THERE ARE FOUR BASIC ATTACKS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER AND WATCHFUL:
ATTACK NUMBER THREE: DOUBTING GOD’S AUTHORITY GENESIS 3:4
IN SATAN’S ALL OUT ATTACK TO DECEIVE EVE, HE SAYS POINT BLANK: “YOU WILL NOT SURELY DIE” (V3:4). SATAN LOVES IT WHEN WE DOUBT GOD! HE WANTS US TO BELIEVE THAT GOD IS NOT IN CHARGE, THAT GOD IS NOT INTERESTED IN OUR CHOICES, AND THAT GOD WILL NOT HOLD US ACCOUNTABLE FOR OUR DEEDS.
WHEN THAT HAPPENS, EVERY MAN OR WOMAN DOES WHATEVER SEEMS RIGHT IN HIS OR HER OWN EYES. THAT IS THE HALLMARK OF OUR WORD, THE ATTITUDE THAT SAYS, "TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR OWN LIFE, AND BE ALL YOU CAN OR WANT TO BE"
NEVER FORGET THAT SATAN’S MASTERFUL SCHEME IS TO MAKE YOU DOUBT, REJECT, AND BECOME DEAFENED TO THE VOICE OF JESUS. WHEN YOU THINK WRONGLY ABOUT GOD, DAILY ASK YOURSELF: WHO’S VOICE AM I LISTENING TO?
ATTACK NUMBER FOUR: DOUBTING GOD’S PLAN GENESIS 3:5
IN GENESIS 3:5 SATAN BLOCKED THE CREATOR’S VOICE WHEN HE SAID “…YOUR EYES WILL BE OPENED, AND YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD, KNOWING GOOD AND EVIL.” FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, SATAN HAS SOUGHT TO CONVINCE MANKIND THAT HIS WAY IS BETTER THAN GOD’S. SO HE TRIES TO ENTICE US WITH HIS OWN PLAN FOR HOW WE CAN ACHIEVE IMMORTALITY, GLORY AND HAPPINESS.
HOW DOES SATAN DO THAT? HE TRIES TO SOLIDLY PLANT THIS THOUGHT INTO OUR MINDS... ABANDON ALL THOSE RESTRAINS, JUST LET GO AND WORK OUT YOUR OWN PLAN FOR PLEASURE. OF COURSE, HE IS SLICK AND KNOWS YOUR HABITS AND WAYS, HOW YOU INTERACT WITH GOD, SO THE WAY IN WHICH HE ATTEMPTS TO DO THIS VARIES IN WAYS THAT YOU WON’T “CATCH ON” RIGHT AWAY, TILL SOME DAMAGE HAS BEEN DONE. WE NEED DISCERNMENT AND THE NEED TO STAY CLOSE TO GOD IN PRAYERFUL ATTITUDE OF LISTENING AS WE WALK THRU OUR DAYS AND NIGHTS.
SATAN LOVES IT WHEN HE GETS US TO DOUBT GOD AND HIS PLAN!
THE DEVIL’S SCHEME IS TO PLANT THOUGHTS THAT GOD’S WAY IS TOO RESTRICTIVE, BUT HIS WAY ALLOWS FREEDOM TO PURSUE WHATEVER LUSTS WILL BRING THE GREATEST PLEASURE. IN FACT, IF SATAN WERE TO SUMMARIZE HIS PLAN FOR US AS A BILLBOARD AD, IT WOULD PROBABLY READ: GO FOR THE GUSTO! YOU ONLY GO AROUND ONCE! GET YOUR GRATIFICATION NOW! SATAN DELIGHTS IN WHISPERING TO US: LUST WON’T WAIT, SO LUST FOR WHAT YOU WANT, AND TAKE IT EVERY CHANCE YOU GET!
THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT ADAM AND EVE DID WHEN THEY GAVE IN TO THEIR DESIRE FOR PLEASURE (GEN.3:6). THUS THE HORRIBLE PRECIPITOUS SLIDE DOWN INTO SIN BEGAN. LET’S LOOK AT WHAT THE FOLLOWING VERSES REVEAL:
GENESIS 3:7-18 (EMPHASIS ADDED) “THEN THE EYES OF THEM WERE OPENED, AND THEY KNEW THEY WERE NAKED…AND THEY HEARD THE SOUND OF THE LORD WALKING IN THE GARDEN…AND ADAM AND HIS WIFE HID THEMSELVES FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD GOD…”BEFORE THIS AWFUL DAY, ADAM AND EVE HAD BEEN DRAWN TO THE VOICE OF THEIR LORD, AND RESPONDED TO HIM, THEY BOTH HAD LONGED TO TALK WITH THEIR CREATOR AND TELL HIM OF THEIR DISCOVERIES.
THEY LOVED TO ASK HIM QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS UNIVERSE AND THE GARDEN THEY LIVED IN. BUT NOW THEY DISCOVERED THAT HIS VOICE REPELLED THEM, SO THEY HID AMONG THE TREES OF THE GARDEN. THEN GOD, THIS JESUS WHO CAME “TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THAT WHICH WAS LOST” HAD TO BECOME THE SEEKING ONE (LUKE 19:10)
BEWARE OF THE ENEMY! WHEN IN DOUBT... LOOK TO HEAR GOD'S VOICE, READ HIS WORD AND PRAYERFULLY SEEK HIM, YOUR FAITH AND HOPE WILL RISE TO THE OCCASION!
UNTIL NEXT TIME,
PASTOR JOHN
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