Is Satan an unwanted guest in your life? Does it seem that when he visits he never LEAVES? It’s that way in the lives of many Christians today. Satan is the guest from Hell. Accept this guest isn’t eating all the food or using all of the soap. He is killing, stealing, and destroying people’s ideals, dreams, careers, and relationships. But the truth is, Satan has no place anywhere but in the Lake of Fire. That’s where he belongs and soon that will be his permanent address. He does not deserve to occupy any space in our lives. Let’s not give him a place to stay, we are told in Ephesians. 4:27, that we should not give place to the devil. It’s time to send him packing.
You may ask, how do we give place to the devil? There are so many ways that Satan can inch his way into our lives that it would be impossible to list them all. Jesus says that the devil, as a roaring lion, roams the earth seeking whom he may devour, 1st Peter 5:8. And if you’ve watched the Discovery Channel, you know lions have an eye for vulnerable animals as well as a liking for a challenge. So Satan, too, as a roaring lion, has an eye for the vulnerable. If you think you’re not vulnerable to him, think again, because Satan goes around setting traps to cause vulnerability in the lives of God’s people. He’ll set you up. He uses little as well as big things. Maybe you have a foul mouth, and are always wondering why you’re feeling bad. Well, you can’t run your mouth and still be blessed of God. Or, you may make comments about people’s looks or weight but wonder why God isn’t hearing your prayers. Again, you can’t run your mouth on people and still expect God to be at your beckon call. Those little cuss words and degrading comments are just enough to open a door for Satan to step through and cause even more serious problems in your life. Giving in to these habits can give Satan a place to latch onto. That’s why we are told not to be ignorant of his devices, 2nd Cor. 2:11. He’ll try to make you angry so you’ll cuss or cause you to notice things about people you shouldn’t. Ask God to give you wisdom to discern areas of your life you may be weak in so you can deal with them and Satan cannot use them against you. Most importantly, be honest with God about your weaknesses, He knows them away.
As you see there are many ways the devil will try to get power over you, but there are multiple ways you can combat him. My guess is if you are reading this article, Satan is occupying precious space in your life. Now that I have mentioned some of the possible ways that you may be giving place to the devil, let’s talk about some ways to send him packing.
To make Satan flee, we are told to resist Him. To resist the devil simply means, to put up a fight against him. I am not going to sugar coat it. He’s not just a bully that you hit once and he runs off. Which reminds me of a story my mother once told me. She was in a church service and as it was closing the preacher was talking about rebuking the devil. Well, my mother, still a babe in Christ, asked him "What do you do when you rebuke the devil, and he doesn’t "buke"?" No one had the answer for her. That’s why many Christians are being defeated by Satan today. No one has the answer. But the answer is very simple, yet it is not easy: Resist the devil and he will flee, James 4:7. Resist the urge to cuss. Resist the urge to talk negatively about people. Resist addictions. Don’t beat yourself up if you stumble and what ever you do don’t throw in the towel! Satan has had a lot of practice over the last couple thousand years so you’re up against a pro. A pro, however loses at some point in the game.
When you decide not to give in to the devil you are building resistance against his attacks. At some point he’ll have no choice but to flee. And whatever you do, don’t get discouraged. If you fall a long the way, just repent and carry on. Some things don’t come easy and that’s just a fact of life.
Resisting isn’t easy but we do have weapons to help us out in our endeavor. You will find in Ephesians 6:13, that we are instructed to put on the whole armor of God. If you are familiar with warrior movies, then you can kind of get the picture. Though we are not fighting a physically, we are still fighting. It tells us in Ephesians 6 that we are fighting a spiritual war. And we all know the ending. Satan and his demons are defeated and God prevails. This is where our faith comes in. Not only are we to fight, but we are to fight with faith! In 1st Timothy 6:12 it says, to fight the good fight of faith. Have faith that God prevails and you will conquer Satan! We are more than conquerors, Roman 8:37. And Philippians 4:13 says this, we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us.
Let’s take a closer look at the weapons that are provided to us, which are in listed in Ephesians 6:13-17. Have our loins girded about with truth. The phrase of "Gird up your loins" has been defined as "get ready to do something difficult". I like to describe it as getting ready to fight with the truth. Jesus has already conquered Satan and all his evil ways, Jesus told us in John 16:33 that He has overcome the world. That means He has already overcome everything evil that appears in your life! Satan wants to make you think you can not overcome obstacles in life. But the truth is you can!
We also have the breastplate of righteousness. Having on this breastplate will protect our heart from believing Satan’s lies about God and others, or even ourselves. Like I stated before, he wants to make you think you can’t win. He wants to make you believe that you are never going to be righteous. You are never going to stop sinning or you are never going to get well. With these statements he aims at our hearts. And our hearts are said to be the seat of our emotions. Start believing you are righteous! Not because of anything you’ve done, but what Christ has done. It’s all through Him!
Next, we are to have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. I always think of this one in two ways. One, to always be prepared to spread the gospel of peace. Which is witnessing. The other, being prepared with the gospel of peace. When you have the peace of God, which passes all understanding, nothing is going to shake you! Satan’s tactics cannot get you upset.
Yet another clever device: The shield of faith. This will help us use our armor effectively. When we have faith that God’s word is truth, that we are righteous according to Christ, we become stronger. Satan’s darts become quenched. The devil will still try to whisper lies, but they’ll not take root in your life.
We’ve got our hearts covered, now lets protect our minds. Let’s put on our helmet of salvation. The helmet of salvation protects our minds in Christ. Satan aims at our hearts with lies, but the avenue he takes is through our minds. Put on that helmet, knowing that through Christ you are saved! Don’t let Satan tell you you’re not saved because of what you’ve done. Maybe he reminds you of your past. He may use areas of your life that you are working on now. No matter what, Christ is always ready to forgive us for the sin we’ve done. All things work together for good for those who love God. So matter what you’ve done, it will work together for your good. There’s a lesson to learn afterwards and sometimes even during a battle. We always come out of the battle, smarter and stronger. Tell that to the devil.
And last, but not least, our offense weapon: The Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. That’s right, the word of God is our sword and we should pick it up daily and swing away with scriptures stabbing Satan right in his old black heart! Remind him of the time he was so stupid that he thought he could overtake God’s throne and then got himself kicked out! Tell him of his permanent address, which is the Lake of Fire! Ask him, have you picked out any furniture lately?
Satan has no means of protection against the Word of God. Truth is truth, and he can’t handle the truth. That’s way he is so adamant to convince us to believe his lies. As a matter of fact all demons believe in God and tremble with fear. In one place in the Bible the demons even ask Jesus not to torment them before their time!
In conclusion: Satan and his demons are very busy, never forget that. And when they find a place to crash, they crash lives. But that doesn’t have to apply to your life. Read Ephesians Chapter 6 everyday and study each part of the armor until it gets into your spirit. Pray for wisdom on how to use them in your life and against Satan. It’s a vital part of living victoriously, as the armor of God will get you through this life and all the obstacles it has to offer.
Lets close with prayer: Father God, thank you for your forgiveness and mercy. Thank you for your wonderful word. Thank you for giving us a way to fight against Satan. And most of all thank you for the victory. Help me to grow in wisdom of your word and give me the knowledge to apply it to my every day life. In Christ’s name I pray. Amen.
And remember: If you get any letters in the mail from Satan trying to invite himself back into your life, just "Return to sender".
