Do You Need To Be Afraid Of Satan?

What a wonderfully beautiful day it is going to be today; a perfect Spring day. It is going to be sunny, warm, and, something really great, it is going to be dry. It is amazing how the weather can have such an effect on our emotional well-being. However, the weather will not prevent bad things from happening today. The sunshine will not divert disaster. Blue skies will not take all our problems away. Life still goes on whether there is rain, snow or beautiful sunshine and we have an enemy who wants to use the bad things, disasters and problems to destroy us.

Satan seldom needs to create circumstances to come against us. He has already helped introduce sin which led to the fall of creation so now bad things happen quite naturally. He simply whispers to us, points things out to us, stirs our own nature a bit to keep our minds and hearts enslaved to the negativity of the day. Apostle Paul warned us:

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. (Ephesians 6:11)

Peter gave us this image:

Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

So don't make the mistake of thinking that you don't have to be aware or that you are so insignificant that he wouldn't bother you. He hates our Father and because of that hatred he hates anything connected with our Father. He knows that if he can destroy your faith that it will affect everyone connected to you. If he can cause you to trip in sin then that sin will have a ripple effect. It is not you that matters so much but instead the pain that he can inflict on the Father by drawing you away with fear, worry and anxiety. Look what happens when I put the quote from Peter in context:

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 5:6-11)

Cast all your cares on him because he cares for you. You see, the only power the enemy has over you is what you give to him. The one who has authority over you is the one you submit to. The Word instructs us again and again to resist the enemy. That means to put him in his place, which is under our feet. There is nothing to fear from him, nothing at all. He actually has no power over us. This all leads to one statement from Jesus in John 14:

I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. (John 14:30-31)

The enemy had no hold over Jesus, none whatsoever. The enemy did not kill him, Jesus chose this in submission to his Father's will. Right when Satan thought he had inflicted the worse possible damage to God, the Father revealed that he had taken the victory for himself. No one had any authority over Jesus unless the Father allowed it and what we see we can now see was a temporary situation to allow God's plan to unfold. Jesus' part in it was to go all the way, and he did. The enemy had no hold on him as he has no hold on us.

Perhaps today he will bring accusations against you from your past. It is all lies because your past has been forgiven and forgotten. That is not who you are any more, you child of God. Perhaps he will stir up some anxieties about the future but we laugh at that because we have submitted our future to the Father's care. We trust our Father with our past, present and future. Perhaps he will provoke fear about our present; how will we pay the bills, how will we eat, how will we find strength for today? We can thumb our noses at these fears because we are the children of promises. Our Father has promised to look after all our needs, to be our provider, to lend us strength in all situations. Can't we see? The enemy has no hold on us.

As we begin our day let's choose to affirm these truths in our lives. First, we can't trust the enemy because he is a liar. Second, we are to cast all our anxiety on our Father because he cares for us. Just repeat that to yourself this morning, "He cares for me". Third, "We are more than conquerors through him who loved us". Be aware of the enemy but do not fear him. Be aware but do not give him power over you. Be aware but do not be anxious. Be aware and resist him. Resist him by affirming God's promises. Resist by lifting up Jesus in your life. Resist by singing the praises of our God all day long. This way, regardless of what the weather is like outside, it will be a most excellent day in us.