This is the last blog in this series. I’ve found these blogs very helpful and informative. If you know of any other subtle tricks of the enemy please let me know. I’d love to learn from you!
Many years ago I noticed that when a person really seeks to live for Jesus there is opposition, difficulties and trials. But when they back off even a little bit the oppression lets up and they feel immediate relief. Too many times people I’ve been counseling find life gets a little easier for them when they back off in their commitment to Jesus. Missing church, slowing down in their Bible reading and study, having a bit less fellowship with other believers, shorter times in prayer and less intensity in sharing the Gospel all are “rewarded” by less demonic opposition and a clear let-up in the pressures they face. How tempting it can be to think God is answering our prayers or that we are having victory over the flesh or the enemy! Then we coast along in our new-found freedom thinking life is getting better. It isn’t until some time passes, though, that we find we’ve drifted in our faith and lack the intimacy with God we once had. Our compromise finally catches up with us. Then we have an uphill battle to regain the ground we have so carelessly lost, only to repeat the same cycle over and over again as we see the Jews doing in the book of Judges. How hard it is to stay on that fine edge of alertness and faithfulness without falling into legalism on the one side or compromise on the other. Ask God for wisdom to show you where you are and what you need to do to keep going (or get back to going) in the direction He wants. These continual battles can get weary and draining, but they as important to win as the big battles.
How great it is to live by grace and not law! How freeing it is to not be under some legalistic code! The Bible clearly tells us that everything is lawful for us (1 Corinthians 6:12; 10:23). However just because everything is lawful for us doesn’t mean that everything is good for us (1 Corinthians 6:12; 10:23). It may be Biblically OK for me to have a glass of wine with a meal, but with my family history and own strong liking of the stuff, it wouldn’t be wise at all to indulge in that freedom. Exercise is an example of something legitimate and beneficial which I really enjoy. But if it takes time from family or spiritual disciplines then it is wrong for me. Things that, in themselves are OK, can become sin for someone. Satan and his demons are past masters of taking something that is fine and good, like food, sex, money or influence, and using them to entrap and enslave people. Just because something isn’t sin doesn’t mean it is OK for us. Think about your priorities and pleasures. Are any of them taking up place that should be filled by mate or god? If so, they are an idols (1 Thessalonians 1:9) and we all know how God feels about idols (Leviticus 19:4). ask God to show you if there is anything legitimate that has a place in your life which it shouldn’t. Confess it as sin and ask Him to remove it and show you each time you drift into it again.
Take a moment to go back over the last 4 blogs on “Effective Tricks The Enemy Uses Against Us” and write down any areas where you feel demons could work against you. Ask God to show you any sin in your life (Palm 139:23-24) and what you can do to have victory over this before it defeats you.
1 Corinthians 6:12 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.
1 Corinthians 10:23 “I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive.
Ask God to show you if any of these tricks and traps are being used against you. If so, confess any sin you may have because of them and ask God to show you how to have victory over them.
Jerry Schmoyer
Christian Training Organization
SW.ChristianTrainingOrganization.org