Satan’s Plan Against You

“For Everything in the world- the luster of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – comes not from the Father but from the world.” 1 John 2:16.

Something I pray about on a regular basis is the God will give me keen awareness of the enemy’s plans and schemes against me. I want to be able to recognize his traps and avoid them. I have fallen for his traps abs schemes in the past but, I have decided that under no circumstances will I let him deceive me again. I will not let Satan win.

In reading the Bible I believe part of His answer came one day as I studied the account if Satan tempting Eve in Genesis 3 and the verse I mentioned above.

As I compared these passages. I have a serious epiphany about how Satan goes after us. These verses show us Satan’s 3-pronged plan of attack on our hearts. And it’s the same plan we see him using while tempting Jesus in the desert in Matthew 4:1-11. A fact that tells us while the enemy maybe very powerful he is also predictable.

Here is a closer look at Satan’s plan as revealed in Eve’s and Jesus’s account:

1. Make them crave some sort of physical gratification to the point they become preoccupied with it. Whether it is sex, drugs, alcohol, food or gambling.

Satan tempted Eve with fruit, which “was good for food” (Genesis 3:6).

Satan tempted Jesus while on a fast with bread. (Matthew 4:1-11).

Satan tempts us with whatever physical stimulation we are too preoccupied by – be eat taste, smell, sound, touch or sight. These things are good within boundaries where God meant for them to be enjoyed. But venture outside of God’s intention for them, and they become an attempt to try and get our needs met outside with will of God.

2. Make them want to acquire things to the point they bow down to the God of materialism. Keep them distracted by making their eyes lust after the shiny things of the world.

Satan tempted Eve by drawing her attention to what was, “pleasing to the eye” (Genesis 3:6).

Satan showed Jesus the kingdoms of the world and told Him that He could have it all (Matthew 4:9).

Satan flashes the newer, bigger and seemingly better things of this world in front of us, trying to lure us into thinking we must have it. “This will make me fulfilled. This will make me happy.” And then it wears out, breaks down, gets old and reveals just how temporary every material thing is.

3. Make them boastful about what they have or do. Keep them distracted and obsessed with their status and significance. Choke the life out of them using the tentacles of their own pride.

Satan tempted Eve by promising an increased awareness which would make her become more like God.

Satan tempted Jesus by telling Him to throw Himself off the highest point of the temple, and then command the angels to save Him. This would impress everyone watching and certainly raise Jesus’s status and significance.

Likewise, Satan tempts us to try and elevate ourselves over others. We wrongly think we have to become something the world calls “worthy.” This creates a need within our flesh to have people notice us, commend us, revere us and stroke our pride. We then dare to boast about all we ate.

We must stop and remind ourselves that we don’t have to be held hostage by Satan. We have to be onto his schemes, and his power over us is nothing compared to the freeing promises of God.

Once we’re onto his schemes he will not be able to trap us anymore,

There is a huge difference between Eve’s response to Satan and Jesus’s response to Satan. Eve dialogued with Satan and allowed him to weave his tangled emotions of justifications. Jesus on the other hand, immediately quoted truth. With every temptation, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy as He answered, “It is written…’ and shut Satan down with the truth of God.

What will our response be?

It’s Our Choice.

Satan has no power over us except what we give him. Moment by moment, decision by decision, step by step – will we operate in God’s all-powerful truth or will we allow Satan to entangle us in his web of lies?

There’s Always A Way Out

We I think that if we’re really spiritual, we will never be tempted. But that isn’t true. Every Christian will be tempted. The fact is that if you’re really living a godly life, you will tempted, That’s because the devil doesn’t want you to succeed. He will oppose you.

James 1:12 says “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

I have a friend that says “Temptation is not a sin; it is a call to battle.” Just because the bait is dangling before you, it doesn’t mean that you were sinning. It isn’t the bait that constitutes temptation and sin. It’s the bite. It isn’t a sin to be tempted.

You might want to say “ I get tempted all the time. What’s wrong with me?”

Maybe it’s not what’s wrong with you but what’s right with you. In the book of Job, we find an incident where God is bragging about his servant Job (1:8). And what happened next? A series of attacks came against him.

Reminds us that sometimes the exact we’re facing actually a result of a godly life not an ungodly one.

So can temptation be resisted? Yes. In fact God will not allow you to be tempted above your capacity to resist (1 Corinthians 10:13). Sometimes the way out it’s a simple as walking out the door, hitting to off button, Or terminating a conversation. But there is always a way out.

And not only is there a way out, but there’s a blessing attached to the person who resistant temptation. James 1:13 says, “God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God Promised who those who love him.

So if you’re going through a trial right now, if you’re going through a time of testing in temptation, know this: You can grow stronger through it instead of weaker.

Hope Deferred

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. -Proverbs 13:12

One of the many attributes of God is His deep desire to fulfill the many longings and deep desires we have in our hearts. Whether big or small, God gives us what we need, not necessarily what we want. Of course, not every desire we have I’d God,t, and not every expectation that we have will be fulfilled.

We can all point to situation, circumstances, and relationships I haven’t gone our way, that have felt unjust or unfair, as we deal with unfulfilled hopes and unmet expectations in our lives.

Many translations render the phrase “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” In the same way, with the same words. Defer means to put off to a later time or postpone. When we’re hoping for something, we don’t want to delay gratification, we want instant satisfaction. It is when we look at our situation for disappointment, that we become disillusioned and miss the bigger picture. God in His wisdom will often defer some of the things we hope for in our lives. This is so that He will teach us more about his eternal perspective

Being at peace and filled with Christ’s joy is where our Heavenly Father wants to take us. Not every desire in our hearts, and longing in our lives will bring us happiness we often expect. It is when God’s peace fills our hearts, that true joy will enter in as well.

As much as we want to move forward quickly, and find momentum efficiently, it is in the process of waiting that we discover Christ’s efficiency and develop our maturity. Our Hope deepens and our faith is strengthened. That is, if we can trust God’s timing and wait for His provision to come in our lives.

Perseverance is like a quiet bowing to God’s sovereign will. It’s a task that requires us to constantly look to God. To lean in and learn from Him as He cultivates character in our lives.

At any given moment, God may choose to do what we desire or something even greater. He might not meet at accusations, but He will always exceed them. Choose to keep praying for God‘s will in your life. He will release what you want to receive in due season. A harvest of blessings will eventually come our way if we don’t give up I didn’t even know that was there

Proverbs 13:12

How Do I Hear God’s Voice?

Have you ever found yourself thinking, “I wish God would talk with the way He spoke to His people in the Old Testament.”

Many times, scripture describes God is speaking to His people in the voice of an angel or in a dream. He even writes on the wall in one account (Daniel 5). So it’s natural we want to hear God’s voice or see a big sign that will help you feel confident in God’s direction.

We are experiencing confusing circumstances. Sometimes you may just want God to send you a text message and tell you what to do. Maybe you feel far from God I want Him to reach out to you and reassure that He is still there. Maybe you’ve heard people say the God of the Bible is personal, but you never have interacted with God before and wonder how to begin.

He is the same God today that He was in the time of the Old Testament. He still speaks to us today. He made it possible for each of us to have a personal relationship with Him, which involves talking together every day. He communicates with us.

Most of us have never learned how to recognize God’s voice, are we forgotten how we did it in the past.

So in a world full of noise and distraction, how does god speak to us?

Different Ways God Speaks In The Bible

God speaks audibly to His people.Here are some occasions when He spoke to people in the Bible in the voice that they literally heard.

  • He spoke to Samuel as child in the Temple (1 Samuel 3).
  • He spoke to Moses out of the burning bush and hold him to free his people from Egypt (Exodus 3).
  • He spoke to Elijah not through an earthquake or a great win but with the still small voice (1 Kings 19:11-12).

So God can enter speak with an audible voice, though that’s not how Christians hear from God and western cultures. Because God is the same today as He was then, we believe He still can and does speak audibly today.

Another way God speaks to His people is through miraculous events, Such as signs, dreams and visions.

Signs came in many forms in biblical times, from the parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14) to the disciples finding a donkey when and where Jesus said they would (Matthew 21:2-7).

Dreams and visions are depicted from the beginning of the Bible to the end. The last book of the Bible, Revelation, tell us how John, One of Jesus‘s closest followers, receive the vision of heaven with streets of gold (Revelation 4). Dreams and visions communicate in one of two ways: with specific instructions Or with symbolism can be interpreted by the Spirit as a message to people.

Pursuing God Is Essential To Hearing God

God tells us very clearly in the Bible that the more we seek Him, The more we are going to experience His presence in our lives.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13

Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him Must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him

Hebrews 11:6

I love those who love Me, and those who seek me find Me.

Proverbs 8:17

The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there is anyone who understands, any who seek God.

Psalm 14:2

God never leaves us once we invite Him into our lives, But He does respond to our desire for more of Him.

So how do you demonstrate your desire for more of God? Pursue Him somehow every day.

Reading and studying in the Bible, spending time in prayer, and talking with other followers of Jesus are not just part of our to do list. God encourages us to do these things because they help us to learn about His character and learn to recognize His voice.

He uses our knowledge of who He is and what He has done to help with respond to situations we face.

Setting aside the distractions of every day life to focus on God it’s not just a physical or mental activity, it is a way of centering your heart on God and communicating that He has your complete attention. It’s similar to relationships with other people. If you sit down and listen to a loud one but you check your text messages every few seconds, they will not feel you are listening to them, and your life likely to hear everything they want to communicate.

How much more is it God deserve our complete attention?

You cannot expect to hear God’s voice if you do not regularly focus your attention on Him as for you as you can.

God Speaks To Us Through The Holy Spirit

In the Old Testament, remotely read about God speaking to his people from outside of themselves. But Jesus has promised the people who believe in Him something more.

On the night, Jesus was arrested before His crucifixion, He Spoke to His closest friends. He knew that He was going to return to His father in heaven soon. His friends, the disciples, spent several years walking and talking with Jesus every day. They never had to struggle to hear His voice in that sense.

Soon, Jesus would commission His friends to take the message of what He had done to the whole world. But He would not be physically present with them. They would need His guidance every day to make decisions about where to go and what to do next.

You just wanted them to be confident that they would have everything they needed, so He revealed to them the news that in the future, God will live within them in the person of the Holy Spirit. Yes, God would continue to be someone apart from them, but He was placing His actual presence Is that each person who believes in Jesus.

Jesus said:

I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when He, The Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify Me because it is from Me that He will receive what He will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from Me what He will make known to you.

John 16:12-15

The presence of the Holy Spirit in your life changes everything about hearing God’s voice. If you have chosen to begin a personal relationship with Jesus, His Spirit now lives within you. So rather than wondering where God is and how to connect with Him, Do you have complete confidence that He lives within you and is always ready to guide you

If you have not invited Jesus into your life yet, find out how do you know God personally.

God speaks to you through the Bible. In it, God tells you how to live the life He has called you to live. The Bible is full of accounts with lessons, and God speaking the truth, revealing what you need you hear to lead a life that blesses Him..

God also speaks through the internal promptings of the Holy Spirit. John 14:26 Says that the spirit teaches you and helps you to remember what God has done. The Holy Spirit prompt you to act in obedience, to turn away from simple things, and reach out to people around you for support.

Internal promptings can or you can share the message of Jesus with people in your life.

Find out more about the Holy Spirit and how you can experience more of God in your life.

God wants to make His voice known to you. He has no desire to confuse you. The combination of His Spirit within you and His living word, the Bible, in front of you is His plan Or teaching you to recognize His voice.

Why do many Christians live their lives wondering exactly what God is saying or whether He is still speaking at all?

The answer made by an understanding what distracts you from hearing God.