 
### Satan's Game Plan

Noel Nissen

Published by Noel Nissen at Smashwords

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Some Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Some Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

Some Scripture quotations from The Authorized (King James) Version. Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Reproduced by permission of the Crown's patentee, Cambridge University Press

Copyright 2016 Noel Nissen

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## Chapter 1. – A Bigger Picture

"We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" - 1 John: 5:19 NKJV

Somehow we are all aware that God has an overarching plan for our lives. We may not always know what that plan is, or if it will even play out in our lives but it is the hope for which we live; that our lives will mean something in the grand scope of God's kingdom. Even non-believers have an instinctual belief that they are meant for something more even if they do largely ignore it. Secular philosophy and all non-Christian religion are built on this instinct. But have you ever considered that Satan also has a plan for your life?

He does.

Not only does he have a plan for each of our lives, but he has also tricked many people into serving him while thinking that they're doing God's work.

The purpose of this book is not to point out anyone's faults or make anyone feel guilt about their actions but I do hope that by the end of this book you will agree that we should each strive to please God and try to avoid letting Satan work in our lives.

In any good sports game both teams must have a game plan. This game plan comes in the form of a Playbook which includes strategies, plays and scenarios that each of the teams study and execute during the game in an effort to win. In this same way, God and Satan have their own playbooks. God's playbook, the Bible, is the ultimate playbook, with all the plays and strategies laid out for his team to win. There is no situation under the sun that the Bible doesn't have some sort of answer for. The best part is that God's playbook is public knowledge, if not common sense, and out in the open for everyone to read and see. But the thing that most people don't realize is that God also included Satan's game plan in the Bible for us to see.

Essentially Satan's plans break down into 5 basic categories,

Plans for the nations of the world

Plans for the church

Plans for unbelievers

Plans for each of us as individuals

Plans for the whole world

We're going to look at these categories through God's Word so that not only will we be able to identify Satan's Game plan and his plays but we will also be able to stop Satan from using them on us.

If Satan is anything he is organized and an excellent planner. He has an overarching plan to undermine and ultimately dethrone God using everything from his demonic host all the way down to using the nations of the world, the church and even you and me.

This book is not meant to outline every single plan the enemy has, but rather to help you learn to identify, using God's word, the plans he does have for you and the world around you. I want you to come away from this book with a greater understanding of how Satan's kingdom works, how his game plan is laid out and what you can do to get away from his plans for you.

I would also like to suggest that, even though this book isn't very long, don't rush reading through it. Read it slowly, prayerfully asking God to reveal the truth of his word to you.

Finally, if you are a non-believer reading this book, please take it for what you will. At least you will have a greater awareness of the Bible describes as the spiritual forces around you.

## Chapter 2 - Satan's plans for the nations of the world.

We can see it all around us. The world is in upheaval. World leaders are constantly meeting and talking, arguing and generally getting nowhere. The more they try to fix the problems, it seems the more they make them worse.

Even within our borders, our own governments argue about gun laws and matters of morality, like abortion and homosexuality but still argue that church and state should be separate. They are floundering, and it's all by design. The Bible says,

" _Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God." – 2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT_

In this verse the Bible refers to Satan as the god of this world. In the book of Isaiah, it also clearly describes Satan as having influence over the nations of earth,

" _How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;" Isaiah 14: 12-16 KJV_

Here we also see that Satan sincerely believes that he will ascend to God's throne, and believes he needs the nations of the world to align to his will in order to accomplish this. He uses his demonic host to influence world leaders and position the nations to where he needs them.

" _The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ." Acts 4:26 KJV_

" _The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed..." Psalms 2:2. KJV_

These verses show that Satan's Game Plan is to sway the nations to form an alliance against God's chosen people and God's son. Throughout the Bible, Israel is continually referred to as God's chosen people. Throughout history we have seen the world's nations taking sides for or against Israel. Many of the world's leaders have played into the plan of Satan as he rallies the world against God and his people. His ultimate plan is to set himself on the throne in the temple of Jerusalem through the use of his Antichrist. He cannot do this, however, until he has rallied the nations to his cause and set up his antichrist as a world leader. We'll talk more about the antichrist in chapter 7. There are also many books on this topic and you can read more about this in the Books of Daniel and Revelation in the Bible.

Satan is the orchestrator of national crisis. The Bible says in Revelation,

" _This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world..." Revelation 12:9 NLT_

How does he do this? Well, think of it like the military. The top officials are the generals, then colonels below them, then Majors, then captains and so on all the way down to the privates. By and large generals deal with the big picture problems. They plan out attacks on large scales. They determine how many companies and squads go into each theatre of battle. Colonels carry out those orders by commanding their majors who in turn command their own captains all the way down the line to the individual privates who fight one on one with the individual enemies. (Remember this, it will be important later)

Much the same way does the kingdom of darkness work. In Ephesians Paul gives us an outline of these ranks.

" _For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12 KJV_

Principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places is the hierarchy of the kingdom of darkness. Fallen Angels, devils, demons and even people fall into these categories. Let's look at how:

Principalities

The original Greek word for "Principalities" used in Ephesians 6:12 was "Arche". This word literally means "Chief rulers; beings of the first rank and order in their own kingdom". These are the generals. They serve directly under Satan himself and they are assigned control, by Satan, over regions of the world. They control their subordinates at all levels to in order to influence the nations. When necessary they will enter into battle to directly affect important outcomes. They are very powerful. We see a glimpse of a Principality in the book of Daniel.

" _Then he said, "Don't be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia." Daniel 10: 12-13 NLT_

Since the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and not Greek like the New Testament, the Hebrew word used to describe the Prince of Persia is "Sar" and has the same meaning as the Greek word "Arche".

Here an angel appears to Daniel and tells him about the prince of the kingdom of Persia who directly interfered with his mission to deliver a message to Daniel. The important part of this story is that in the verses prior to this Daniel had been praying about the fate of his nation and the message the angel was to deliver was in direct regard to this prayer. In fact the entire book of Daniel is about the fate of the nation of Israel throughout time.

Also, it says that the angel that was assigned to bring the message to Daniel needed help from one of God's angelic generals, Michael. The importance of the message and the fact that this seemingly subordinate angel needed help from the angelic general, Michael, indicates that this was not a fight against a simple lower-level demon. This principality, the Prince of Persia, was getting involved to directly influence the fate of the nations of Israel and Persia.

Most of the world's countries are religiously based. I recently found a list of national religions around the world. It revealed a list of countries and the number of population belonging to their religions. In some countries, over 90% of the population claim they belong to the national religion. It would be ignorant to say that religion doesn't at least influence national policy in many of these places because many of these nations were founded on their religions values. Even the USA and Canada, to a large extent, were founded on Christian values. It then stands to reason that most, if not all, of the nationally recognized, non-Christian gods, would fit the category of Principalities as well.

By setting up principalities as gods to these nations, Satan has a much greater influence on those nations.

Powers

The Greek word, "Exousia", means authority and power and is where we get our English word Executive. This is the word translated as "Powers" in Ephesians 6:12. These authorities described are assigned their places by the Principalities. In the military these would be the majors under the generals. The idea this word carries is any force of darkness that is promoted to a place of authority or power. The book of Revelation is full of references to this.

" _I looked up and saw a horse whose color was pale green. Its rider was named Death, and his companion was the Grave. These two were given authority over one-fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword and famine and disease and wild animals." Revelation 6:8 NLT_

" _They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months." Revelation 9:10 NKJV_

" _These have power to shut Heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire." Revelation 11:6 NKJV_

While at first it might seem like those who receive this power are the one doing the work of killing and destruction, the fact that the word "Exousia" is used indicates that they are commanding subordinates to carry out the tasks; much in the same way that an executive in a company gives instructions to his employees or the way a commander in the army is responsible for the actions of his troops. The Powers' purpose is to coordinate the efforts of their subordinates, according to the commands of the Principalities above them, in the same way that a major would coordinate the efforts of the captains and privates according to the direction of the general above him.

Evidently these principalities and powers seem to be given authority over the earth. In fact, the word "earth" used in the Revelation 6:8 above is the Greek word "Ges" and carries the following definitions: the earth, soil, land, region, country, inhabitants of a region. Think of that! In that verse those powers are given authority over the land, regions, countries and their inhabitants.

Needless to say, it is not hard to see that Satan has a world agenda but that doesn't mean we are powerless to do anything about it. In fact, Paul exhorts us to pray for our governments and leaders.

" _I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth." 1Timothy 2:1-4 NLT_

While this verse talks about kings, it also references those in authority. Today's version of that scripture would talk about presidents and prime ministers and all levels of government. Those people who run our nations do not need to be criticized by Christians, but prayed for. They have an extremely difficult job, one that makes them vulnerable to attack on many different levels. Their positions are constantly offending one group of people while trying to please another. Any little mistake they make is brutally and cruelly scrutinized. Entire political careers are mercilessly destroyed. Men and women who have the noblest of intentions to make positive change in their nations need the support of praying Christians, so that the enemy cannot have his way with them.

" _And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare." Jeremiah 29:7 NLT_

You might be thinking, however, "really, what can my prayers do when these things are affected on a national scale? I'm just one person."

Remember, James 5:16 says that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much and that according to Romans 8:11 the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in us. Do you really believe that the spirit that can raise someone from the dead wouldn't be able to make a difference in national policy? Sometime we lose sight of the fact that the Spirit inside of us knows exactly how to make a difference in this world, at all levels, locally and nationally, spiritually and physically, as long as we are obedient to his leading.

So vote and keep apprised of current political matters, like you should, but more importantly pray for your government, pray for those in office who stand for righteousness. They have a difficult job and need your prayer support.

## Chapter 3 - Satan's Plans for the Church

The same Principalities and Powers of Ephesians 6:12, that we talked about last chapter, are also assigned to directly affect the church as a whole. You and I, together as Christians, are the church. We will deal with Satan's plans for us as individuals in chapter 5.

The church is, according to the word of God, the single most powerful force on the earth. That is why Satan's forces are so intensely focused on breaking it down. The church is the only impeding factor to his plans, and a major impediment it is. He needs to disable or remove the church in order to make his plan move forward.

Why?

Because, Jesus transferred all of his authority and power to the church. Talking to the disciples, He said,

" _Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy..." Luke 10:19 NLT_

Satan knows that he is powerless against the church so long as we walk in the authority God gave us. Because of this he has devised many different tactics intended to not only stop us from using the authority, but to also remove our knowledge of the authority. Think about it, how many people do you know who regularly exercise "authority over all the power of the enemy" like Luke 10:19 says. Further, how many people do you know who actually know and believe that they have that kind of authority? In Hosea 4:6, God said, "my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge". NKJV

How does Satan accomplish this? Well, some of the methods are easy to identify and others are more subtle. Let me illustrate.

In Sports, any team that is going up against a more powerful adversary needs to use many different plays and tactics to knock that opposing team off its balance. We are that opposing team to Satan and he uses a number of his own tactics to knock us off balance so he can beat us.

Persecution

The first way Satan tries to disable the church is by persecution. Jesus plainly talked about this when he told the disciples,

" _God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs." Matthew 5:10 NLT_

Persecution is public, open mockery, punishment and oppression of the church. Satan's goal by oppressing the church is to make them fearful of standing up for themselves. You see Satan knows that we are extremely powerful as the body of Christ as long as we know it and act on it by standing up for righteousness. So his goal toward the church is to make it believe that he is bigger and more powerful than we are. He's trying to make the church not want to stand up for righteousness for fear of persecution. To this end he has largely succeeded especially in areas like North America.

Sometimes he uses governments to persecute the church; sometimes he uses the general population and sometimes other churches or religions. The goal is always the same; cripple the church and make it believe it is powerless. The interesting thing is that no matter how hard Satan has oppressed God's people God has always been able to maintain his church and keep a group of believers focused and working for him in the midst heavy tribulation.

The Bible is full of examples of the church being persecuted but somehow surviving. In 1 Kings 19, the prophet Elijah laments the fact that the entire nation of Israel has turned its back on God and tells God, I am the only one left who will serve you. God answers, "I still have 7000 who have not turned away from me".

In the book of Acts, Paul was arrested, beaten, robbed, and shipwrecked and the Jewish Pharisees tried to kill him. He describes all of his persecution and his rescue in 2 Corinthians 11.

" _Are they servants of Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in prison more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm." 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 NLT_

Further, popular history indicates that all but one of Jesus' original disciples were executed for their faith.

During the dark ages of human history, the rulers of the Catholic church decided that in order to prevent any non-Catholic churches from springing up, they would banish everyone's access to the Bible except through their own priests. Absolutely no one but church officials could read and interpret Gods word. If a Bible was found in a layperson's home, the church would ransack the home and then burn it down. Many Christians were tortured and burned to death during this persecution by the Catholic church itself.

In the early 1300s an Italian scholar named Petrarch presented the idea that the dark ages was at least in part caused by the lack of true Christianity and its replacement by religious process and tradition. In the 1400s a man named Martin Luther, a monk, himself, denounced the Catholic church and started arguing that man wasn't forgiven through confession to a priest and by paying money but rather by repentance of sins and by the shed blood of Jesus. These men believed religious oppression and persecution to be a focal point of the dark ages in general.

Don't get the wrong idea here, I'm not trying to smear the Catholic church. These are events that you can read in many history books, Christian or otherwise.

More recently, during the early 1900s, Atheism became the official doctrine of the Soviet Union. This led to a government crackdown of all churches and religious beliefs, particularly the Christian church. By 1985 there were less than 7,000 known active churches left in the entire Soviet Union and the estimated number of Christians killed reached a staggering 20 million. When I was young I remember hearing stories of Christians being terribly persecuted in Russia and how God would lead them to safety, or protect them in some way.

You see, through every era of persecution God has always shown himself strong in his people who have remembered that Jesus gave us His power and authority.

Satan is like a peacock. The Peacock is not a particularly large bird but has a deceptive way of making itself appear to be much larger than it actually is. When a Peacock is threatened it flairs its tail feathers as wide as it can and makes lots of noise. The noise and site of the feathers ruffling are very effective at making what should be a superior predator back off and run away thinking it is powerless against the bird. When Jesus transferred his power to the church we became the natural predator to Satan. All he can do is ruffle his feathers, make himself look bigger, make lots of noise and start pecking at us to make us back away.

It is the job of pastors and teachers in the body of Christ to educate the church about its rightful authority as a body and to inspire action by the church in this world. It is part of the reason I'm writing this book; to help the body of Christ, the church, stand up and put Satan where he belongs. The world is lost and it needs the church to be the light in a time of darkness. The church needs to let go of its fear of persecution and get moving. If God's word is true, we have nothing to worry about because God gave us all we need to overcome persecution and have a major impact on the world. He is there to help us every step of the way! We need to stop being afraid of persecution and face it with the authority God gave us!

Breaking down Unity

This brings us to Satan's second play against the church, unity. Jesus went to great lengths to address unity amongst his people. He described the idea here,

" _He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love." Ephesians 4:16 NLT_

You see Jesus never set denominational boundaries between his disciples. He told them,

" _I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me." John 14:6 NLT_

He also told them,

" _Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone." Mark 16:15 NLT_

That is God's commission to the church, period. However, we spend way too much time arguing insignificant points in the Bible and getting offended and angry with one another to the point of refusing to work together because "that church doesn't believe all the same things that we believe". There are entire books written by Christians to discredit other Christians and denominations. There are countless websites devoted to proving why another denomination and its values are invalid. And the stunning thing is that these authors earnestly believe that they are doing God a favor.

THIS IS WRONG.

" _Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don't argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. For instance, one person believes it's all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don't. And those who don't eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them. Who are you to condemn someone else's servants? Their own master will judge whether they stand or fall. And with the Lord's help, they will stand and receive his approval." Romans 14: 1-4 NLT_

" _So let's stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall." Romans 14:13 NLT_

" _So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." John 13:34-35 NLT_

Satan's plan is not merely to get us away from God but to get us actively working against God's kingdom. He wants to turn each of us into double agents that believe we are serving God but are really doing the work of the enemy. Absolutely no one is called to judge or harmfully criticize anyone else, especially other believers.

That's not to say that you shouldn't learn to take constructive criticism. Constructive criticism is meant to build you up, make you better or bring correction on an incorrect course you might be taking. Paul had to bring this type of criticism to Peter when he started teaching erroneously. Paul withstood him, in front of others, but it brought about repentance and correction in Peter.

Years ago when I was working as a graphic designer I had to accept the criticism of my supervisor on a regular basis. Sometimes he would tell me that my work was just not very good and I would have to go back and start all over again. At first I found this very frustrating and took it very personally. My supervisor at one point had to reassure me that it wasn't an attack against me but rather a push to get me to do better. I learned to take the criticism seriously without taking it personally and it made me a better designer.

Usually constructive criticism will come from above, meaning it will come from those in authority over you. They are put in authority over you to help you go in the right direction.

" _For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child." Hebrews 12:6 NLT_

Now, if someone hurts or offends you go to them personally and try to resolve the matter. If you can't resolve it then you can escalate it to those in authority over him.

" _If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won't accept the church's decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector." Matthew 18:15-17 NLT_

In 2013 a Christian musician released a song that defames a number of ministers who belong to other denominations that the musician disagrees with. The song quickly spread around the internet. The problem with this song was that even if he was right and they were preaching an unbiblical message he was still wrong in openly attacking them in a way that made them look bad to the world and to other Christians. It seems that this Christian musician skipped the "go to him personally" part of Hebrews 18:15-17 and went straight to the "treat him like a pagan" part. I do need to mention at this point that all of the ministers the song blasts preach redemption and salvation through Christ.

In 1 Samuel chapter 24, and then again in chapter 26, you can find the story of King Saul and David. In this story Saul is chasing David all over the country trying to kill him because David had been anointed by God to be the next king. Saul is jealous and wants to stop that from happening. Twice David gets the advantage on Saul; once when he's going to the bathroom and once while he's sleeping. Each time David is tempted, even encouraged, to kill Saul. However, both times David responds the same way.

..."The Lord forbid that I should do this to my lord the king. I shouldn't attack the Lord's anointed one, for the Lord himself has chosen him."1 Samuel 24:6 NLT.

Saul had fallen from Grace. He was actively trying to kill David, chosen by God to be the rightful next king. The law at the time would have allowed David to take Saul's life to become king but David still recognized that Saul had originally been chosen and anointed by God to fulfill that role. David would not attack or harm Saul as God's original anointed king.

Now it could be argued that David did openly and harshly criticize Saul, but it's important to note that he always did it respectfully and in love being careful not to try to tear Saul down but rather to restore him to righteousness. In fact the striking thing about the story of Saul and David's relationship is how much David loved Saul even though Saul treated him with so much contempt.

Why is Unity amongst us believers so important? Take a look at this verse:

" _God's purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places." Ephesians 3:10 NLT_

God's plan is to display the power and the unity of the church to the principalities and the powers, those spiritual forces. This verse shows why God created different churches to have different flavors, why they work a little differently. It's not meant to cause division between the denominations; it's to show Gods rich variety of wisdom. Since God created such a rich diversity between each individual person doesn't it make sense that God would create a diverse set of churches meant to attract each of us in a way that personally touches us?

When the different churches work together to reach the world instead of fighting amongst themselves they become an open display of the infinite wisdom of God. They display God! That's why Satan has to work so hard to stop us and why he has devoted so much of his resources to dividing us. We are the most effective against Satan's kingdom when we are united. It is absolutely counterproductive to God's plan to criticize other believers regardless of their level of faith or their differing doctrines. God cannot work through a body that divides itself, but Satan can. In [Book] Jesus says,

" _And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand." Mark 3:24 KJV_

Jesus dealt with this when the disciples were trying to stop another outside group from preaching the gospel.

" _John said to Jesus, "Master, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he isn't in our group." But Jesus said, "Don't stop him! Anyone who is not against you is for you." Luke 9:49-50 NLT_

Jesus was very clear about not getting in the way of other believers who may not belong to your group or do things exactly your way.

Paul also spoke to the Corinthians about unity as well,

" _I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. For some members of Chloe's household have told me about your quarrels, my dear brothers and sisters. Some of you are saying, "I am a follower of Paul." Others are saying, "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Peter," or "I follow only Christ." Has Christ been divided into factions?..." 1 Corinthians 1: 10-13 NLT_

As Christians, when we are fighting amongst ourselves, our testimony to a lost world becomes invalid. The world looks at fighting Christians and says "how are they any different from us?" Take a look at what Paul says about those of us who even go so far as to bring other Christian people to court.

" _When one of you has a dispute with another believer, how dare you file a lawsuit and ask a secular court to decide the matter instead of taking it to other believers! Don't you realize that someday we believers will judge the world? And since you are going to judge the world, can't you decide even these little things among yourselves? Don't you realize that we will judge angels? So you should surely be able to resolve ordinary disputes in this life. If you have legal disputes about such matters, why go to outside judges who are not respected by the church? I am saying this to shame you. Isn't there anyone in all the church who is wise enough to decide these issues? But instead, one believer sues another—right in front of unbelievers! Even to have such lawsuits with one another is a defeat for you. Why not just accept the injustice and leave it at that? Why not let yourselves be cheated? Instead, you yourselves are the ones who do wrong and cheat even your fellow believers."1 Corinthians 6: 1-8 NLT_

So how does this affect you? Well the best thing for you to do as a Christian is to ignore those teachers and musicians with their criticizing songs and their smearing books and websites. They are meant purely to break down the unity of the church. Avoid them like the plague. Also if you're tempted to criticize another Christian, or another church because some of their beliefs don't match yours, remember that you probably don't have a completely accurate understanding of all the doctrines you claim to believe either.

For a number of years, I attended an evangelical church which had a deep focus on outreach. This church started an outreach initiative where they would hold community events at Easter, back to school and Christmas. At each of these events they would meet the needs of our community. They handed out backpacks or provided a fancy Christmas dinner to those without. At first these events were small; however, over time they started to get the support of other churches and eventually many local churches had members volunteering despite being from differing denominations. Even though some of those churches have different views on things like healing, prosperity, suffering and tithing they still saw the value of reaching out to a lost community to try and bring them to Christ.

To sum it up despite a few doctrinal differences between us we still all believe the basic gospel truth that Jesus rose from the dead to save us from our sin and put us into fellowship with the Father. Why let anything beyond that truth divide us?

" _Remind everyone about these things, and command them in God's presence to stop fighting over words. Such arguments are useless, and they can ruin those who hear them." 2 Timothy 2:14 NLT_

This isn't to say that all denominations are right about everything. In fact, as far as I can see all denominations hold to some doctrines that aren't biblically sound. God knows this but in the grand scheme of the universe does that incorrect doctrine really hinder the fact that you believe in Jesus Christ as your savior? In most cases, no.

Confusion with Other Religions

Another way Satan undermines the church is by trying to confuse Christianity with other religions. If you walk out on the street and ask any number of people about their views on God, religion, Heaven and hell, you will get a wide variety of responses. The one common theme you will hear is the agnostic one, "How do I know that Christianity is the right one?" Even Pontius Pilate, when questioning Jesus, asked this same question, "What is truth?"

Satan's plan is to confuse people by making all of the false religions of the world seem very attractive. He has also set up many of their values to closely resemble Christianity, making it hard to find the truth in all the noise. As an illustration take a look at the next block of text. How long does it take you to find the words 'the truth' in amongst all the other statements?

Change is good. Life is hard. Accept the way you are. I'm an atheist. I don't know what truth is. How do you know? I can't sort it all out. There are so many religions. I'm agnostic. Too many choices. Religion is a waste of time. The truth. I'm a good person. God won't condemn me. Man is inherently good. Man is inherently bad. Make your life the way you want. Live for pleasure. The only truth is the one you make for yourself. It doesn't matter what you believe as long as you're a good person. You don't need to change.

The world is full of noise. Satan has carefully orchestrated this noise to prevent people from seeing the truth.

" _There may be so-called gods both in heaven and on earth, and some people actually worship many gods and many lords." 1 Corinthians 8:5 NLT_

" _I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News" Galatians 1:6 NLT_

This noise is what Paul was addressing when he stood on Mars Hill and addressed the people of Athens regarding the statue of "the unknown God" amongst the other Greek and Roman gods. The Roman Empire at the time had a philosophy of not dismantling the religions of the nations they conquered but allowed them to continue their worship. This made those nations more easily accept Roman rule; however, it led to a sort of religious soup where one belief structure was virtually indistinguishable from the others.

If you think about it nations like The United States and Canada that have embraced the concept of multiculturalism and religious acceptance have created this same type of religious soup that makes the belief structures all virtually indistinguishable from each other.

So what do we do about it? How do we answer the agnostic or atheist that says they can't tell our religion from the others? Well in reality, the answer is not in our words but in our actions. The answer is in us loving the world and each other.

" _Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world's viewpoint, and the world listens to them. But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception. Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love." 1 John 4:5-8 NLT_

Why is it so important for God's body to avoid this and the previous traps I've discussed? If the body of Christ uses its power against the enemy and avoids being divided it stands out from all the other religions. The power and anointing of God working in the church will always provide a beacon of light in the darkness. Throughout history this concept has been put to the test. Take a look at the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal:

" _Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left, but Baal has 450 prophets. Now bring two bulls. The prophets of Baal may choose whichever one they wish and cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood of their altar, but without setting fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood on the altar, but not set fire to it. Then call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by setting fire to the wood is the true God!" And all the people agreed. Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "You go first, for there are many of you. Choose one of the bulls, and prepare it and call on the name of your god. But do not set fire to the wood._

" _They [the prophets of Baal] raved all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice, but still there was no sound, no reply, no response._

He [Elijah] piled wood on the altar, cut the bull into pieces, and laid the pieces on the wood. Then he said, "Fill four large jars with water, and pour the water over the offering and the wood."

At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, "O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself." Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, "The Lord—he is God! Yes, the Lord is God!" 1 Kings 18: 22-25, 29, 33, 36-39 NLT

The people of Israel were suffering from this same problem during the time of Elijah. For years the enemy had oppressed the prophets and God's people were not standing up for righteousness. This led the people to start asking who the true god was, Baal or the God of Abraham? It took Elijah standing up for righteousness, taking hold of the power of God and letting his light shine, to show God to the nation.

Dilution of the Gospel

One more method Satan uses against the church is dilution of the Gospel. Somehow Satan has convinced church leaders that the Bible is not user-friendly and that certain parts of the Bible are not for today especially concerning the power of God in the church. Many ministers are afraid of what the membership of their church, the board of directors or their denomination's governing body might say if they present ideas that are unpopular or that might offend certain groups.

" _But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him to his face, for what he did was very wrong. When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn't eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision. As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter's hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. When I saw that they were not following the truth of the gospel message, I said to Peter in front of all the others, "Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you now trying to make these Gentiles follow the Jewish traditions? "You and I are Jews by birth, not 'sinners' like the Gentiles. Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law." Galatians 2:11-16 NLT_

The apostle Peter started to dilute the Gospel when he started to behave in a way that he thought would attract the Jews. Probably innocently, he thought that by pulling back from the non-Jewish community it would make the Gospel more seeker-friendly for the Jews, because Jewish tradition was to shun anyone who was not circumcised. Peter became afraid that his association with Gentiles would ruin his reputation and effectiveness with the Jewish community. Peter let himself get into a frame of thinking that certain parts of the Gospel didn't apply to both sets of people. So Paul had to bring correction to Peter for this error. It's also interesting to note that Paul brought the error in Peter's doctrine to Peter directly instead of publicly denouncing him as a false teacher.

One way that Satan tries to dilute the gospel is by getting ministers to add their own opinions or take away elements of the word they're teaching. The Bible is also very clear about changing the word of God to fit a preferred doctrine,

" _Do not add to or subtract from these commands I am giving you. Just obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you." Deuteronomy 4:2 NLT_

Again, the very last command in the Bible, in the book of Revelation says,

" _And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person's share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book." Revelation 22:18-19 NLT_

It is said that the Hebrew scribes and scholars who were copying the books of the Old Testament would take great care in preserving the scripture. They had a zero tolerance for mistakes. If they made an error while copying a scroll they would stop, take a ceremonial bath and start the whole scroll over again. The scrolls weren't divided into chapters like our Bible today, so sometimes this meant re-writing the entire book. They took the idea of not adding or subtracting from the word of God quite literally.

When the Word of God is preached unedited and unchanged by a church that believes what it says is true, the forces of darkness cannot stop it. Satan's kingdom is powerless against the Word and us as a church. That is why he needs a campaign against the church.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a criticism of any particular denomination nor am I trying to discredit them. All I want to point out is that the Gospel stands for itself. It has the power to change lives, cut away sin and set people free. As a church we should be careful not to forget this.

## Chapter 4 – Satan's Plans for Unbelievers

Satan has a very successful strategy for unbelievers.

Last chapter we covered how Satan turns the church against itself to get it to be ineffective and powerless. Why would doing this to the church matter? Because when the church becomes effective and powerful it undermines Satan's kingdom and plans by removing his hands and feet in the world.

Largely, unbelievers are Satan's unwitting hands and feet.

All the way throughout history Satan has used unbelievers to persecute Gods people and to undermine the church. He has deceived them. They are unbelievers because they believe a lie; that God's way cannot be the truth.

Their thinking is that if Jesus was really God then all he did was come down, make us all feel guilty and then left us all alone to figure things out for ourselves. The world cannot comprehend that God would come as man, subject himself to all the same temptation and problems we face, show us how to have victory and then give us a road map to success and a helper to achieve it.

Remember Ephesians 6:2?

" _For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, and powers, and rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places"_

This is where the Rulers of the Darkness of this world come in.

Rulers of the darkness of this world

The Rulers of the darkness of this world are the team captains. They are the motivational force behind sin and darkness in this world. Their primary purpose is to direct wicked spirits in their individual missions against people, which we'll discuss next chapter, and to keep unbelievers in sin. The "darkness" of this world is sin, plain and simple. When unbelievers are stuck in sin it is very easy for the forces of darkness to control them. So then the "rulers" of the darkness of this world are the ones who keep sin abounding in those that they rule over. These are both evil spirits and wicked men in places of authority who have dedicated their lives to chaos and rebellion.

Drug cartels, slave rings, the black market, organized crime all show the influence of the rulers of the darkness of this world.

By creating chaos amongst unbelievers Satan accomplishes a couple if things. First people take their eyes away from God and get them focused on the problems in the world and, second, people wonder why a fair and just God would allow these things to happen?

But the things that are outright evil are only a distraction from the more subtle influences that undermine God.

An extremely effective strategy that has been used in war throughout history is not one of force or violence, but rather a psychological strategy. It is to make the people doubt that their government is working to protect or take care of them.

This is the whole purpose of propaganda in the world. One group doesn't want another group to be in power so it stages events and publishes reports and materials which undermine the other group. They twist the truth and then present this twisted logic which sways people's emotions in an attempt to bring themselves to power by turning the people against the opposing government. The interesting thing is that they don't need the people to fully embrace their own agenda; they merely need to get the people to lose faith in their current leadership.

When you lose faith in your current Government you put your hope in another.

A great example of this was the relationship between the Soviet Union and the US. The Communist regime did not want the US to have such sway in the world, so they started publishing propaganda materials that discredited the US and distributed them as far as they could.

According to some reports, In Communist China, the government even published anti-capitalism children's books in an attempt to sway the population's opinion of the west.

More locally, in almost every government election in the free world, every candidate has every last bit of dirty laundry dug up and thrown in their faces as means to discredit them and remove them from the race.

Satan invented this. He has used it throughout history. In the Garden of Eden, he did not use great shows of power to deceive Adam and Eve. Instead he used twisted logic and emotion, effectively making Eve and then Adam doubt God's authority and overall plan.

" _The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?" "Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden," the woman replied. "It's only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, 'You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.'" "You won't die!" the serpent replied to the woman. "God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil." The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too." Genesis 3:1-6 NLT_

Satan even tried to use this same strategy on Jesus when he tempted him in the Wilderness. He quoted scripture to Jesus, just twisting the words enough to make it sound really good, but being off the truth enough to try to lead Jesus astray.

If you have ever undergone a crisis of faith, if you have ever felt that God's word might not be true, or that God doesn't care about you then you have fallen victim to this strategy of the enemy.

Today Satan does not need to use great shows of power to deceive the general population. All he needs to do is set up circumstances and events to undermine God's kingdom and then use influential unbelievers and secular publications and media to proclaim the failings and shortcomings of God's Kingdom. Have you ever noticed how much Anti-Christian rhetoric there is on national TV and how much promotion there is for other world religions? This is all part of Satan's plan for unbelievers.

As a Christian, this is why it's important to do everything you can to avoid sin. In today's world everything is posted on Facebook. Your lives are wide open for everyone to see. Falling into sin is not a hidden thing. What happens in Vegas, so to speak, does not stay in Vegas. If you are a Christian in a public facing position and you have made a stand for God, then the world's eyes are on you. The enemy is going to try to increase the temptation for you to sin; and if you do fall he's going to display it for the world to see by getting those unbelievers who did see it to proclaim it from the rooftops. Or at least tweet about it.

But at the same time that the unbelievers want you to fail, they also are looking for somebody to succeed. They want someone to rise above sin and show them a real way of living right.

As mentioned before, Satan has even more subtle strategies to pull the world away from God. One more effort Satan uses is to try to make people believe that they don't need God. If the world largely believes that they are getting along fine without God, what need is there to pursue him? Take a look around you. Think about the very lives we live, everything in business and school tells us to make our own way. We are told we need to plan for the future, and make a name for ourselves. We are told that we need to work hard to fulfill ourselves and if we do we will be rewarded. Everything about it is self-centric and designed to make us believe that we don't need God. So the less we think we need God, the less we will believe in him.

The interesting thing about this is that this strategy has crept its way into believer's lives as well. Take a moment and reflect on how much you think you really need God. Jesus talks about this in Matthew 6 when he says,

" _That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn't life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? "And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don't work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? "So don't worry about these things, saying, 'What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?' These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." Matthew 6:25-33 NLT_

This is not the first time Satan has attempted this strategy with humanity. Think back to the Tower of Babel. Genesis 11 says:

" _At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there. They began saying to each other, "Let's make bricks and harden them with fire." (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) Then they said, "Come, let's build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world." But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. "Look!" he said. "The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! Come, let's go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won't be able to understand each other." In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city. That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the Lord confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world." Genesis 11:1-9 NLT_

In this story, mankind was united, but it would seem they were united without God. They came together to "reach the Heavens" in their own strength and ability. Classically people believe that the phrase "a tower to reach Heaven" means an actual spire so tall that it goes past the clouds and a person could walk up to get into Heaven. The thing you should know is that the original Hebrew word used for Heaven here, "shamayim", was regarded as the dwelling place of God. It was a place of spiritual experience. This was not the same word that described "the sky". Instead the tower was likely a fairly tall building with a large platform at the top for performing magic rituals. The people were united in an effort to reach a spiritual experience without God. This is why God came down and thwarted their plans by confusing the languages.

All throughout history mankind has been fascinated by spirituality and magic. Using the tower as a physically central location, Satan was trying to deceive mankind into pursuing a spiritual experience outside of God, and then when the people finished the tower, Satan would be happy to give them a spiritual experience that would solidify their belief that they were fine without God.

Again looking at the world around us, and even at our own lives, it's easy to see how Satan works to make us try to be self-sufficient without God. Then, it was a united humanity seeking something spiritual. Today, Satan has broken the effort into separate pieces; for some it's the spiritual experience, for others its humanitarian pursuits, for others still its money or power or family. Whatever it is, Satan will try to make people believe that something outside of God will fulfill them and if they attain that thing they will not need God; and Satan will be more than happy to give them that thing in order to keep them away from God.

Take a look at what the prophet Jeremiah writes:

" _This is what the Lord says: "Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord. They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in an uninhabited salty land. "But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit. "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?" Jeremiah 17:5-9 NLT_

God wants us to trust in him, to rely and depend on Him. This is an effort we make, not something God is responsible for. We are supposed to determine within ourselves to trust in him. Satan is going to set up circumstances for us to rely on our own ability and understanding. We have to reject that idea in our lives and consciously put our trust, our dependence on God.

" _Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take." Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT_

## Chapter 5 – Satan's Plans for You and Me

The final category of Satan's game plan I want to discuss is his plans for Individuals, for you and me. We've seen now how Satan has plans for the nations and governments of the world and for the church, but how can he accomplish these overarching goals?

Through you and me.

Satan needs to use individuals in order to affect all levels of his plan. But how can Satan manage to affect all of us individually?

Let's go back to Ephesians 6:12.

" _For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."_

Spiritual Wickedness in high places

Literally translated, "spiritual wickedness" means wicked spirits and their assignments against individuals (unbelievers and Christians). Going back to our analogy of the army, wicked spirits are the grunts, the foot soldiers. They are the ones who are assigned to affect us on an individual basis. The Bible gives no indication of how many there are but does describe many different types of wicked spirits. For example,

" _For God hath not given us the spirit of fear..." 2 Timothy 1:7 KJV_

" _Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit." Mark 9:17 NKJV_

" _Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit." Mark 1:23 NKJV_

These few scriptures give us a glimpse into the idea that there are wicked spirits that are assigned a specific job toward people. They even seem to indicate that these spirits are assigned to specific individuals. Throughout scripture there are indications of many other types of spirit like jealousy, lust, hatred, the list goes on. Part of the reason for the previous chapter, regarding Satan's plan for unbelievers, is due to the fact that these wicked spirits are not only assigned to affect Christians, but to work in unbelievers as well. Without their influence on unbelievers, there would be nothing to stop Christians from bringing the lost to Christ.

During Jesus' time on earth he healed many people who were displaying behavior, like seizures and convulsions, bipolar and personality disorders, that were strikingly similar to some of the diseases and mental problems in our society today. If the same medical knowledge we have today existed back then, our doctors would have probably diagnosed chemical imbalances in the brain and certain mental illnesses as causing many of those problems. But Jesus went to the root of the problem and dealt with the spiritual force that was causing the chemical imbalance. Now please don't misunderstand, I'm absolutely not saying that anyone with mental problems or diseases is demon possessed. Rather, I'm asking you to consider the following, is it conceivable that, in some cases, demonic influence could be responsible for causing the chemical imbalances in the first place? Jesus knew, by the Holy Spirit, that in those cases the problem was being caused by a demonic force, is it possible that's still true today?

" _And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him." Acts 10:38 NLT_

Look at that verse, especially the part that says that Jesus healed all that were oppressed by the devil. The word oppression there means "negatively affected by an outside force". The wording the verse indicates that Jesus was healing a sickness or disease that was being caused by the negative outside force of a devil.

One other important thing to realize is that these forces of darkness are able to affect the physical world around us. If demonic forces are able to manifest themselves in the physical world, through people's bodies, then is it possible that reported hauntings, mythical creatures and maybe even UFO/alien sightings could all be part of Satan's plan to draw us away from God as well?

The world is fascinated with the supernatural. Psychic hotlines are more popular than ever, movies about magical powers and super powers are gaining the attraction of all walks of life. Atheists, agnostics and the religious are all drawn to fantasy about power greater than what we have already. As a species, we are inexorably drawn to things that are beyond our natural ability because we are so acutely aware of our own limits and flaws. In each one of us is a desire to shed those flaws and achieve greater.

You've probably heard it said that everyone has a vice. What does this mean? A vice is a practice or behavior that is considered immoral. You could say it's a sin we fall into more easily than other things. Alcoholism would be considered a vice for some; pornography for others, the list is long. Satan is very good at identifying what sin you will most easily fall into and then assigns a wicked spirit to help you stay stuck in that sin. We have to start fighting this first by putting our eyes on Jesus and keeping them there.

" _Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith." Hebrews 12:1-2 NLT_

Then, we need to start building our defenses against that type of sin by seeking out Gods word on the matter. The person addicted to pornography might start looking for verses in the Bible that deal with sexual sin. But not stopping there, they should also look for verses that show Gods ability to set them free. At the same time, we should be practicing being free by forcing ourselves to go without that thing for as long as we can while asking God for help and trusting that if we fail God will be there to pick up the pieces of our shame and forgive us.

Finally, we thank God, every day, for our coming freedom and for each of the small successes we have along the way.

It is very important to stay determined to get free because the more success we have beating that sin, with God's help, the more Satan is going to fight to try and bring you back down again. The reason I emphasize doing this with God's help is that Satan doesn't mind if you beat one sin only to be ensnared in another. For example, a person might beat pornography on their own yet fall into alcoholism as they take a drink to drown away the guilt and sorrow. When you take the steps listed above, Satan is cut off because once you are convinced that you can be free there's nothing to stop you from actually being set free.

Once you have started to find freedom and have success against your vice, Satan has to change his strategy against you, so he has developed some tools to prevent you from finding further success with God's plan in your life. Let's examine a few of Satan's most effective tools against Christians.

Distraction

Distraction is One of Satan's most effective tools against all people. In fact, one of the biggest challenges I faced while writing this book was getting distracted. Distraction comes in many varieties; simple thoughts, a friend stopping by for a chat, a pet knocking something over, children constantly asking you questions, the internet, all the way up to life changing events. All of these can divert your attention away from God and his plans if you let them.

There's a story in the Bible that deals with Distraction,

" _Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word." And the saying pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit, and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch, 6 whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith. Acts 6, 1-7 NKJV_

In this story, the apostles were supposed to be focused on the work of the ministry. However, as time went on, issues started to creep up that would take their attention away from the ministry. Most of these issues were legitimate issues that needed to be dealt with, but were becoming such a distraction that they were keeping the apostles from doing their job.

So how do you deal with distraction? Get and stay focused. Make a decision that you are going to accomplish the task before you. Like the apostles, sometimes this means assigning tasks that you are perfectly capable of performing to someone else in order to stay on track. Managers in business often will hand off the tasks that are outside their current focus in order to stay focused. Sometimes, the decision to stay focused means putting some of the less important distractions aside for a while, or maybe even permanently. If you find that you seem to get distracted every time you walk by the television, turn it off for a while.

I like to encourage people to learn to make use of a schedule. Learn to make personal appointments for each of the items you need to do for God. For those of you who are naturally good at organizing your time this should be fairly easy for you. If you're like me however, not naturally organized, then this may take some effort. Growing up, our family didn't usually put a lot of emphasis on effective time management, so this was a skill I had to learn in order to be effective in business and in life. Frankly, it's something I'm still learning. The point is that in order to beat distraction you must be willing to set aside whatever is distracting you and find a way to focus on God and his plans. One way that I find particularly effective for beating distraction is waking up early before everyone else in the house so that I can focus on prayer and study of God's word. That is my appointment with God each day. If you're a night owl perhaps you should make your last hours, after everyone else is in bed your focus time.

Interestingly, the most common time that distraction tries to come is when you are trying to pray. How many times have you been praying when some random thing in the room caught your eye, or some random thought about something grabbed your attention and the next thing you know you've spent the last few minutes thinking about those things rather than focusing on prayer?

It takes practice to stop those thoughts from coming. It takes discipline to focus on the prayer at hand. At first, you will find it challenging and the prayer will be a force of pure will, but keep doing it. Keep pushing into prayer every day. When the distractions come, push them aside. Sometimes it even helps to visualize yourself physically pushing the distractions aside. Focus on Jesus and push through the distraction and it will become easier and easier to not fall into its hands.

" _I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways." Ps 119:15 ESV_

Here, the psalmist is overcoming this very thing. Fixing your eyes on Gods promises and his ways is something we actively do. It isn't something that God does in us, so make sure you are making the effort to stay focused on God and his word for you.

Temptation

" _Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death." James 1:14-15 NLT_

We have all been tempted at some point in our lives. It is something Satan tries with every human being. It is the simplest and easiest method of drawing people away from God. Temptation is simply enticement or attraction to some action or thing. The first thing we need to understand is that we are spiritual beings. Once we get saved we are given a new spiritual nature, but there is something within us that always feels drawn back to sin. This is why temptation is so successful and why it's so important to guard against it. Earlier in this chapter we talked about our vices, the sin we feel is easier for us to fall back into. Satan knows what types of personalities we have, so he's going to make sure to set up circumstances and opportunities for you to be snared by that temptation.

Temptation is like a hunter's trap. Hunters will set up snare traps when trying to catch animals that would normally be too quick. The hunter will set up a trap and then put some luring piece of food near the trap to draw the animal in. Sometimes the hunter will have to be very patient and wait a long time for the animal to trust that they can go toward the food. Many animals have a sense that danger is nearby and so will be very hesitant to go get the food. After waiting long enough the animal starts to feel safe that danger must not be there and eventually tries to get the food and gets snared by the hunter. This is the same with people. Satan is perfectly happy to wait until you have forgotten the danger and then he can snare you.

So how do you avoid this? Recognize temptation for what it is, resist it and immediately run the other way. The problem with the animal being snared is that it wants the food more than it wants to protect its own life. It only wants to protect its life once it's been caught. We have much the same sense built into us. Think about any times you have been tempted. During the temptation, you probably had a sense that there was something not quite right and that maybe you shouldn't do this. Did you resist the temptation and turn and run away? Or did you want the tasty food more than you wanted to protect your own life?

When the temptation to sin comes remember that when you got born again your sinful nature was crucified with Christ and that you are no longer bound by sin.

" _We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin." Romans 6:6 NLT_

Also understand that temptation itself is not sin. You cannot control the thoughts that enter your mind, but you can control which thoughts you keep in your mind. If a temptation comes you can reject it. You see God knows when you are being tempted and he will prompt you in your spirit with the way out of that temptation.

" _The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure." 1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT_

I used to be addicted to pornography and while God did set me free, occasionally the temptation to go back to porn does come around. Every time that temptation comes I always hear the Holy Spirit prompting me to get up, walk away, go to bed or do something that will remove me from that trap.

" _Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on Heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!" Deuteronomy 30:19 NLT_

Always remember that sin is a choice you make. If you make a decision in your heart to do everything you can to avoid sin when temptation comes it will become easier to avoid getting snared by that trap. The Bible says,

" _So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7 NLT_

Offense

Another tool Satan uses against Christians is offense. This is particularly true in regards to the church. First of all, let's make a clear distinction; being offended is not the same as someone being an offence or doing something to offend you. Being offended is an act of your own will. You cannot control the actions of others but you can control how you react to their actions.

The best thing you can do when offence comes is let it go. Forgive immediately, even before the offender has asked forgiveness. Let forgiveness become an attitude of your heart and remember that God is trying to get through to that person just as much as He's trying to get through to you. Remind yourself to walk in love.

" _(Love) does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs." 1 Corinthians 13:5 NIV_

Being offended literally is keeping a record of wrong and letting it hurt and anger you. As you can see this is contrary to love.

" _Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others." Colossians 3:13 NLT_

" _Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends." Proverbs 17:9 NIV_

However, be careful. Forgiving even before the person comes to ask forgiveness is a good practice to get into for yourself but I don't necessarily recommend going up to that person and saying "I forgive you" because they may not be ready to ask forgiveness or they may not even realize they've done anything to offend you in the first place. It would be far better to go in private and tell them they have hurt you and let God deal with their heart.

Realize that everyone makes their own choices and in some cases they choose to do things at the expense of others, even if it hurts those other people. Having this attitude of immediate forgiveness is just a way of protecting yourself from falling into offense.

Also consider that you may not understand the whole reason they said or did whatever it was that hurt you. You may not have a complete picture of their situation.

" _Do not pay attention to every word people say, or you may hear your servant cursing you, for you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others." Ecclesiastes 7:21-22 NIV_

Finally, be careful not to be an offense to anyone. Do your best to behave in a way that draws people to God, and not in a way that repels them. Do everything you can to walk in love. This is what Jesus did all the time and it drew great crowds of people to him, because he talked and behaved in a way that made others feel valued and loved.

Accusation

" _Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, "It has come at last - salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth - the one who accuses them before our God day and night." Revelation 12:10 NLT_

Satan is the accuser. That means he's going to try to accuse you and he's indiscriminate as to whether you actually have done anything wrong or not. In fact, there are a couple ways Satan will accuse you.

First Satan will accuse you of sins you have actually committed.

Now let's be honest, we have all sinned, every one of us, and if we've been saved for any length of time we've likely sinned at least once since we gave our hearts to Christ as well. The thing about sinning after we've given our hearts to the Lord is that it gives Satan legitimate ammunition to accuse us with. For most Christians the thought of having our past or secret sin dragged up, in front of all the people who know you as a Christian, is horrifying because we feel that it invalidates our testimony as a Christian. This is why Paul instructs us to "live above reproach" in 1 Timothy 3:2.

This makes shame a powerful weapon for Satan. He knows that if you are focused on hiding the skeletons in your closet, you will be less likely to accomplish God's plan for your life. For example, in my life, pornography has been a major roadblock for me in accomplishing things I feel God asking me to do. Having had a career in technology, I know that every website I visit and video I watch online is recorded somewhere and if someone wanted to do some digging they could find the history of my online activity and use it against me. Knowing this, whenever I have fallen into it, it usually makes me ashamed of myself, and stops me from working on my ministry for a while. My thoughts usually go something like, "What's wrong with you Noel? Do you realize that if you get caught it's going to ruin your ministry before it even starts?" This shame then paralyzes me and not only keeps me from being an effective witness for Christ, but also effectively keeps me from going to God to get forgiveness, which leads to self-condemnation. So what are you to do when you have committed sin and the enemy is accusing you? Own up to it. Accept the consequences and learn from it. Yes, you may have marred some people's opinions of you, and maybe even of Christianity as a whole, but remember the God we serve is able to restore you. Notice above that I talk freely about my past with pornography. I face it head on, I tell you about it so that the enemy can't use it against me. I believe that God has given me the grace to overcome pornography, but that doesn't mean that Satan doesn't constantly try to tempt me with it.

The other way Satan accuses us is on circumstantial evidence. You can see it everywhere. Look at tabloid magazines for example. These publications exist purely to spread rumor and hearsay, regardless of fact or fiction. Perhaps some celebrity is seen at a night club with another celebrity of the opposite or same sex; automatically they are reported to be having an illicit affair. This is all based on circumstance and not on reality.

The entire purpose of this type of accusation is to call your integrity in to question. If Satan can cause people to doubt you, then they won't listen to you or take your Christianity seriously. This is why some Christian ministers make policies of not being alone with someone of the opposite sex, or having all their phone calls recorded, because this curtails Satan's ability to set up compromising circumstances.

The best defense to Satan's accusations is a good offence. Be mindful of every action you take, be careful not to put yourself in a place where people will doubt your faith. More importantly, be sure to repent immediately of any sin you do commit. Don't hide it but own up to it immediately and resolve to not get trapped by it again; and keep that promise. The Bible says,

" _Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results." James 5:16 NLT_

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other, this way you will stay righteous and your prayers will be far more effective.

Self-condemnation

Perhaps one of Satan's most effective tools against Christians today is self-condemnation. Once Satan has successfully tempted you to sin, he then immediately comes and starts trying to get you to feel bad about your sin. He will start telling you that you're no good, that you're supposed to be saved and you can't even beat this sin and that maybe your salvation wasn't real in the first place and so on. Then, once he gets you to condemn yourself he backs off and lets you do the work.

The book of Job is a great example of this in the Bible. First the Devil accuses Job to God and gets permission to test job. Later Job admits to the thing he greatly feared and spends half of the book condemning himself. Then Job figures out that he can't sit there condemning himself any longer and starts to honor and glorify God. When he does this, everything turns around for him and God is able to restore everything.

Condemnation is not from God. In fact, all it does is keep you from approaching God. The self-condemning person starts to feel unworthy of God's love and forgiveness and withdraws from him because of shame. An example of this was Adam and Eve in Genesis 3,

" _When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:6-8 NIV_

You see, Because Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil they now could understand that they had sinned and condemnation took over almost immediately. Instead of looking to God for forgiveness, they hid. A few verses later when God questioned them they tried to pass blame and pass off their own self condemnation rather than asking forgiveness. How much different might this story have ended if they had immediately asked forgiveness?

Condemnation is used by Satan to keep you from fulfilling your call. As a Christian you are a potential threat to the Satan's kingdom and plans. If you start to grow in Christ and fulfill God's plan for your life, you will deal massive damage to Satan's kingdom and he does not want that to happen. So, if he can successfully tempt you to sin and then get you condemning yourself after your stumbled, all he needs to do is remind you of your sin every so often to keep you condemning yourself which will then keep you from approaching God.

But here's the Good news,

" _There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Romans 8:1 KJV_

If you are pursuing God's Spirit, then there is no condemnation for you from God; even if you stumble. If a child stumbles when learning to walk, do you get all angry at the child and make them feel like they will never learn? Do you allow them to start being down on themselves and let them say, "I'll never figure this out"? Of course not, you encourage them and prompt them to get up and try again. You reward them when they do well. God is no different. If you are truly making an effort to pursue him, then he's encouraging you, even if you stumble.

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16 KJV

God's very own throne, in Heaven, is called the Throne of Grace and it is where we can obtain mercy from God. What does that mean?

Mercy is God's ability to forgive you even though you sinned. This forgiveness was provided when Jesus died on the Cross. He looks at you after you have given him your life and says, "All of your sin was washed away when Jesus died on the Cross."

Grace is Gods favor on your life and his supernatural ability in you to accomplish what you cannot accomplish, like beating sin on your own, or approaching God after you have fallen. Your salvation has nothing to do with you; it has to do with God's ability in you. When should you approach the throne of Grace? Every single day.

But here is a word of warning. God's grace is NOT an excuse to keep on sinning and not feel condemned. Take a look at this verse:

" _Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God's judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies." Hebrews 10:26-27 NLT_

The fear of judgement will come if you deliberately keep on sinning. Self-condemnation will take over and bring you to a place where you are too far to let God bring you back. Your shame will be so great that you cut yourself off from God entirely. Don't let this happen to you.

" _And I heard a loud voice saying in Heaven, Now is come salvation, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night." Revelation 12:10 KJV_

Going back to Revelation 12:10 shows us that the end of the story is that Satan is ultimately cast down. He accuses us to God all the time, but God has already said we are forgiven. Why are we letting a defeated Devil get us to condemn ourselves? We need to be the ones standing up reminding the Devil that he's the one who is condemned.

There is a saying, "If the Devil reminds you of your past, remind him of his future."

Selfishness

The single most important strategy of Satan against Christians today is getting them to focus all their attention on themselves. Selfishness prevents people from focusing on God's purpose. What is God's purpose for our lives? To help spread the good news of God's redemption to a lost world; to ultimately bring people to God. This purpose is everything Satan hates and wants to destroy in you. If you are pursuing God's will and are making an impact for his kingdom, then Satan can't come right out and physically stop you because of the grace and protection of God. Whether you are a young Christian or more mature Satan will try to attack you before you can make any significant impact in his kingdom. He knows all about potential, and he knows that you have the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwelling in you. If you begin to realize this and start focusing on God's plan instead of yourself, you will be unstoppable.

At first he will try to get you to focus on your problems. He'll bring financial struggle and health or relationship problems. As you gain victory over these areas he will try to get you to focus on your "accomplishments for God" and pride will set in. He'll bring soothsayers to stroke your ego and he'll try to get you to have a sense of entitlement, believing that you should be able to have anything you want because of your service. He'll try to convince you that because of what you've done for God, you will be able to ease off and not work so hard.

Satan will bring money, possessions, fame, love, lust, personal glory, or he'll bring poverty, sickness, temptation, loneliness or anything he can to try to get you to start focusing on yourself. It doesn't matter to him if your selfishness is fueled by good feelings or bad as long as you're focused on yourself.

But this is just really the same thing he has been doing to the world all along. Looking around you it's easy to see that unbelievers are largely completely selfish. They work to fulfill selfish desires with very little thought toward others and certainly very little toward their own or others eternal destination. That's not to say that some unbelievers don't devote much of their life to humanitarian causes but relatively speaking its very few who do.

Doubt

The final method Satan uses to draw us away from God, that I want to talk about, is doubt. Doubt is the very first sin that Satan tempted mankind with. Let's look at the story of Eve and the snake in the garden again.

" _The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?" "Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden," the woman replied. "It's only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, 'You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.'" "You won't die!" the serpent replied to the woman. "God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil." The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves." Genesis 3:1-7 NLT_

Do you see here how Satan asked Eve, "Did God really say..."? All the way throughout history Satan has used this same question to get people to doubt God. How many times have you heard, or even asked, this same question? Does God really love me? Does He really want to bless or heal me? Does God really care about this insignificant little world in the grand scheme of the universe?

Doubt is the opposite of faith. Faith is confidence in God and his ability to come through in your life. Faith believes that God's word is true.

" _Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see." Hebrews 11:1 NLT_

When you doubt, you cannot receive from God. So how do we fight doubt? By gaining faith. How do we gain faith? By pressing into the word and getting revelation from God's Spirit in our hearts, and then constantly reminding ourselves of that word from God.

" _So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans 10:17 NKJV_

The original translation of this verse actually says faith comes by "inner spiritual hearing" and "inner spiritual hearing" comes from the word of God. This indicates that it takes the Spirit of God on the inside of you to reveal God's will and activate faith based on what you've been exposed to in the word of God.

Think of doubt and faith like a tug-of-war. On the one side you've got faith pulling more toward God and his promises. On the other side you've got doubt pulling you away from the will of God. The more time you spend prayerfully seeking God's word, the more strength you give to the faith side of the rope. This makes your faith grow. Conversely the less you seek God and the more you entertain the world's ideas that God doesn't care about you, and won't help you, the more strength you give to the doubt side of the tug-of-war. Your faith will shrink and doubt will begin to take over. So the answer to effectively beating doubt is to get in the word and ask God to reveal that word to you. Prayerful study of the word is critical to your faith growing in God.

Putting it all together

Whether it's distraction, offence, temptation, accusation, self-condemnation or selfishness, remember that Satan has come to steal, to kill and to destroy. If he can make you too busy he's stealing your time. If he can attack your health he's killing you. If he can derail you from pursuing God and his kingdom, or catch you in sin and broadcast it publicly, Satan is destroying your accomplishments against his own kingdom.

In the book of John, Jesus said,

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13 KJV

Many times we read this as saying that the person is dying for others; and it certainly is true that those who have died for others did so out of great love, but look at the words used, "lay down his life". This also includes those that have dedicated their lives to helping others, taking no thought for their own well-being, laying down their own desires and needs. This is what the apostle Paul was doing when he said,

" _But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus - the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God." Acts 20:24 NLT_

When Jesus died he defeated death, the grave and all the forces of darkness. It was the greatest miracle of all time. It's the whole reason the Bible was written, to document God's plan to redeem the world. Satan wants to undermine our salvation and make us forget what God has done for us. Christians, especially in North America, are very prone to this. We need to stop letting Satan take away God's victory in our lives. We are dead to a lost world and born again into new life in Christ. We need to start behaving like it.

The Devil is persistent. His whole goal is to find your weakness and then chip away at it until he makes you cave. This is something he will do until either you give in to it or you prove to him that his efforts are fruitless. This means that, whatever your weakness, you have to stand against the temptation to give in, no matter what. Do this more persistently than the Devil and He'll be forced to withdraw and find another tactic. As it says in Eph. 6:13 "..having done all to stand..". Stand! Stand firm! Stand tall! Don't back down! Winston Churchill once said, "Never give up! Never surrender!"

## Chapter 6 – How Not To Be Played!

We've spent much of this book looking at Ephesians 6:12,

" _For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."_

The important thing to note about this verse is the first three words, "For we wrestle". While we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, we do wrestle against all of the demonic forces that Satan has set against us. How do we do that, you may ask? For that answer we need to read the next verses in this chapter.

" _Therefore, take up the full armour of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints". Ephesians 6: 13-18 NKJV_

So what is the Armour of God? How do we put it on and use it? Let's take a closer look. As we begin, understand that Paul, when he wrote this, was comparing the armour of God to the armour that Roman soldiers wore at the time, because everyone he was writing to was familiar with it.

Having your loins girded with truth

The Roman armour had a central belt that had two purposes. It held the breastplate in place and it held the sheath for the sword when not in battle. The truth of God's word is what holds your spiritual armour together. This is the reason why it's so important spend time in the Bible. It keeps you together in battle.

Put on the breastplate of righteousness

The breastplate was the primary protection of the soldier. It prevented the chest from receiving mortal wounds. It also had no back, it only protected the front. This was because Soldiers were expected to advance forward, not turn and run. Righteousness is Gods way of keeping you protected. If you seek to live above and away from sin, then the enemy will not have any way to pierce you and keep you from doing God's will. We hear many stories about ministers who give into sin and fall. This is because they didn't put on righteousness. They didn't pursue a way of life away from sin. When you are pursuing righteousness you are advancing forward. James 4:7 says, "Submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you." It's the devil that's supposed to turn and run away, not us.

Feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace

Roman Soldiers often had to walk long distances, so they had armoured shoes that would protect them but also allow them enough comfort to walk. These were a comfortable sandal with laces that wrapped around the calf and shin and held up pieces of metal armour. Your peace that comes from God allows you to be comfortable in a time of hardship. Psalm 23 describes a perfectly peaceful person in a time of trouble.

" _Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies." Psalm 23:4-5 NLT_

Notice that the author is walking through hardship. He is even peaceful enough to be able to eat a meal while his enemies are circling him about.

An early tactic in warfare was to attack the legs of the enemy, because an enemy who cannot walk, cannot fight and cannot advance. The armour on the legs of the Roman Soldiers was designed to prevent this. When you walk in peace, the enemy cannot interrupt your walk with God. Think about your own relationship with God. Has there ever been a time when you felt stressed out about something? What did that do to your time with God? It likely hindered your Bible and prayer time. It hindered your walk. Get God's peace in your life and nothing will be able to interrupt your walk with God or make you weary in a time of trial.

Take up the shield of faith

A roman soldier's shield served a number of purposes. First, it was used to block the incoming blows of the enemy's weapons. It was large enough to crouch and hide behind when the enemy arrows were incoming, and when using it in a row with other soldiers it could become part of an impenetrable wall that the enemy could not break through. Often the shield had the insignia of the emperor or king that the soldier served, so that there was no confusion on the battlefield as to who was on which side of the fight.

Your faith does much the same. By trusting in God and realizing that it is him alone that can win the battle, you effectively deflect every blow of the enemy. Here in this passage about the armour, Paul describes why you want to hold up the Shield of Faith. "In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil." The Devil is sending arrow after arrow, blow after blow to try and take you down. He sends temptation after temptation to try and break you down and make you stumble. Hold up that Shield of Faith. Trust in God! Have faith that he has delivered you!

Take the helmet of salvation

The Roman soldier's helmet, as with all helmets, was there to protect the head. The design of the helmet protected the top, back and sides of the head as well as much of the face. Why protect your head? Because your reasoning ability, your decision making ability as all controlled there. A soldier who suffered a blow to the head, if they survived could be permanently brain damaged and become useless on the battlefield. In the same way, the Helmet of salvation is there to prevent outside doctrines and erroneous teachings from getting in and affecting your godly reasoning and making you question your salvation. You should learn to rely on God's salvation to keep you focused on his plans and purposes for your life.

Sword of the Spirit

The Sword was the primary weapon on the battlefield. While all the other parts of the armour are defensive in nature, the sword was the offensive piece of the set used to attack the enemy. In the same way, the word of God is our weapon. Jesus, when being tempted by the devil, used scripture to fight off the enemy's temptations. He relied on the word to defeat Satan. This is how you can and will defeat the enemy's attacks, use the word of God. Know what scriptures apply to your situation and let God's Holy Spirit guide you in the use of the word and you will overcome the enemy every time.

Prayer in the Spirit

This passage also lists Prayer in the Spirit as part of the process. This is not a difficult thing, simply ask God to lead you in prayer. Obey the promptings you feel when praying. If you feel led to pray for a specific person, do so. If you feel led to pray in another tongue, then do that. Just let God guide your prayer time.

Be on the Alert

Finally, God says "be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints." Keep praying for the Christians around you. Like we talked about earlier, the enemy is trying to sow discord among the believers, among the churches and denominations. We really should be praying earnestly for God's people around us.

The important thing here is that we are putting on armour with defensive and offensive capabilities because we are going to fight. We are going to have to battle against these forces of the enemy and we'll need all the protection we can get. We will need to know how to wield the sword of the word of God effectively. But remember, we aren't wrestling against flesh and blood. "Flesh and blood" here literally mean people that are in the world who seem to be against us. Our struggle is not with the nations. It's not with the atheists and agnostics. It's not with the other religions or even other denominations of Christians. Our struggle is against the spiritual forces that cause all of this chaos.

Sinners are going to sin. It is their nature. Trying to get sinners to stop sinning is like trying to get a fish to stop swimming. Nothing we can say or do can ever change the nature of a sinner unless we are directed by God's Holy Spirit. Things like protesting, guilt tripping, and getting angry at them are completely ineffective and only serve to drive them away from Christians. It is the new nature of God in their heart, once they get saved, that stops the sin. Let's stop trying to change them and start trying to show them God's love and bring them into a relationship with God. Then he will be able to change them from the inside-out. Look at the following verse,

" _You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things. And we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things. Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God's judgment when you do the same things? Don't you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can't you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?" Romans 2:1-4 NLT_

Don't be an offense to the world, don't judge them. Love them and show them God's kindness and watch them turn from their sin.

Live like Jesus showed us. Love like he did. One of the reasons it's so important to read God's word is that it shows you the nature of God. Reading about Jesus and what he did, how he behaved, is one of the best ways to get an understanding of the nature of God. Look at how he would seek the will of his father before he went out and did anything. Look at how he didn't ever call anyone's sin to attention except to show them forgiveness. He ate meals with sinners, and showed mercy to prostitutes. He even took some of the roughest people on as disciples. Jesus understood that the only way to win the lost is through love, not endless arguing or pointing out their terrible sins.

" _And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love." Romans 5:5 NLT_

Remember, God's Spirit is convicting the non-Christians of sin in their own heart, but he does it through love. When you walk in love toward the sinner, God's Spirit draws a distinction for them between good and evil using your love actions as the example of good and their own condemned heart as the example of evil. If you've ever heard a sinner say that they feel like God wouldn't forgive them, this is the reason why. Nowhere in the Bible does it tell you to point out what the sinner is doing wrong. They know what they're doing. Romans 1:32 says they are fully aware that they are violating God's righteous decrees, and fully approve of others who do also.

Our part is to pursue God purposes first. Matthew 6:33 says, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. Usually people see this verse as meaning "seek a better relationship with God and you will be rewarded", but this is an incomplete understanding of this verse. There are three parts to this verse:

"Seek first the kingdom of God"

Everywhere you see the phrase "Kingdom of God" or "Kingdom of Heaven" in the Bible it is always talking about the group of us who have given ourselves to be under the rule of God in Heaven while here on earth. It usually goes along with references to winning the lost and bringing others to a relationship with God. Let's look at a couple of examples.

" _Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of Heaven." Matthew 5:6-10 NKJV_

In this chapter, Jesus starts by talking about those who have dedicated their lives to following him. Then he uses the rest of the chapter to teach about winning the lost and letting your light shine and being an example to unbelievers.

" _Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven." Matthew 5:16 NKJV_

" _And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two." Matthew 5:41 NKJV_

" _But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you" Matthew 5:44 NKJV_

Now let's take a look at the beginning of Jesus' ministry in the book of Mark,

" _Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." Mark 1:14-15 NKJV_

The very first message Jesus preached tied believing on him to entering the Kingdom of God. This shows that when we are told to preach the kingdom of God, we are being told to bring others into relationship with him. As much as seeking first the kingdom is about seeking our better relationship with God, it is also about seeking other people coming to the same kind of relationship with Christ as well.

"And his righteousness"

This is the second part of what you are required to "seek first". "His righteousness" means seeking to live above the worlds standards. To live above sin, but only with God's help. It's his righteousness you are seeking, not your own. When you were saved, you were made righteous, your sin being forgiven. It is maintenance of this righteousness that you are to seek. These two things, Seeking the kingdom of God and seeking his righteousness are equally important and to be prioritized at the same level. When you are seeking the kingdom of God, you are doing God's work. You are playing a part in winning the lost. This may be through mission work, or teaching, or by being an example to those at your workplace. If you are seeking God's kingdom, you are engrossing yourself in him and in finding out what part God wants you to play in bringing a lost world to salvation. When you are seeking his righteousness you will become a shining light in the darkness. People will see you as different and be drawn to you, because most people believe it's impossible to live righteous, but there you will be in front of them, doing what they cannot.

"And all these things shall be added unto you"

This is the part of the verse that is most focused on. It is fairly self-explanatory but the verse says that you must seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness before this part can come to be.

The main focus of this book has been on identifying what Satan's plans are, but it's important that we take a look at God's plan as well. As we mentioned at the beginning, we are all somehow aware that God has a plan for each of our lives, but most of us aren't sure what that plan is or even how to go about finding out what the plan is. The answer is easy, however; focus on accomplishing God's will for your life. Let him give you purpose and vision and then seek him for the daily tasks that will get you to that vision.

In order to do this you will need to focus on renewing your mind, changing your way of thinking.

" _And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God" Romans 12:2 KJV_

This not a very popular teaching in today's churches but in order to have success against Satan's campaign you will need to discipline yourself to renew your mind. In fact, many of the world's secular motivational speakers have based their own teachings on this very principle, "Change your thinking to change your life". Success lies in each and every one of us. These are principles that God laid out in his word long ago. Why are unbelieving motivational speakers doing a better job at it than us?

So the question is, how do you renew your mind? It's simple. How much time do you spend watching TV? How much time do you spend on the computer reading the news? How much time do you spend reading your Bible? Start increasing your time in the word and the time spent listening to Christian teaching and begin to minimize the amount of time spent consuming worldly entertainment. Does this mean that you can't enjoy some television or movies or other forms of entertainment? Does this mean you can't watch the news hour? Of course not, but there should be greater focus, in your life, on God and his word than those other things.

Finally remember that you are forgiven and it's that forgiveness from God that stops the power of Satan in your life.

" _You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. So don't let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths." Colossians 2:13-16 NLT_

That final verse says "don't let anyone condemn you... " not any other person, nor any power of the enemy since he is disarmed and that means he's powerless to do anything to you, if you don't allow it.

## Chapter 7 – Satan's Plan for the Whole World

By now it shouldn't be hard to see that Satan has an end game, an ultimate plan to win against God and his people. We have seen that Satan's kingdom works in a hierarchy that is designed to keep the world in a controlled state of chaos at all levels of government, religion, and all the way down into each of our individual lives.

By placing demonic generals over nations he can influence nations to abandon God and try to achieve a false hope for peace in a world full of turmoil. He can use religions of the world to confuse people and keep them from finding the truth. He can use demonic forces to influence our lives and trick us, as a church and as individuals, into becoming powerless against him.

So what's the point of dividing the nations, setting up numerous religions that all seem so similar to one another, creating chaos in the world, and every other tactic we've shown here? It's all designed to distract us, as a human race, from God and to break down the church. If Satan can accomplish this, he can set up the perfect circumstances for the Antichrist to come into play.

Remember when Jesus said, "How can a divided house stand?" The brilliance of Satan's plan lies in his ultimate goal to unite the nations of the world, the non-believers (the agnostics and atheists), the other religions of the world, and as many of the "Christians" as he can get under one ruler, his own ruler whom he has personally possessed. He thinks that through this ruler he can then rule the world God cares so much for and destroy the body of Christ. Look at this verse from the book of Revelation,

" _Then the beast was allowed to speak great blasphemies against God. And he was given authority to do whatever he wanted for forty-two months. And he spoke terrible words of blasphemy against God, slandering his name and his dwelling - that is, those who dwell in heaven. And the beast was allowed to wage war against God's holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation. And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made." Revelation 13:5-8 NLT_

Satan has created controlled chaos. By manipulating the world for millennia, Satan has created a perfect condition where everyone is looking for answers everywhere except from God. Agnostics and Atheists are easily led away from God because they see the chaos but not Satan's grand scheme behind it nor the solution in God. Nations are led astray because of the Principalities and Powers that have authority over them. And we, the church, who are supposed to be God's hands and feet in the world, are so busy fighting with each other and pursuing our own selfish desires that the world sees no difference in us from themselves.

When the Antichrist appears, he will appear to be the person bringing the answer to all of this mess. He will provide an answer to the chaos. He will seem to be able to calm world leaders and unite religious differences. He will effectively appear to be the world's savior. Revelation 17 says,

" _They (the kings/national leaders) will all agree to give him their power and authority." Revelation 17:13 NLT_

But Satan's plan has a fatal flaw. Although Satan is the deceiver he is also the deceived. Satan believes that he is on equal ground with God and that he actually has a chance, but in reality, he is a limited being going up against an unlimited, eternal one. There is no comparison. Remember Isaiah 14?

" _How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;" – Isaiah 14: 12-16 KJV_

You may ask yourself, why is Satan allowed to do this to the world? Why does he have such authority and power? For this we need to look at two stories in the Bible. First let's look at the story of when God created mankind in Genesis,

" _Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground." So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground." Genesis 1:26-28 NLT_

Here, God had created Adam and Eve, and then told them that they were to rule and reign over the earth. They were to have authority over the earth. But look at what happened when they sinned,

" _The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden? "Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden," the woman replied. "It's only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, 'You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die. "You won't die!" the serpent replied to the woman. "God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil." The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves."_

" _And to the man he said, "Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return."" Genesis 3: 1-7, 17-19 NLT_

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they effectively transferred authority over the world to Satan. You can see this in the first part of the following verse,

" _For if by one man's (Adam's) offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." Romans 5:17 KJV_

Adam was originally given authority by God, but when he sinned, he gave his authority to Death. That's why Satan tempted Adam and Eve in the first place, to take the authority away from mankind. The second story I want to look at was when Satan took Jesus up to the top of the mountain and tempted him with great power.

" _Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, "All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this (authority) has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours." Luke 4:5-7 NKJV_

Notice when Satan said "All this authority I will give You... for this (authority) has been delivered to me," Jesus didn't argue the point. Instead he just took the authority back when he died and rose again. You can see this in the second part of the Romans 5:17,

" _For if by one man's (Adam's) offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." Romans 5:17 KJV_

Those who receive God's grace and righteousness are supposed to reign in this life. That's you and me! When we came to Christ, we received God's grace and gift of righteousness. Someone who reigns has authority! Because of Christ, you as a believer have regained the authority that Satan took from Adam!

Isn't it interesting that things like the theory of evolution and animal rights activism seem to put us on the same authoritative level as mere animals? You can even see it in certain religions where the members of that religion view non-members as infidels and dogs, worth less than livestock. It's also evident in slavery, where the slaves are treated like animals. The idea that we are no different than animals is a common theme throughout human history.

Satan hates our authority. It wasn't enough just to take our authority away from us in the garden of Eden, he's also been trying to convince us that we never had the authority in the first place, in order to keep us from taking it back. It then makes sense why the theory of evolution has gained so much traction in a godless society. It teaches us that there is no God, there is no higher authority, nor are we partakers in authority. We are no better than the beasts. We just happened to evolve into self-awareness. One of Satan's most successful campaigns has been keeping Christians from taking their authority back after Jesus made it available to us through his death and resurrection.

Every game has rules that must be followed in order to win. Neither side can depart from these rules very far. When Adam and Eve allowed themselves to be tempted, and chose to listen to Satan, they became solely responsible for their own sin. The punishment for sin was, and will always be, separation from God. Satan didn't realize that by killing Jesus, a completely innocent, sinless person, he was stepping outside of the rules of the game and was giving up his authority. By crucifying Jesus, he was trying to separate a righteous person from God who didn't deserve to be. He tried to cheat and he paid dearly for it. The Bible says,

" _But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord." 1 Corinthians 2:8 NLT_

If the people ruling at the time had known that they were being fooled by Satan into killing God's own son, they wouldn't have done it. If Satan had known that killing God's son would put redemption into place, and take back the authority he had originally taken from man, then he never would have influenced the rulers of this age to kill Jesus.

Once Jesus died and rose again he regained full authority. But what did he do with it? He said,

" _Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy..." Luke 10:19 NLT_

He gave the authority to us! This is the purpose of our salvation, to erase our sin which separates us from God and give us back the authority over the world and over Satan's kingdom; the same authority that God had originally given to us in the Garden. So now, because Jesus was able to take authority and transfer it to us, we have become the hindrance to Satan's plans, which is why he has such a directed attack against us as a church and as individual believers. If we get a hold of this authority and start wielding it like God intended, Satan cannot stop us.

It is important, however, to point out that this authority is only available to believers. To those who have the Spirit of God in our lives.

" _But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you..." Romans 8:11 NKJV_

Think on that for a moment, the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives inside of us. There is nothing we should not be able to accomplish; no challenge too great for us because God's Spirit is in us. If the Spirit can raise Jesus from the dead, what could we possibly have to face that even remotely compares? This is why it's so critically important for us to know what God's word says about us and our relationship with God.

As much as it's a love story and a book filled with history and teaching, the Bible is also a contract, signed in Jesus blood. Generally speaking, contracts state that if Party A will do one thing then Party B will do another. The Bible works the same way. All the way throughout it says, if you will be obedient then God will perform his promises. If you disobey, God will be hindered from completing his contractual duties.

For a number of years, I served as a technology manager. In my role I was responsible for writing and signing contracts with many of our technology service providers. The basic premise of any of the contracts we signed said that if we paid the company a certain amount of money they would perform certain tasks for us. Looking at the contract more deeply, however, revealed many conditions and specific requirements.

During work on one of the projects we discovered that one of the features of a website we were working on wasn't behaving correctly. When we brought it to the developer's attention they claimed that it was never a requirement in the first place. We then brought forward the original contract and showed that it had been clearly defined. We were able to hold the developer to the agreement because we not only knew the contract's overall terms but the specific details as well.

If you enter into a contract with another party and a disagreement were to arise between you that ended up going to court you could never claim ignorance of the conditions stated in the contract that you are bound to. In every court of Law in the world, the Judge would tell you that you are responsible for knowing your rights and duties of that contract. This is why it's so important for you to study your Bible. When you study you find out what promises God has laid out, what rights you have and what you need to do to be eligible for those promises and rights. Essentially you come to know what your contract states.

As we've already established, the Bible says that Satan is the accuser. One excellent example of this is when Satan approached God about Job.

" _One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. "Where have you come from?" the Lord asked Satan. Satan answered the Lord, "I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that's going on." Then the Lord asked Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil." Satan replied to the Lord, "Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!" "All right, you may test him," the Lord said to Satan. "Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don't harm him physically." So Satan left the Lord's presence." Job 1:6-12 NLT_

In this passage, Satan accuses God of treating Job with unfair favoritism and he accuses Job of being weak and fearful and only able to function because of God's favor. God, knowing that Job's heart is pure and his trust is stronger than Satan gives him credit for, allows Satan to put him to the test. Job responds as any human being would, he feels despair and wonders why this is happening to him. He struggles with doubt and anger, but ultimately decides that he will trust and glorify God.

Today, Satan is trying to accuse you in front of God and the whole world. He's putting you on trial in the courtroom of popular public opinion. He has set up the secular world and even other Christians as the jury. He's trying to discredit you. He is waiting for you to slip up. He tries to twist God's word and then use it against you. He will do anything it takes to stop you from being effective against his kingdom. If you don't know the word of God regarding your rights as one of God's children, and if you don't know God's promises for you, Satan will use your lack of knowledge against you. You alone will be held accountable for why you didn't know the terms of the contract.

All throughout the Bible there are many references to the importance of studying the Word of God. Look at a few of them here,

" _And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:6-9 NLT_

" _Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do." Joshua 1:8 NLT_

" _But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night." Psalm 1:2 NKJV_

" _But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted!" John 15:7 NLT_

" _Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God's promises to be fulfilled." Romans 15:4 NLT_

As you can see, the idea these scriptures carry was to constantly be focused on God's word. The Hebrew scholars and religious leaders took these verses quite literally and would tie little boxes, called phylacteries, to their wrists and foreheads that contained small parchments with scripture written on them. Constant study and repetition will root the Word of God in your heart which will produce faith because,

" _...faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans 10:17 KJV_

I hope you can now see that Satan has a master plan which affects all of us. But I hope it's also apparent that his plan will ultimately be undone, because he is completely outwitted and outclassed. His plan, while grand and millennia in the making, is still far too simple and small when compared to the overall plan that God put into place from the foundation of the universe.

Hopefully, you can see that God included Satan's game plan in the Bible for us to discover. More than that though, God also included all the instructions we need to defeat Satan's plan for our lives and live in complete authority over all the power of the enemy.

Simply put, knowing Satan's game plan while following God's strategy puts us in a position to gain victory.

###

Thank you for reading my book. If you enjoyed it, won't you please take a moment to leave me a review at your favorite retailer?

Thanks,

Noel Nissen

About the Author

Noel Nissen grew up in British Columbia, Canada. He has a passion for teaching God's Word and helping people grow in their faith. In the past, he served as Youth Pastor and as Head Usher at the church he attended. He loves to spend time with his family and riding his motorcycle.

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