SATAN’S PLAN AGAINST US—HIS 5Ds!

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY JULY 17, 2021.

SUBJECT: SATAN’S PLAN AGAINST US—HIS 5Ds! 

Memory verse: "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3 vs 5.)

READ: Genesis 3 vs 1 - 6:

3:1: Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

3:2: And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden;

3:3: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.”

3:4: Then the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die.

3:5: For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

3:6: So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave her husband with her; and he ate.

INTIMATION:

Satan is our enemy. He will do anything he can to get us to follow his evil deadly path so as to break our relationship with God. He tempts us to give in to his kind of life and give up on God’s kind of life. Satan tempted Eve and succeeded in getting her to sin. Ever since then he is busy getting people to sin.

Satan’s plan against us is in five different ways, and I called them the 5Ds, namely; (1) Doubt—makes one question God’s Word and His goodness, (2) Discouragement— makes one look at one’s problems rather than at God, (3) Diversion—makes the wrong things seem attractive so that one will want them more than the right things, (4) Defeat—makes one feel like a failure so that one don’t even try, and (5) Delay—makes one put off doing something so that it never gets done. 

Adam and Eve fell to the devil’s temptation by his employing the doubt ploy. He tempted Eve by getting her to doubt God’s goodness. He implied that God was strict, stingy, and selfish for not wanting Eve to share His knowledge of good and evil. Satan made Eve forget all that God had given her, and instead, focus on what God has forbidden. We fall into trouble, too, when we dwell on what God forbids rather than on the countless blessings and promises God has given us. He convinced her to doubt God’s integrity, love, and care for them. She became convinced that they were shortchanged, and her way was better than God’s. 

Again Satan diverted their attention from the numerous good and wonderful provisions of God for them, to just that single restriction—the forbidden fruit. Consequently, they were discouraged to obeying God. Rather than concentrate on God, they centered their attention on what God forbade them to do. They became defeated, self-conscious, and hid themselves. Again they delayed or put off the obedience to God’s instruction, and tired to excuse and defend themselves. 

 

Satan’s 5Ds appeal to our lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, and pride of life (First John 2 vs 16.) The same tricks he used on Eve; she saw that “the tree was good for food (lust of the flesh), the fruit was “pleasant to the eye” (lust of the eye), and the fruit “desires to make one wise” (pride of life). To defeat Satan must crucify the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eye, and the pride of life. And this we can do by building a relationship with God. To build a relationship with God we must reverse these steps: (1) We must become convinced that God’s way is better than ours,(2) we must stop trying to hide from God, and (3) drop our excuses and self-defenses; 

The battle with Satan is a difficult, ongoing struggle. This will be a lifelong battle that will not be over until we are face-to-face with Christ. Victory over sin and temptation comes through faith in Jesus Christ, not through our own efforts. If we obey Jesus and align ourselves closely with God’s purposes, Satan can have no power over us. We cannot master sin in our own strength. Instead, we must turn to God to receive faith for ourselves and to turn other believers to receive encouragement and strength. The Holy Spirit, our Helper, will help us master sin.

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace to be steadfast in You, in complete obedience and trust in You, so that Satan’s ploys will be completely unconvincing to me, in Jesus’ Name I prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!