“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live”! – Deuteronomy 30:19 NLT
Warrior;
We have the choice of victory or defeat, heaven or hell, the living God or the devil, a joyous, glorious eternity or endless woe and torment. Jesus is our creator, He knows His creation. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3) God is omniscient, He has perfect knowledge, He cannot learn. If God was to learn anything, He would cease being God. There has never been an emergency meeting of the TRINITY! Jesus knows that we get confused easily, and so when God gives us choices he gives us 2. Keep It Simple Soldier (KISS). This is why we are told to be aware of the wiles of the enemy and to understand that the devil and his minions can masquerade as angels of Light, and the devil is a deceptive creature so we need to pay attention to Jesus and know the devil is working to confuse us, deceive us, so he can destroy us, or, at the least, keep us off the “useful track” of God. See Ephesians 6:11, 2 Corinthians 11:14, 1 Peter 5:7-8, John 10:10). Throughout Jesus’ incarnate ministry His greatest enemy was largely unseen. However, when Satan did reveal himself, he was sternly rebuked by Jesus. When Jesus spoke of, and to, Beelzebub, He had very strong words for the rebellious angel. Jesus has never stopped fighting our enemy and talks about him even today. Studying the Bible, we can learn how to deal with this real enemy, by following Jesus’ example. The Bible is filled with descriptions of Satan, and quotes Jesus’ thoughts, and dealings throughout. Jesus teaches us much about how to deal with our greatest adversary, the devil. We must wake up to the reality of this real enemy and this real battle.
Leader, “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Be gone, Satan! For it is written that you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.’” (Matthew 4:10) Here we learn about the authority that Jesus has over the devil. As the second Adam, Jesus passed the test that the first Adam failed in the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:16–17; 3:1–6). Jesus is the TRUTH (John 14:6), so He refused to believe the devil’s lies, instead He obeyed His Father. Jesus was tempted but did not sin (Heb. 4:15). Satan has power, but Jesus has the ultimate power over all creation. The devil MUST respond and to obey the name and commands of Jesus. We can be confident in the midst of any trial- God is in control! “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44). Satan is the “father of lies” in that he is the original liar. Jesus is TRUTH- polar opposites. Lying is Satan’s primary weapon against God’s children. He uses the tactic of deceit to separate people from their heavenly Father. Jesus knew this, and HIS WORD arms us with knowledge- The Word understood and STOOD ON- is POWER!. Some of the devil’s more common lies: “There is no God, God doesn’t care about you, the Bible cannot be trusted, and your good works will get you into heaven.” Hear the Word of the Lord: “The seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name!’ And He said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you.’” (Luke 10:17-19) The 70 disciples that Jesus had sent out to evangelize and prepare His way to Jerusalem were impressed that Satan and his demons had to bow down to the name of Jesus. In his pride, Lucifer had lifted himself up, but God had cast him down out of his original place in heaven. Jesus’ statement in Luke 10:18 speaks on the back story of Satan and the Lord’s defeat over the power of Satan.
Conduit, “Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Matthew 4:7) The devil was misquoting scripture- like so many NON-believers like to do. The Devil was quoting Psalm 91:11-12 to entice Jesus to jump off the roof of a temple to test God’s love for His Son. We must understand, If Satan can do terrible things to try and manipulate our Savior, we should never underestimate his power to deceive us. He was able to twist scripture to be used for evil purposes, and it’s a major way that Satan attacks Christians today. Christians must be equipped with God’s Word like Jesus was, so they can stand strong against the wiles of the Devil. When Jesus sits on His throne in Heaven, He will separate those who were true believers by those who were not. Matthew 25:41 says: “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’” Those who did not follow Jesus will be separated from God for eternity. They will go to a place where they will suffer for eternity. Jesus was very clear on the evil power that Satan holds, and wanted to ensure that we as Christian understood everything we could about the fallen angel. The Bible is filled with information on Satan and how Jesus sees the enemy. The more knowledge we have on Satan, the easier it will be to fight and resist him and his temptations. Hear the Word of the Lord; Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (1 Timothy 4:1, 2 Timothy 4:3-4) Be IN THE WORD, know THE WORD, so you can, FIGHT the GOOD FIGHT!
Way of The Warrior- A Daily Devotional 