I Chronicles 21:1
“Then Satan stood up against Israel and incited David to count Israel.”
This verse can be alarming. Does Satan seek to harm us? There is only one Satan and I think he is busy with larger targets, but there are many demons that would like to cause us to stumble and cause us to sin. They would love to drag us to hell. If we are in Christ God limits them greatly.
In disobedience we can fight against God and get ourselves into some bad situations. We can wreck our lives. We wouldn’t go to hell. That’s a sad situation.
Assuming that we want to follow Christ, the demons will still seek to wreck our witness and bring shame on the name of Christ. I Peter 5:8 gives us this warning, “Be sober-minded; watch. Your adversary the devil prowls about as a roaring lion seeking whom to devour.”
How does this happen? 2 Corinthians 10:4 and 5 say, “For the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but divinely powerful toward the demolition of strongholds, tear down arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” These verses say much. Our battle is spiritual and it takes place in the mind. Bad thoughts will enter our minds. That’s not sin. They can become so if we entertain them. We are to take it captive and expel it.
That is easier said than done. These thoughts can enter as a temptation. There is desire mixed in with the thought. There is a big “want to”. There is a progression to temptation. James 1:14,15 describes it, “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death.” Lust, sin and death is the progression, LSD. It all begins in the mind.
It’s best if it’s arrested in the mind. Pastor Rick Warren would call it changing the channel. It’s difficult to just stop thinking about it. Changing environments or busying one’s self with another task. Engaging in a logical exercise gets our focus off the emotional. Call a friend and get our minds off it that way.
That tempting thought is dangerous. Take it seriously. Treat is carefully like one would work with molten metal in a foundry. Harm can result. The devil knows all about temptation and can harm us with it. I’m not sure if we have our own demon in charge to wreck us as in The Screwtape Letters. But they are out there. Our flesh can hurt us without their help. It wants selfish, harmful things.
There are other harmful things out there that aren’t temptations. Worldly philosophies can be ungodly and opposed to scripture. It’s like being off by one degree. We can end up in the wrong place over time. As we are in the bible and going to church, the Holy Spirit will point those out and seek to remove them. It may be focusing on being powerful or rich. Excesses in those areas can be harmful.
Job 1:10a has the devil describing how God protects Job, “Have You not made a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side?” I believe God protects His children the same way. He will use the devil to test and perfect us. He’s is on a leash.
The Holy Spirit is a helper and He assists us in avoiding temptation and growing in Christ. It takes time. I Timothy 3:6 speaks of how new believers can fall under the devils ways, “He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same condemnation as the devil.”
Part of growing in Christ is to become wise as to how the enemy seeks to trick us. He did it to Adam and Eve. He wants to do it to us. As we read through the bible and listen to sermons from our pastors we learn how he works. 2 Corinthians 2:11 says, “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.”
Thank You God for protecting us. The devil has bad aims. Help us to cooperate with You by taking bad thoughts captive. Give us wisdom to identify his tricks. Thank You that You have him on a leash. Help us to stay as far away from him and his ways as possible. Give us wisdom to identify his tricks. Thank You that You work in us.