Away From Me!!!

There is something to be said about being a truly devout believer.  There are many that claim to believe, but are stagnant in action.  Just merely believing isn't enough, without actions; Satan and his legions of demons believe in God. They take action to tempt us, thus they are striving to bring us down.  James (from the Bible… Jesus’ brother) even said that we can have faith, but with no action or work, our faith is dead.

I’m just speaking on my partial conviction, and other things… 

Great things are happening, and scheduled to happen to us who are obedient. Meanwhile, here is one who is always trying to steal, kill, and destroy what is coming to any believer to make them fall away.  I feel this happen to me every day, but cast down and strive to resist what I am being tempted with to accomplish my true destiny.  It’s crazy, because every time we defeat sin, Satan tries to file a false claim against us to God.  Additionally, he tries his hardest to deplete our self-worth.  Ideally, we defeat temptation, pray, become forgiven of a slip, forgive ourselves, and succeed in resisting the tempter. 

When Satan makes a claim against us, God rejects Satan’s claim.  Later on, we become tempted with something else, and the whole process starts again.  The stronger our Christian walk, the stronger we stand against temptation.  We always talk about spiritual warfare and how we defeat it.  Throughout the Bible, the tempter is spoken to and defeated through rebukes.  When we tell Satan to leave, in Christ's Holy name, he cannot stay.  He has to leave! 

Jesus was in the desert for 40 days. Every time he was tempted, Satan tried to use God's own Word against Him.  Jesus was close enough to His Father, God Almighty; He discerned Satan's ill attempt at ruining His whole ministry to save the world.  What did He then do?  He threw the Word [of life] back at Satan.  And what happened? We know the story's end and we are living in victory because of it, today.  According to scripture, in Matthew Chapter 4, "...the devil left him, and the angels came and attended Him." 

Does this process sound familiar?  Does it not seem that every time we embark on something huge that God has called us to, Satan throws everything he can, including the kitchen sink, at us? 

So, again, how did Jesus defeat Satan? He used the Word as He told Satan it is written that man does not live on bread alone, do not put your Father to the test, and put no Gods ahead of the True Father…  That was a paraphrased version of what is written in Matthew Ch. 4, below, but you get the jist.  There is more power in speech than physical strength, when it comes to our Creator.  That’s pretty awesome, if you ask me.

We are made in God's likeness.  God SPOKE the world into existence.  While in the desert, Satan tempted Jesus, Jesus SPOKE, defeated Satan, and Satan left Him.  This motivates me to do as Psalm 119:11's author did:  "I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You."  If God's word is hidden in our own hearts, we can and WILL defeat temptation.  Since we are made in God's likeness, we too can SPEAK things into existence and TELL Satan to leave in Jesus' name. 

Satan is not an idiot, contrary to popular belief, but he is a liar, thief, and killer, if we so let him be.  He will use any means possible to bring Christians down, just like we who are dedicated to discipleship, "will do anything short of sin to reach people who don't know Christ."  (Quoted is a LifeChurch.tv core value.)  Satan knows the Bible better than we do.  He has a Ph.D in psychology; He is seen using against Adam, Eve, and even Jesus.  The first ever evidence of human psychology is in Genesis and it was INSTRUMENTAL in the fall of mankind.  So, again... The closer we are to God's word, the easier it is to flee or resist temptation.

I think the best thing explained about what Satan does to us is below:

Mark 4:3-8 (Parable of the Sower)

“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.”

Matthew 4:1-11 (The Temptation of Jesus)

"Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”  Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”  Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,

And they will lift you up in their hands,

So that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him."

We see that Jesus defeated Satan by being closer and more versed in God's word than he. 

We have armor though:

Ephesians 6:10-18

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.