Satan said to a convention of Demons, “As long as Christians stay close to God, we have no power over them. So here are 12 things you can do to get victory over Christians.
Keep them busy with non-essentials.
Tempt them to overspend and go into debt.
Make them work long hours to maintain empty life styles.
Discourage them from spending family time together, for when their homes disintegrate there is no refuge from work.
Over stimulate their minds with television and computers, so they can’t hear God speaking to them.
Fill their coffee tables and nightstands with newspapers and magazines so they have no time to read the Bible.
Flood their mailboxes with sweepstakes promotions and get rich quick schemes to keep them chasing material things.
Put glamour models on TV and on magazine covers to keep them focused on outward appearances. That way they will be dissatisfied with themselves and dissatisfied with their mates.
Make sure couples are too exhausted for physical intimacy so they will be tempted to look elsewhere.
Make Santa and the Easter bunny bigger than Jesus to divert them from remembering the real meaning of the holiday.
Involve them in good causes so they won’t have time for eternal ones.
Make them self-satisfied. Keep them busy working in their own strength so they’ll never know the joy of God’s power working through them.
“Do these 12 things faithfully and I promise they will work."
With some variation to this fictional story, the implications expressed in it are by no means imaginary. In truth, Satan has no power over us (James 4:7) if we resist him and abide in Christ. Like a dog held by a leash, the Devil is held by God in subjection to Him (John 14:30). The only scheme Satan has to use is deception. Using many of the tactics described in the story above, his goal in our life is to divert us from Christ. Once he has accomplished this, we have given him leverage into our life.
Satan's efforts to divert us from God are often subtle. Like the analogy of the frog that is slowly boiled, only to realize its fate too late, Satan will slowly divert our attention from God at a rate too subtle to realize. That is why we must always seek God and not give room for the Devil. Even one small area will open up room for him in its entirety. As the apostle Paul said in Galatians 5:9, “A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” This works both ways. The more we seek God, the more we will grow in Him and our spiritual leaven will be raised. Yet even if we crack the door to sin and unrighteous pleasure, Satan takes his invitation and slowly pushes the door open into our life.
