Dear Christian single,
In case you forgot, the devil, along with the world system he influences and manipulates, hates you.
He will grasp at anything he can get his hands on to distract and destroy you: alluring but dangerous dating prospects, financial crises, rebellious children, disease, unprovoked conflicts on the job or at school, an accident. You may have it good right now, but he’s working to overthrow you.
The thief comes with the sole intention of stealing and killing and destroying, but I came to bring them life, and far more life than before. John 10:10 PHILLIPS
Do not love the world or anything that belongs to the world. If you love the world, you do not love the Father. Everything that belongs to the world—what the sinful self desires, what people see and want, and everything in this world that people are so proud of—none of this comes from the Father; it all comes from the world. The world and everything in it that people desire is passing away; but those who do the will of God live forever. 1 John 2:15–17 GNT
My single friend, in these scriptures we find the devil’s entire strategy. The tactics revealed in 1 John 2:15–17 worked in the Garden of Eden with Eve:
And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a pleasure for the eyes, and the tree was to be desired to give intelligence; and she took of its fruit, and ate, and gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Genesis 3:6 DARBY
“saw that the tree was good for fruit” = what the body wants; the lust of the flesh (emphasis mine)
“that it was a pleasure for the eyes” = what looked good and appealing; the lust of the eyes (emphasis mine)
“the tree was to be desired to give intelligence” = knowledge, abilities, achievements, and possessions which inflate the ego; the boastful pride of life (emphasis mine)
These tactics worked in the perfect environment with perfect humans who literally talked face to face with God. People still fall for the big three temptations. (Why would the devil change something that continues to work?) Click To TweetThese tactics worked in the perfect environment with perfect humans who literally talked face to face with God. People still fall for the big three temptations. (Why would he change something that continues to work? That would be a poor sales strategy!)
Let’s look at what the devil’s name even means before we address tactics aimed specifically at Christian singles.
The great dragon was thrown out, that ancient serpent, also known as the Devil and Satan [the Adversary], the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled down to the earth, and his angels were hurled down with him. Revelation 12:9 CJB
You are of your father, the devil, and it is your will to practice the lusts and gratify the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar [himself] and the father of lies and of all that is false. John 8:44 AMPC
The name devil means liar, slanderer, accuser, and defamer; https://biblehub.com/greek/1228.htm
More background info on the name Satan: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?t=kjv&strongs=g4566
The devil hates every human who ever existed because we were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26–27) and loved (John 3:16). He has a valid reason to hate you. Click To TweetThe devil hates every human who ever existed because we were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26–27) and loved (John 3:16). He has a valid reason to hate you.
Satan is a fallen angel (Isaiah 14:12–17 and Ezekiel 28:12–19). Angels were not made in the image of God. Though we were created “just a little lower than the angels (certain versions of Psalms 8:5; Hebrews 2:7),” in the future we will judge them (1 Corinthians 6:3).
So we know from scripture that our enemy is deceitful, manipulative, accusatory, murderous, powerful, and evil. However, know this: contrary to popular belief, he is NOT more powerful than God.
Many think of the devil as the opposite of God, like they’re circling each other in a heavenly boxing ring somewhere. That’s not true except in character.
God is pure truth, love, justice, mercy, and grace. The devil is pure falsehood, hateful, unjust, merciless, and condemning.
Satan is also a created spiritual being, not all-powerful or all-knowing. The disparity between them is infinite and laughable. There’s no contest between God and Satan at all.
And guess what? God is for us. Despite being marginalized by the church in general, He hasn’t forgotten us Christian singles. He loves us!
The Lord wants to keep all His promises to us. He wants to deliver His best to us. His desire for you and me, my single friend, is only good.
Now that we’ve established a basic understanding of who our enemy is, let’s talk about the actual strategies he tries to trick us with.
The enemy entices all that which is inside us with allurements that come at us from the outside. That’s all he does to make us stumble and fall. Click To TweetWe know the basic categories: the cravings of our flesh, the appeal to our eyes, and that which we can boast of. The enemy entices all that which is inside us with allurements that come at us from the outside. That’s all he does to make us stumble and fall.
What’s inside us? Our will, values, emotions, motives, thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions.
What’s outside of us? There’s demonic power. And there’s the world system:
- Madison Avenue (marketing),
- Hollywood (American film industry),
- Beverly Hills (the rich and the famous),
- Capitol Hill (U.S. Congress),
- the White House (executive branch of the US government)
- the Press (news media outlets),
- Silicon Valley (high-tech industry),
- Vegas (the gambling conglomerate),
- the Bar/Bench (justice system),
- Detroit (the automobile industry),
- social media and the Internet,
- the education system,
- business of all sorts,
- law enforcement, both local and federal;
- the fashion industry,
- the food industry,
- weather and geography,
- other nations that interact with ours,
- and the list is endless.
These are the fronts for the real enemy: the devil.
Though you’ll be tempted to react to people, they’re not the enemy. The real enemy is demonic (Ephesians 6:12). Next week we’re going to dismantle their strategies with truth and God’s power.
Meanwhile, read these scriptures: John 10:10; Ephesians 6:10–18; 1 John 3:8; and 4:4; James 4:7.
