LAKEVIEW MISSIONARY CHURCH

Weekly Update for May 25, 2022

SATAN'S ATTEMPTS TO WRECK YOU

Traffic! It’s always in the way. A casual drive to work can be dangerous when other cars are in your way. Like those cars in traffic, Satan wants to wreck you and keep you from the Christian path you are on.   
     Satan wants to tempt and seduce. The first act of Satan recorded in the Bible was his evil plot to tempt and seduce Eve. Satan approached Eve in the Garden of Eden and asked her, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1, NLT). Eve told Satan what God had told her about the tree (Genesis 3:2) and Satan replied, “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil” (Genesis 3:3, NLT). Eve believed Satan and she “saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her.” Satan's interactions with Eve had tempted, seduced, and caused Eve to want something that she previously did not want.
     Satan wants to deceive, falsify and counterfeit God’s good things in the world. In Paul's letter to the Corinthians he wrote about Satan's ministry of deceiving believers. The Good News Paul preached was "hidden behind a veil from people who are perishing. Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God" (2 Cor 4:3-4, NLT). This appears to be an active ministry of Satan to have "blinded" the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot understand the Gospel message.
     Satan also wants to destroy Christians. In Peter's first letter he reminded his readers, "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are" (1 Peter 5:8-9, NLT). Satan prowls around looking for someone to devour and there is no one he wants to devour more than productive Christians. 
     Satan wants war against believers and the church. One way he wages war against believers is he tries to thwart God’s work. Paul wrote to the believers in Thessalonica that he "very much wanted to come to you and I tried again and again, but Satan prevented us" (2 Thess 2:18, NLT). Another way Satan wages war is he inflicts pain and physical ailments in believers’ lives. Paul told the Corinthians, “To keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud” (2 Cor 12:7, NLT). It is not clear if the physical ailment was something Satan did directly to Paul or if Paul had that physical ailment all his life and merely attributed it spiritually to Satan. Whatever the case might have been, Paul mentioned that Satan was involved with his physical pain.
     Satan has an agenda harm to God's people. Christians we must stay focused on the road of the Christian life. Satan will try to intervene and wreck us, but if we stay focused on Christ and the road he has provided for us, we can avoid Satan and follow the road God has placed us on Satan.
Pastor Christopher