Satan has a tough job.
He is charged with the task of keeping humans away from God, which is a big deal.
He also, at least in a Western context, needs to keep himself hidden and work in the shadows.
So, how does Satan work within those parameters to accomplish his task of causing the temptation, sin, and destruction of the people God has created?
Answer: he deceives.
As a pastor, I see all kinds of things that people do in their daily lives. Many of them are good, and many of them are bad. However, there is one thing that I am seeing so much of that I don't believe it's a coincidence. I don't even believe it is stupidity. I am beginning to believe it is part of an elaborate strategy, straight from hell itself.
This observation? It's simple. People don't see the connection between their behavior and their life situation.
If I were Satan, I believe one of my biggest and best strategies would be to blur the connection between a person's behavior and the consequences of that behavior. When the person doesn't see the connection, they won't learn the lesson and will continue the behavior.
For example, do people really see the connection between their spending habits and their financial situation? I mean, do they REALLY? The reason Dave Ramsey is so popular these days is because people have NOT seen the relationship. They have not seen the correlation between the cause (spending too much money) and the effect (debt up to their ears).
Do people see the connection between their dating/marriage practices and their relationship status? How many people do we know that consistently fall for the "wrong person" (who looks eerily similar to the last "wrong person" they fell for)? They are unable to see the connection between the cause (being attracted to the wrong traits or not judging by character) and the effect (a broken heart, devastated family, bitterness, pain).
Yes, Satan is good at his work. Very, very good.
I was talking with a friend of mine who has made it his life goal to get even with every person who has ever wronged him. He told me, "When somebody hurts me, I hurt him back." He told me he's been doing that his whole life. You see where this is going.
I asked, "And what are the results of that?"
He said, "Well, I'm a mess. I have all kinds of guilt, can't keep friends. In fact, life just pretty much sucks."
I helped him draw the correlation between the two. He began to see that his actions are the reason why he is where he is right now.
I believe that this is one of Satan's greatest tools to destroy us as people. If he can blur the line, blur the connection between our actions and their results, we will continue in the same sick patterns of behavior that continue to destroy us. He must spend a good amount of time laughing at the fact that the correlation between our actions and our life situation is so obvious, but we just simply miss it.
I was talking with a young man who was in a very critical phase of his life. He had just inherited a large sum of money and came to me for advice on what to do.
I told him to invest it. I told him, "If you don't have a plan for that money, it will be gone in a month." I showed him investment strategies, what the potential return could be, etc.
He told me that I was the first person who had explained any of that to him. His family had told him to spend it all. All of it.
I said, "Tell me about your family situation."
He proceeded to tell me that his family has been poor for generations. His parents live in a one-room apartment, have no savings, spend every penny they have, and wonder why they are in their fifties and have nothing to show for it.
I helped him draw the correlation between his family's advice and his family's life situation. He had never seen it before.
This is the primary way that Satan keeps us in bondage to sin. The primary way that humans learn is through making mistakes and feeling the consequences. If Satan can keep us from feeling the consequences, or better, can make us learn the wrong lesson from our actions, he has us beat. We will continue in self-destructive behaviors, passing them down to our children and grandchildren, never seeing the correlation between our life situation and the actions that led to them.
Today, my prayer is that the Holy Spirit will counteract Satan's greatest tool. I pray that through the power of God, people will truly see that their life situation is the result of their own actions. If we want a different life situation, we have to start making different choices. If we want a different life situation, we have to start by taking different actions.
The call of God in these times is to lead a life that has been made new. Why go back to the old ways?
He is charged with the task of keeping humans away from God, which is a big deal.
He also, at least in a Western context, needs to keep himself hidden and work in the shadows.
So, how does Satan work within those parameters to accomplish his task of causing the temptation, sin, and destruction of the people God has created?
Answer: he deceives.
As a pastor, I see all kinds of things that people do in their daily lives. Many of them are good, and many of them are bad. However, there is one thing that I am seeing so much of that I don't believe it's a coincidence. I don't even believe it is stupidity. I am beginning to believe it is part of an elaborate strategy, straight from hell itself.
This observation? It's simple. People don't see the connection between their behavior and their life situation.
If I were Satan, I believe one of my biggest and best strategies would be to blur the connection between a person's behavior and the consequences of that behavior. When the person doesn't see the connection, they won't learn the lesson and will continue the behavior.
For example, do people really see the connection between their spending habits and their financial situation? I mean, do they REALLY? The reason Dave Ramsey is so popular these days is because people have NOT seen the relationship. They have not seen the correlation between the cause (spending too much money) and the effect (debt up to their ears).
Do people see the connection between their dating/marriage practices and their relationship status? How many people do we know that consistently fall for the "wrong person" (who looks eerily similar to the last "wrong person" they fell for)? They are unable to see the connection between the cause (being attracted to the wrong traits or not judging by character) and the effect (a broken heart, devastated family, bitterness, pain).
Yes, Satan is good at his work. Very, very good.
I was talking with a friend of mine who has made it his life goal to get even with every person who has ever wronged him. He told me, "When somebody hurts me, I hurt him back." He told me he's been doing that his whole life. You see where this is going.
I asked, "And what are the results of that?"
He said, "Well, I'm a mess. I have all kinds of guilt, can't keep friends. In fact, life just pretty much sucks."
I helped him draw the correlation between the two. He began to see that his actions are the reason why he is where he is right now.
I believe that this is one of Satan's greatest tools to destroy us as people. If he can blur the line, blur the connection between our actions and their results, we will continue in the same sick patterns of behavior that continue to destroy us. He must spend a good amount of time laughing at the fact that the correlation between our actions and our life situation is so obvious, but we just simply miss it.
I was talking with a young man who was in a very critical phase of his life. He had just inherited a large sum of money and came to me for advice on what to do.
I told him to invest it. I told him, "If you don't have a plan for that money, it will be gone in a month." I showed him investment strategies, what the potential return could be, etc.
He told me that I was the first person who had explained any of that to him. His family had told him to spend it all. All of it.
I said, "Tell me about your family situation."
He proceeded to tell me that his family has been poor for generations. His parents live in a one-room apartment, have no savings, spend every penny they have, and wonder why they are in their fifties and have nothing to show for it.
I helped him draw the correlation between his family's advice and his family's life situation. He had never seen it before.
This is the primary way that Satan keeps us in bondage to sin. The primary way that humans learn is through making mistakes and feeling the consequences. If Satan can keep us from feeling the consequences, or better, can make us learn the wrong lesson from our actions, he has us beat. We will continue in self-destructive behaviors, passing them down to our children and grandchildren, never seeing the correlation between our life situation and the actions that led to them.
Today, my prayer is that the Holy Spirit will counteract Satan's greatest tool. I pray that through the power of God, people will truly see that their life situation is the result of their own actions. If we want a different life situation, we have to start making different choices. If we want a different life situation, we have to start by taking different actions.
The call of God in these times is to lead a life that has been made new. Why go back to the old ways?
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