Satan's Schemes

What tactics will Satan use to cause us to stumble and fall today? Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:11, "In order that Satan might not outwit us, we are not unaware of his schemes."

James helps us understand a bit about temptation and falling. Temptation is a process:

1.) Desire -
"Each one is tempted when, by his own desires ..."
- James 1:14.
God has built desires into our being - food, work, material things, etc. Satan takes a God-given desire and runs away with it until we are consumed with wanting to fulfill it in ungodly ways.

2.) Deception -
"He is dragged away and enticed"
- James 1:14.
"Dragged away" is the word for snared in a trap; "enticed" means to be lured by bait. Satan knows our hot buttons and weaknesses - those are the ones he pushes to make us slip today.

3.) Disobedience -
"Then after desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin"
- James 1:15.
What begins in our minds ends in action; what begins in imagination, comes out in life as disobedience to God.

4.) Death -
"And sin, when it is full grown, gives birth to death"
- James 1:15.
Sin's final outcome is death - separation from others, separation from God, guilt, and despair.

Satan's Process: Desire, Deception, Disobedience, Death.

There is Hope: "Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." The temptations we suffer today do not have to end in separation from God and others, guilt, and shame. Knowing the schemes of the Evil One will help us put on God's armor today and defend ourselves against the schemes of the Devil.

Praying for victory for us all today ~
Bob