“Help us Lord to overcome all of the plans and devices of the wicked one.” This request should be on the lips of every Christian. We should actively pursue victory that we will not be defeated as we strive to walk with Christ. The last series of blogs gave some foundation information concerning the enemy of the Christian. In this series of blogs, we will turn our attention to “Exposing the Devices of the Enemy.” It is our hope that every Christian would be aware and victorious over his devices.

Through the Spirit of God, we are not ignorant of Satan’s tactics and schemes (II Corinthians 2:11). Though the Word is given to us a weapon against the enemy, many are still defeated by his tactics. We are defeated when we walk in ignorance

We cannot combat his tactics if we do not know what they are. The enemy uses three main schemes against believers. If we were to examine our walks with God, we would find that the enemy has fought us often and we did not realize it. They are as follows: 1) life, 2) lies, and 3) lust. Today, we will discuss the device called life.

LIFE

The devil uses life’s problems and occurrences to distract. As believers, we must not fall into this trap. We cannot become focused on life’s situations and lose control over other things. We cannot allow our families and friends to distract us from God. We cannot even allow church work or service to be our focus.

The things we do for Christ cannot become more important than our relationship with Him. If this happens, we will fall into the hands of the enemy. We read in the gospels of how Martha worked in the kitchen when Jesus came and how Mary sat at his feet,

Now as they were traveling along, he entered into a certain village; and a woman name Martha welcomed Him into her home. And she had a sister called Mary, who moreover was listening to the Lord’s word, seated at His feet. But Martha was DISTRACTED with all of her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me?” But the Lord answered her and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only a few things are necessary, really only one, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42 Emphasis mine)

Martha thought she was doing the right thing, but Jesus corrected her. She was so distracted trying to serve the Lord, that she was neglecting fellowship with Him. We must learn from Jesus’ words. We, oftentimes, become distracted with many of life’s concerns and problems. We also become overly concerned with trying to serve the Lord that we miss the blessings of fellowship with Him. In this state, we will be vulnerable to an attack of the enemy.

Distractions in life will cause us to be frustrated like Martha. She could not appreciate and enjoy the presence of Jesus in her home because of it. As believers, we sometimes do not enjoy our salvation because we are too busy with concerns. Martha responded in the wrong spirit due to her frustration.

If we are not careful, our distractions from life will cause irritation and frustration. Moreover, frustration will cause us to respond negatively to life and to Christ. Martha rebuked Christ and complained about her sister not helping her. We, too, will develop the same attitude and think that God is to blame for our frustration.

In this state, we are crippled and cannot move forward in God. The enemy’s plan would have worked. Therefore, we must not allow distractions from life to put us in bondage. It is only a tool of the enemy. We must submit all of our cares unto Christ, as instructed in the scriptures. Jesus said,

Come unto me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my load is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)

If we allow the Word of God to govern our lives and the peace of God to guard our hearts, the enemy will not be able to use distractions to keep us from walking in victory. Let us keep our thoughts and minds focused on the Lord.

Tomorrow, we will expose the second device of the enemy, which is LIES.

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