Posted on 09/22/2017 5:04:50 AM PDT by Gamecock
It is the nature of Satan to be deceptive. Scripture says he has been a liar from the beginning. His first appearance in Scripture comes under the guise of a serpent. The credentials of this malevolent creature are announced in his introduction: “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made” (Gen. 3:1).
These words fall as a sudden intrusion into an otherwise glorious account of God’s majestic work of creation. With the words “Now the serpent,” the whole atmosphere of the biblical record changes dramatically. A sudden and ominous sense of foreboding enters the narrative. An uninspired author of Genesis 3 may have introduced the record of the fall by saying, “It was a dark and stormy day.” But such hackneyed prose would have failed to yield the foreboding dread contained in the words “Now the serpent was more cunning.”
Cunning. Craftiness. Subtlety. Guile. These are the descriptive qualifiers that paint the biblical portrait of Satan.
Coram Deo
Cunning. Crafty. Subtle. Full of guile. How has Satan used these attributes against you in the realm of personal temptation?
Passages for Further Study
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
2 Corinthians 2:11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.
Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
Ping!
Friday Hymn Sing
Come Thou Long Expected Jesus
Charles Wesley
1. Come Thou long-expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
Hope of all the saints Thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.
2. Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.
Frank Peretti wrote two fascinating books (Christian fiction), "This Present Darkness" with a sequel "Piercing the Darkness" that bring to life the way that Satan so often controls events. I'm not suggesting in any way that these books be used as manuals on dealing with spiritual warfare, for only the Bible is sufficient for that, however these two books did impress upon me the reality of spiritual warfare happening not only in heaven but right here on earth, which incouraged me to seek out more teaching from God's word on how to deal with it.
The biggest spiritual struggles I have are when things aren’t going well and I begin to question the spiritual reality as revealed in God’s word.
Just reading this it hit me that the enemy is STILL getting mileage out of *Hath God really said.....?*
Even with us believers. Who KNOW better.
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