Articles
“I Hate Satan”
There is just no other way to say it, “I hate Satan!” He causes such chaos. He ruins lives. He ruins homes. He ruins churches. As our adversary, he is very cunning. He can take that which is good and cause it to be used for evil.
We must recognize that he is real. He is not mythical. He tempted Jesus. He tempted Peter. If he tempted them, he will surely tempt us. He is very active today. I see lives being affected by him every day. Not simply others, but with me, too. He knows our weaknesses and is adept at using them against us.
His methods are tried and true. He still uses the lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and pride of life. Our eyes are such a great benefit. They give us such great advantages, but they can also be used for evil. What we watch and what we look at is all filtered through our eyes. He uses the flesh. God made man and woman to be aesthetically pleasing. I doubt many men ever proposed saying, “You look like an old goat, will you marry me?” The flesh wraps the package in an appealing manner. Satan is not going to use something or someone repulsive to tempt us. Then there is the pride of life. Satan used the pride of life to help make us our own god. He convinces us we can call the shots just as good as God can. It works too! Pride is such a destructive vice. For all the destruction that the eyes and flesh have caused, perhaps pride has been exponentially more destructive.
I am not sure where this fits in among the three, but fear is one of Satan’s biggest tools. If he can get us afraid, we will draw back from acting. It worked with the ten spies. It works today. Fear stops action. Fear cuts faith out of our hearts. When our hearts are filled with fear, we cower or become timid. We start worrying about the outcome rather than keeping our eyes on God, who can quiet our fears.
I think disappointment and discouragement are two more big tools Satan uses. Perhaps fear, discouragement, and disappointment are part of the same family. Disappointment is so harmful. It causes us to start looking at ourselves. It starts us thinking negatively about others. It leads to discouragement. Discouragement is simply losing heart. The disappointment has degraded to discouragement. Now, put those with fear and Satan has a field day.
Can we not see that fear, disappointment, and discouragement are as catastrophic as adultery and drunkenness? These three destroy so many individuals, so many marriages, and so many churches. Let’s be real! Satan eats away at our hearts and our lives. He destroys our zeal, confidence, and energy. He affects our lives, work, and worship. He destroys relationships, especially those closest to us. He is our enemy. If Satan can just get us to take our eyes off of God and start to fill our hearts and minds with one or all of those three, he will destroy us.
Satan uses our past and present to cause us to be fearful, disappointed, and discouraged. He uses them to reinforce what we already think: “See, I told you, you were a loser.” He is a liar.
Be filled with the fullness of God. Be filled with His love. Be filled with His Son. Be filled with His Spirit. God has defeated him. He will help us resist, turn, and run away. He will increase our awareness of his tactics. He will give us great spiritual knowledge which will help us to stand against Satan.
Rickie Jenkins
