Discover Jesus’ Combat Style To Prevail Over Satan

The Pharisees were bitter critics of Jesus Christ; they used their religion as a camouflage to express their jealousy and rage against him. The Pharisees were not hesitant to stalk Jesus all day long and followed him on every turn to find an excuse to criticize and demean his ministry. The scripture reported some of Pharisees' actions,

“Now it happened on the second Sabbath after the first that He (Jesus) went through the grainfields. And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate them, rubbing them in their hands. And some of the Pharisees said to them, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” The scripture also reported, “Now it happened on another Sabbath, also, that He entered the synagogue and taught. And a man was there whose right hand was withered. So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him” (Luke 6:6-7) (Luke 6:1-2).

Lesson:

Satan loves to station his evil agents around godly people to frustrate their efforts. The enemies would focus on making attempts to derail believers from their pursuits of righteousness by castigating their works and throwing every available stone with the hope one might stick. Therefore to overcome the devil, believers must be spiritually sensitive (watchful) and prayerful, and they must be filled with the Holy Spirit also. However, believers must not forget Satan's intention is not to discourage them from serving God only, but his main motive is to kill, to steal, and to destroy their salvation (John 10:10). Hence, while we (believers) remain prayerful and watchful, we can follow Jesus' examples and appropriately react in all situations. For example, when Satan instigated fury in Pharisees to waylay Jesus;

• Jesus ignored the Pharisees – Believers should largely ignore their critics.

• Jesus remained persistent in doing God’s business –Believers should never stop doing God's will.

• Jesus always withdrew to a silent place to pray for strength's renewal after ministering –Believers must always refill and refresh their energy through prayers.

• Jesus changed locations to avoid enemies’ distractions –Believers should diversify in ministry to outsmart their enemies.

Prayer:

Dear God, please give me the strength to overcome Satan and live triumphantly on earth to the glorification of your holy name! Again, give me the strength to remain focus and pay no damn attention to the devil and his evil agents! Let your Holy Spirit empower me to remain immovable, and to keep faithfully serving you during opposition and challenges. Also, let your Holy Spirit empower me to be watchful and prayerful so that I can keep prospering in all my ministerial activities so that the light of your gospel can spread throughout the world. When my earthly race is eventually over, let me appear in your presence in heaven to hear "Weldon and welcome my servant to the joy of your Lord!" For I make my request in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.