Who is the Enemy?

First and foremost, my apologies for not writing these past couple of days. I have been fighting my own spiritual battle and if it were not for the grace of God, I would be a casualty.  I am a perfect example of why we need to keep up our focus on God and not on the daily attacks the enemy sends our way.

We must maintain our minds clear and focused on things that are good, worthy of praise, honorable, etc.  Philippians 4:8 (NCV) says it this way,”Brothers and sisters, think about the things that are good and worthy of praise. Think about the things that are true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected.” Doing this will allow nothing to weaken your connection with God. This will also allow you to live a life full of joy and peace.

 You see the enemy looks to find you in despair, broken, unsure, doubtful, stressed, depressed, lonely, and every other negative state you sometimes find yourself feeling.

Most will say the our only enemy is satan but if you think about it, you are your worst enemy and before you can stand to fight satan, you need to learn to fight yourself. We are creatures of habit.  We love to point the finger or find someone to blame for any and every negative situation or problem in our lives. We are not responsible people. Satan as an enemy is clear to see for a most because the bible clearly defines the types of attacks that he will throw at you.  His tactics never change and neither do his methods. We on the other hand change quite a bit. He knows this and that is satan’s greatest weapon against us, OURSELVES.

In Ephesians 6:12-13 says,”Our fight is not against people on earth but against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world’s darkness, against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly world. That is why you need to put on God’s full armor. Then on the day of evil you will be able to stand strong. And when you have finished the whole fight, you will still be standing.” Haven’t you ever noticed that after an argument with someone, when you can clearly think about what just happened and how it started, you feel foolish because it was something that during a different state of mind it would have meant nothing to you but because you were already thinking about negative things, reacting to another negative situation that arose earlier, or were in a bad mood or somewhat not good mood, someone could have said you look good but your mind heard something else. This is who we are and since God created us He knows us better than we know ourselves and that is why we have the bible.  It is our guide to this life.  A road map of the journey we must make.  Here is an example of that in Romans 12:2,”Do not be shaped by this world; instead be changed within by a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to decide what God wants for you; you will know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect.”

Next week will be the culmination of this series.  We will start on Monday with,”How to protect yourself” and finish with,”Victory is Assured”.

Have a great weekend.