IBOGIRLLIVING

In my previous post, Flattered By The Temptation , I talked about how the enemy will do anything to keep us in sin and strongholds because he is aware of the power and authority we have been given over him by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He knows that if he keeps us distracted by worldly pleasures, daily struggles and deep addictions, we will never step into that power we have been given.

Often times we may be able to identify attacks against us when they come in the form of negative or dangerous situations. Maybe we lose a loved one, we get into serious financial struggle or we get involved in toxic relationships/friendships that overwhelm us and cause us to lose focus on our God given purpose and assignment. Attacks that come in this way, cause us to stay in fear, unable to see the truth of what is going on. Satan will steal our peace, our joy, our faith, our ability and willingness to pray and fight him by keeping us in a constant state of distraction with all of these troubles. So much so that even if we do manage to pray, we do so from a place of fear rather than faith and the bible does tell us that "without faith it is impossible to please Him...." - Hebrews 11: 6

If through the grace of God however, none of these troubles can keep us down in despair, fear and confusion, another way the enemy will attack is through the familiarity of people in our own lives. Remember that his goal is to prevent you from walking in your God given power and authority over him so how can you resist or rebuke him if you don't see him coming or if he is disguised in the cloak of familiarity. Recall that in Mark 8:33, Jesus rebuked the devil who unknown to Peter was speaking through him declaring that He (Jesus) would not be crucified. Because the enemy knew the implications of what Jesus was about to do through the Cross, he came disguised in the familiarity of the disciple Peter. It is in this same way that he still tries to keep us distracted today. Clearly he has no new tricks, it's just that many times we fail to recognize them. As Christians, we all need to be extremely sensitive in our spirit man to discern when our enemy the devil may be trying to distract us by using someone we know or that is close to us. It may be friends, family, co-workers or even spouses who may appear to say things in love or out of concern but we must always stay connected to God so we are not steered away from the path that He has set for us because we listened to something someone said to us.

Another way the enemy tries to stop you from walking in your purpose and calling is of course through the pleasures of sin. This is probably his most effective mode of attack against man. Sexual immoralities, lies, unrighteousness, bearing false witness etc are all ways the enemy tries to stop you and I from being true representatives of the Kingdom Of God on earth. It was MAN who had been given the right to rule the earth ( See Genesis 2: 7 - 15) but we gave up that right and power when we disobeyed God. Yet God in His infinite mercy sent Jesus to redeem us and regain that power from Satan and give it back to man hence why the enemy will fight us forever to prevent us from using our power over him until Jesus comes again.

This is why it is so important that we nurture our relationship with God so that we do not fall into these traps of the enemy. The further we are from The Father, the easier it is for the enemy to keep us powerless. May we all step back into our rightful place as rulers of this earth who reflect and represent God and His Kingdom to all of the body of Christ with the help of The Holy Spirit, Amen!

Excess Love,

Ibogirl