HH, Sir Godfrey Gregg D.Div

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:⁹ Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” (1 Peter 5:8-9)

All around us every day is a spiritual realm we can’t fully see. Sometimes I wonder that if we could, maybe we’d choose to live our lives very differently. We might be more aware, in tune, alert to the battles surrounding us and to the evil seeking to take control. This is a very good time to reflect on how we have lived and with continued life we can make the changes that God requires of us.

How Satan Works to Destroy Your Faith:
The enemy’s schemes are ruthless and cunning. The Bible reminds us that his main aim is to steal, kill, and destroy. If you’re a child of the living King, don’t ever believe for a second that the enemy hasn’t planned your demise. He will do everything he can to bring every believer down. That’s his goal, and he will stop at nothing to accomplish it. I believe that the enemy’s greatest weapon against the believer is to distract by not praying. He knows when the believer gets on his or her knees to pray he trembles. Hallelujah

“In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
“Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (John 8:44)
“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3)

Take Heart – Satan Will Not Win, he never won a battle against God and His anointing
Yet as we know from God’s Word, Satan is not in full control. He’d want you to believe that he is. He will lie and lure and even try to deceive you by masking himself as an angel of light or twisting God’s truth. But the Bible is clear. He’s not to be trusted or believed. Not ever. I want to remind you about Job when he asked God to remove the fence around the manservant to make Jobe curse the Lord. Well, not Job, he was persuaded like Paul that nothing was going to separate him from the love of God. Hallelujah

God’s given us everything we need to resist and defeat the enemy’s plots and schemes. The Bible never instructs us to fight the devil in our own strength, or to be afraid of him and his attacks. But it does tell us how to live strong and alert, knowing that God is the One who holds us secure.

How to Resist and Defeat Satan’s Schemes –I my opinion there are 8 Things to Know:

1. Resist Satan by Submitting to God
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)

Though the enemy’s power is never a match for God’s strength and might, he is very deceptive and dark. God knows how much we need His miraculous covering of power and protection in our lives. So, He’s given us special instructions to know how to stand strong against the enemy’s attacks.

First, He tells us to “submit to God” and come under His authority, for it’s the only way we can discern the ruthless schemes of evil. We need to stay close to God and within the covering of His protection and care.

Then, reminding us to stand firm in our faith, He tells us to “resist” the devil and that the enemy will have to run. That’s how powerful He is within us. That’s how incredible His truth and light are, shining through us. By God’s power and the enemy will run! We don’t have to run after him to fight him. We don’t have to battle in our own strength.

We must simply live a life of submission to God’s authority and continually resist his attacks and lies. This can be achieved in fasting and prayer and I want to thank all those that joined me in the annual 21 days of fasting and prayer. This period was not to pray against the Coronavirus to gain strength in our daily walk with God.

2. Protect Yourself with the Sword of the Spirit and the Armor of God
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.¹¹ Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.¹² For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:10-12)

One way to resist the enemy’s attacks is to continually fill our minds with God’s truth and to prepare our lives for battle every day. He arms us with the sword, the Word of God, to stand against Satan’s lies. It is the only offensive weapon we have and is powerful enough to crush the devil’s schemes and silence his accusing attacks.

God also reminds us to put on the “full armour,” to stay prepared for the fight every day. Every piece is important and necessary. Just as a soldier would never go out to the battlefield unprepared, we should never choose to live so carelessly. We’re a moving target if we live that way. Studying God’s Word and knowing His truth will give us wisdom and discernment to quickly notice when spiritual forces are in play. The more we know what is real, and what His word says, the more we understand what is false or a trap. And we are stronger to stand against the lies and schemes in the powerful Name of Jesus.

3. Fight the Enemy’s Temptations through the Power of Prayer
“Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.¹⁹ Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:18-19)

Never underestimate the power of our prayers. Praying God’s words back to Him, is a strong and mighty weapon against the forces of evil. It is truth and light going out, piercing holes in the darkness.

It reminds us that God is in control and that He knows our way and understands what we face today.
It builds our faith and our trust in Him. It guards our hearts and focuses our minds back on Him.
It wins the battle.
Prayer + God’s Word = Power

Pray in the Name of Jesus. His Name holds power over the dark spiritual forces we face. If all the words you can find to speak in a troubling scenario is, “Lord Jesus, help me!” you have come to the One who is able, more than any other, to save. So, in this time that we are living in with the scourge of a plague (Coronavirus), we need to stay focus and connected to your heavenly Father.

4. Resist him by being Self-Controlled and Alert
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:⁹ Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” (1 Peter 5:8-9)

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” (Romans 8:37)

The Bible is clear. We must stay close to God’s presence so that the fruits of His Spirit are evident in our lives.

• It reminds us to live self-controlled
• To be aware and alert.
• Don’t be caught off guard.

Though life goes on around us, and we may forget about the ruthless schemes of the enemy, every single day is truly a spiritual battle. The devil never takes a day off. He’s waiting for you to lose focus. He’s planning his attack at your weakest moment. Be ruthless with sin, which is an open door for the enemy to work. Resist him and he has to flee. May I remind you that the enemy uses some that are very close to us to distract us from the vision in the word of God.

5. Fight Back with the Spirit of God
“Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6)

“ Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” (Romans 8:37)

In and of ourselves, we are never a match for the battles we face. It’s only by the fresh filling of God’s Holy Spirit living in us, and through every single day, that we’re able to live strong and free. God equips us with His power, wisdom, and discernment through His own Spirit to stay strong in the battle.

He invites us to daily spend time in His Presence, through prayer and worship, pressing in to know Him more. The same Spirit that healed the sick, set the captives free, split the sea, and raised the dead, is alive today. And He lives in us, every believer.

Believe in His ability to work mightily through you, for His power is never based on us, or on our own abilities. He reminds us that because of Him, in our weakness, we are strong. And we are more than conquerors through Christ.

6. Know You Are a Conqueror Through the Blood Of Jesus, His Authority, And the Word of Our Testimony
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” (Revelation 12:11)

“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57)

Know that in Christ:

• We are forgiven.
• We are set free.
• We have His mighty power working within us.
• We are more than conquerors through Christ.
• We are overcomers in this life because He has overcome, and our lives are hidden in Christ with God.
• No enemy or obstacle can touch our souls. When we have been set free by the blood of Christ and the power of His sacrifice by death on the Cross:
• We have a new identity in Him.
• We’ve been bought with a price – we are not our own.
• We are covered by the grace and forgiveness of Jesus.
• We live victoriously, and no demon or darkness can ever separate us from the love of God which is in Christ our Lord.
• There is power in the Name of Jesus.

7. Make the Enemy Flee through the Power of Praise
“And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.” (2 Chronicles 20:22)

“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.²⁶ And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.” (Acts 16:25-26)

Praise and worship will make the enemy flee. It pushes back the darkness that surrounds. It blocks the attacks and breaks off the chains. Evil will not stick around if we’re praising our God, who will fight our battles for us. In the powerful story of Jehoshaphat, we see God miraculously defeat the enemy because of the people’s obedience to praise Him.

Praise and worship will pave the way for God’s power to be displayed and for miracles to happen. God shakes things up through praise. As Paul and Silas sat in prison, shackled and chained, they kept right on praising God. And God sent an earthquake that shook the cells and broke the chains. The jailer and all his entire family came to know Christ that very night, out of darkness into the Light.

8. Trust God’s Power and Protection
“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.² I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.³ Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.⁴ He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” (Psalm 91:1-4)

“For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” (Psalm 91:11)

God never leaves us to fend for ourselves in a dark world, but reminds us He is constantly with us, fighting for us, even when we can’t fully see. We can trust that God is always at work on behalf of His children. He sends His angels to protect and guard, though we may be unaware.

There have been countless stories through the history of how believers were saved out of dangerous situations because of angels. As accounts unfold in these stories, there are often reports, such as large men, heavenly beings, seen by some, unseen by others, who guard or stand alongside the one under potential attack.

You Are Not Alone
If you find yourself facing a spiritual battle today, please know you’re not alone, neither are you left to fight alone. Many of us are right there in the battle with you through prayer, and God is the One who fights on behalf of His own, constantly shielding, protecting, strengthening, even when we’re unaware.

We never have to walk in fear. For when we belong to Christ, the enemy never has the final word. We are secure in God’s hands, and He assures us over and over in His word that He is with us.

Remember, our battle today may be more about what is unseen than what we see before us. Press on, courageous and free, never held back by fear or defeat. When we resist the devil, God’s word says he has to flee. Stand strong my friends, fellow readers, brothers and sisters. God has the final victory over our lives. And through every struggle, obstacle, or battle we may face in this life, He is producing within us greater strength, perseverance, wisdom, and might. He promises to use this difficult season for good. The enemy will be silenced, his plans crushed, and God will receive the glory for the great things He has done.

May we continue through prayer and fasting through the days ahead and until He comes. Prayer is the foundation of our survival in these times and throughout our lives. HAPPY EASTER TO ALL