 He would usually stay with the pastor during a ten-day revival.  While there, he often observed that the children needed shoes or books or medication.  So, on the final night of the revival, my dad would take enough money to get home, and then donate the rest to meet the needs of the pastor’s family.  Then my dad would return to be greeted by my mother and me.  I can still hear the conversations between them.        “Did you have a successful revival?” my mother would ask.        “The Lord was with us," my dad would reply.        “How much did they pay you?”
        “Well, I need to talk to you about that,” my father would say, grinning.        “I know,” Mom would say, “You gave it all away, didn’t you?” A few days later when the bills began to accumulate, our little family would gather on our knees before the Lord.  Dad would pray first, “Lord, you know we’ve been faithful with the resources you’ve given us.  We’ve tried to be responsive to the needs of others, when you laid them on our hearts.  Now Lord, my family is in need.  You’ve said, ‘Give and it shall be given unto you’ (Luke 6:38).  So we bring to you our empty meal barrel and ask you to fill it.” As a child, I listened intently to these prayers and watched carefully to see how God responded.  I tell you, without exaggeration, that money invariably arrived in the next few days.  God didn’t make us rich, but He never let us go hungry.

This is a perfect example of how it really works.  God doesn’t make you rich, He just keeps supplying you.  I’ve told you before about the widow of Zarephath.

She’s collecting sticks to make a fire and cook the last meal for her and her son.  They have nothing; just enough for one last meal and then they starve.  She has nothing.  No husband to provide for her.  Nothing to sell for money.  No prospect of any more – There’s a drought.  All the crops are dead.  This is the end of her resources.

Then the prophet comes by and has the nerve to ask her to feed him before they eat their last meal.  He literally says to her, “Give to me, first.”  The prophet’s not looking to get blessed.  What’s a small cake for him; it’s a little thing, but he knows if she responds, she’s going to be sustained.  She’s going to receive a blessing, and so, she does – She gives him a cake. 

She probably thinks, “This is my last meal, what’s a small cake more or less?”  She has nothing to lose and everything to gain.  So what does God do?

She doesn’t receive a huge amount all at once, but for the next three and a half years God meets her daily needs.  Think about it she gives one day’s food and receives back 1,277 days’ worth of food.  She wouldn’t be able to store all of that.  That’s abundance – That’s how God blesses.

But it takes faith – trust in God’s promises.  Let me tell you on more story – about another widow.  This one is at the temple; Jesus is watching her.  She’s near the donation box; where people give their tithes and their offerings.  Jesus is standing near there also, watching.  All of these rich people come and put in their offerings.  Then the widow comes up to give.  She, like the other widow has nothing; no husband, no son, no money; nothing.  All she has is two cents…well, she has one other thing:  She has faith; she believes.  She gave it all.  How many of you trust God like that? 

So, here’s the question for today:  If you can’t trust God with your finances.  If you really can’t trust God with ten percent of your resources, are you really trusting Him with your salvation.  Faith is the cornerstone of Christianity.  It’s what sets the foundation for our lives.  If we don’t have faith then prayer is a waste of time.  It’s a useless endeavor – Faith activates miracles.  If we don’t trust God, we have no salvation.  We’re not saved because salvation is based on believing and trusting Jesus.  If we don’t have faith there will be no miracles.

Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)
^11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Be a person of God and let God prove Himself to you.  That’s how you find blessing.