“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” -John 10:10
If Satan can still kill and destroy, how do we overcome him? He can steal the word and God promises right out of your head, leaving us with no way to fight. He can cause tragic situations to happen and even kill us. He can destroy relationships and the things that we cherish. What can we do?
We can turn to Jesus and love God with our hearts, minds and strength. Then those things that Satan can do become less of a problem. God‘s abundant and full love overflows within us and gives us the ability to withstand Satan‘s battles.
Here are things Satan cannot do:
- Make us sin
It’s our own lusts, desires, and selfish wants that make sin appealing enough to cause us to step into it. Then those things more we justify our desires and wants, the more we will want to sin in order to get them.
Our free will causes us to sin. Satan cannot make us do anything. Satan may place a bad idea in front of us, but it’s our fault if we step into it. Sometimes, we only see the full consequences after we fall.
2. Make us fear death
We don’t know our length of Time on this earth, and we don’t know how our end will come about. Fear of death seems natural, there may be pain and suffering involved. There will be pain from losing the good things on earth that we will all miss. And there will probably be regret regarding the times I didn’t live as loving and good stewards.
But those negative ships will only happen in the process of death, not afterwards. The sting of death is gone because of Jesus. He will wipe away our tears, and we will be in a place of warmth and love that we cannot fathom now.
3. Take our Stamina
God will always give us the power to withstand temptation when we ask Him. But we need to remember to pray and ask God for strength.
There can be sometimes we think that we are standing strong when we’re only standing in our own pride and determination. And we will soon fall. But when we lean on God and His strength, He is faithful to help us to walk right on by any temptations that threaten us.
4. Pester Us After We Resist
Satan can whisper that we deserve better, he can invite us to get what we want the quickest, easiest way possible. He can even make lies sounds truthful.
But once our mind is made up that we’re going to do it, God‘s way, Jesus will give us the power to follow through with the commitment, and Satan has to flee.
5. Control Us
Once we accept Jesus into our hearts, Satan cannot control us anymore. But he can still pester us before we resist him in any given situation. Satan can still whisper lies that sound true. But he never has control over us.
When we allow God into our souls. Jesus locks the door behind Satan. We have to say yes to Satan‘s whispers, lies, and temptations in order for him to have any power over our lives. Unfortunately, we can still agree with those lies, in a particular moment. And even stepped in the wrong direction. But we can retreat, repent, and head back to the One that our souls really love.
6. Be everywhere at once
Satan cannot be everywhere at once. He can only roam around.
He is not omnipresent, like God. The Lord fills the heavens and earth.
We can never flee from God’s presence -day or night. God is there when we rejoice and worship Him. He is even there when we are in trouble, regretful, or desperately needing help and cry out to God.
Typically, Satan does not show up during those times when we are rejoicing or are desperately in need of help. He doesn’t like it when we rejoice, but he loves it when we grumble. And he is glad when we desperately need help, that is his goal to get us into trouble.
7. Anything without God’s permission
God has to permit Satan for him to take anything away. He had to ask for permission to take away everything that Job had.
Even though Satan does rule the earth for the time being. He does so under tight reign.
God has to allow Satan’s tragedies and temptations. God also gives him limitations to those temptations and tragedies. God only gives him permission when He can bring something good out of it.
8. Steal our faith
Job lost everything: friends, kids, wife, status, and health, but he never lost his faith in God. Sure, he had a lot of questions. He also didn’t understand why God had allowed such things. But he stayed faithful to God.
We can put on the armor of God daily.
We are protected by the belt of truth, as well as God‘s righteousness. Shoes of peace cover our feet and help us share the good news. The shield of faith stopped the arrows of lies that come at us. A helmet of salvation gives us confidence to go forward. And God‘s word gives us the ammunition. Then we can stand firm against Satan’s schemes.
9. Commandeer our future
We may be fighting in the great battle of good vs evil. But we are able to hold our ground because God is on our side. God gives us eternal life, and we will never perish. Problems will arrive in our lives, but as long as we are with God in the long run, they will seem small.
No one can smash us away from God’s love, including Satan, because our Father in heaven is more powerful than anyone or anything. His hand will hold us securely.
10. Win
Many battles will be fought by Satan on this earth comma just like the Confederate army won some battles in the U.S Civil War. In the end, however, God will win the war. The authority of Jesus will prevail by the blood of the Lamb.
The blood of the Lamb creates testimonies of all the people that surrender to Jesus. Every single time that we step away from temptation, a testimony to God’s power is formed. Each time we retreat from stepping into sin, repent, and go back to God, another testimony is forged. And, every time we go through a tragic situation with our faith in God,s goodness intact, another testimony spring forth.
Satan is defeated by rock-solid testimonies of God’s love and grace.
From Pity to Praise 