Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. I Peter 5:8c-9 (ESV)
Jesus defeated Satan by dying on the cross and rising from the dead. However, according to our Father’s will, the devil is still allowed to tempt people, including disciples of Jesus, to disobey God.
We who follow Jesus are not immune to attacks by “the father of lies” (John 8:44), “the thief [who] comes only to steal and kill and destroy “(John 10:10a).
We can resist Satan by standing firm in our Spirit-given faith in Jesus Christ and what He has done for us through His ministry, death, and resurrection.
We stand firm in this faith when we pray the Lord’s Prayer.
We stand firm in this faith by proclaiming the truth of God’s Word when the evil one tries to trick us into believing and acting upon his lies.
I encourage you to read and meditate on Luke 4:1-13, where we hear of how the Holy Spirit led Jesus in the wilderness to resist the devil by Jesus’ proclaiming verses from God’s written Word.
I also encourage you to read and meditate on Ephesians 6:10-17, where we hear of how to “[p]ut on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” (v. 11)
On our own, we are powerless against the attacks of Satan and his evil helpers. Thanks be to God, by the working of the Holy Spirit through the Gospel, we have the faith in Jesus Christ which we require to stand firm against the devil—no matter how hard he attacks us.
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