Last week I was walking to my car in an underground parking garage when a man suddenly appeared out of the shadows and sent fright through every part of me. He approached quickly and said: “Do you have any money for me!?” In a split-second I figured my best reaction would be to assertively MOVE TOWARD HIM and SHOUT my recommendation that he flee. It worked. He turned around on a dime and scurried out of sight.
Pulling out of the garage, a bit shaken to be sure, it did not take long for the still-fresh experience to serve up a FAITH LESSON. Praying for God’s perspective produced an immediate connection with what we SHOULD and MUST do when the Enemy appears out of the shadows of life and hits us with his LIES:
Boldly meet him head on and scream out our demand for him to FLEE.
This is more than planning for a POSSIBLE event–like an earthquake—it is being ready for a CERTAIN attack from an ENEMY who wants us to give up who we are in Christ.
My experience in the parking garage last week got me thinking about how to make SATAN flee when he invades. Here are my three steps:
STEP 1: CALL SATAN A LIAR
Satan is the “father of lies” who masquerades in costumes of light and righteousness (John 8:44).
STEP 2: CLAIM THE NAME OF JESUS
This will not make the devil flee by itself because he, too, acknowledges Jesus. But it is an important step for us to take so the power of Christ against the Enemy is unleashed (Colossians 2:15).
STEP 3: BELIEVE GOD’S WORD
Without this step, the most powerful of the three, we are defenseless. We must first KNOW and then BELIEVE the Gospel of Christ and what it promises to God’s children: Forgiveness (Colossians 3:13); Purity (1 Corinthians 6:11); Holiness (Ephesians 1:4); Love (Colossians 3:12); and Victory (2 Corinthians 2:14).
We need to take those TRUTHS and commit to fight back when the Enemy approaches. To defend the spiritual ground we have gained. And to secure new spiritual strength to resist and repel the devil.
Satan will not win. Even if he steps out of the shadows and tries to attack you.
I ask God to give me the power—his power—to repel the Enemy when he shows up in my life. To instill in me the courage to call Satan a LIAR. To claim the name of JESUS. To commit to his WORD.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
What will YOU do the next time SATAN steps out of the shadows and hurls his LIES your way?
“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you!” James 4:7
