The believer has a persistent adversary in the devil. He’s the “ruler of this world” and the force behind “the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.” As 1 John 2:16 discerned, these desires aren’t of the Father, but are of the world.” His main desire is for man never to realize the saving grace and forgiveness found in the blood of Jesus Christ.
He creates plans of destruction and opposition to the faithful life of the believer. In Luke 22:31, Jesus informed Peter that Satan asked to sift all of you as wheat. Thus, he desires to hinder and thwart the growth and impact of the child of God to the point of uselessness. So, what does Satan not want in the life of a believer?
Scripture Knowledge
The devil loves a good argument where we base our stance or belief upon what “grandmother always said” or “what the pastor preached about.” We fight our battles with the weapons of the Holy Spirit, as outlined in Ephesians 6. Notice the devil’s strategy in Matthew 4:1-11 when he confronted Jesus in His most vulnerable state after fasting in the wilderness. He first distorted scripture to have him turn stones into bread. Then, he wanted Jesus to tempt the Lord by jumping off a temple pinnacle.
Finally, the devil tempted our Savior to evade the Heavenly Father’s will by worshipping Him. In each instance, our Savior quoted the Bible, and the devil left him. In 2 Timothy 2:15, we’re advised to do our best to show ourselves to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed and who holds the word of truth.
Genuine Worship
The prince of this world doesn’t mind us clapping to the latest Lauren Daigle song. He could care less about us lifting our hands and shouting “amen” toward the church’s rafters. However, what he could do without is our genuine worship of Christ for who He is in our lives. John 4:23-24 shares the words of Jesus preparing the people after Pentecost when true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth because God is a spirit, and they who worship Him must worship in truth and spirit.
When we magnify or glorify Christ, space and opportunity are withdrawn from anything being attributed to the power and hands of man. Our worship is built on the warranted thankfulness and gratitude toward glorifying our Savior. What we do and how we do it is by the steering of the Holy Ghost and can’t be conjured by man’s devices. We praise Him for the righteousness He has given us in salvation and our continuous sanctification through the Holy Spirit’s power. We realized it’s the truth because our life before salvation was rooted in manipulated and falsified self-righteousness, which continually failed.
The devil celebrates false worship because it’s an objectified show restricted to a corporate service and has no bearing on how the person lives their life outside of the church doors. There’s no staying power in the might of man. Therefore, our enemy wants us to engage in a manipulated worship powered by the world and man.
Biblical Preaching
The devil isn’t concerned over the pastors who preach from the most recent self-help book or pass on the wisdom they gained from the denominational seminar on the rational approach to building up a church. Satan laughs at the jokes from the pulpit with the congregation because they delay the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. He would be happy if every church hour were filled with nonsense instead of what the Bible says. Paul’s guidance to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2 was to preach the word, whether it’s popular among people or wanted by them, and it is still the advice to today’s preachers.
The devil loves the preacher who doesn’t endure sound doctrine and lets their lust succumb to itching ears. The congregation feels comfortable in their sin and is given a false sense of security by the preaching of the acceptance of a sinful lifestyle.
Being About God’s Business
How would you define your business? God understands the need to work a job to make ends meet for your family, but what part of your free time is spent on God’s business? Typically, we use the excuse of the lack of time, but how many hours do we waste on social media or watching TV? The devil loves it when the church is consumed with the world’s business affairs. When He was 12, unbeknownst to His parents, Jesus escaped to the temple to have a discourse among the doctors. After three days, His parents found Him. When they asked Him why He did this to them, Luke 2:43-49 tells us that He said, “Didn’t you know that I must be about my Father’s business?”
Jesus’ entire life was centered around being about His Father’s business. His teachings of compassion, love, humility, and rebirth were all part of the Heavenly Father’s plan. Most importantly, His sacrifice on the cross as our penalty for sin and resurrection overcoming death was ordered from the start of time. When we’re not about God’s business, we’re all about the world’s business.
Healthy Relationships
Our closest friendships should be with other Christians. These are the relationships that cultivate our growth and foster accountability, as the proverb teaches that iron sharpens iron. The writer of Hebrews 10:25 noted the significance of not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. These meetings aren’t meant to be solely scheduled during church meetings. Our brothers and sisters in Christianity are who we go out to eat with and invite to our homes and cookouts. The purpose is to encourage one another. The devil doesn’t want our contact list to be solely made up of leather-back believers. On the contrary, he would love the church to be among his people and the world Monday through Saturday.
Order
In 1 Corinthians 14:40, Paul wrote to the church to let all things be done in order. The Bible establishes the order of our churches, homes, friendships, and business relationships. Further, the Bible frames our priorities and portions of our time. The kingdom matters are to take priority over any worldly obligations. Anything out of order gives room for the devil to work in our lives.
We’re given strength and freedom, more so by being known by God. In Galatians 4:8-9, Paul told the Christians they were slaves to those who by nature aren’t gods when you don’t know God. Then, he emphasized knowing God also means being known by God. The enemy wants us to remain in obscurity, but we must realize that God is the answer, not Satan.
