You will never fully eliminate the devil’s temptation from your life. No matter how mature you may become spiritually, he still has access to you.

The devil does not give up stalking you, especially if you are a Christian. God’s Word tells us, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

The devil is like a wild animal, always stalking its prey, always seeking to strike paralyzing fear into that victim with a loud roar.

It is not in the devil’s will to stop stalking us.

It is not in the devil’s will to stop roaring at us in an effort to instill fear in us.

The only people who don’t find themselves under satanic attack are those who are so totally controlled by the devil that they no longer feel guilt or have any conviction about a temptation.

NO IMMUNITY

There will never be a point at which you cease to be attacked. There is no plateau of spiritual maturity that keeps you immune from temptations.

Satan did not leave Jesus after he tempted Him in the wilderness. He showed up again in Nazareth, attempting to entice those who knew Jesus from His childhood to throw Him over the edge of a cliff when they took offense at what Jesus preached and taught. (See Luke 4:16–30.)

Satan showed up again in the body of a man filled with a “legion” of demons on the east bank of the Sea of Galilee (Mark 5:9).

Satan showed up in the public attacks that came again and again to assault Jesus’ credibility and authority.

Satan showed up in the Garden of Gethsemane, the court of Herod, and the judgment hall of Pilate.

Satan was persistent in his attempts to get Jesus off track. Even though he failed to get Jesus to bow down to him, Satan attempted again and again to get Jesus just one degree off course—to stray just a little from God’s purpose for Him.

Satan was always present, seeking any way he could to undermine what Jesus said or to thwart what Jesus did. His ultimate goal was to entice Jesus to say no to the Cross. He never gave up on that goal—he was focused on it until the moment that Jesus declared, “It is finished,” and died on the cross. Satan might have thought that he had succeeded in ending the life and ministry of Jesus at that point, only to know with shattering certainty that his fate was fully sealed the instant Jesus rose from the grave.

Satan knows that once you have accepted Jesus as your Savior, you are sealed by the Holy Spirit as God’s child forever. There’s nothing he can do to rob you of your eternal home in heaven. You are secure in the work that the Holy Spirit has accomplished in your eternal spirit.

Satan also knows that there is nothing he can do to remove the Holy Spirit from your life once you have accepted Jesus. He cannot separate you from God’s loving presence. As Paul wrote to the Romans: “Neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38–39).

I often hear Christians pray to invite God’s Spirit to join them. The truth is, we don’t need to invite the Lord to come into our presence. We are always in His presence! We are never apart from Him.

So why doesn’t the devil just give up on you if you are eternally secure in Christ Jesus?

His goal is to keep you from winning souls, from using your spiritual gifts to bless the body of Christ, and from doing God’s work—all of which can result in diminishing your reward in heaven. Satan continues to come after you to undermine what you say and do so that your influence for Christ on this earth will be weakened or ineffective. It is for that reason that he continues to seek every way possible to discourage you, cause you to live in depression and oppression, make your life miserable and less fulfilling, fill your mind with doubts, and assault you with all manner of sickness, tragedy, and crises.

Charles F. Stanley, When the Enemy Strikes: The Keys to Winning Your Spiritual Battles (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004), 1–2.

We have just released a new Bible Study based on the book: When The Enemy Strikes, by Charles Stanley

These lessons are available on Amazon, as well as a part of my Good Questions Have Groups Talking Subscription Service. Like Netflix for Bible Lessons, one low subscription gives you access to all our lessons–thousands of them. For a medium-sized church, lessons are as little as $10 per teacher per year.

 

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