How does spiritual warfare affect me? - Spiritual Warfare - TouchPoints

1 Peter 5:8-9Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.

The purpose of evil is to defy God and to wear down believers until they are led into sin. This gives Satan pleasure and greater power on earth. Therefore, we must be alert at all times for both the sneak attacks and the frontal assaults of the evil one. Eventually, God will destroy the power of evil for all time. Until that day, we must overcome evil by choosing to obey God.

Genesis 3:1The 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?”

John 8:44“For you [teachers of religious law in Jesus’ day] are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

Satan’s first tactic is to distort teachings about God’s Word. If he can raise suspicion about the integrity of Scripture or religious teaching, he can get us to question God’s will and intentions for us. We should study the Bible so we know it well enough to recognize the lies that come in the guise of cultural worldviews, and also sometimes in the form of religious teachings.

1 Chronicles 21:1Satan rose up against Israel and caused David to take a census of the people of Israel.

Zechariah 4:6Then he said to me, “This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

Satan’s strategy in spiritual warfare often involves getting us to rely on ourselves and not on God, who is the true source of our power. Satan will tempt us to rely on our own resources—on the tangible, measurable assets we can count. While it is wise to understand our resources, it is unwise to think that our ultimate security is in them. David’s census at the end of 2 Samuel involved taking an inventory of his military might, which was in direct contradiction to his experience of God’s provision and protection throughout his life. God had warned David against this, but he fell to the temptation to trust in his own resources.

Matthew 4:3-9During that time the devil came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.” . . . Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! . . . ” Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”

In spiritual battle, we may be tempted by offers of personal gain, pride, or power. Note that twice Satan attempted to make Jesus doubt his own identity by saying “If you are the Son of God. . .” He will try this same tactic with us, causing us to doubt our relationship with God.