I had never thought about this before. Perhaps you have. If you add a ‘D’ to the word ‘evil’ you get the word ‘devil’! Evil is in the middle of his name. In truth, everything about the devil is evil!
The Bible, God’s Word, describes to us in detail who Satan is, his nature, and his acts! In short, what the devil wants is possession of every person’s heart, because if he has the heart he has the entire person.
The following verses about Satan give us a better understanding of our enemy, the great deceiver:
- The devil has been sinning from the beginning (1 John 3:8).
2. Satan’s downfall began with pride, being puffed up (1 Tim. 3:6).
3. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil (1 John 3:
4. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work (1 John 3:8).
5. Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning (2 Corinthians 11:3).
6. He was a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44).
7. He does not hold to the truth, for there is no truth in him (John 8:44).
8. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44).
9. Resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7
10. The devil uses things [desire for riches] and people [like Peter] to tempt us or present a stumbling block. “Peter, You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns” (Matthew 16:23; 1 Timothy 6:9).
11. “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
12. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made” (Genesis 3:1).
13. The devil knows how to create doubt, “Satan said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1).
14. “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman” (Genesis 3:4)
15. The devil knows how to deceive with half-truths, “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5).
16. The devil quotes scripture (Matthew 4:1-10).
17. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).
18. Putting on the full armor of God, will enable one to take a stand against the devil’s schemes (Ephesians 6:11).
19. “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (Ephesians 6:16) Faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17).
20. “Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.” But, God can use the thorn to sharpen us, and allow His strength to be seen in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:6-10).
May we always remember that the devil has no control over us unless we allow Him to have the “reins.” So we should ask ourselves, does the devil have a spare room in our hearts? Or do we allow him to occasionally occupy our guest room there? If so, let us determine to evict him! To do so, let’s immerse ourselves in God’s word and grow in knowledge and wisdom. Let us guard our minds and hearts from any resemblance of evil, asking, “what would Jesus think?” or “am I thinking like the Lord?” And finally, let us focus and meditate on Jesus’ forgiveness, His grace and mercy, His promises, and His great love for each of us, which he revealed in His death, burial, and resurrection. Oh what boundless love has the Father and the Son!
Today’s Verse: Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:37-39).
By Teresa Hampton