Have you never wondered why believers keep falling into sin day after day? We sin, we ask for forgiveness, God forgives us, and tomorrow, we are at it all over again. It happens because we fail to recognize that the devil is extremely clever. Please note that he is not powerful since all power belongs to God, but the bible says he is cunning.
Whenever we forget that, we run the risk of falling into his traps, and trust me, they are everywhere at all times. Look at how clever he was in the Fall. The devil waited until Adam was separated from Eve. That is one aspect of his cunning and cleverness. He does everything to make sure you are alone as often as possible. Don’t think for one minute that the devil is not at the root of every broken marriage. He revels in you being alone.
What about the fight between brothers who used to be very friendly? Satan comes in to sow discord between them, all with one goal. He needs them to be alone so he can attack because the devil is extremely clever. Knowing that two are better than one, he does everything in his power to keep you alone. You may find you are angry with your pastor, enough that you stop attending church. Presto! Satan has you exactly where he wants you – alone on Sunday morning.
Did you observe that as long as Jesus was with His disciples, the devil did not try to tempt him? But as soon as Jesus went to a lonely place by Himself, the devil was on him like a snake. In order to resist the devil, you must ensure you are not alone too often. Make friends readily and forgive those who offend you.
Only Take The Devil On When You Are In Christ
Do whatever you need to do to ensure satan does not succeed in separating you from others. Of course, you need to humble yourself before God in order to resist satan. But because the devil is extremely clever, he will try to catch you when you are alone. Don’t let him.
Next, you may recall that in an earlier post, we said that the devil’s arsenal is quite limited. You might therefore be wondering wonder if we are speaking from both sides of our mouths. Not so. His arsenal is limited with Christ and therefore if you are in Christ, his arsenal is limited with you. But the minute you step out of Jesus, you are on your own, so to speak. And that is when you will discover that the devil is extremely clever.
In the first place, you must not forget how old he is. The oldest person on earth is 118 years according to the Guinness book of world records. How much older do you suppose the devil is? Consequently, he has had that much more experience in trapping human beings. Secondly, he used to live in heaven, in the same neighborhood as the One known as the Wisdom of God. So, you can expect him to be a lot smarter than you.
To overcome him, you need higher wisdom, found only in Jesus. To access that wisdom, you need to be in Christ. Or as the epistle to the Colossians says, your life has to be hidden with Christ in God. Then and only then will you be able to escape the snares of satan.
Father Of Lies
The bottom line is that you must never attempt to reason with the devil or take him on in your own strength. You already know he is older than you and smarter than you. In addition, the bible says that when he tells a lie, he is singing his native anthem. He is the father of lies, which means that all he can ever (re)produce are lies.
The devil has thousands of years of practice in lying. Trying to reason with such a fellow suggests you are forgetting that the devil is extremely clever. Such a strategy will only result in failure for you and victory for him. And since his goal is to make us sin, you find yourself falling into sin time and time again.
He did it with Adam and Eve, lying to them and he did it with a suggestive question. Even today, he still does it. Do you suppose your sister (brother, mother, father, friend, boss, neighbor) truly likes you? The devil is too smart to come right out and tell you an outright lie. He knows you will see through him and so he suggests an idea by asking a question.
He then waits around for that question to start becoming bigger until it takes over your entire thinking. Or as James characterizes it, the idea germinates and grows until it brings forth death. If you doubt James, ask Eve about how God threw her out of the garden of Eden.
As you know, separation from God is the real death. Adam and Eve experienced death because they failed to recognize that the devil is extremely clever. They were trying to reason with him. Don’t be like them. He will outwit you any day because he is an expert at lying.
Never Forget That The Devil Is Extremely Clever
In the world now, the devil has hordes of demons and principalities at his disposal. What’s more, he is in a rage that Jesus is giving us a chance at reconciliation with God. With that rage comes the frenzy with which the creatures of darkness work to make us fall. And that means there is not a single moment that they rest.
For us, that means we must ALWAYS be on our guard. We cannot afford a moment off in reminding ourselves that the devil is extremely clever. That is why the Bible cautions, watch and pray. Observe that it is the watchfulness that comes first, even before prayer. That is because the devil is extremely clever and can trap us even in the place of prayer if care is not taken.
In summary, get into Jesus; hide your life there and then watch. And the devil will not be able to trip you up.
Maranatha!
