I was studying the temptations of Jesus the other day and Satan’s tricks made me laugh out loud. He is crafty but totally powerless. Therefore, He resorted to tricks to try and tempt Jesus. But thank God, Jesus is always ahead of the devil. Take the second temptation for example. Satan said to Jesus “if you are the son of God, throw yourself down….” The reason he said so is that Satan could not personally cast Jesus down. And by the same token, if you are in Christ, Satan cannot cast you down.
The only thing he can do is attempt to trick you. That is the same way he tried to trick Jesus into casting Himself down. Unless you are a bible scholar, you may miss the trick in this particular temptation but I will show you. The temptation starts with “If You are the son of God.” Jesus is the Son of God and in the previous chapter, God had just declared publicly. He thundered from heaven “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
The fact that Jesus is the Son of God did not make Satan happy and he wanted to trick Jesus into worshiping him. He wanted Jesus to prove that which is already sure. It is the same way he tries to trick you and me. “You say you are a child of God; if that is so, cast yourself down.” The trick is for you to doubt that you are truly a child of God. Once you doubt, Satan has you. He will seek to persuade you to throw yourself down because he knows Satan cannot cast you down by himself.
Keep Your Heart With All Diligence
Please note we are trying to split hairs here. Until he can get you to doubt God, Satan cannot touch you; He is powerless but the bible says he is the most subtle of all animals. So, he fights his battle in your mind, with tricks that cause doubt. He did it with Eve; “has God indeed said….?” And he is still doing it today as he tried to do with Jesus.
The only battleground that satan has is your mind. He cannot do anything to your body until he captures your mind. That is why the bible says we must guard our hearts with all diligence. And that is how I know that, just as he could not cast Jesus down, Satan cannot cast you down. That is unless you give him permission by agreeing with him just like Eve did.
Observe that Jesus did not agree with the devil to try and prove what God has already declared. What lies could the devil be telling you now? Your wife is ugly; or your husband is poor; your child is stubborn, etc. Only you know how you may or may not be agreeing with Satan, but I know a common one.
He says God does not really love you because if He did, you would not be in this (whatever) situation. That is a lie he uses quite frequently but unless you agree with him, Satan cannot cast you down. Satan’s arsenal is limited and he cannot do anything to you unless he causes you to doubt God. And doubting God is easy unless you are quite conversant with God and His promises.
Satan Cannot Cast You Down If You Believe The Word Of God
So, we ask one another “How much do you believe what God says?” Even more fundamentally, how much of what God says do you truly know? If you are not familiar with God’s love and promises, Satan will have you for supper. Imagine that Jesus did not know the written word of God during the temptation.
Could the Lord Himself have successfully countered satan as He did? How much less we, who are mere humans? Jesus responded each time with “It is written.” Unless you know a few of the “It is written,” in the bible, you are in trouble. But when you arm yourself with the word of God, Satan cannot cast you down. He may try to trick you into casting yourself down but he cannot personally cast you down. Never.
So, what is your response? Start today to soak up scriptures. Then when the devil comes to you, you will have a few “It is written” to throw at him. When that happens a couple of times, he will leave you alone. Satan cannot cast you down unless you refuse to learn God. Of course, while reading the word of God is vital, it is but a step in our true knowledge of God.
We have to believe what we read. Don’t forget that the devil too knows the bible and trembles. The only difference is that he does not believe in God. Faith helps us put on the armor of God with which to cast down every imagination he brings to mind. As you thus cast him down, Satan cannot cast you down. He is powerless against you and you become more than a conqueror.
How Is Your Mind Today?
As we round up, we ask ourselves “how is your mind today? And the reason we ask about today is that the devil tries to overwhelm you with tomorrow. When he fails to make you doubt God, he piles thoughts of the future on you. He tries to paint your future in doubtful colors, letting you imagine failure. Your heart begins to shake and you become vulnerable to his lies.
He does that because unless he causes a shaking, satan cannot cast you down. And he desperately wants you down under his feet so he tries all sorts of tricks. Bringing the future into the present to overwhelm you is a popular trick. That is why the Bible cautions us that the trouble of today is sufficient for today.
God does not want you importing tomorrow’s problems into today. If you stick to God’s truth and avoid the lies of the devil, satan cannot cast you down. You will be above him always. And that is why you need to daily check the status of your mind
Maranatha!
