The Wiles of the Devil

CHAPTER 1

The A - Z of Satan’s Wiles

Although Satan is not infinite like God, he has a temptation or trick for every occasion. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see if I could come up with at least one wile for every letter of the English alphabet and, to that end, I was indeed successful. So, for the next while, this book will be focusing on the wiles of the devil from A to Z.

A

Beginning with A, here is what I came up with.

"For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,

who accuses them before our God day and night,

has been hurled down." Rev 12:10 ESV

Accuser

Satan is our accuser and as such tries to make us look bad in the eyes of God. Since no one is sinless, it is an easy job for him. Not only does he try to make us look bad to God, he tries to make us look bad to us. This plays on our emotions and makes us feel unworthy in the presence of God. If we feel unworthy in God’s presence, we tend to feel that God does not love us. In addition to being felt unloved by God, we also will hesitate in being obedient to God in the things He would have us do because we feel unworthy. For instance, we have been given the great commission to tell others of the great gift God has given us. Since we feel unworthy, and inadequate, the great commission is not being carried out by us. Once again, Satan has won if this indeed is how we feel. Satan’s tactics, in this case, would go something like this; Look at how you have failed God in the things you are doing. Why would you even think that you can do anything for God in your present state. This is precisely the lie many Christians fall for and therefore, become ineffective in God’s service.

The good news is that God, in His Word, has a solution for that. Jesus, first of all, has already paid the price for our sins and therefore we are as blameless before God. Secondly, Jesus became our intercessor or ‘go between’ between God and sinful man. He is absolutely the best lawyer we could possibly have. Thirdly, since God is our heavenly father, He will love us unconditionally and always see us as the diamond in the rough we are. He sees all the good in us. If we accept these truths, our self worth goes sky high and we no longer feel useless.

This same tactic Satan uses on those who have not yet accepted God’s great gift. Satan would have non-believers think that they are so bad that they are beyond salvation. Exactly what Satan would want as that would be one less soul for God and one more for Satan. Once again we have a clear argument from the Scriptures against this as Paul, one of the greatest evangelist of Biblical times, was first a persecutor of Christians, and had many Christians killed and/or tortured or imprisoned. Paul called himself the chief of sinners and yet God was able to get a hold of him while he was on the road to Damascus to imprison more Christians. Through this miraculous transformation, Paul became a powerful witness for God. However, Satan is not content with making non-believers feel they cannot be saved, Believers are often thwarted by Satan in talking to non-believers because some Christians feel that some of the people they come in contact with are too bad to be saved and therefore they do not even make the attempt to talk to the individual about accepting God’s gift or they feel that the individual would not listen or accept the gift anyway. Our job is to present God’s great gift to all we have influence over and let God do His work in them. Leave their final decision in God’s hands.

Addictions

Addictions are probably one of Satan’s favourite tactics. Addictions influence our pleasure sensor in the brain and come in innumerable ways. We can be addicted to most anything but the most common addictions are smoking, drugs, alcohol, gambling, and pornography. Any one of these are harmful to the person one way or another. When I was in grade ten, I tried smoking just to be cool. After about a week, I decided that smoking was not for me and I was just burning up my money. There are, of course, those who thoroughly enjoy smoking. After a while, smoking seems to control their lives as they try to feed their addiction. With the constant rise in the price of tobacco and the rise of health concerns, many smokers try to quit but find it is not as easy as they thought. Now the thing that was giving smokers so much enjoyment is actually an unwelcomed intrusion into their lives.

Drugs are another major problem for the health care system. Over the past decade there has been a rather scary increase in the use of drugs. Lately the drug dealers have laced their products with highly addictive drugs that can lead to immediate addiction or even death. So, what might be an effort to satisfy curiosity for the first time user could actually end their life. Drug users often resort to burglary in an attempt to get money for their addictions. Other people will lace the drinks of women with so called rape drugs in order to take advantage of them sexually. Who profits from drugs? The producers and dealers. Everyone else connected with the drug culture looses. Even the dealers are at risk as turf wars increase and the use of firearms has replaced the traditional knives of gang members. These problems will only increase. Canada has now legalized marijuana for recreational use. It will be interesting to see how this will affect society in the future.

Alcohol use, according to Statistics Canada, has reported that there was no increase from 2015 to 2016. They also report that the group that drinks the heaviest are between the ages of 18 to 34. That seems to be a very strategic tactic of Satan as this is the age where important decisions in life are made. It is at this age decisions about careers, spouse selection, and location to settle down are made. If this age group can be kept from making the important decisions with a clear head, then Satan has the upper hand. I am not a complete abstainer of alcohol and find nothing wrong with having a glass of wine with a meal or a cold beer on a hot summer afternoon. What I am against is alcohol abuse and being addicted to alcohol because that, as with any addiction, clouds the mind and proper decisions are not made. I do confess that as a young man I had been drunk several times but finally realized my stupidity on a trip I took across Canada in 1976. I had stopped in on my former college roommate and we went out drinking. Coming back to his house, I was taking pictures of his dog which he had as a puppy when he was my roommate. This was in the days before digital photography and in my drunken state never took the lens cap off the camera. It was not until after my trip that I discovered the mistake when I got the film developed. Right there and then I vowed I would never get drunk again as I realized that I missed so much not being in my clear mind. It is a vow I have kept throughout my life.

Gambling certainly has seen a major rise in popularity with new casinos opening frequently. Not too long ago there were five of us who were relatives, and went to a local casino for supper. After supper, three relatives decided to try their hand at the various gambling stations in the casino. The result was just as I suspected. Out of the $25 total gambled between the three of them, the net total winnings were $16 leaving a net loss of $9. As a former math teacher, I found this as expected. Gambling is based on the standard deviation curve which looks like this:

²

From this graph we see that the 0.1% on the left are the people that never win. The 0.1% on the right are the people who always win. That leaves the majority of the people who will rarely to never win more than they spend. These are the people who fund the winners. The technique is so clever from the beginning. A person at a casino, or buying loto tickets will invariably win a bit more than they spent. This will keep them playing and over time they will have lost more than they have won. I choose to win by not playing. One of my brother-in-laws recently confessed that he had lost enough money gambling, over the years, to buy a Cadillac. Gambling, of course, is not just limited to casinos and loto tickets. Horse races, card games, and betting on anything also is gambling. If one is addicted to gambling, eventually life comes crashing down and Satan has won again.

Pornography is also an addiction which has been made extremely easily accessible with the internet. It used to be harder before computers to access porn. Before computers you were limited to strip joints, whore houses, movies, and magazines, all which cost money. Now, at the touch of a button, any type of porn is accessible and it is free. As with any form of addiction, you will always want more. Should a young teen come across a porno magazine or porno internet site, even by accident, this could easily lead to a craving of more and more and even types of porn the person once thought was abhorrent and the addiction is complete. Satan wins again.

Addiction research suggests that to stop an addiction, one must find something else to take its place. The only other way to fill the void would be to accept Jesus into their lives. Those Christians that are addicted to something should now focus their attention on furthering God’s kingdom. That is to tell others of the great gift that God has given us.

B

Bitterness

bit•ter•ness

'bidərnəsnoun

noun: bitterness; plural noun: bitternesses

1. sharpness of taste; lack of sweetness.

2. anger and disappointment at being treated unfairly; resentment. he expressed bitterness over his dismissal without notice

It is the second definition that Satan uses to his advantage. Bitterness is usually caused by someone who has been offended. It is a strange emotion in the sense that it hurts the bitter person more than the person they are bitter against. One time, in my educational career, I was the principal of a private school. In order to help one of the parents make their tuition more reasonable, the school hired her to do the custodial work of the school. However, this person’s work was not up to proper standards, and, after several warnings, I was forced to let her go. I was completely unaware of her bitterness towards me until I came across her in a grocery store several weeks later. Her expression, upon seeing me, would have froze over Lake Superior. She did not even acknowledge my greeting. Bitterness eats the joy out of a person to their detriment. When unchecked, bitterness leads to hatred, negativity, complaining, as well as a whole host of stress related health issues. Bitterness builds a wall between two people. If the two were close, the wall bitterness causes, could affect the second person as well. The second person may now feel offended as well and develop their own bitterness towards the other person. These walls will continue to grow unchecked unless the bitterness is dealt with. Once again the Bible has the solution.

Ephesians 4:31

"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice." ESV

We are told to put away our bitterness in the same sense we would put any object into the trash bin. By doing this, the bitterness passes away and we will find a new freedom. At one of the churches we used to attend, there was a swelling of bitterness towards the pastor, largely due to the fact that the pastor was misunderstood. Also, his preaching style was not welcomed. However, this pastor had his heart fully devoted to God and, despite his short comings, he was truly a man of God. I first heard of this bitterness towards the pastor from my wife when, one day, she came home and said that the congregation felt that the Pastor should leave. She had heard all the negativity some of the congregation had towards the pastor and was swayed by them. With me being on the board, I could easily see the pastor’s strengths, and knew his true heart. So I said to my wife that, instead of looking at the pastor’s weaknesses, we should focus on his strengths. I started listing them to my wife who immediately saw the problem with her negativity. She went back to the people that wanted the pastor removed and told them the same thing I had told her. One by one the people repented and started loving the pastor. Though the pastor still had his weaknesses, he was now the loved pastor he deserved to be.

Though that story had a happy ending, not all bitterness can be stopped that easily. The longer the bitterness has been in a person, the harder it will be to deal with. The first step for the embittered person must be to realize that they are indeed bitter. Without this realization, healing cannot occur. Unfortunately, most bitter people do not see their problem unless it is pointed out to them. Who should have the dubious honour of pointing this out to the person? Certainly not the person who is the focus of the bitterness as this will just fuel the bitterness. Galatians gives us the answer as who is qualified to talk to the embittered person.

Galatians 6:1

"Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted." ESV

A spiritual person is one who seeks the will of God in their lives. This spiritual person, (who could be anyone, not just the pastor) must come with gentleness. In other words, not with a condemning attitude and saying, you are such a bitter person but either by example or gently approaching the person with genuine love. Gently redirecting their bitterness by looking at the positive and not the negative. Sometimes the bitterness has taken such strong root that the embittered person cannot possibly look favourably towards the person they are embittered to. Once bitterness has reached that level, the person must ask God to love the other person through them. We always need to look at the positive qualities in a person since no one is without weaknesses. We also must recognize that we also have weaknesses and no one is perfect. If we look at the positive in a person, it will be much easier to love them as we are commanded in almost every book of the New Testament.

Busyness

Although this does not appear to be a tactic of the devil but remember, Satan is subtle. I am one of those lucky ones who does not have to be busy all the time. Others, though, may not be so lucky. Kids seem to need to be constantly busy or entertained. Parents of kids seem to think that they are benefiting their children by enrolling them into everything available. Sure, there is nothing wrong with wanting the best for your children. What I see happening, though, is that parents seem to give their children too many opportunities. As a result any family time is now restricted to the time it takes to drive your children to their various activities. This is where Satan has gained an advantage. Family time used to be where one could teach your children about God, or proper manners, or traditions, or whatever have you. It was a time for bonding and leading by example. We used to take our children to museums almost every Saturday. If not museums,