The Devil, How He Operates

How he operates

There is a War going on. Last time we discussed the fact that the Enemy, the Devil, is very real. Although he is NOT a god. He is an Angel, and a fallen one at that. He is still very powerful, and can really mess up your life. It is important to understand this, and understand, how he operates.

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." {Genesis 1}

Now there are a few things here that you really need to understand. First, God said to Man "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." Now we can discuss this curious word, "replenish" {To fill again} another time. That is an interesting study all by itself. But God gave domination over all His Creation, to Man.

Then we meet Satan for the first time. Remember, Satan fell because of the original Sin. Which was what? Pride, Greed, Envy, quest for power, and a quest to become God. What did Satan tempt Adam and Eve with? Pride, Greed, Envy, quest for power, and a quest to become God. "Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." When Adam ate of it, having all authority over all that is, he gave his God given authority over to the Devil. And the Devil has been in charge of this world ever since. {Genesis 3}

Now did the Devil make Adam do this? Nope. He tempted him. Temptation is an invitation. It is not a forced action. The Devil, Satan, invited Adam to partake in the forbidden fruit. He made it desirable. He made it seem harmless. He made it seem as if there was a great reward for giving in and doing it. He could not make Adam do it. Think about this. Adam had "dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." Which means, he had domination over that Serpent that started talking to him.

Since that time, when Adam yielded his power and authority, in essence, knelt before Satan, Satan has become the lord of this world. The Word declares that the Devil is "prince of the power of the air" {Ephesians 2:2.} He is the "ruler of this world" {John 12:31}. Simply put, Satan is the major influence on the ideals, opinions, goals, hopes and views of the people who reject Christ, and those that chose not to believe.

The sad truth is, this is the majority of people walking the Earth today. Satan also influences the World’s Philosophies, Education System, the Thoughts, Ideas, Speculations, and of course, even Religions of the World, are under his control and have sprung from his lies and deceptions. Make no mistake about it, Satan is extremely powerful, and if you reject the Truth, and or allow him to, he will destroy your life.

How does Satan operate?

Physical needs
Pride
Greed for Power

Let's look at Satan's attempt to tempt Jesus.

Matthew 4:

1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

Now think about this. Jesus fasted for forty days and nights. He had not eaten for a while, and his body was telling him, "you better eat something." So what is Satan's first temptation? Jesus's physical need. Food. Did you know that your physical needs can become a vehicle to Sin?

This is where addiction comes into play. People can become addicted to drugs, alcohol, sex, yes even food. It is a need of our Body to feel pleasure. It is a need of our body to feel full. It is a need of our body to be happy. What would the Sin have been if Jesus was to eat something. Seriously? Who ever heard of eating food being Sin? What was Jesus doing? He was Fasting. Satan was attempting to get Him to break his Fast. Is it a Sin for me to eat Donuts? If I'm Fasting and Praying for something, then yes it would be.

Are you addicted to Drugs? That is now a Physical Need. You have to have them. Alcohol? Sex? These are the obvious. Some times though, it is not as obvious. When you have not eaten in a while, you become physically weak and can be easily tempted. When you are hungry, or become addicted to Drugs and Alcohol, you will do just about anything to get food, or more. Even to the point of lying, stealing, cheating, and even up to Murder.

Physical Needs can become a powerful tool of Satan. All he has to do is remind you that "need" something, and convince you that there is nothing wrong with getting what you "need."

When that failed? Satan attempted this.

5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

If you be? Satan knew who Jesus was. He knew that Jesus could without a doubt, do anything He chose to, and nothing could harm Him if He so chose. Pride? You are the Son of God. Nothing can hurt you. You are far better than this World and you can do whatever you want. Prove it.

The Devil will tell you, you are great, beautiful, successful, and admirable, especially when you are really in those positions. He will attempt to even try to convince you that he is the reason you are. Or he will attempt to tell you that if you want to stay in those positions, you must do this or that.

He will use Pride to keep you from God. Who needs God? Why would you want to go to Church with those Backwoods Hicks. Do you really want others telling you what you can and can't do? The World says there is no God. Your Neighbors do not believe.Your Family members do not believe. They are gonna think you are weird. They are going to think you are stupid. Look around you, God is nothing but an outdated and false belief system. Religion is for stupid people. You are not stupid. Why waste your time?

However, he can also use your Faith to tempt you. Does it not say that you can do anything you want and God must forgive you? Think about that. That means you have a free ticket to do anything. All you have to do is say sorry, and all will be well.

When all else failed, Satan then attempted to tempt Jesus with the original Sin. The desire to be God.

8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

ALL the Kingdoms of the World. You see, Satan could tempt Jesus with this, because they belong to Satan already. He was saying, you know what is coming. These people you are here to save, will turn on you. They will abuse and kill you in a horrible way. Forget God. Kneel before me, and I will make you god of this world. You can rule over them however you see fit. You do not have to die at their hands. You can live a long life in total and complete control over these talking monkeys. Thankfully, this did not work.

This is not new. How did Satan attempt to tempt Job?

Job 1:

6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.

7 And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

8 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

9 Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?

10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.

11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.

12 And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.

First Satan tempted him with Physical Needs. He asked God permission to Tempt him. God said, He is in your hand. His physical and material needs are under your control. He said "Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand." So Satan went forth and took away all Job had. The Devil even caused a "Great Wind" to take down Job's Eldest Son's house where Job's other Sons and Daughters were there gathered together, killing them. Yet, Job did not Sin.

So then Satan appeared again before God and asked God to inflict pain and sickness in Job's body. God again said "Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life." This fleshly shell we all live in, our Bodies, are physical. We need them to operate in the physical world. Who is in charge of the physical world? Yup. You got it. So Satan did inflict Job "with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown."

Now Job's story is an interesting Study all by itself, Job even said to his friends, who were convinced that Job was being punished by God due to some grievous Sin Job must have committed, "miserable comforters are ye all." His Wealth gone, his kids dead, his friends accusing him of Sin. Those Job loved telling him to curse God and die. Yet Job remained faithful. It was a happy ending.

The point is this. Satan can tempt you, in incredibly horrific ways, and he will tempt you in subtle whispers. He may do many things in your life. He will show up at the door of one addicted to alcohol and porn, with a naked woman holding a six pack. He will attempt to destroy friendships, Families, he will steal your finances. However, in all he may do, the one thing he can never do, is take your life. If you are a Child of God. If a Child of God, your life is no longer yours to give, and it sure enough is not his to take.

However, the truth is, in all that the Devil may do, he cannot "force" or "make" you do anything. We will talk more about that next time. Just understand that he IS the "prince of the power of the air"{Ephesians 2:2.} He is the "ruler of this world" {John 12:31}. The only way to even have a hope of overcoming the snares of the Devil is to understand that truth, and understand how he operates, and know, once you are Adopted into the Family of God, you are no longer of this world. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." " For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." {Romans 8}

Now think of this also. Job was tempted this severely, and remained faithful BEFORE Christ came and died for our Sins. Now, since that day, we have an advantage over Job. We have the Spirit of God in us. "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you."

In reality, the Devil no longer stands a chance with us, as long as we understand this Truth. Again, we will talk about how to overcome next time. To start, you must be Adopted into the Family of God. You must become a New Creature. You must be born again.

Do you know Jesus as your Savior? Have you been adopted into the Family of God? If not, say this Prayer. Right now. Wherever you may be. Say it in your own words, and do not doubt in your heart. God will hear you. He will send the Spirit of Life to you. Let us Pray..

"Oh heavenly Father, Lord God. I am a sinner. I know this. I know there is nothing I can do to change that. But I know you can. I accept Jesus's sacrifice for me. I repent my sins. Please send the Spirit of Adoption into my life. Help me to get to know the real you. Save me. Please. In the name of Jesus, Amen!"

That's it. It really is that simple. Now go tell someone what you have just done. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." {Romans 10:9} You need to find a Church that God leads you to, and be Baptized the way Jesus said to be. You are now a Child of God. A new Creature. You "have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him." {Colossians 3:10}

If you want to tell me, or comment, question, give testimonials, or just say "Hi," the Email is opntalk@gmail.com

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. {2 Corinthians 13}