Tag: do not give the devil a foothold

Ezekiel 28:17 ” Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.”

It’s vital to know the enemy and his mode of operation…ask anyone who has served in the armed forces.  The Scripture here is a lament or an oracle against Satan.  It speaks of him being created blameless but then allowing wickedness and willful rebellious pride to enter him.   Our enemy, Satan, also has many alias or aka – Lucifer, prince of this world, father of lies, the evil one, the devil, our adversary, a deceptive angel of light.  His mode of operation is simple and yet very effective…it’s destruction, deception, and death.  But it’s also essential to know the enemy’s limitations.  It tells us in the Bible that if we resist the devil he must flee.(James 4:7)  And when we are equipped with the armor of God, we are able stand against him victoriously. (Ephesians 6:11)  Finally and most importantly…the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. (I John 4:4)

Matthew 6:13 ” And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

Whenever God is the agent of trials (temptations)…it’s for the purpose of testing, never for the purpose of causing us to fall.  For God can’t be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone. (James 1:13)  And with each test, He will not only never tempt you beyond what you can bear, but He will also provide a way out. (I Corinthians 10:13)  But we know our biggest adversary  when it comes to temptation is the devil…the evil one.  In this verse of the Lord’s Prayer, we are asking to be rescued from evil or the evil one.  This statement is echoed in the Prayer of Jabez which says, “..Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me far from evil, that I may not cause pain.” ( I Chronicles 4:10) NKJV    So anytime we ask God to keep us from the evil one…the devil must flee.

Ephesians 4:27 ” …and do not give the devil a foothold.”

The area of our lives that the devil is most easily able to gain a foothold… is when we have unforgiveness in our hearts.  II Corinthians 2:10-11 tells us that we need to forgive in order that Satan might not outwit  us.  When we harbor unforgiveness, we allow the devil to capture a place in our heart…setting up a position – a base of operations for further advancement against us.   We need to remain then vigilant…forgiving and forgetting quickly, so as not to allow him the ability to take advantage over us.