“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation (I Peter 4:12-13, NAS).”

Satan, Divisive and United:

Definition of Divisive: tending to cause disagreement or hostility between people

Definition of United: joined together for a common purpose; mutual action

We have a very strategic foe, Satan, and his sole mission is to destroy mankind. This is his mission because God, through Jesus, removed Lucifer’s authority in the Earth and gave it to mankind. God loves us; therefore, Satan hates us as he always despises that which God loves. He hates us, not because we love God, but because God loves us. Furthermore mankind, unlike Lucifer, was created in God’s image.

Never forget the cunningness of Satan. Just look at the division and derision within the body of Christ with his divisiveness permeating through the spirit realm. He isn’t stupid and neither is he unaware of the natural or the supernatural. He was first in command next to God which means he was “in the know.” He is fully versed in the written Word because he stood by God Himself and in fact, he is, bar none, the greatest theologian because of such closeness with the Almighty.

We read in Ezekiel 28 that he was seated on the high mountain of God, he was in the Garden of Eden prior to Adam and Eve and he was full of wisdom. Wisdom does not elude the devil (corrupt though his wisdom may be) but indeed, he uses that wisdom against the foolishness of unsuspecting people. He destroys us because we are ignorant and vastly foolish. Most get a sliver of God and think they know how to overcome in this world with that tiny fragment of God’s Word. Our ignorance and, dare I say laziness, is our downfall.

This isn’t to insult anyone but to state as simply as possible what should be obvious to us all. Hosea 4:6 is well known as it states that God’s people perish for ignorance (lack of knowledge) and it is so because we have rejected (ignored, forsaken, forgotten, neglected) the law (will) of God. The majority aren’t clueless on purpose, but it’s because we haven’t been properly taught how to walk in His provision, Word or love. In our ignorance, Satan has a foothold into our lives even though we have, through Christ, been rescued from such a perverse generation. Once we recognize our error, we can correct our destruction and become the overcomers Christ has accommodated us to be.

Matthew 10:16 clearly instructs, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” Why does God instruct us in such a way? Serpents, or in other words, the serpent, Lucifer, has so much wisdom that if we don’t tap the wisdom from above on purpose, we are all as lambs who will be led into anything and everything. We must receive God’s wisdom through His Spirit which requires intimacy with Him day in and day out – no breaks in communion.

When we are praying without ceasing (constant communication with God), we are able to have His mind, wisdom, knowledge, and discernment downloaded into us without measure. In this, as we are led by such Spirit who is all wisdom and the epitome of innocence, we will by default become “wise as a serpent, innocent as doves.” It will no longer be something we must muster from within ourselves, but something that happens in and through us supernaturally by allowing Christ’s life to become our own. Yes, Satan is strategic, but he learned from the Master of strategy!

Never neglect the fact that Satan’s kingdom is undivided, a crucial element in success or defeat. Luke 11:18 makes this obvious when Jesus says, “If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.” The reason God’s people are falling prey to Satan’s tactics is because we, God’s Kingdom, are not united. Never do we read where Satan’s demons fight one another. They have a common goal and a common enemy and they’ll purpose to remain united until they see such victory.

When God’s body finally gets wise to the magnitude of the power of unity, we’ll begin to see a paradigm shift. Until then, we’ll continue down the path of defeat. If our enemy is strategic, so must we be and more so. The only way to become more strategic than our enemy is through the God of Heaven and Earth who has created all things, planned all things, knows all things, provided all things, finished all things.

Navigating the Black Holes of Life, chapter 2, part 1

To be released Fall 2016

Alexys V. Wolf

The Fiery Sword Ministries

www.thefierysword.com

803-238-5166