Satan’s Strategy for Your Life #27: Those Closest to You
“Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve.” —Luke 22:3
Satan will do anything to get at you. He will destroy your career, family, health, and anything else he can get his evil hands on. One of the most deadly and destructive tactics he employs is getting at your friends in order to get to you. After tempting Jesus in the wilderness, the devil left Jesus waiting for an “opportune” time (Luke 4:13). Realizing that his direct assault on Jesus proved to be ineffective, he set his sights upon Jesus’ followers. He first went to Peter or tried to get at Jesus through Peter. When Jesus told the disciples that He was headed to Jerusalem where He would “suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Matthew 16:21), Peter pulled Him aside and said, “Far be it from You, Lord! This shall never happen to You”—Matthew 16:22. This earned Jesus’ rebuke, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to Me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man"—Matthew 16:23.
The devil had attempted to get at Christ through Peter, and once that plan failed, he set his sight on Judas. Judas, called Iscariot, held the purse strings for Jesus’ itinerant ministry. He had helped himself to the money (John 12:6) on more than one occasion and was just the person that Satan could possess in order to procure the death of Christ.
Judas had walked with Christ for three years and seen Him give sight to the blind, make the deaf to hear, drive out demons, heal numerous diseases, walk on water, multiply the fish and the loaves, and calm the storm. He had even seen Him raise the dead, but it didn’t matter. It doesn’t matter who we are friends with, what we have seen, or where we have been; if our hearts are not right, Satan can get a foothold, which is exactly what he did with Judas. He got to Judas in order to get to Christ and he is still attempting to use those closest to us in order to get to us.
The devil tried to use Peter and he did use Judas, which means he will use anybody in order to get to us. Who are those individuals in our lives that Satan might use in order to get to us? Is he using our spouse? Maybe our best friend? Maybe a family member? Whatever the case may be, we must diligently seek Christ so that we might be able to recognize temptation once it comes. When we are cultivating an active love relationship with Christ, we are able to accurately see the devil’s tactics and take a stand on the authority of God’s Word in order to resist them. And once we are able to identify the agent whom Satan has possibly influenced, we can have victory over the devil’s tactics and continually walk with Christ for His glory and our joy.
May God give us a clarity, wisdom and discernment so that we might be able to identify Satan’s schemes once they come, and then resist them in order to walk in victory and peace. Amen.
Satan will do anything to get at you. He will destroy your career, family, health, and anything else he can get his evil hands on. One of the most deadly and destructive tactics he employs is getting at your friends in order to get to you. After tempting Jesus in the wilderness, the devil left Jesus waiting for an “opportune” time (Luke 4:13). Realizing that his direct assault on Jesus proved to be ineffective, he set his sights upon Jesus’ followers. He first went to Peter or tried to get at Jesus through Peter. When Jesus told the disciples that He was headed to Jerusalem where He would “suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised” (Matthew 16:21), Peter pulled Him aside and said, “Far be it from You, Lord! This shall never happen to You”—Matthew 16:22. This earned Jesus’ rebuke, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to Me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man"—Matthew 16:23.
The devil had attempted to get at Christ through Peter, and once that plan failed, he set his sight on Judas. Judas, called Iscariot, held the purse strings for Jesus’ itinerant ministry. He had helped himself to the money (John 12:6) on more than one occasion and was just the person that Satan could possess in order to procure the death of Christ.
Judas had walked with Christ for three years and seen Him give sight to the blind, make the deaf to hear, drive out demons, heal numerous diseases, walk on water, multiply the fish and the loaves, and calm the storm. He had even seen Him raise the dead, but it didn’t matter. It doesn’t matter who we are friends with, what we have seen, or where we have been; if our hearts are not right, Satan can get a foothold, which is exactly what he did with Judas. He got to Judas in order to get to Christ and he is still attempting to use those closest to us in order to get to us.
The devil tried to use Peter and he did use Judas, which means he will use anybody in order to get to us. Who are those individuals in our lives that Satan might use in order to get to us? Is he using our spouse? Maybe our best friend? Maybe a family member? Whatever the case may be, we must diligently seek Christ so that we might be able to recognize temptation once it comes. When we are cultivating an active love relationship with Christ, we are able to accurately see the devil’s tactics and take a stand on the authority of God’s Word in order to resist them. And once we are able to identify the agent whom Satan has possibly influenced, we can have victory over the devil’s tactics and continually walk with Christ for His glory and our joy.
May God give us a clarity, wisdom and discernment so that we might be able to identify Satan’s schemes once they come, and then resist them in order to walk in victory and peace. Amen.
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