My last blog was about how Satan is destroying the church. This is the continuance of how destructive Satan is.

Satan’s goal is to seek and destroy you. 

I have been having a heavy heart when it comes to Satan’s ploy. His plan is to kill and destroy anyone who believes in Jesus Christ.

God calls us to “be alert and of sober mind,” watching out for the schemes of the devil who “prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

If you are a believer of Jesus Christ, then Satan hates our guts with a passion. He is the serpent and ruler of this world. We must stand firm and resist Satan. We can’t be naive and we must be prepared.  God has given us the tools that we need in order to stand firm.

For a while, well a long while, I have been praying about what God’s plan is for my life. God has a plan for all of our lives. We also need to understand that the enemy (Satan) has plans for our lives also. With all of the voices in our heart and minds, we have to decide who we are going to listen to. We also must choose who we are going to follow. If we aren’t paying attention, we will get caught in Satan’s snares.

God has given us His Word and if we follow Christ and focus on His Word, then we’ll have wisdom and the tools to stand against the enemy. We must put on the full armor of God. We need to be alert and pray that God will equip us to “stand strong.”

When we put on the full armor of God we can stand against Satan’s lies and schemes.

The Armor of God

Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV) 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. Read More…

There are 2 types of weapons when we put on the Armor of God. These are the only ways that we can stand firm against Satan.

Defensive Weapons; 

• Truth
• Righteousness
• Gospel proclamation
• Faith and Salvation.

Offensive Weapons;  

• Prayer
• Sword of Scripture

Additional Bible Verses;

1. (1 Pet 5:6-8) 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
2. (Rev 2:10) 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. .
3. Thess 2:18 18 because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us.He may hinder [cut in on, as in a race] your gospel witness and steal it from unsuspecting hearts
4. Matt 13:19 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.
5. Acts 5:3 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?

Satan knows that we love God. Satan’s goal is to destroy and attack anyone that God loves. He destroys us through a variety of ways. I have listed a few techniques that Satan will use against believers in Christ.

1. Fear- Satan wants our faith to be in anyone and anything other than God. When we dedicate our lives to Christ, we don’t need to live in fear. In Psalm 34:4 says, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.”
2. Doubting God– We shouldn’t let Satan convince you that you are unloved and not worthy of His love.  In John 20:27  we read about how Jesus appeared to Thomas and told him to stop “doubting and believe.”  ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” When Satan temps you to doubt God, don’t let the confusion and your situation to doubt God. 
3. Avoiding Church- This is one of the situations that has been heavily on my heart lately. I have been having many people talk to me about how they have decided that it’s time to stop going to church. I can’t go into what is going on. For a while, there have been many heart felt discussions with people who have decided that it is the right time for them to stop going to church. It isn’t always easy to persevere.  My prayer is that those who have decided that they need to go elsewhere that they find a church that will help them become strong in their faith. 1 Corinthians 12 
4. For you to be led astray- This is a pretty big one for me. It’s so easy to be lead astray. There are those who profess to be a person of faith. We must keep our eyes focused on Christ and to  “Watch out for false prophets. When we rely on the words of men or ourselves instead of God’s Word, we can easily lead others away from Jesus and be led away from His truth ourselves. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves” (Matthew 7:15).
5. Failure –  Satan wants to destroy us. 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 (NIV)  8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

As I get ready to close up this post, I want to be sure to mention that every minute, hour and day we face spiritual warfare and we must be prepared to battle Satan. He wants nothing more than to defeat those who are believers in Christ.

(Eph. 6:10-18) 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. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. 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.”