BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

Stand Against the Enemy’s Ploys In every battle, there’s an enemy. For us—believers who are committed to fulfilling God’s plans—that enemy is the devil. He’s sneaky, and he has a whole lot of weapons in his arsenal. He’ll do whatever he can to keep us from taking new ground. In any battle, we’re not only standing against him, but we’re also standing against his wiles, tricks and deceit. Ephesians 6:10-11 says, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to STAND AGAINST THE WILES OF THE DEVIL" (emphasis added). A lot of Christians view the devil like he’s the Hollywood image of an evil monster. But that’s the opposite of how he presents himself. He transforms himself into an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). That’s why we need to be on the lookout for his crafty lies. First Peter 5:8-9 says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” Now the enemy is not able to devour just anyone. Instead, he crisscrosses the planet seeking “whom he may” devour. Believers in the Church can take a stand to become those he “may not” devour. Resist the Enemy’s Accusations Another name for our enemy is “the accuser.” He tries to harass us, saying things like, “You’ve got bills due. You’ve got symptoms. You’ve got trouble with a capital T. So…what are you going to do?” Why would the enemy spend all his time and resources making accusations? Because he’s not simply interested in slandering us. He’s trying to build a case against us so he can gain access to us and devour us. That’s his mode of operation. That’s why so many of the terms associated with the enemy are legal terms: justification, redemption, advocate and accuser. One day the enemy was pulling that junk with me, asking me what I was going to do, when the Holy Spirit spoke up inside me and said, Why don’t you ask him what he’s going to do? Suddenly, I got sassy. I remembered Revelation 12:7-10: "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, 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." That was all I needed. I said, “Yeah, devil! What are you going to do? Have you read the back of the Book? Have you noticed your time is short? Tick tock! A great big angel is going to come down and grab you and throw you into the pit!” We don’t have to put up with the enemy’s harassment. We can resist him. He’ll fight, of course, but the end is already written. When he accuses, it’s up to us to deny him access. Judge Yourself, Not Others In 1 Corinthians 5, we read about Paul’s rebuke of the church at Corinth after a member had begun an immoral relationship with his stepmother. Some in the church body had taken the stance that it was no big deal. Then Paul straightened them out; he talked about turning that member over to the enemy (verse 5). This is important because it shows us that believers can be judged, not by God, but by the destroyer, Satan. The enemy doesn’t have the right to destroy a believer without first gaining legal, spiritual access. One of the biggest ways he gains access is when we judge other people. He also gains access when we don’t judge ourselves. Jesus told us to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” and to “love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:37-39). Those glorious commandments are key to preventing the devil from gaining access. That’s why it’s so important to keep strife out of our relationships. The Word tells us that “where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work” (James 3:16). 10 : BVOV

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