In today's world the Christian who cannot recognize Satan's attacks and deal with them is a "dead duck." The devil exploits him, defeats him and abuses him, without his ever realizing it. If that weren't enough, satanic activity has increased to the place where multitudes of Christians are racked with worry over finances and health, marriages are crumbling and young people are going off the deep end.

While the Lord uses our trials to bring us to maturity, the devil also uses them to drive believers into defeat and despair and away from God's Word (Job 1:9-12, James 1:2-4).

WATCH SATAN EXPLOIT YOUR SITUATION

You're at the sink doing the dishes. Of course you pray a lot about your problem, but there are times when you dwell on the situation. As you do, bitter feelings creep up on you. You still smart from the vicious, cutting things your husband said to you when he left the house that morning. Satan has been waiting for your feelings to rise in that direction. He offers suggestions disguised as your own thoughts...

Then another thought crosses your mind.

"Maybe something will happen to him, like an accident. Maybe he'll get sick and really need me. It'd be fun to have the upper hand for a change. Uuummmmh, think of what I could do and say to him for all he's done to me."

A smile might break across your face, but it'll be a devilish grin. The devil will have succeeded in getting you to focus on vengeance, making you ungodly in the process.

Did you know the devil has the power to put thoughts into your mind and make you think they are your own thoughts? That's where he gets his power over people. He has no teeth with which to bite you, no hands with which to hit you and no mouth with which to speak to you. But don't think that renders him powerless. As a spirit being he has access to your thought-life and  can insert ideas into your thought stream.  You never challenge those thoughts inasmuch as you think they are your own.  Who challenges his own ideas?

The ideas he implants in your mind are powerful. Since you don't challenge them, they grow and build on each other and he has demonic forces at work building on these ideas until they become a satanic stronghold.

If he can get away with this day after day, he can damage both your body and your spirit. Every evil thought we tolerate in our minds produces a corresponding effect somewhere in our body and Satan knows it. He has crippled many Christians this way, with arthritis and heart problems.

WHY DO I SHARE THIS WITH YOU? 

You may have some reservations about the spirit world and are inclined to dismiss it as "la la land" or make believe. But I assure you it is very real and a threat to your progress in Christ. But let's be clear about this: the devil cannot touch your salvation. While he can make your life miserable and hinder your progress in Christ, he cannot separate you from Jesus (Rom. 8:38-39). It would take somebody stronger than God to do that.

Let me tell you of a friend who questioned the reality of the demon world and how he was suddenly made aware of it. His name was Dr. John—and he was the director of a solid, Christian mission in Spain.

When John was a boy, he and his mother came across the body of a dead man in a ravine behind their home in Spain. The man had been murdered. As they looked at the body, they noticed the man had a fine gold watch on a chain. After looking all around and seeing no one in sight, they took the watch. They immediately covenanted never to tell anyone what they had done.  And they kept the pact.

 Fifty years later, John was trying to help a friend who had gotten involved in spiritism. He agreed to accompany the friend to a seance, where they were going to make contact with the "other side of death." John was sure the spirit world was all hocus pocus and meant to expose it as "smoke and  mirrors." Guess who got the surprise? John! During the seance the medium called out John by name and told how John and his mother had taken the watch off the body of a dead man.

Wow! John was flabbergasted! And what an eye-opener! It changed his thinking about the reality of the spirit-world. The apostle Paul had no such doubt. He refers to them as authorities, powers and rulers of evil in the heavenly realms (Eph. 6:12). Obviously they are a kingdom of evil and anticipate the day when they can operate on the earth as the unholy trinity i.e. the dragon, the beast and the false prophet, per Rev. 12 and 13.

MANY ARE IGNORANT OF THESE THINGS

Many Christians believe they are immune to demon influence. They feel no Christian can suffer oppression from demonic forces. And were you to suggest a believer with a serious problem is suffering demonic influence, he'd react with a hasty...

"No way, that's not possible. I'm a born- again Christian!"

If believers have nothing to fear from Satan, why does Paul insist that we stand up to him and put on all that armor of Ephesians six? Why does James say, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 4:7)? And Peter says..."Whom resist, standing firm in the faith" (1 Peter 5:9).  Those who deny Satan's power to attack them, make themselves even more vulnerable.

It is also a mistaken idea that dealing with demonic forces is a matter of using our weapons in Christ to overpower the devil and his demons. In other words, breaking free of Satan's clutches is a power struggle. Bad idea. It is not using power that sets believers free, but TRUTH!  We're dealing with a liar and his lies. The only way we can fall into one of his traps is by believing his lies and the only way out is by believing the TRUTH, particularly the truth of who we are in CHRIST!

IN CHRIST

What glorious words! The apostle Paul uses these words 39 times in his letter to the Romans. After Jesus' death and resurrection, through which He DISARMED all the demonic princes, it was a new ball game. Jesus assumed total authority over all His enemies. Then when Pentecost came— and with it our baptism into Christ, we were seated with Him in the heavenlies! (Eph. 2:6).

Now that we are IN HIM, Satan has no authority over us, because He has no authority over Jesus.  Since Pentecost, ALL IN CHRIST have the same authority. But we must use it! If we fail to stay close to Jesus and  fail to take the "sword of the Spirit," we become victims when we should become victors.

 The one thing the demons fear most is the LIGHT of God's Word. Whether it is turning over in your mind, or being shared with someone else, the demons run for the  shadows. They scurry like cockroaches as when the light goes on in the backroom of some restaurants. The devil knows you are a powerhouse against evil when you know God's Word. He'll approach you with caution if he sees a stronghold you built in your mind. And you can build such a stronghold by reading your New Testament for at least... FIVE MINUTES A DAY!