Karl O' Grady
Title: Beware the Enemy
by Karl O' Grady
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a
roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in
the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are
undergoing the same kind of sufferings. 1 PETER (5 8:9)
It is true to say that these words written almost 2000 years ago, ring
true today more than ever in Christian history. There are still many Christians
who refuse to accept that Satan and his armies are ever present in this
world and that they can, and do attack at will, any Christian who leaves
open a doorway into their lives. So how can we recognise these attacks and
more importantly what can we do about them?
How often do you find yourself behaving in a manner that you consider to
be unnatural, or "not like you", do you suffer from fits of rage or anger
that border on the uncontrollable?, or do you find yourself thinking the
worst of your Christian Brothers and Sisters?. I have many times heard people
in church putting down or slandering other members of their Christian family,
I've been guilty of it myself. Moaning about someone being a hypocrite,
or someone else being annoying or irritable.
Why would we do this?. As Christians we are called to love everyone even
our enemies and yet we so often attack those who we are closest too. I believe
these attacks come about due to demonic influence in our lives, Satan knows
how to make us tick, or which buttons to push in order to get us behaving
in a way that suits his purpose. And his purpose is simply to cause the
destruction of the Lord's Church on earth and in so doing to destroy his
heavenly kingdom. And what better way to destroy something than from the
inside. If he succeeds in getting into our lives he is able to systematically
tear down all our defences and in effect get us involved in battles amongst
ourselves.
So how can we resist his devious techniques, first we must trust in God
and believe that our protection comes from him. Through reading scripture
we can be sure that this battle has already been won, by Jesus, shedding
his blood on the cross. But knowing this is not enough, we need to ensure
that we model our daily lives on the teachings of Jesus, we need to show
love and compassion to everyone we come into contact with, we need to forgive
those who have wronged us, we need to take our sins to the Lord and ask
his forgiveness. If we walk this earth with even the tiniest hint of unforgiveness,
or hatred in our lives then we have left open the doorway through which
Satan can pass. Be strong in the Lord and fear nothing, we are all immortal
until the Lord has finished with us.
Through all things remember to pray, join in times of intercession and pray
against all the evil in your neighbourhood, pray for a cleansing of the
streets and an end to demonic oppression. Don't sit back and wait for the
Lord to make the change for you, you need to demonstrate a willingness
to fight, let God know that you want the world back and let the enemy see
that you will no longer accept his evil and sinful ways in or around your
lives.
Kind regards
God Bless
Karl
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