The devil is crafty.

The devil is crafty. The devil is sneaky. The devil is always up to something. God tells us in His Word repeatedly to be attentive and to stay grounded! The deception of the enemy began all the way back in the beginning. Literally. In the book of Genesis, God told Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge in the garden. 

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. – Genesis 3:1-6

The serpent was able to get Eve to doubt God. He made Eve quickly forget all that God had done and given her and switched her focus on what she was missing and what God had forbidden. This in turn, caused her to sin. The same is true with others stories throughout the Bible which is why we needed our Savior and why the Bible is the story of redemption; to be redeemed by saving grace.

We call him the enemy for a reason. He has one goal in mind. The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. (John 10:10) He knows just what to do to make us turn from God. He also knows that as long as we spend quality time with Jesus, that we will not be easily tempted by his lies.

In order to know counterfeit, you have to know real. Knowing the real means spending time in the Word. Spending time getting to know the true character of God. We must meditate on it day and night. (Psalms 1:1-3) As we saw in Genesis, doubt is the beginning of all sin. When we doubt what God says, when we doubt who God really is, and whose we really are, we allow the enemy to come in and plant thoughts into our head. Those small thoughts can begin to take root in our minds and begin to dictate our behaviors.

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. – Psalms 119:11

Think about a time in your life when the small, subtle tricks of the enemy caused you to fall into sin. What small signs did you miss along the way that could have helped you stay on track?

For me, I’ve noticed that the enemy tries to keep me busy. He tries to keep me occupied and filled with the things and worries of this world drawing me away from my time with God. The enemy starts by having me focus on circumstances and my own selfish plans. When I have not been spending time with God, I become way more susceptible to the tricks of the enemy. None of us are perfect and we will have times when we fall for the devil’s deception, but being aware of his ways can help prepare you for when the time comes. We know as Christ followers we are his main target.

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. – Ephesians 6:12

Stay ready💙