Knowing Your Enemy

How often have you heard Christians make these kinds of statements? I don't know about things right now.  I'm confused.
God has failed me.  I'm really going through it right now.  God does indeed understand our struggle,  pain and grief,but He intends for us to live in victory not defeat. He offers us grace to be more than conquerors.And though He understands,   there is one who will never make allowances for us satan. Satan sees our down times as his opportunities.Satan is relentless in his attacks because he utterly hates us.He desires our complete destruction. The devil has no sense of fair play. He has no mercy.When we are down,he kicks us.Like a shark he moves in for the kill when he smells blood. He is full of hatred and thrives on torment.When the tragedies come, that's when the devil pulls out all the stops and pursues you with savage vigor.The thief comes only to steal, and kill,and destory,  I came that they might have life,and might have it abundantly.(John 10:10).He wants to steal our health and another year of life.He wants to steal our productivity, our relationships, our joy,our
peace, and our faith.Satan is also a killer. He lives to kill anything that has to do with death, is fully supported and encouraged by him. He is the major influence behind statements like,"I wish I'd never been born",and"I wish I were dead".He would love to drive us all to suicide and murder..

Satan also wants to destory us with sin.He tempts us toward sin with the seductive promise of fullfillment. For instance,if we are unfulfilled in our marriage,we believe we can find fulfillment in the arms of another. However,the enemy has never intended to give us fulfillment. When we go outside of truth and righteousness for fulfillment,we enter the domain of the powers of darkness.Our participation in sin gives the powers of darkness permission and opportunity to work in our lives.We become co-workers with satan in his goal to ruin our lives (sacry thought isn't it). The living God loves us and wants to be our guide. He has promised in Psalm 32,"I will guide you." In John 10,Jesus said,"My sheep hear my voice." The Bible is full of the promises of God for guidance,help and correction. Why don't we just go to God. Christian maturity doesn't mean we have no down times; Christian maturity is learning to
handle our ups and downs. We must remember that the enemy often attacks when we're
vulnerable.We need to learn how to encourage ourselves and one another.We must keep our eyes on God.! On the other hand,if we keep our eyes on the devil, but not on God,we are also in trouble.We must keep our eyes on God, and without fear, keep our eyes on the enemy as well.We must know
where he is and what he is doing.The mere presence of radar is often enough to discourage the attack of enemy planes. In the same way,our constant awareness can deter satan in his attempts to hinder us.When the devil comes into view on our radar screen,red lights and buzzers should go off within
us, preparing us for attack and often averting the attack altogether..

Debbie - newbrunswickangel