Afkary

Satan's chief scheme is to deceive us. 2 Cor. 2:11. The desperate (cause he's already defeated) devil's desire and dream is to destroy and devour us by deception, delusion, dart, doubt, defeat and bring about disorder, doom, death and decay! His focus is to tempt us to fall for the temporal and ignore the eternal. The temporal is to cater to our carnal man, which is so easily sidetracked and fallible. (Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 1 Cor 10:12). Our 3 weaknesses are immorality-lust of the eyes, materialism-lust of the flesh and pride-pride of life. From ancient of days Satan has exploited our human weaknesses and cause many a downfall. If he can turn a look into a lust, a desire into a choice and a choice into action he has us like the monkey in the trap. However he cannot force us to make the choice to do wrong. We alone can determine our actions. That's why it's important to understand that the temptations that beset us cater only to temporary pleasures and needs but have dire eternal consequences! To have and maintain an eternal perspective there's no running away from the source which is God's word. God put it this way in Job 28, 'to shun evil is understanding'. There's a need to fellowship with God through daily bible reading and prayer. 'I have hidden your word in my heart so that I might not sin against You'. Knowledge of the truth will bring us to our senses and escape the trap of the devil. 2 Tim 2:25, 26.

What are our other defences? Whilst he accuses us day and night before the Father, Jesus is our defence lawyer and prayer warrior in heaven. On earth, we are to put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:11-20.

One final point, Satan and his devils are outnumbered by a ratio of 2:1. This is because the bible tells us that a third of the angelic hosts were cast out from heaven after their rebellion. There are two angels for every one devil! We know the devil's schemes and the victory is already ours because he's out-numbered, out witted, out-manoeuvred and ultimately will be out-sided in hell forever. The God we worship is Lord of the universe!