For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. I John 3:8

Wait, didn’t Jesus come to die to redeem mankind? Yes. But God’s over-arching mission was that the works of the devil would be destroyed through Jesus’ incarnation, through His survival as a toddler under Herod’s murderous rampage, through the crucifixion of the innocent Lamb, and through His resurrection unto glory. Throughout His ministry, Jesus didn’t ignore His enemy. He engaged him.  He imposed limits on his freedom. (“Do this, not that.  Go here, not there.”) He engaged him, too, by relentlessly delivering people from sickness and demon oppression.

In Luke 4, Jesus engaged Satan in the desert, giving us a template for how to handle temptation. He looked behind Satan’s smokescreen, identified the real intent, and quoted scripture strategically to shut down Satan’s specific agenda.

• Satan said, “If you are the son of God, turn this stone to bread.” Behind the smokescreen was this ~ “Prove you are God and fill your stomach now.” The issue was not hunger but getting Jesus to do something God didn’t tell him to do.
• Satan said, “I’ll give you all this authority and its glory.” Behind the smokescreen was ~ “Waiting is hard and I’ll give you kingly rule early if you worship me.” Satan’s desire for worship was what originally caused him to defect from his place in heaven.
• Satan said, “Throw yourself down and see if angels will take care of you.” Behind the smokescreen ~ “Let’s just see if God takes care of you.” This time it was Satan who quoted scripture, “For He shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.” Psalm 91:11 Jesus was savvy and quoted Deuteronomy 6:16 back at him. “You shall not test the Lord your God.”

There are numerous ways for me to deal with my enemy as well. When I rise up to use conferred authority, with scripture, and in Jesus’ name, limits are placed on Satan’s activity. When I ask God for the spiritual eyesight to see behind the smokescreen of every temptation, the Holy Spirit equips me with strategy and the courage to apply specific arrows of scripture.  Our loving Father does not leave His children defenseless but we must press in to become savvy children-warriors.

Lord, our enemy is not acting like a defeated foe. But he is. He acts like he has all power. But he doesn’t. With Your Word, make my mouth a sharp sword. Amen