Who is the Enemy?

Yesterday, I wrote about forgiveness - the forgiveness God gives us, the believer, and the forgiveness we give others.

One important thing to remember is that God will freely forgive us when we repent.  1 John 1:9 tells us so. BUT if we are in a lifestyle of sinning, whispering a quick God-forgive-me prayer and then going right back into sin, we need to re-examine our salvation experience.  Did we truly repent?  Are we truly sorry?  It might mean we need some prolonged time at the feet of Jesus until we get the victory.

Grace does abound, but sin should not!

The other point I wanted to cover today is in relation to forgiving others.  Remember, who the enemy is.  The Word tells us our enemy is not flesh and blood but spiritual powers.  

There is a force of good and evil.  God is the force for good, and He will win.  Make no mistake about that!  But don't forget there is a force for evil and he is trying his dead-level best to trip you up.

What better way to trip up a believer than to influence loved ones and friends to hurt you?  Talk about discouragement and temptation to give up! If he can use the influence of a trusted Christian leader, double score.  He can bring down a whole church if he is able to get leadership to fail.

This is the reason it is so important to pray daily for our loved ones, friends, and church family.  The Word says satan is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.  "May" is the crucial word, my friend.  Satan cannot overcome us unless we let him, but we must be vigilant.

For the next few days, I will be writing on the subject of spiritual warfare.  Join me, won't you?


Scriptures for further study:

• 1 John 1:9
• Romans 5:19-21
• Romans 6:1-3
• 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
• 1 Peter 5:8
• Ephesians 6:18

*Look, I made it easy for you.  Just click on each link!
 

This post is Day 16 of my series, 31 Basics for Believers.  You can find all the posts here.

I'm linking my series to a whole passel of bloggers who are blogging on one subject for 31 days.  There are topics for everyone!  If you like to join in, visit the Nester at her blog, Nesting Place.