This morning while talking to one of the FAM members about how something her husband said had upset and discouraged her, something she said really stuck with me, which was “The devil is so mean.” Obviously, there isn’t much to be said in response to that, other than acknowledging how true it is! But it does remind me how often we fail to take Satan seriously by fully understanding that our total destruction is the only goal of his existence, and, more importantly, that he has NO power in our lives unless we GIVE it to him. So this seems like a good time to remind everyone standing for marriage restoration of Satan’s purpose and how he works, and how to defeat and overcome him.

We see the devil described as our enemy and his purpose very clearly and graphically spelled out in 1 Peter 5:8 (AMP), which says Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. But then verses 9 to 11 tell the rest of the story and how to respond to his attack, which tells us to Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset–rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace [Who imparts all blessing and favor], Who has called you to His [own] eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the dominion (power, authority, rule) forever and ever. Amen (so be it). That makes it clear that only our faith and confidence in the Lord will bring us through and protect us from the attacks of the devil, and that we have to wait and trust Him to rescue and deliver us, which He CAN and WILL do because He has ALL dominion, power and authority! And that’s confirmed in the following passage from Ephesians 1:
18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength,
20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms,
21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.
22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church,
23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Then this passage from Ephesians 6 reveals even more details about the armor the Lord provides so we can withstand the attack of the devil, as well as reminding us that our fight is not with our husbands, because this is a spiritual battle:
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,
15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

So a critically important part of winning our battle against the devil is being alert and recognizing his attacks when they come, which ALWAYS begins with planting deceptive thoughts in our minds. And we certainly won’t win the spiritual warfare involved in marriage restoration by doing things the way the world tells us too, as the following passage from 2 Corinthians 10 so clearly warns:
2 I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world.
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.
4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Then if we have ANY doubt about how the word of God is used to defeat the devil and overcome the weapons of his warfare, we just have to read the following passage from Matthew 4 to learn from the example Jesus set for us about defeating Satan’s temptations when He comes to deceive us:
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.
2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.
6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: ” ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'”
7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'”
8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.
9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.
I love this passage of scripture, because it shows us that when we answer the devil with the word of God, he WILL leave us and we’ll be attended by angels! I also find it very interesting that Jesus didn’t bother reminding Satan who he was and that He already had everything he was offering, something we forget so much of the time. And what nerve the devil had to try to tempt or deceive Jesus with scripture, which means he’ll do the same thing to us! But Jesus didn’t even try to argue with His adversary, He just simply quoted scripture to the devil, who finally left without so much as another word! Since the Lord deals with Satan on our behalf when we put our faith and trust in His word, and confess it, it is SO important to KNOW what the Bible says so it will come to our minds when we need it.

Another passage of scripture that shows us how important our words are when it comes to spiritual warfare and defeating the devil is from Revelation 12, which says:
9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.
11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
12 Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.”
It’s VERY important for us to understand that the words of our testimony are not just those we intentionally speak to praise, honor, and give glory to the Lord, but EVERY word spoken out of our mouth IS the word of our testimony. And the words we speak have the power of life and death, and we WILL eat the fruit of them, as Proverbs 18:21 (AMP) tells us, Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life].

The GOOD NEWS is that Jesus came to give us victory and authority over Satan, of which He assured us in John 10:10 (AMP), when He said (The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). And He even further assured us of the authority and power He gives us to defeat the devil in Luke 10:17-19, which says The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. And then again in Matthew 16:18-19 (NKJV), which says And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” And one of my very favorite verses, which I often use in prayer is Proverbs 21:30, because it promises that There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD. And that obviously covers EVERYTHING! That means we just need to remember one of my other favorite verses, which is Romans 8:28, because it promises And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. So when we truly love the Lord and are living our lives according to HIS will, we’re able to walk and live in the peace and victory Jesus died to give us if we truly believe these verses and what His word tells us.

Posted Tuesday, May 16th, 2006 at 7:14 pm in Seeds Of Faith.