Power Over Satan
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
1 John 4:4
We have the Holy Spirit living in us and the Father and the Son make their home with us, and we have the power of God in us to overcome Satan’s temptations and attacks. Jesus replied, Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. (John 14:23) The Father protects us from the evil one, and we will not be tempted beyond what we can bear; and when we are tempted, remember we have the power of God to make Satan flee.
The biggest battle we face is overcoming our sinful nature. Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:14-15) Our struggle is against our own sinful desires, often triggered by our emotions and feelings. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 8:6) When our mind is governed by the flesh it will lead to sin, then when temptation occurs, we must kill our sinful will with the power God through the Spirit, who will lead us to and escape.
Just as the military has a plan, we must have a plan to fight off temptation with the power of God. Unlike the military we can always have victory in Christ, we just need to be a spiritual warrior with attitude of victory, victory over our emotions and our justifications. Victory comes when our minds and emotions are governed by the Spirit, independent of our desire and emotions. When we master our sinful desire and emotions, we are powerful spiritual warriors for the Lord.
The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace. (Exodus 14:14) When we are tempted, we go immediately to the Lord, and with scriptures. We slow down and think as we talk to the Lord, otherwise we might jump immediately into the sinful behavior. Like a good soldier for Christ, we must workout a battle plan because we are in spiritual war, with eternal consequences.
Today know you have power over Satan, but make sure you have the Lord’s power over any sinful habits. Prepare a battle plan and execute the plan when sin attacks. You may have to modify the plan to make it most effective.
Prayer: Lord guide me to always have your power for all temptations, and help me to always know that through Christ, I can always have victory. In Jesus name, Amen