If I were your enemy
10/6/2019
Recently I had the opportunity to hear Brother Troy Slagle preach during one of his Revivals. While listening to him, the need to put it on the I.F.G.E.A. website was strong and there came to knowledge that it was going to bless you. He titled his sermon: IF I WERE YOUR ENEMY.
I did not record his message so this is what I received from him and the Lord. I pray you get a blessing and a sense of the danger we are in if we do not heed God’s warning that is in the Bible of what the devil is trying to do in our lives through those we love.
C.I. Wilson
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 1 Peter 5:8 KJV
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. Matthew 6:13 KJV
I will extol thee, O Lord ; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me. Psalm 30:1 KJV
I will exalt you, Lord, for you rescued me. You refused to let my enemies triumph over me. Psalm 30:1 NLT
The Lord wants us to be aware of how, the devil is trying to rob you of your victory, of your peace of mind, through these areas of your life. Remember that as a child of God the devil is your ENEMY. When you have an enemy, it is important to know of ways that he will try to destroy you and in this case your SOUL.
Your marriage . . . still hopelessly tense and broken.
Your child . . . still rebelling against all sound logic.
Your money . . . still not enough to feel like enough.
Your health . . . still as chronic or scary as ever.
Your addictions . . . still defeating you way too often.
Almost all of us have experienced times of attack on our salvation, our ministry and our personal peace of mind in these five areas. Some of us may not have understood what was happening. Some may have understood what was happening but not why. We cannot be the best person, doing our best work, being the example that God wants us to be when we are battling the devil in these areas.
We can be a better child of God when we recognize the work of the devil and not let it get to our peace that comes from God. When we know what we are battling then we are better prepared for the battle, we are better workers for God, we are a better witness of how God will see us through these battles. When we recognize the one causing what we are facing then we also recognize whom we need to turn to for help, GOD.
All five areas that are listed above have been, can be, will be and maybe being used now against us today to rob us of two main tools or weapons that God has given us; our Passion and our Focus.
When we first accept Jesus as our Savior, we receive the gift of passion. We want everyone to know how wonderful Jesus is, the peace that he gives and we are enthusiastic (passionate) about sharing what we have with everyone. Therefore, the devil wants to dim that passion and when it grows dim, we do not do our best for Jesus. We lose that hunger for God’s Word, for witnessing to others, attending church, reading the Bible, being around fellow Christians and if we keep losing our passion then one day we find ourselves lost and undone with a very happy devil throwing a party because he stole one of God’s children.
We keep our passion by being in a Bible believing, preaching, teaching church and being with fellow Christians. We need to be on the lookout for things that have a tendency to dim or rob our passion.
Another way for our enemy, Satan, to come against us is in our focus. He uses little distractions every day that slowly work on pulling us away from God. Our enemy will use camouflage to make his attacks look like the normal way of life, to make them look like helps and not hindrances. Some areas that our enemy has learned work very well is our spouse, our friends, our finances, church members, our family, television, the internet, our job and the list can go on for pages. Because we each have our own weakness, the enemy uses them to cause us to lose our focus.
We each need to know the ways our enemy uses to cause us to lose our passion and our focus. When solders lose their passion and their focus they can become a hindrance and therefore become a tool for the enemy. Let us all take the time to search our soul and ask God to shine His spotlight on the things that are making us lose our passion and our focus so that we can become the person that He wants us to be.
Heavenly Father, I ask that you help each one of us to see the little things that the devil uses in our lives that we might turn his work around and turn those little things into a witness for you. Help us become more diligent in our lives, in our work and become the light on the hill that you will use to draw men unto You, God. Amen.