"The devil's after me."

[bcool]

Now, inevitably, man's days are going to be short and full of trouble. Even though man was created in perfect environment and with free will, his fall entered him into the angelic conflict (Job 5:7-9). It should be made clear that all of the "flack" you get in your Christian life is not necessarily because of the spiritual warfare going on around you. Some things are not directly attributed to the angelic conflict, but to the old sin nature---the flesh. Of course, the old sin nature is definitely an aspect of the conflict; but if you as a believer produce your own misery through unbelief, arrogance and emotional revolt, your bad choices in these areas should not be blamed on the angelic conflict per se. If you are one of those people who say, ''The devil's after me," you probably know very little about either the devil or the angelic conflict. The devil is not omnipresent or even omniscient and therefore he is limited to one place at a time. Quite frankly, he is after bigger fish than you or me. The reason this is at least worth noting is that if we get into the habit of attributing everything to the angelic conflict, we may forget to “draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith” (Hebrews 10:22a):

“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself,so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:2-3).

-Brad

[Keith]

Good stuff Brad, praise the Lord!

[Bud]

Very good Brad
Yes we have a warfare from without,from a world system manipulated by Satan and his demons and Paul tells us what our weapons of defense are in Eph.6:10-17 but we have a warfare within us that is soooo deceptive and sometimes is very hard to recognize and we make some very bad choices,but I believe the same weapons of defense Paul gives us in Ephesians can be used in this internal warfare also.The first thing is to recognize our greatest enemy is from within.

[bcool]

"The first thing is to recognize our greatest enemy is from within."

Yea buddy, ... you said a mouthful!

[Keith]

Jul 21, 2011 6:48:46 GMT -6 bcool said:

The devil is not omnipresent or even omniscient and therefore he is limited to one place at a time. Quite frankly, he is after bigger fish than you or me.

True, well, kinda'. I've been noodling this Brad and here's something we sometimes forget: Correct, the devil isn't omnipresent nor omniscient, but he has compatriots and followers everywhere. When Satan fell he took one-third of the angelic realm with him (Revelation 12:4). So not only are we under watch by a host of fallen demons willing to report back to their master, but also by a fallen world just waiting to jump on our every move and block our attempts at His service. Speaking to the brethren the Bible says:

"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)

So yes, we do have an inner struggle against our old sin nature, as you cited, but let's be mindful and not get compancent about the world of darkness that also does what it can to inhibit out walk with the Lord.

[Murph]

The world around us hidden from our view but none the less there, is very active...and very much alive with angels both God's armies and Satan's...

Huge battles are going on all around us and we are the booty...the prize. I call your attention to the book of Job. Great book for understanding Satan's game plan because in that book that is exactly what God, in a way, gives us.

and let us not forget that Satan has access to the throne room of God and loves to go and tattle on us...Satan takes great pleasure in that as with Joshua, Zechariah 3.

"Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. " Job 1:6-7

We know that the object of attention was Job...not one of the lost but...a servant of God's, a perfect and upright man, who feared God and turned from evil...

if anyone has any doubts that such attention is not being given to the saved today...they are mistaken.

and as time grows shorter the battles will only be heating up. I would never under estimate Satan's abilities/efforts to trip us and his ability/efforts to cause us to fall.

We should not lower the shield or the Sword...and the rest of the armor that Paul tells us about in Ephesians 6...

[bcool]

The risk of posting excerpts is that the emphasis may get skewed a bit. Thank you guys. As you all say appropriately, the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who is born again (John 1:12) has three enemies. He faces spiritual battle on three fronts! These are commonly referred to as the world, the flesh and the Devil.

There seems to be plenty of speculation about the Devil and His demon horde. I just thought it is useful to ponder for a moment on the reality of our old sin nature----the flesh or as Bud suggested, the enemy within as per Galatians 5:16.

Nevertheless we do certainly have an enemy without, and that is the Devil. The Devil is the source of all evil. He lives for the purpose of exalting himself and opposing God. He seeks to persuade men and women to act independently of God, as he did in the temptation of Christ in Matthew 4. The Devil is the "god of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4). There are some who think of the Devil as having a red epidermis, a forked tail, and a rather malicious facial expression. However, that isn't the Devil at all. He is called the ANGEL OF LIGHT (2 Corinthians 11:14). Yet He rebelled against God (1 John 3:18). He is called a "murderer from the beginning" and the father of all lies (John 8:44).

One of the objectives of the Devil is to weaken the nations (Isaiah 14:12). He is the cause of war and strife. He blinds the minds of the lost (2 Corinthians 4:4). On certain occasions, he personally enters into and indwells members of the human race, at least two mentioned specifically in the Bible: Judas Iscariot (Luke 22:3), and "the man of sin" (the dictator of the Revived Roman Empire of the future (2 Thessalonians 2:8,9).

Thank you guys for your valuable insight. We do live in the midst of a real angelic conflict. There is a warfare going on around us. My little excerpt from a larger study was not intended to minimize the seriousness of this conflict.

I just wanted to add a little sobriety to this issue of "The Devil's after me." It is unlikely that the very Devil himself is indwelling as many people who complain that he is. He can be in only one place at a time. BUT (as Keith points out) Satan has a tremendous army. There are millions of angels in his army, and he uses them in a very unusual manner. You've heard people say, "The Devil is after me." Someone else in another place is probably saying the same thing at the same moment. Assume that in a given moment, 25 people in 25 different parts of the world all say that the Devil is after them. Technically (speaking of the Devil himself), at least 24 of these poor folk are wrong!

How then does the Devil operate?

"Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices" (2 Corinthians 2:11).

The word for "devices" in the Greek is the word for STRATEGIES. The Devil is a real person with "strategies." These are divided into three general categories: his strategy with regard to believers; his strategy with regard to unbelievers; and his strategy with regard to the national entity.

Now for space consideration, let me just point out a couple (2) with regard to Satan's attack on the believer.

1.) To accuse believers. As it was pointed out already, the Devil makes periodic visits into the presence of the Lord in heaven. He assembles himself with other angels; and when he does, he makes accusations! Keith noted his tremendous demon organization (Ephesians 6:11,12). Satan has one of the greatest reconnaissance systems the world has ever known. He continually collects data on believers. Every time a believer gets out of line, as believers all do sooner or later, then one of these demon intelligence agents takes down the information. He collects all the data and turns it over to Satan. Satan possibly was in the presence of the Lord today, and it is also very possible that he MENTIONED YOUR NAME!

2.) To get believers to ignore the Word of God. Satan strategy is to lure the Christian away from God's Word by the trends of his world system. In a real sense this is what Satan did in Genesis 3. He got the woman away from the Word of God. "HATH GOD SAID?" Essentially he suggested that "The wages of sin isn't death" and she believed it!

One of the believer's great objectives is to reach into God's Word and claim the promises God has provided. And you know that we do it by FAITH---mixing the promises of God with faith! You also know from Hebrews 3 and 4 that this is the dynamic of the Christian way of life. We walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7). Our strength comes from the Word of God and the empowerment of God the Holy Spirit. In ourselves we are weak. All of our assets, all of our capital, as Christians, everything that we need for time---every problem, every trial, every difficulty, every adversity---even the wonderful times--- ARE PROVIDED FOR IN GOD'S WORD. So what we need as believers more than anything is the WORD OF GOD.

The Devil's objective is to cut this line, to cut us off from the source of power, and from the source of strength and blessing. Therefore Satan is on target every second that you log time in worry and/or anxiety. If you are worried or upset about anything, you are not only under Satanic pressure, but to the extent you have turned from God to embrace your worries, you have already succumbed. In 1 Peter 5:7-9, we see a warning concerning this strategy of the Devil.

"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
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."

God's Word declares, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee (Isaiah 26:3). Here is a promise for you---you can have perfect peace. If you're afraid of something, Isaiah 41:10 says, "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." If you face an impossible situation, Luke 1:37: "For with God nothing shall be impossible." Or Philippians 4:19: "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

It is the Devil's objective to keep you from these promises. But a good number of us say, "Why trust when you can worry?" And that is what tears us up. That is exactly what the Devil wants us to do. You don't have to go to a bar or an X-rated movie. All you have to do is to get off in a corner or stand around and worry yourself to death! That is all you need to do to be lined up with the Devil's program. That is his strategy; that is his objective.

Quite frankly, (I say again) THE DEVIL probably has bigger fish to fry than you and me. But he has left in place by all appearances some effective strategies and a loyal army to do his bidding against the believer.

So be sober! Walk by faith in the power of God's Spirit. Be vigilant---be alert! Satan's purpose is to make you ignorant of God's will. He attacks God's Word because God's Word reveals God's Will.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).

“I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8).


I just have to stop here. I'm sure I glossed over a lot. But I hope you know my heart on this issue.

I'll repeat Bud's unsettling knell: "The first thing is to recognize our greatest enemy is from within."


Thanks.
Brad

[Keith]

Good study Brad, and sorry that I misinterpreted your initial post as I failed to see the focus of your subject, the sin nature. Again, good job.

[bcool]

No worries mate. What you guys saw is IMPORTANT. I should not have left it out. The angelic conflict is raging around us. It is real. Satan may be tied to one place at a time but it's certain that his demon horde interfere in our daily lives with various troubles.

Though often: "the phone call is coming from inside your house!"

So maybe sometimes instead of looking out the window...

"Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you-- unless indeed you fail the test?" (2 Cor 13:5)


I need this because I'm easily given to worry.
-Brad

[Bud]

Brad this was an OUTSTANDING explanation of our warfare.I'm going to copy it for further reference if you don't mind.
Yes we have a warfare on 3 fronts and we have to keep our guard up because all three fronts can become interwoven quickly.If we put too much emphasis on one front,the other 2 will gain an advantage.It seems with me the 2 fronts without are easier to recognize and I don't have the problem believing they are there.But the one within is harder to recognize because it has many disguises and deceives me quite often.This doesn't mean the other 2 are not deceptive but the warfare within is much more deceptive to me.
Everyday the 2 fronts without are very obvious,we see it in the news headlines,we post them,we discuss them,we see their implications and we apply Scripture and see the times we are living in and believe we are seeing the stage being set for Bible Prophecy to be fulfilled and that is wonderful and great and I am thankful for the times we live in and know that our Savior's coming for His Bride is soon.
But with all that we can easily ignore the warfare within and the advantages it can gain and that resurrected life of Christ we can have and experience RIGHT NOW.

[bcool]

Yup, Bud. You speak truth. Thank goodness that the battle is the Lord's no matter what front!
I post these tidbits because it helps me especially when others shed more light on an issue. Thank you all!

[veterinarian]

Jul 23, 2011 8:25:03 GMT -6 bcool said:

Yup, Bud. You speak truth. Thank goodness that the battle is the Lord's no matter what front!
I post these tidbits because it helps me especially when others shed more light on an issue. Thank you all!

I really worry at times. This has helped me as well!