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November 06 Satan's Mind SetIn any battle or conflict, it is always an advantage to know what the opposition is thinking. To know their traits and tendencies. Satan is more intelligent than I or you but he doesn't know everything and he is a creature of habit. Once we learn his mindset, his way of thinking, it helps us in our struggle against him. In Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, he deal with a problem in the church. A man had been sleeping with his step mother. In the second letter, Paul encourages them to forgive this man that Paul had urged the church to discipline. Paul goes on to say, "I don't want Satan to outwit us, after all, we are not ignorant about Satan's scheming". The word for scheming is noēma and it means mental perception or evil purpose. The CEV translates the last line as "We all know what goes on in Satan's mind". Paul's purpose in dealing with this rebellious member was to restore him. The process for this was discipline. He wanted the church to take a firm stand on the man's unacceptable conduct but Paul was not encouraging legalism and he certainly did not want the Corinthians to become unforgiving which is exactly what happens when we become legalistic. I am not suggesting that you devote a lot of time to studying the tactics of Satan but it is good to know some basics. We have a lot of professing Christians today who talk about warfare and they go from book to book and bible study to bible study but they are like king Saul, they talk warfare but are afraid to engage the battle. For the David's out there, those who have the courage to engage the enemy, remember that the devil is a schemer and that his ultimate purpose is evil. [1] Remember the devil is a terrorist. He uses fear. This is one of his chief tactics. He is a playground bully, an intimidater. The only thing that you and I are to fear is God and sin. All other fears come from the devil. [2] Very close to fear is doubt. The devil does not want you to have assurance. Without assurance, you are on the side line and he knows it. A doubting Thomas does not engage the enemy. When the devil gets you doubting, it takes you out of the battle. [3] Discouragement: REMEMBER, Christ has no reason to want you to be discouraged. He will never discourage you. Those who serve HIM will not discourage you. Satan is a master at discouraging people and he uses ignorant people in the process. You better get this principle fixed in your mind or you will not last long. As a pastor, I listen to criticism to a point. I want to improve my skills and I know that I can and should do better but I guard my spirit. I listen to a point and then I stop listening. The moment that I realize that Satan is behind it, I stop listening. I know what he wants; and that is for me to quit, to resign, to take myself out of the battle. [4] Obviously, the devil loves to trip us up with pride. He will use flattery and other devices to set us up. This was the biggest problem at Corinth. The people had knowledge but it had puffed them up, inflated their ego. Satan trips up a lot of churches with pride. We study the bible so we can put it into practice and share it with those who don't know Christ. When our bible study becomes a mental exercise to increase our knowledge, it also encreases our pride. It is a subtle trap. Pride always leads to an unhealthy embalance. We go to seed on one thing and totally neglect something else which is just as important. We become like Judah, a pancake cooked on one side. There has to be a balance between Evangelism/Missions and Bible Study. If your bible study doesn't lead you to do evangelism and missions, you are out of wack and Satan has won a strategic battle in your life. Watch him, he is slick! Acknowlege Satan but keep your eyes on Jesus! TrackbacksThe trackback URL for this entry is: http://brojacksblog.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!6748BF029622B8C1!292.trak Weblogs that reference this entry
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