The world, the government, the family, the church — all have a common foe, who quite consistently goes undetected.  As a result humanity and homes are hurting, society is suffering, while chaos and conflicts darken and dampen our days!  Unless we “wake up” to the deeds of the Devil, our dreams will consistently become nightmares!!

The Devil and his disciples invariably dress up like “angels of light” (cf. 2 Cor. 11:13-15). Heinrich Heine stated it well:

“I call’d the devil and he came,
And with wonder his form did I closely scan;
He is not ugly, and is not lame,
But really a handsome and charming man.”

Young people, the Devil can excite you with beauty and bulging biceps; the covetous with cool cash; the skilled and ambitious with power and possessions; the learned with the humanistic sufficiency!  He has a dual approach to deceive!  He can sugar-coat and cover sin so it never appears very bad, very big, very important, or very influential.  He is an artist at blinding consequences.  Every desire has a delight, not a dagger, depression, or danger.  However, after one yields to temptation, has sinned, and recognizes the wrong (longing to get right with God), then guilt and separating sin (Isa. 59:1-2) ares so big, heavy, so hard, so shame ridden, that one (like Adam and Eve) tries to hide from God (Gen. 3:17-20) — That scene Satan seeks to hide!  Satan and every sin separates us from the Supplier of true love and life (Acts 17:24f).  God is the giver of every good and perfect gift (Jam.1:17).  The Devil distorts, distracts and seeks to divide us from the Divine Source and Giver of our spirits—of life itself (Zech. 12:1; Ecc.12:7).

The precious precept to remember is James 4:7: “Resist the Devil and he will flee from you.”  How loving and good are God and His Word!!  Keep in touch with God and His Word for faith and a favorable future!!

1 Frank S. Mead, 12,000 Inspirational Quotations, A Division of Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, Springfield, Massachusetts, 2003, pp.110f.