When you know your enemy you have a better chance of defeating him. The devil is our enemy Christ in us has defeated him. We must lean into the Holy Spirit refusing to consider the tricks and see the evil behind them.
1 Peter 5:8 "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Matthew 16:22-24 "…22 Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. “Far be it from You, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to You!” 23 But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” 24 Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.…"
Christ looked at Peter but addressed the devil who was influencing him.
When you are looking at a person who has done harm and continues to attempt to harm you, do not see the person, discern the devil who is using that person. That person needs Christ in order to stop being influenced by the devil. Even believers who are lazy Christians can be influenced by the devil's ideas and thoughts, we see it all the time.
Those believers who defend sin, who walk in indifference to the Word of God, who throw the born-again believer under the bus to be accepted by the culture around them, are being influenced by the devil. We also encounter pretenders who say they are Christians but use the Bible to twist according to their own ideas and personal comfort and gain.
When Peter used his human wisdom to influence Christ his thoughts were not his own, they were the very thoughts of the devil, not because the devil believed these things but because he wanted to cause Peter to ruin God's plan. Sure, many people think the thoughts they have are their own and good ones, but in reality, those thoughts were placed by the devil to destroy the work of Christ. We know this because the thoughts of the devil are irrational at best, no matter how good they sound.
When you are called by God to do something and a superficial disobedient Christian comes along and chastises you for doing what God told you to do, you know where those ideas come from, they come from the father of lies.
Matthew 4:10
"Away from Me, Satan!" Jesus declared. "For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.'"
We need not explain ourselves to the person or the devil, just simply reject the attempt by saying, "I see that you do not understand, nevertheless I will do as God tells me to do."
The devil uses people to bring sadness, anger, and contempt toward others who desire to obey Christ. We need not walk in anger or sadness when we know it is the devil who is working to ruin us. He cannot ruin us when Christ is defending us. He can only ruin our witness if we let him through refusing to seek Christ in all things.
Our walk with Christ is so free, free of the influence of the devil when we make a practice of consulting with the Holy Spirit continually. We need not see any person as a threat to us knowing their words are not their own, but those of the one who desires to destroy us and our witness, that is the devil. When we trust in Christ we do not fear losing a friend who will not stand behind our decision to obey Christ.
If we must diminish our walk with Christ in order to keep a friend then that person is not a real friend anyway. Our friends who love God will want to support whatever God is telling us to do, they will be an asset and not a detriment. We too want to be loyal and faithful friends to those who want to walk with Christ. Let us also BE the friend to others that we need for ourselves.
Hallelujah!!!!
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