It occurred to me finally one day that the enemy has been always at work against me and every man, and will never cease in his attack against us until he is placed underfoot by the Mighty One. Now this statement makes every person who is aware of the Lord wanting to exclaim, “Duh!”
Although, I especially seem to ignore this simple absolute fact and probably will until I am beamed up to Christ either through the calling up in the Rapture or death; the serpent will always be relentless in his hatred and attacks toward all of us.
Our existence by default places us in the enemy’s crosshairs, and it’s unequivocally impossible for the ancient snake to find remorse in his heart to give Man a big bear hug in repentance and terms of peace. So if you have any logic at this point in Man’s conundrum of that roaring lion you must know your enemy so you can stand your ground until Jesus blows the whistle of time.
As I explain this fallen black star please don’t think I am exalting the devil, but understand the attributes are just there and must be understood. First and foremost let’s get one thing straight: The enemy hates us, and this is a real pure evil hatred. The demon himself hates you even if you are saved or unsaved.
I’m not sure I can put into words this actual hatred, because it is a special kind of hatred only pure evil can manifest. Furthermore, maybe a look at history is the closest we can come to understand. I say, our example should be Auschwitz. All that the Auschwitz factory of torture and death included could give us some example of what this adversary’s mind can produce to express his hatred of mankind.
I can’t help but ponder history and this evil foe which we are demanded to face by our own self-conscious reality; what kind of evil could he come up with next? What’s so crazy is he uses mankind to exercise his hatred.
The devil has a cunning highly intelligent mind of pure evil creating new ideas or using time tested old tactics of slaughter against us every second of our existence. Moreover, there will always be a person that breathes to fulfill these acts of atrocity while the time clock of this first life winds down.
The ultimate goal the enemy has is to have you join him in hell, to absorb eternal damnation with him. The enemy wants you as far away from the Heavenly Father as possible. Once that’s accomplished then he either wants you to be a vessel he can use to produce lies or broad suffering. Or he will just assign a thorn to give you a personal type of suffering and calamity so no joy in this life can be had in your own singular life.
There is nothing good in this fallen angel; its absolute depravity and evil. Truth must be destroyed and rewritten to place mankind into bondage. Lies must be repeated unceasingly until the mind is reprogrammed into his submission. As Jesus called him the “father of lies,” we now know the genealogy of this ongoing subterfuge.
This figure of death has been at war for thousands of years and is battle hardened in hate. His portfolio of fallen souls that have followed him must be countless. He understands our flesh and uses it tactically against us so we manifest sin and death in our own lives. He demands misery upon all of mankind, and we should never become complacent of his existence and motives.
The enemy knows what’s at stake in Man’s acceptance or denial of the gift of salvation; and he would find great joy in watching everyone live a life of misery, first—before falling into the bottomless pit with him.
This obvious enemy is revealed to the saints who became saved in their first experience of true temptation because before forgiveness, sin was just a natural process. But now the mind is at war with the tempter and his silver tongue—tickling the mind into submission and encouraging the practice of sin.
Sin is not just a word but a broken law. In America, everyone is protected greatly by laws of order. Imagine for a second the feeding frenzy of crime that would occur and the horror that would absolutely penetrate and overtake suburban streets without enforcing laws; only the strong would survive. And it would be unimaginable for the weak.
I exclaim to everyone to thank their local police department because its ever presence places lawlessness into submission.
The idea of evil must be understood and accepted because its existence is absolute. Evil has a name and its ultimate goal is to be camouflaged until you have walked into its ambush. Its razor sharp jaws will shred to the point of annihilation.
Look at these words of God for a second and see the Lord’s description of the creation He constructed, but inevitably became proud because Jesus was not greedy in his armament of Satan’s attributes:
Ezekiel 28:11 NASB
You had the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. ‘You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The ruby, the topaz and the diamond;
The beryl, the onyx and the jasper;
The lapis lazuli, the turquoise and the emerald;
And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets,
Was in you.
On the day that you were created
They were prepared.
You were the anointed cherub who covers,
And I placed you there.
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.
You were blameless in your ways
From the day you were created
Until unrighteousness was found in you.’
It has to be understood that the enemy will not stop until death or until Jesus returns. We do have our God and His self-existence demands His superiority above this devil. Yet God biblically has commanded us to participate in the battle itself. If you don’t fight the enemy he will defeat you. I am not ignorantly saying we should use our own strength, but use the trident missile of God’s Word as it is nuclear against the enemy.
I think in self-reflection of my bouts with the enemy that I lose because I am lazy. Jesus has placed me in the safety of America. My joy can’t be complete because I have not placed a siege of the mental stronghold first, then attacked with relentless prayer and biblical consumption.
Our minds use the brain; so if we practice sin or any kind of work and hobby, the brain itself sets up an non-conscious mind. This non-conscious mind is what we use per muscle memory or repetitive mental memory. So the brain creates negative or positive proteins in the brain physically. The enemy uses temptation and lies to attack the brain creating strongholds in the brain itself.
Neuroplasticity is an example of how you can reorganize your brain by placing a fortress over your mind and only allowing good in and not bad. Feed the mind every biblical Word you can find, instead of falling into the consumption of sin.
The brain itself can be renewed physically by the ingestion of God’s Word. So repetitive sin creates a negative stronghold—physical proteins in the brain with which the mind must deal. Moreover, the eternal King’s words create an entire army of godly proteins to protect the mind. And remember, the mind uses the brain.
This is a physical explanation of how the slithering snake can control a person’s mind which he then controls. Ask a negative depressed person what they always think? Ask a giant of pride what they always think. Ask a lustful person what they always think.
The non-conscious mind that allows you the ability to remember how to ride a bike while navigating, also works for or against you in what you repetitively consume, mentally.
This non-conscious mind really makes sense to me because in my job I need to talk as I am in sales. Furthermore, I have certain verbiage I have to say through memory. Yet while I say it I see my mind compartmentalize as I adjust to my sales pitch immediately thereafter.
This invisible enemy is visible through his footprints of temptation and manifestation of evil through us. Man is simple; we just want to be loved and be in a family; and the kicker is that’s all that God wants to do—love us eternally. Yet the enemy is continuously in the middle of this relationship trying to lie until we deny God. Or for the ones who do accept Jesus, Lucifer attacks God’s character through lies so we don’t trust or have faith in Christ.
As Christians should take a moment to reflect on the enemy and who he is so we can just sort through the garbage and lies with which we are always bombarded. Jesus is counting on us. Without our perseverance Jesus gets no inheritance—which is you and me! God loves us and the way I see it, God has quite a desire for His saints.
Contemplate the Cross itself and what Jesus was willing to do for His bride and eternal family, which can include you, too.
D. McReynolds