Imagine Something With Me: -- Imagine a war room where Satan and his forces are gathered. On the table around which they gather is a folder. It is a folder with your picture on the cover. The talk is about you as Satan and his angels devise a fine-tuned scheme for ruining your life.

    It may be a modern day war picture but the Bible is clear that Satan does scheme to destroy our lives. Paul warns us to "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil" (Eph. 6:11). He has a unique plan for destroying your relationship with God, your family and your influence on other people.

    Fortunately, God has briefed us on our enemy. He tells us how he works and how to beat his schemes (2 Cor. 2:11). Consider three common ways he will come at you:

He Discourages You: -- Satan will work to discourage you from worshiping God. Wasn't this what he did with Job? Job was going about his business serving God while oblivious to Satan's schemes. God had expressed pleasure in Job yet Satan accuses the Patriarch of serving God only because of his blessings. Satan says, "Touch all that he has and he will surely curse you to your face" (Job 1:11). A battle begins and Job is the battleground. The cross hairs are on him and the issue to be settled is this: will a man serve God when God is all He has? God says he will. Satan says he will not.

    Satan's cruelty is seen in what he does to Job. The day starts off like an ordinary day and then everything breaks loose. With one wave of devastation upon another, Job loses all of his possessions. And when you think it can get no worse, a great wind collapses the house and he loses all ten of his children! Satan then gets more personal. Skin for skin! Job is tormented with boils form the crown of his head to the sole of his feet.

    What is Satan's purpose? His intent was to beat Job down until he was so discouraged he would curse God and never worship Him again. And he will do it still. You ask, "To me?" Yes, to you. He may not do it in the same way as he did with Job but he can and does heap on discouragement in vicious ways today.

    Let me ask some challenging questions: Is there any amount of financial pressure that could turn you away from your devotion to God? Could there be enough family conflict to make you give up? Could health issues bring you to throw in the towel? What about the sudden loss of a child or all of your children?

    Job's answer? "Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him" (13:15). What amazing commitment to God! Job served God when God was all he had. Will you?

He Distracts You: -- Satan will work to distract you from serving God. As soldiers we are warned against distraction – "No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier" ( 2 Tim. 2:4).

    Satan has weapons of mass distraction. He would love nothing more than to distract us from spending time with God or working for Him. Some things are not of themselves sinful but they do weigh us down (Heb. 12:1). In the parable of the sower, Jesus warned about getting choked with cares, riches and pleasures of life (Lk. 8:14). Satan wants to turn your everyday cares into fears. He loves to make you worry about things that never happen. He wants sports, leisure activities, entertainment and television to consume excessive amounts of the time you might otherwise use for God. True soldiers don't let it happen. They don't get entangled.

He Deceives You: -- Satan will work to deceive you into disobeying God. His greatest thrill is to wreck your life and cause others watching you to become disillusioned about the worth of Christianity. It happens. Have you ever known a Christian to abandon their mate for someone more appealing? Or a Christian who lets the allure of money trap him into an illegal business scheme? Have you ever wept with a Christian enslaved to pornography or sexual immorality? They didn't intend to end up there. They were picked off. They were deceived.

    Isn't that what he did with Eve? Satan skillfully worked to convince Eve that she was missing out because God was holding her back from real fulfillment (Gen. 3:1-6). How deceived she was (3:13). Sin doesn't satisfy your cravings. It only intensifies your cravings until you are consumed by your own desires. James says, "Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is fullgrown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren" (1:14,15).

    Robert Jeffress expounds on this passage saying: "Corrupt Desire + Right Bait + Wrong Choice = Sin. (The Divine Defense, pg. 46).

    Satan caught Eve in a vulnerable moment, corrupted her desires and then dangled the right bait at the right time.

    Satan will do the same with us. He will watch us to know where he can deceive. He knows what bait to dangle and when to dangle it. He knew Judas' weak spot! He will know yours.

    Brethren, be on the alert! Satan is scheming to ruin your life. Study the enemy. Be sober. Put on the armor of God. God has given you all you need to defeat Satan. Press on to victory!

in Biblical Insights, Vol. 8, No. 5, May, 2008