Know Your Opponent: The Enemy's Playbook Part II

I just want to review a little bit from my previous blog, Know Your Opponent: The Enemy's Playbook Part I. As Christians we are in spiritual warfare. Spiritual Warfare means that we as Christians are involved in a war. We are soldiers waging war against the enemy. I believe the best definition for spiritual warfare is found in Ephesians 6:12, “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.” We are soldiers in the army of the Lord and every day we have to fight the devil. Now in order to be the most effective soldier possible we must first do as Paul instructs us in Ephesians 6:10-11, 13-18:

¹⁰ A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. ¹³ Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. ¹⁴ Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. ¹⁵ For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.^[d]16 In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.^[e] 17 Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.^[f]

Paul gives us specific instructions. He tells us to 1) Be strong in the Lord. Remember that His strength is made perfect in your weakness (II Corinthians 12:9). Realize how dependent you are on God. Without Him you can do nothing, rely on Him. 2) Put on all of God’s armor so you can stand firm/rooted against the strategies of the devil. God showed me this awhile back….Going out without having spent time with God, without devotions, without praying, without diving into the Word of God is like going to battle naked! It’s like going to battle with absolutely no armor. It’s going out without a covering. It’s going out and forgetting your weapons. If you saw someone going to war with no armor, no gun, no weapons you would think they were crazy, disillusioned, and potentially suicidal. The same is true for us as children of God (This is an area that I need to grow more in myself y’all, God’s still developing me). Stop going out without your covering! 3) He also tells us to pray at all times and at every occasion. This means that we don’t just go to God when our situation is a mess, but we go to Him when things are good, bad, ugly, beautiful, difficult, easy, etc. 4) He lastly tells us to be alert and persistent in our prayers for other believers. Prayer isn't just about you, others need your prayers too. All these things will make you an effective soldier in spiritual warfare.

So now that you know to put on the whole armor of God, let’s talk about knowing your opponent. Now we all know who our opponent is, but there is a difference between knowing who your opponent is and knowing about your opponent. While it’s great to know who your opponent is, it doesn't really give you anything to go on.  You need to know him, how he operates, you need to know his tactics and tendencies. Don’t you realize that he knows your’s?!? The devil studies you. He knows your strengths, your weaknesses, your likes, your dislikes, your past, your family, your friends, your fears, and yes he knows your type and you better believe He will send you a man that looks like Lance Gross to try to get you to fall! We need to know the enemy, so that we are fully prepared when he attacks. We need to be prepared to the point where we can anticipate what he’s going to do and we aren't taken by surprise when he pulls out certain plays.

So let’s dive in. The first thing you need to know is the devil’s motive, what is he trying to gain? What is his ultimate goal and purpose? John 10:10 tells us the answer to that question, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” The devil is ultimately out for your destruction. His goal is to take you out. He can’t afford to have you out there making more disciples, walking in your calling, and fulfilling your purpose. He desires that as many as possible join him in hell for eternal damnation (Misery loves company y’all!). So each and every day he will try to pull you away from God and onto his side.

The next thing you need to know about the enemy is his tactics. God has given us the inside scoop, the Bible is littered with the devil’s tactics (We got the devils playbook in the bible y’all.  And better than that we have in the bible counterattacks to the attacks of the Enemy. God’s got our backs! He has already mapped out the game plan!). As Christians in today’s age, we can see how Satan used specific tactics on other believers. We see some caught in the Enemy’s traps and others that manage to escape. So now on to the tactics of the Enemy…In my previous blog I talked about doubt, discouragement, diversion, and defeat. Below are some other tactics of the Enemy...

The next tactic of the Enemy is DELAY/PROCRASTINATION. To delay is to put off to a later time; defer; postpone; procrastination. So God kinda smacked me in the face with this one because the devil uses this one of me all the time, you would think I would have wised up by now. But I see now what the devil is doing through this. If you’re like me and you put off things of God, like for me I can think of times where I put off Quiet Time saying Oh God I’ll spend time with you in prayer and in the Word later, and then I keep putting it off and putting it off and the next thing I know the day is over, I’m exhausted and I don’t feel like having Quiet Time and I pull out my bible anyway and then decide Oh I’m just gonna rest my eyes for a minute and lay down. And many times I have laid down and felt that nudge…You didn’t spend time with me. I miss you. And what do I do I roll over and go to sleep. Why you may ask?!? Because when you've put something off once it’s so easy to put it off again. Delay usually leads to things not getting done. Do things when you’re supposed too, do them when God tells you too and don’t put it off because you know what, if you delay that thing you most likely won’t do it. **Added Bonus** The deeper question you need to ask yourself when it comes to delay is: Is this more important than God? And the answer will always be NO! Stop putting off God. We need to have a give me you, everything else can wait spirit (Check out that song by Shana Wilson ~Give Me You) when it comes to God.

The next tactic of the Enemy is DIVISION. To divide is to separate into parts, groups, sections. Paul tells the church of Corinth this in I Corinthians 1:10, “I appeal to you brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather be of one mind united in thought and purpose.” As Christians we have to stop fighting against our own team. We all have the same uniform on, but so many times it’s like we’re playing offense against our own team. There are so many little petty things that divide the church today. This is a tactic of the Enemy, for petty things to divide us. Realize that division makes us less effective. We can do so much more, we can be so much more effective if we would unite and not allow little things to get in the way of doing what God has called all of us to do and that is to make disciples. The time spent arguing and deciding who is right and who is wrong could be better spent winning souls for God. People are out there dying and going to hell and we’re trying to figure out whether or not it’s right to have a tattoo. Souls are more important than these petty things that have us divided. Let’s unite no more of this division.

Another tactic of the Enemy is APPEALING TO YOUR FLESH. The thing our flesh desires more than anything is to be pleasured. Satan appeals to your desire to be pleasured and to feel good. In order to stand against this tactic of the Enemy, you have to feed your spirit man so that he’s big and strong and starve your flesh so that it is weak. It’s in those moments when you allow your flesh to become Lebron James and you spirit man is over there looking like a malnourished child that the devil gets you with this one. Feed your spirit man!

The next tactic of the Enemy is APPEALING TO YOUR EYES. The devil is very much so aware that many of us are visual people. We love for things to look beautiful. Therefore, he has become a master at presenting things in the most beautiful way possible; he’s great at advertising y’all. He knows for many of us something looking beautiful will immediately draw us in. Remember that looks can be deceiving. The devil knows what you desire and what you’re attracted to and he will send it to you all wrapped up and pretty on the outside and the spawn of Satan on the inside! I don’t care if he looks like Trey Songz or she looks like Meagan Good that could be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Also don’t be blinded by the outer appearance of something that you miss the signs that God is not in this, He is not in that person. Pray and ask God for a spirit of discernment, so that you aren't deceived by the Enemy. Now that you know the devil will appeal to your eyes, realize even more so how important it is to guard what you put before your eyes.

Another tactic of the Enemy is BRINGING UP YOUR PAST. Satan loves to bring up your past and make you feel like you’re not good enough. He loves to come at you with used to bes…You used to be a cheater how are you going to be a teacher the Word of God…you used to be a prostitute, who are you to be over anyone’s Woman’s ministry…you used to be out there fornicating like it was your job how are going to be a youth pastor…The devil will use your past to try to disqualify you from doing what God has called you to do. Everyone in the bible that was used by God was something before God and did something that could deem them unworthy…David was a murderer and adulterer, Moses was a murderer, Jacob was a trickster, Solomon loved women too much, Thomas doubted, Peter had a tendency to run off at the mouth (I am convinced Peter was a thug lol), Paul persecuted Christians, Rahab was a prostitute…but God chose to use them anyway. You've been chosen by God and Jesus died for all you transgressions. When the devil comes at you trying to bring up your past, tell him you are a new creature through Christ Jesus, behold old things have passed away and all things have been made new. Your past doesn't dictate your present or your future and it doesn't control you. And yes you still will mess up but God forgives.

You have to know your opponent in order to fight effectively and ultimately win. I pray that this a the previous blog as well as all of my blogs bless you. I love you so much!!!

Mariah

(All definitions are from Dictionary.com)