This week’s devotions are based on Week 10 of the Series Ephesians: Becoming Who You Are (CLICK HERE)
Ephesians 6:11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
Have you ever stopped to think, “What are the devil’s schemes?”
Sometimes you can sense from a friend that they are “up to something” but you can’t quite figure it out until the “surprise party” happens.
Sometimes you know there is a plan going on to move you out of your job or off the team…and you find out about it too late.
Sometimes as a parent, you catch your child in the middle of creating a prank for a younger sibling and you intervene just in time to thwart the plan.
There is not a time when Satan is not scheming to get you to fall away from your connection to your heavenly Father. However, there is a lot of time that we do not carry an awareness and vigilance to understand how the devil schemes.
One of the best writings done (outside of the Scripture) to help the Christian understand the schemes of the devil is C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters. In this writing, Screwtape is a seasoned demon and temptor. He is writing to Wormwood to help him understand the Patient (the Christian) and how to go about tempting him to leave the Enemy (God). Here are a few quotes. Each one hints at one of the schemes Satan uses. Read them each a few times. Can you see how deceptive Satan is in his work to separate us from the love of Christ?
- There is nothing like suspense and anxiety for barricading a human’s mind against the Enemy. He wants men to be concerned with what they do; our business is to keep them thinking about what will happen to them.
- If you can once get him to the point of thinking that ‘religion is all very well up to a point,’ you can feel quite happy about his soul. A moderated religion is as good for us as no religion at all- and more amusing.
- Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy’s ground. I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He made the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden.
- Prosperity knits a man to the world. He feels that he is finding his place in it, while really it is finding its place in him.
- All extremes, except extreme devotion to the Enemy, are to be encouraged.
- Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.
The devil is not obvious in many cases, but when we understand how he schemes to deceive and trick us, we will be better able, with the Spirit’s help and the armor of God fully in place, to thwart the schemes of Satan before they bring spiritual harm to our souls.
Apply: Which of the Screwtape quotes got you thinking the most? How does Satan use this scheme in your heart?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, please build my awareness and insight into how Satan works on my heart and soul. Forgive me when I have fallen prey to his schemes. Equip and empower me with the wisdom of your Spirit and the strength of your armor to stand up against every scheme Satan throws my way. AMEN.
Note: All quotes above came from the following website: https://bookroo.com/quotes/the-screwtape-letters