The Attacks of Satan
As believers we have threats to our lives, our spiritual lives that is; physical death is a consequence of sin, sin indwells each of us as does our DNA.
But whose servants are we? The Bible tells us in: Romans 6:16; “His servants ye are to whom ye obey.” Either God or Satan!
If we take an honest look at ourselves, and examine what dominates our lives; whether anger, lust, selfishness or something else, we must understand we are the ones responsible for this domination. It is not somebody else!
If I am a slave to myself, I am the only one to blame, because somewhere in the past I yielded to these tendencies. Then one day we realize that they control us. We yielded to them and gave them place in our lies. Likewise if I am obedient to God I do so because I at a point in time yielded myself to Him.
There is no power on earth that can break the bondage in a life that has been formed by yielding to self, or some other lust or desire around us or in us. No matter what the nature of the lust whether of the flesh or of the mind, once you have yielded to it there is now a weakness in our lives in that area.
We have allowed satan a touch point in our lives, an area where he can attack again and again. You may hate yourself for yielding but you are now vulnerable in that area, you are now a bond slave or a servant to that lust or desire in your life.
Every human being on earth has this enemy; he is a very cunning enemy, a very merciless, very cruel enemy and each one of us must face him. He has a strategic plan in place to entice us into sin and to make us drift in our love and devotion to God. This enemy is satan, he is a liar, a deceiver, a slanderer, a murderer and the one who spreads discord. His desire is to destroy us spiritually and physically and he has no mercy at all!
One of his many causalities in the Bible is Samson. Samson was given the Holy Spirit to carry out a specific task in his life, however he left satan’s touch on his life destroy him. He lusted after beautiful women and when satan was finished with him his eyes were burned out and he was chained to a mill grinding out grain in a circle day after day, while being mocked and ridiculed.
Satan has many tools at his disposal, some look innocent, but all are dangerous to our spiritual lives and will lead to a life of disappointment and despair as that of Samson. In his arsenal are sins of pride, jealousy and envy, disappointment, unforgiveness, compromise, sexual temptations, fear, laziness and depression to name a few.
Each of these attacks by satan are designed to destroy our spiritual life, as well as our physical life and keep us from reaching the full potential God has set before us. Each weapon satan uses against us can paralyze our ability to live the life God has given us to live. We cannot become the man or woman God wants us to become if we fall for his lies and deceptions, they will destroy the ministry or witness God wants for us.
Another example of a life ruined by satanic deception is King Saul. I Samuel 10: 1, & 24: “Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over His inheritance?” “And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the LORD hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the King.” I Samuel 9: 2 “Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.” Saul on the outside looked like a King. He was taller than other men, very handsome, but looks can be deceiving, just as the attacks of satan against each us.
Saul was anointed King by the LORD and crowned by the prophet Samuel. He began well, the people loved him and it seemed that he loved the LORD with all his heart. However within Saul there was a weakness, and satan knew well this weakness and used it to his advantage. Satan knows our weaknesses the same as he knew Saul’s weaknesses.
He watches us and listens to us and knows just where he can touch us to destroy us. Saul had several weaknesses; fear was one, and another was pride. When God told him to completely destroy the Amalekites he disobeyed. I am sure there were other times in his life where he disobeyed God, if not outwardly, he did so in his heart. I Samuel 15: 22,23, 30-31; “And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord: Behold to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, He hath also rejected thee from being king.” “Then he (Saul) said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.”
“So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD.” When confronted by the prophet Samuel and told that God had rejected him, Saul was more concerned by what those around him thought of him than what God did. As a result of this disobedience and probably others God told Saul that he would take the kingdom from him and give it to another. If you remember it was David who God choose above Saul to be King.
It’s interesting how God works to put His will into operation, as you may remember the armies of Israel were in a battle against the Philistines, and the Philistines had a mighty man of war, a giant, Goliath. Saul and the entire army of Israel shook in their boots as they looked at this man. Nobody could face him and live. It was like a man going against a tank. It was here that God began to show His will for David, for David trusted God and through the divine help of God David killed Goliath and cut off his head.
Saul knew that David was a mighty man of war. Somebody that he wanted in his army, for Saul was always looking for brave, valiant, fierce warriors. So Saul took David into his army, and set David over the other men of war in his army because; “David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war.”
David was obedient to Saul’s commands and the other men in the army respected and obeyed David. Saul would live to regret his decision for putting David into his army and setting him over the other men of war. Not because of anything that David did, but because of what was inside of Saul and what satan was working out in his life. David’s victory and popularity subtly announced the coming of Saul’s successor and the end of Saul’s reign. I Samuel 18: 6a-7: “when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, And the women answered one another as they played, and said Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.”
The Bible tells us that from that time “Saul eyed David from that day and forward.” I Samuel 18:9. Saul now was filled with Jealousy, pride and anger and David became the target of Saul’s personal rage. He knew that God was going to make David King and he hated him and tried to kill him. Satan takes on two people in Scripture here, King Saul, and David. King Saul was anointed King by God, who because of disobedience, was now rejected, and David, God’s own choice to be the King of Israel.
Satan is a cunning, evil being, who will do whatever he can to destroy King Saul with jealously and pride, and to destroy King David anyway he is able to. As we saw before, King Saul was more concerned with what the people around him thought than his concern for obeying God. If he had been concerned about pleasing God, he would have fallen on his face and asked God forgiveness, unconcerned at how he looked to those around him. He would have embraced David, and together as God put David on the throne they would have been able to destroy the enemies of God.
But Saul didn’t do that. He regresses further; his heart hardened by his jealously and hate towards David and his pride which further inflames him, and he is now operating on his emotions and has no desire to please God or ask for God’s forgiveness or God’s help.
Satan may not create havoc in your heart with pride as he did with King Saul, but he could use a spirit of unforgiveness in you towards another person. You may hate that person every time your mind thinks of him or her, or anytime someone mentions their name. Perhaps jealousy taunts you, or the desire for money, or for power. Any of these and many others can cause us to abandon the truth of God in order to follow our selfish desires.
Once we allow any of these desires into our lives, and when we allow them to continue they have the ability to paralyze us and stop us from living the life God desires us. Saul had every opportunity to succeed as King. He was anointed by God and was empowered by God to rule the nations of Israel and he had Samuel the prophet by his side in order to seek and serve God, and David, a mighty warrior who was faithful to him.
However instead of ruling the people with insight from God he allowed pride and jealousy to rule his life, and they led to his downfall. He had everything but threw it all away. Satan is an enemy who hates us and knows exactly how to tempt us into disobeying God. He could mount an attack against you or me by enticing us with pride or fear, or sexual sin or discouragement, and he believes that we will do exactly as King Saul did. At one time or another all of us have disobeyed God and allowed satan’s weapons to wreak havoc in our lives. The weapon he uses against us is able to consume us, to fill our minds with evil thoughts and keep us from turning to God for help.
There is only one way to combat the evil, wicked efforts of satan, and that is through Jesus Christ. Reckoning His Death for sins, His burial, and His resurrection from the grave. Nothing else will work! God has promised us victory over the very things our enemy, satan, uses for our defeat. Romans 8:37; “ God is greater than any weapon that satan can bring against us, no matter how terrible satan’s attack may seem to be, God is all-powerful! Also we must acknowledge that these lusts of satan are sins which God has forbidden in our lives. They are snares, traps which are put in our path to trip us up and to lead us to destruction.
You may say, a little pride in my life won’t hurt me. However it was deadly to King Saul, a little lust won’t hurt me, but it was deadly to Samson. Lust and pride can be a deadly destruction in each of our lives as well. Our enemy is clever and never comes at us the way we think he will. He is a cunning and deadly adversary and will bring his snares and deadly attacks against us in ways that we would never expect. If it were not for the infinite love and merciful grace of God, anyone of us could end up just like King Saul or Samson, a ruined life, a life of disgrace.
We can realize victory in our lives only when we learn to be sensitive to God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit – and live according to His will instead of our wants and desires. When King David fled for his life from Absalom his son, because of sin in his life one of his servants gave the blueprint for living a life without shame . II Samuel 15:21 in part. “As the LORD liveth, and as my lord the King liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be.”
We must keep our eyes on Jesus Christ, for He is our King, and He is our Lord and Master if we have placed our faith and trust in His finished work on the cross of Calvary.
Read His word daily, talk with Him always, and when you find yourself falling into some sin call upon Him. He delights in helping and delivering His children. It is only through His payment of our sins by His precious blood on Calvary that we can be saved, and His resurrection from the dead proves that God the Father accepted His sacrifice. God works in the lives of His children, He has given us the Holy Spirit to be our guide, He has given us His word, which is opened to us by the Holy Spirit, He wants our love and our obedience.
Make Christ the Lord of your life, Make Him the King of your life, Obey Him in all that you do, think and say. As David’s servant said;
“Whether in death or in life, you are my Lord and King and where you are I will be.” If we keep our eyes on Christ, and keep our mind preoccupied with Christ our lives will not be one of ruin even though satan may attack, his attacks will be futile. Christ loves us and desires the best for us! Sin will take us farther than we want to go! It will cost us more than we are willing to pay, It will cost us blessings from God, and for many it will cost them their souls for all eternity.