Our Hidden Enemy

Satan, the devil, is real.  He’s not just some representation of evil; and, he doesn't have a red suit, pitchfork, pointy tail, and goats feet.  He is not a funny-looking cartoon character clumsied by foolishness. He was a beautiful, charismatic angel before his pride got the best of him. He was jealous of God, challenged God for more power and control… and HE LOST. Of course he lost, and he’s still seeking revenge over it.  

There is NO being neutral.  There are NO sidelines.  Denying his existence WON’T stop him from attacking you.  I don’t think it’s necessarily even personal, he just wants to take dominion from God.  The abilities he was given for good are now used to steal, kill, and destroy the things that God loves… primarily us.  He knows our human weaknesses and manipulates people like puppets from the shadows.  He is cunning and relentless... but not near as dangerous once we learn to spot his trickery.

Now to be clear, our REAL problem is our own selfish nature.  We have the same rebellious streak in us that Satan has.  In our pride we think that we know better than God, that we don’t need God in our life, that we should be calling the shots.  And Satan loves this; our enemy works to leverage the darkness in human hearts for his evil purposes - spreading chaos, pain, destruction, and suffering. Anger, frustration, injustice, bigotry, racism, hatred, and evil in the world… ALL of it, promoted and celebrated by the enemy.  HE’S PLAYING US!  

Have you ever seen the illustration of a person struggling with a decision to make, with an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other?  The angel tells the person that they should do the right thing and appeals to their conscience.  The devil tells them that they should do what feels good and just go with it.  If it were only that easy to see the enemy’s influence.  The really dangerous thing is that when he whispers in your ear, he often makes it sound like YOUR OWN voice.  Oh, you thought he would be loud and use an evil-sounding accent?  Come on, really?  He is the master deceiver.  If he talks to you in your own voice,  setting you on the wrong path... you never even knew he was there.

What was the last choice you made where it went south?  Were you seeking revenge or momentary pleasure?  Or did you hear what you thought was your own voice driving you to do something that’s not right - where after the consequences played out you wondered why you would have ever told yourself that?  That probably wasn’t you, but the enemy… and because he’s deceived you into thinking he’s not even real… you had no idea.

Our fight here on this earth shouldn’t be against people, it should be against Satan.  The Bible says that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil (Eph 6:12, NIV).  Think about the struggles, battles, and giants that exist today and see the enemy’s influence.   He doesn’t fight fair.  He preys on the weak and unsuspecting. His dark agenda includes only pain and destruction and death.  

You might not think yourself shackled by him but that’s the trouble about being deceived… you don’t know you’re deceived… until you see the Truth about your situation.  What if Satan has lured you into his trap by offering you beautiful counterfeits in place of the truly good things that God wants to give you?  Watch the next video to see how Satan imprisons us with his lies and how God SETS US FREE.