The Devil At His Own Game, Defeated In Jesus’ Name

DECEPTION is the name of the Devil’s game and it can only be defeated in Jesus’ name.

The enemy of God would love us to feel ashamed for having fallen into the noose of his trap — but God would resurrect us in a moment and sweep us off, away from the enemy without the slightest guilt. Because we have repented.

Part of the Christian’s role in life is to cut the Devil off at the pass by obeying the Spirit within. This is discernment, which is piqued by an acute self-awareness bred by a knowledge of the self as learned over the passage of years.

I know one of my core weaknesses. It’s something the enemy can and does try to use to shame me into humiliation — that I even go down that route. This weakness of mine is mine. It comes up every now and again. It manifests in similar ways. You’d think I’d learn, but alas, that measure of grace for awareness I have not yet been shown. But I do not lose heart. God’s not finished with me yet. The beauty is I can see it for what it is before it creates damage, even though I do get to see it manifest through pride.

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Defeating the Devil at his own game is done only in the Sovereign Jesus’ name.

This is about telling the truth on the weakness and pouring contempt on our pride.

This is about repenting, which is to turn back to God; to turn around and love others.

If only we would commit to becoming aware of the Devil’s plots we could arrange a worthy response when we perceive them.

Spiritual warfare is an obvious though hidden phenomena for the Christian. We are moving targets. If we can learn how the enemy targets us — by morphing our strengths or revealing our weaknesses — we can respond swiftly and appropriately.

As we see the Devil coming from far off, and with experience we learn to do this more and more, we begin to see with some predictability how he works.

As we see the Devil coming from near, from within, as he utilises the flesh — our pride amongst other implicit flesh-held capacity for vice — we note the trademarks of this modus operandi.

It is okay to be under spiritual attack. It is okay to be pummelled by the enemy. It is even okay to give way within battle. But it is not okay to give up on faith as the answer — to have faith in the Presence and delivery of God.

Now the attacks that feature in this article are those of deception — an attack we never perceive as an attack.

May you be wise to Satan’s wiles,

As he manoeuvres and beguiles,

May you attune your very perceptions,

To discover the presence of his deceptions.

© 2015 Steve Wickham.