I sat at the edge of our couch, wide eyes glued to the TV, and waited for the hidden attackers to leap out at any moment. I knew they were there. I just couldn’t see them.
And, isn’t that just like our enemy? Lurking unseen in the shadows. Tracking us like prey. Having us in his sights, fiery darts at the ready.
We know he’s there. We just can’t see him.
The more I’ve thought about how alert I was watching that movie, how I anticipated every move, the more I realized I don’t actually approach my own spiritual adversary with the same kind of vigilance and seriousness.
No. I don’t mean looking for the devil in every problem or around every corner, ‘giving’ him more power than he actually has.1a Or even living afraid of him. But, I do mean taking care to recognize his tactics – his ways of getting into our heads or triggering our emotions and behaviors.
There is much happening in the spiritual realm, hidden from our eyes but real nonetheless. Paul assures us of this reality, reminding us that what we’re up against is more than what we see – that it’s actually “evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world… and evil spirits in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12 NLT). Paul isn’t an alarmist, but he does know the power of identifying who we are up against.
Like Katniss Everdeen, in the movie Catching Fire, we can get too focused on the opponents we can see. When we actually need to remember who the real enemy is – the unseen one.
Our enemy, he’s wily, unscrupulous, and persistent. But, here’s the good news! We’re not defenseless. Jesus has given us His Spirit, in whom resides all the resurrection power we could ever need. He’s also given us His Word, in which we can observe all the ways Jesus came against evil. And, in the Word, Paul details for us everything we’re given by the Spirit so that we can walk through this life able to stand firm against every hidden agenda of our enemy.
The Enemy’s Agenda
To best understand what our enemy is up to, it helps to know where it all began. He once was an angel, “the guardian cherub” often referred to as Lucifer, and he lived in the heavenly realm with his Creator (Job 38:4–7; Isaiah 14:12; Ezekiel 28:14). When pride and greed took hold of him, his motive was to be “like the Most High,” so he made war in heaven until he was cast to earth (Isaiah 14:12-13; Ezekiel 28:15-16), where he made his way to Eden.
Friends, we can be assured that our enemy continues to slither among us, eager to implement his agendas, doing everything he can to keep people from knowing Jesus for who He really is. And he consistently comes after believers in order to
- blind us to his own existence and methods
- keep us distracted, discouraged, doubtful, and divided1b
- lull us into apathy, especially in our faith1c
- isolate us till we become ineffective
In other words, our enemy’s tactics are sneaky and subtle.1d
Hunter
Have you ever watched a nature show where herds of zebras or gazelles move across Africa’s plains with swiftness? The herd seems to move as one – except for the stragglers in the back who struggle to keep up. The old. The young. The injured.
And who has his eyes on the ones with the most visible weaknesses? The lion. A patient hunter, he knows he’s no match if pitted against the vast herd, so his strategy is to pick them off one at a time. He circles the herd to observe their movements, habits, and weak spots. When he isolates his prey, he pounces.
Friends, this is a picture of our spiritual enemy – the prowling lion (1 Peter 5:8). He scouts the pack before attacking. Watching. Learning. Observing our habits, tendencies, and weaknesses.
And when we’re at our weakest, he strikes.
Liar, Deceiver, Distorter
Jesus dubbed our enemy the “father of lies,” warning us that “he was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar” (John 8:44). There is no truth in our enemy.
The one who hunts us may not know our thoughts, but he is a master of observation, noting our triggers and our responses. Taking what he knows, he then “fills our hearts” with all sorts of lies (Acts 5:3), which are often nuanced twists of truth. Because he’s out to deceive us.
Eve admitted to God, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (Genesis 3:13).
It’s a great practice to look at the way our enemy distorted God’s words to Adam and Eve and how he added flavors of accusation – with just enough truth to make his logic seem plausible. God told them they were free to eat from any tree in the garden but one. And if they did, “you will certainly die” (Genesis 2:16-17).
The crafty serpent asks Eve, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’” (Genesis 3:1, emphasis mine). Wrapped in a question, the strategic lie sounds like the truth. The seed of doubt has been planted, which can be heard in Eve’s response:
“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’” (vv.2-3).
Correcting the serpent, Eve adds a bit of her own distortion, you must not touch it. And the serpent goes in for the kill, painting God as the liar:
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent hisses. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (vv.4-5, emphasis mine).
And we know how it ends. Suddenly the forbidden becomes the focus, and the desire to be like God overshadows everything good they’ve ever known about their Maker (v.6).2
Nothing about our enemy has changed since Eden. With his army of fallen angels hell-bent on bringing us down, our enemy rarely comes at believers with bellowing demons to scare us off Jesus’ trail. No…he slides in with slippery suggestions that hit us where we’re weakest – because he’s been watching. He knows where pride sits. Or shame lurks. Or guilt hides. He pokes at our wounds for as long as we’ll let him.1e
Don’t let these realities elicit fear in you. Instead, remember that when we’re aware of our enemy’s methods, we are better equipped to come against them. It helps to know that his lies distort the truth. That His deceptive ways make his suggestions seem logical (Colossians 2:8), even good (2 Corinthians 11:14). But they’re not.
It also helps to know that his lies come at us masked as thoughts that accuse, telling us we’re failures or wash-ups, unloveable or unworthy, beyond help or notice. Such lies trigger feelings of doubt, despair, fear, and shame that cloud our ability to trust God.
And, his lies can sound like insinuation, feeding our guilt and hopelessness. In the end, our enemy wants our attention on ourselves – our lie-soaked thoughts, our emotional spirals – so that we’ll forget to focus on Jesus.1f
In my own life, as I become more and more aware of the ways the enemy lies and distorts and deceives, I’ve been more successful at stopping the lies sooner, shifting my attention back onto Christ, and standing firm in God’s love and truth.
Even though the lies in Satan’s arsenal seem unending, the truth is that when we know his game plan, he cannot outwit us. We’ve caught onto his schemes (2 Corinthians 2:10-11).
Tempter
Another tactic of our enemy is the art of temptation, and with it a gamut of justifying rationalizations. Jesus leads the way in showing us the strategies of Satan.
Immediately following His baptism, the Spirit leads Jesus to the desert where He fasts for forty days and endures temptation “by the devil” (Matthew 4:1). And Satan pulls out all the stops; after all, he knows who Jesus is. And if he can get Jesus to fall for temptation, he’s won the game.
We can gather much intelligence on our enemy with a quick survey of each conversation between Jesus and Satan – namely, universal temptations. (Taken from Matthew 4:3-10):
Of course, the enemy attacks where we’re weakest. For Jesus, it was hunger. The temptation to feed Himself by using His powers would have been easy to justify. But Jesus stands firm in His faith by recalling a truth – we don’t live on bread alone but on God’s Word (Deuteronomy 8:3).
Next, our enemy tempts us to question our identity and tries to trap us with our pride. So, when Satan says, “If You are the Son of God,” we hear the slippery tongue of the serpent tempting Jesus to doubt who He is, to feel the need to defend His position and personhood. But, Jesus overcomes the temptation by recalling truth – we don’t test God (Deuteronomy 6:16). We trust Him.
Finally, our enemy appeals to our vanity, as well as our desire for more – more wealth, power, attention… Satan offers Jesus an image of all the nations He could rule and all the perks that would come with such power if Jesus will worship him. But, Jesus remains firm in His identity and call as Messiah by choosing to believe and worship God alone (Deuteronomy 6:13).3
These narratives become for us examples not only of Satan’s strategies but the way to overcome them. Jesus is our role model. And He’s our Savior who understands all that we feel and face in this world. Because He “himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:14-18). Jesus gets it. And He’s here to help!
On top of that, we’ve been given a promise that our Father will never allow a temptation to come our way that we cannot bear. He will always give us a way ‘out’ (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Friends, we’re getting to see behind the curtain. We’re waking up to the sly temptations our enemy puts before us. This means we need to be more and more aware of our own weaknesses – those places, like short-tempers, judgmental thoughts, envy, lust, etc – that can become a foothold for the devil (Ephesians 4:26-27).
And, like Jesus, we can trust that we have all that we need in God. We can resist the enemy!
Thief
One more tactic to mention is the way our enemy has the heart of a thief. Jesus wanted us to be sure that we knew, for a fact, that “the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). Satan loves to steal our confidence and conviction, our hope and joy. And our faith.
Jesus illustrates what it looks like for faith to be stolen in the Parable of the Sower, telling His listeners that the sown seed of the “word of the Kingdom” can be taken. When we don’t receive God’s Word, allowing it to take root, its words remain “on the surface,” and “the evil one plucks it right out of” our hearts (Matthew 13:19 MSG).
I liken this to truths I would offer my teens. For instance, I’d tell them that speeding/partying/cheating would come with consequences. But my words weren’t always taken seriously, so the truth never sank in. It vanished – as if they never heard my warnings.
The truth we need to cling to today is that we don’t live in fear that everything we learn in Scripture will be stolen. Rather, we become aware of our enemy’s strategies and take heed of Jesus’ warnings. We arm ourselves with truth – namely the truth that Jesus came so that we’d have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10)!
Hope and Truth
Now we know. Our enemy looks at us as his prey, as ones to target because of our faith in Jesus. We know he is a liar who deceives – mostly by distorting the truth. We know he loves to tempt us into behaviors that separate us from God. And we know that he’s a thief who wants to take everything God has ever given us.
Again, these are not things to fear but actual, valuable intel about our very real enemy.
We now stand forewarned, which someone famously said makes us forearmed. Paul picks up the same language, telling us that we have an entire armor at the ready – truth, righteousness, peace, salvation, faith, and the Word of God (Ephesians 6:14-17). It’s up to us to put these on. To trust in their power. To believe that these armaments are all we need to keep standing firm against the schemes of the devil (v.11).
We also enter this battle filled with and sealed by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30), made untouchable to the evil one because we’re held securely by the Holy One (1 John 5:18-19). We’ve been given full “authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:17-20). And, we carry with us Jesus’ promises:
- that the Spirit in us is greater than the enemy who is in the world (1 John 4:4)
- that Jesus Himself has overcome the world (John 16:33)
- that we are more than conquerors and can more than overcome when we believe that Jesus is the Son of God (Romans 8:37; 1 John 5:4-5).
Friends, when we humble ourselves before God – choosing to trust Him and believing that He gives us everything we need to stand firm against our enemy – we can resist the devil. And he will flee from us (James 4:7).4
Finally, we can live with immense hope for our future because we know that in the end “the ancient serpent called the devil” will be “thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur” where he will be “tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 12:9, 20:10). This enemy of ours has a limited number of days. The snake loses.
Our enemy may be hidden, but we know he’s there. We know his agendas. His strategies. His end goal. So, let’s trust that we are armed and ready for whatever the enemy has for us. With Jesus on our side, who can be against us?
Heavenly Father, I am grateful that the Lord Jesus Christ spoiled all principalities and powers, making a show of them openly. He triumphed over them in Himself. I claim all that victory for my life today. I reject all the insinuations, accusations, and temptations of Satan. I affirm that the Word of God is true, and I choose to live today in the light of God’s Word. I choose, Heavenly Father, to live in obedience to You and in fellowship with You. Open my eyes to show me the areas of my life that do not please You. Work in me to cleanse me from all ground that would give Satan a foothold against me. I do in every way stand into all that it means to be your adopted child, and I welcome all the ministry of the Holy Spirit. By faith and in dependence upon You, I put off the old self and stand into all the victory of the Crucifixion where the Lord Jesus Christ provided cleansing from the old nature. I put on the new self and stand into all the victory of the Resurrection and the provision Jesus has made for me to live above sin. Therefore, today I put off the old nature with its selfishness, and I put on the new nature with its love. I put off the old nature with its fear, and I put on the new nature with its courage. I put off the old nature with its weakness, and I put on the new nature with its strength. I put off the old nature with all its deceitful lusts, and I put on the new nature with its righteousness, purity, honesty, and humility. In every way I stand into the victory of the ascension and glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ, whereby all the principalities and powers were made subject to Him. I claim my place in Christ as victorious with Him over all the enemies of my soul. Blessed Holy Spirit, I pray that You would fill me. Come into my life; break down every idol and cast out every foe. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
(excerpted from Victor Matthews’ “The Believer’s Warfare Prayer”)5
Philippians – I simply ran out of space this week to pull in the Philippians passage, 2:25-30, where Epaphroditus is mentioned. JD Walt says it best, so we’ll hand off to him (The Daily Text, 9/4/17):
‘“[Paul] means Epaphroditus stepped out of the comforts of Philippians suburban life and onto the front lines of the war and took on enemy fire. Epaphroditus’ illness was an act of spiritual warfare. Satan tried to take him out. Satan is real. Principalities and powers and rulers and authorities are real. There is a real kingdom of darkness. The minute you step out of the ranks of casual Christianity and offer yourself for an assignment in God’s Kingdom, you enter the ranks of enemy combatants, and you can bet some demonic agent of darkness is being assigned to you. This is why Paul in his letter to the Ephesians gets so explicit about putting on the full armor of God. Domesticated, casual Christianity is no threat to the enemy.'”
Resources: I love sharing with you the books, podcasts, articles, and anything else that has inspired, encouraged, or taught me. These are humble offerings with no expectations.
- 1 – In his fictional book, The Screwtape Letters,^ C.S. Lewis designs a series of letters from a senior devil, Screwtape, to his nephew, Wormwood, who’s a lowly henchman. Throughout the letters, the supervising fallen angel coaches his apprentice, offering all sorts of advice about how to keep humans from following God and how to keep Christians ineffective in their faith. Though fictional, the insights hit close to home, offering much food for thought. These are a few for us to ponder.
- 1a, “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors.”
- 1b, “If a man can’t be cured of churchgoing, the next best thing is to send him all over the neighbourhood looking for the church that ‘suits’ him until he becomes a taster or connoisseur of churches.”
- 1c, “If you can once get him to the point of thinking that ‘religion is all very well up to a point,’ you can feel quite happy about his soul. A moderated religion is as good for us as no religion at all- and more amusing.”
- 1d, “It does not matter how small the sins are provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick. Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”
- 1e, Lies – “The horror of the Same Old Thing is one of the most valuable passions we have produced in the human heart—an endless source of heresies in religion, folly in counsel, infidelity in marriage, and inconstancy in friendship.”
Distorts – “There is nothing like suspense and anxiety for barricading a human’s mind against the Enemy [God]. He wants men to be concerned with what they do; our business is to keep them thinking about what will happen to them.”
Deceives – “Tortured fear and stupid confidence are both desired states of mind.” - 1f, “Whenever they are attending to the Enemy Himself [God] we are defeated, but there are ways of preventing them from doing so. The simplest is to turn their gaze away from Him towards themselves. Keep them watching their own minds and trying to produce feelings there by the action of their own wills.”
- 2 – This article does a great job of explaining what the serpent did, why Adam and Eve chose to disobey God, and what the consequences were.
- 3 – This article unpacks each temptation further.
- 4 – In the Wake Up Call on 2/28/24, Susan Kent says,”But resist the devil? How do we fight what we cannot always see? The answer is submission. It might be surprising to you, but our power position is on our knees, not on our feet. Jonathan Edwards, a bold preacher during the first Great Awakening, wrote, ‘Nothing sets a Christian so much out of the devil’s reach than humility.’ Surrendering is not a position of weakness, but it places us in a position to lean on the power of the Holy Spirit.”
- 5 – Victor Matthews’ “The Believer’s Warfare Prayer” has become a staple in my stockpile of ammunition to use in my own spiritual battles. Its words, which come straight from Scripture, never fail to shift my focus, convict my spirit, raise my hopes, and strengthen my faith. There is something so powerful in claiming aloud the truths of Jesus. I invite you to join me as we continue to stand firm against the hidden agendas of our enemy!
- Our current playlist, “Hidden Agendas,” is a mighty weapon to wield against our enemy because these songs are based on Scripture — so as we listen and sing along, we’re filling our hearts, minds, and spirits with truth!
- I’ll be posting another “Teacup Video” this Wednesday to unpack an element in this week’s blog. You can find all the videos on my Facebook Author Page and Instagram — and…my YouTube ‘channel’!
- Our next issue of our newsletter, The Abiding Life, will be hitting inboxes this week! Be sure to subscribe here.
Rhythms: As my newsletter’s title infers, we seek to develop an abiding life in this space — a place where we can get informed but also be transformed as we learn to abide in God’s presence throughout our days. I like to think that developing rhythms is one way to aid us in our desire to become more Christlike. In this series, we’re putting into practice the rhythm of repentance.
Repentance is not wallowing in guilt. It’s not beating ourselves up. Nope — these behaviors are triggered by our enemy who wants us to miss the grace and freedom that come from actually laying down sins and fears and old habits at the foot of the cross.
- This week, let’s rest in the presence of God, allowing all His love and goodness to flood our souls so that the light of His being will illuminate the dark ploys of the enemy. Then we simply pick up truth, righteousness, salvation, peace, faith, and the Word of God to stand firm in God (Ephesians 6).
- And while it’s not a spiritual practice or rhythm, I invite you to share this site. It’s my most sincere hope that what we explore here together will encourage others to step more fully and deeply in their walks with Christ.
Featured Photo by Emmanuel Phaeton on Unsplash. “All the Bits and Pieces” photo by Sahand Babali on Unsplash.
The enemy is a sneaky one, that’s for sure!
Yes!