Overcoming the Enemies of the Christian: The Devil
In my last blog, I introduced the parable of
Jesus of “The Sower”. It is found in the book of Matthew, Chapter 13, and
verses 1-23. The story is generally about how people respond to God’s
word. I was reading this parable one day
and noticed other lessons in the story also.
You could look at the various enemies mentioned in the story (the evil
one, the shallow soil, and the cares of the world). You could apply the story not just globally,
but personally. You could look at the
personal challenges of getting God’s Word in your heart (the hardened heart,
the shallow heart, the distracted heart, and the open heart). I have been a Christian for a very long time,
and I have read the Bible many times.
Each time I read the same story – I may see it in a little bit different
light. If you like to see the Bible
applied in different ways – then you will probably like my blog. If, for some reason, you do not like this
kind of application – then you may not like my blog site and may find more traditional
blogs elsewhere.
Now that I have clarified my
application of this passage – let’s continue!
One of the keys to growing in the Christian life is to allow God’s word
to get into your heart and mind. The Bible
can be a powerful force in your life to help you change into the image of
Christ. This parable gives us some direction on how to make that happen. Here is verse 18: “Listen to what the story
about the farmer means. Someone hears the word about the kingdom but
doesn't understand it. The evil one comes at once and snatches away what
was planted in him. This is what the seed planted along the road illustrates.”
The first enemy of the Christian mentioned
in the story is “the evil one”. We know
from the Bible that there are two spiritual forces in the world – the forces of
God and the forces of the devil. From
the very beginning of the biblical story, we can see that whenever God is working,
oftentimes the devil is there trying to disrupt His efforts. God created the wonderful garden of Eden as an
awesome place for His creations Adam and Eve to live. Soon after the creation of
God, the devil comes along to try to get them to question the validity of God’s
word and the nature of God. He made the
comment in Genesis 3:1 “Did God really say”.
He tried to get Eve to question the standard of the Bible and tried to
get her to change to “situational ethics” (changing the moral standard to an opinion
based on circumstances). The Devil is still
trying to do that today! The devil also
tried to get Eve to question God’s motives and to question whether there would
be consequences to disobeying His word.
He is still doing that today.
There ARE consequences to not following God’s word and they do NOT
depend on the circumstances.
Sometimes the devil comes along and whispers
in our ear. Sometimes he tries to speak
through people around us. It is
remarkable to me how people unwittingly say things to other people that are
destructive, attacking, critical, and spiritually and emotionally
damaging. They may not realize that if
they are not careful, they may actually be used by the devil! Please be careful what you say to people.
So, how do you overcome the attacks of the
devil? How do you keep the destructive
words that people say to you from influencing you to compromise your
faith? How do you keep from being
influenced by peer pressure to give in to the culture around you? How do you counteract the voices of the
devil? I believe that the answer is to get
the words of the Bible in your heart and mind.
The “hardened soil” could be representative of a hardened heart. Sometimes when things do not go very well in
our lives, we may harden our heart to others, and maybe even to God. Sometimes bitterness and unforgiveness may
cause our hearts to harden. In Psalms 95:8 and in Hebrews 3:8, 3:15, & 4:7
it says to “Harden not your heart.”
Please allow forgiveness and patience to cause your heart to soften.
One time when I was preaching in a church, I
walked through the audience and I asked them to quote me a verse that they knew
that would help them to counter a voice that might say to them “You are not
really saved”, or “God doesn’t really love you”, or “Your sin is too great”, or
“Just follow the crowd” and other attacks.
I was very surprised that as I walked around there were very few people
who were able to come up with any other verse than John 3:16! Sometimes we do not do a very good job of
getting God’s word in our hearts. I would
like to challenge you to memorize at least one verse from the Bible for every year
that you have been saved. You may find
it quite surprising how God can direct you by His words that you have hidden in
your heart. When Jesus was tempted by
the devil in the wilderness, recorded in Matthew chapter 4, each time the devil
tried to tempt Him – He responded by quoting the Bible. That is a good example for us to follow. If we are going to overcome the attacks of
the devil – we need to read the Bible, meditate on it and get it into our minds
and our heart.
Written by Lee Malden 2021
For more information: email lmalden@hotmail.com
Thank you for taking the time to make the chart! It really helps to understand the scriptures better! You read the scriptures many times so now when I read these passages I can understand them better! Judy D
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