6 Ways the devil seeks to destroy you spiritually every day

Hey there GCT!  For the first time, as we study the Gospel of Luke, we are introduced to the devil.  Do you really believe in the supernatural being of evil in these days of such science and secularism?  A 2009 Barna study says that a majority of “Christians” do not believe in Satan.  Well, we know for sure that Jesus believed in Satan and his demonic helpers.  Jesus did battle with the spiritual forces of darkness and the devil himself throughout all of His life and ministry.  He spoke about supernatural frequently and so did the apostles throughout the New Testament.  Plus, look around us and you will see empirical evidence for the existence of evil.
 
Church, we experience the forces of supernatural evil everyday fo our lives.  There is not only a Kingdom of our loving, holy, gracious, peaceful, forgiving, truthful God.  But there is also a kingdom that opposes this wonderful kingdom and opposes you.  That opposing kingdom is one of hate, lust, lies, that desires to destroy you and me. We are told that one of the reasons Jesus came to Earth was to destroy the works of the devil and the devil himself.  Jesus believed and experienced the devil’s reality each and every day.  

The devil, aka Satan, will do anything to kill us spiritually.  How does he try to destroy us?  

• He lies to us.  He wants us to believe lies and deception about ourselves, others, and any other thing in all creation.  He is a liar.  John 8:44
• He is a blinder.  He hides truth all truth.  He loves deception.  2 Corinthians 4:4
• He tempts you to sin.  He really wants you continue in your sin.  And he loves it when we justify our own sin.  Luke 4
• He is a murderer.  He wants to destroy the abundant life that Christ gives.  John 8:44
• He disguises himself as goodness and light.  He is a wolf in sheep clothing.  2 Corinthians 11:13
• He performs signs and wonders.  He wants you to confuse him with God so that you don’t worship the One True God.  2 Thessalonians 2:9

Jesus came to destroy the devil who loves working his works of deception and death.  Jesus, in his humanity empowered by His Holy Spirit, was attacked endlessly by the devil for 40 days and nights in a treacherous wilderness.  The devil was trying to get Jesus’ human nature to sin so that He would not be qualified to be our Savior.  But Jesus was not defeated!  Jesus endured all of the temptation without sin.  Jesus defeated the devil!  How?  Through the power of the Holy Spirit.  He survived every attack of Satan yet without sin.  GCT, we have the same Holy Spirit that has been given to us by our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus so that ALL of the works of the devil will be destroyed in our lives.  How much thought do really you give towards being watchful for the devil and his helpers prowling around our lives seeking to destroy all of us (1 Peter 5:8-11).

As a church, together, let us...
Be sober- minded.
Be watchful.
Resist him.
Make your faith firm.
Know scripture.
Repent of sin.
Ask the Holy Spirit to win the battle - because you can’t.

I look forward to worshipping our Lord, the defeater of the devil and supernatural evil, with you this Sunday. With great love, Steve

Luke 4:1  And Jesus, being full of the Holy Spirit , returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness...