Satan
attacks unexpectedly to destroy our relationship with God. He attacks when we
are most vulnerable. His most potent assaults are through our close associates.
Unless we
recognize the satanic attack, we cannot defeat Satan. But how do we recognize
Satan in our lives, especially in our relationships?
Satan’s
invisibility challenges our recognition of him. His destructive work through
people around us - those whom we love and cherish - intensifies the problem to an
unimaginable extent. Therefore, recognizing Satan is imperative insofar as the
damage needs to be controlled and our relationship promptly and effectively
restored with the Lord and those employed by Satan to attack us.
A
Christian’s life involves two births; the physical birth and the spiritual
rebirth (the born-again experience). The physical birth sans the spiritual
rebirth is not of eternal worth. A Christian is a new creation when he or she
is born again.
The
spiritual rebirth in a Christian’s life entails a swift and/or a gradual shift
in the character of a Christian so to progressively resemble the Lord Jesus in
both the public and the private spheres of life. The born-again Christian
strives spiritually insofar as to shed his/her former way of life. As years
pass by, the born-again Christian gradually departs from the sins that plagued him before he was born-again. (A Christian cannot be perfect a.k.a.
sinless in this time and age.)
Transition
from the former way of life would be quite arduous for some Christians. Much
effort would be invested into this spiritual transition. Every moral victory
earned is an outcome of God’s grace and the effort of this spiritually
tenacious Christian.
This is
precisely where Satan enters to crucify the Christian’s spirituality.
One method
of satanic assault upon the spiritually tenacious Christians is by motivating the
gullible people around them - parents, spouse, siblings, pastor, church leaders
and friends - to shamefully recall their former ways of life, which is the life
that they so arduously struggled to discard. This assault usually occurs during
controversial situations.
Consider
these assaults:
“You were a
liar, how could I believe you?”
“You were a
drunkard, how do I know that you did not drink today?”
“You had fudged
accounts earlier, so I am sure you have misappropriated finances now.”
In this satanic
mode of attack, the Christian’s past would constantly be recollected to shame
him. It is important to note that the Christian, after accepting Christ as HIS
Savior, has effectively discarded (or is in the process of discarding by
overcoming his temptations) the sinful habits from his life. But people around
him, in their own moments of spiritual weakness, could be a pawn in the hands
of Satan to destroy this Christian’s spirituality with these lethal verbal assaults.
Sincere
Christians would reel under this assault, even if it were a one-time
occurrence. Relentless assaults of this nature could spiritually incapacitate sincere
Christians, so much so that they could doubt and reject God’s presence. Such is
Satan’s lethal activity in a Christian life.
Think about
this.
You strived
so hard to eliminate that sin (or those sins) from your life. You have
experienced God’s power. You are thankful to God for your spiritual
achievement. You are so happy to live a clean life. You love your new life in
Christ Jesus. You have testified to Christ’s power in your life. People
appreciate you and they thank and praise God for HIS work in your life.
Everything
is going good.
This is
when your life crumbles around you. Satan attacks you through verbal assaults
from those whom you love so dearly. You strive to forgive and forget. But these
attacks become a regular part of your life. You are accused of doing that which
you have discarded. Being unappreciated is hard enough to fathom, but to be
accused of doing that which you are not doing anymore is a poison you have to
drink constantly. To die a thousand painful deaths every single day is not fun.
That’s not
it.
Your life
becomes a living nightmare when those accusing you spread rumors about you.
Your family and friends believe these rumors and consider you a hypocrite.
Those whom you had considered good
friends are not your friends anymore. Your life sinks into despair.
You wonder
why this is happening in your life.
The answer
is not straightforward. But the answer is found in the Bible. Read these verses
(Emphasis Mine):
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on
the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I
am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah
43:18-19, NIV)
“Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ
and gave us the ministry of reconciliation…” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18, NIV)
“Jesus
replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”” (Luke 9:62,
NIV)
“Brothers
and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one
thing I do: Forgetting what is behind
and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize
for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14,
NIV)
“For he has rescued us from the dominion of
darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we
have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14, NIV).
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no
longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I
live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not
set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the
law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:20-21, NIV)
These
verses teach us one simple truth. God does not remind us of our sinful past. An
entailment of this truth is that God’s people also do not remind us of our
sinful past.
What about
those who constantly endeavor to shame us by reminding us of our sinful past?
These people may be Christians, but their relentless attack indicates that they
are not acting under God’s guidance.
If they are
not under God’s guidance, it is quite possible that they are buying into
Satan’s schemes because Satan works against God’s people. Satan will strive to
spiritually derail a sincere Christian.
When people
assault you with your sinful past - that very past which you have discarded
from your life – be aware that it is the work of Satan. Do not fall prey to the
evil schemes of the devil.
You know
who you are in the Lord. You are right in God’s sight because you are not
guilty of the sin that you are being accused of. When you live right in God’s
sight, do not allow these assaults to impact you.
Keep moving
forward by increasing your proximity with the Lord. Indulge more into the Word
of God and prayer. When you are in pain, God will offer you HIS peace and protection.
HE will bring good friends into your midst. You will be safe. In due course of
time, you would be saved from these assaults and you would be exonerated from
these false accusations. Trust and obey!
When we walk with
the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He
sheds on our way!
While we do His
good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who
will trust and obey.
Refrain:
Trust and obey,
for there’s no other way
To be happy in
Jesus, but to trust and obey.
Not a shadow can
rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile
quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a
fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we
trust and obey.
Not a burden we
bear, not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He
doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a
loss, not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if
we trust and obey.
