"An angel...seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him..." Revelation 20:1-2

Angels have been doing battle with the enemy since he was one of them. While the fighting has often been fierce, and at times their work has been delayed as a result, in the end, angels will be absolutely victorious! As you and I engage the enemy, we need to remember that the battle begins with our victory assured.

When was the last time you were aware you battled the enemy? It's frightening to realize we may be aware of his attack in one area, while oblivious and therefore vulnerable to his attack in another area. He can be very subtle, hitting us several places at the same time. And he is no gentleman. He punches "below the belt" and has no qualms about kicking us when we are down.

This past fall, while struggling against his attack on my early morning quiet time (evidenced in abnormal sleepiness and illness), I also became aware of his attack on the mechanical things in my home (the hot water heater boiling over, water pipes bursting in the ceiling of our living room, gutters crashing down, shower head falling off--within a week's time). His attacks were not life-threatening, but they had the potential to be life-defeating through aggravation and distraction. In the midst of organizing clean up and repairs, I was confronted with friction between family members as well as problems with our ministry staff. When I looked at my fall schedule, I knew I had fallen for his temptation to add just one more T.V. interview, just one more article, just one more meeting until I was so overloaded in ministry I was beyond my capacity to cope. And daily there was the temptation to become so irritated that I would lose my temper, so worried that I would lose my faith, so sleepy that I would lose my concentration in prayer and study.

How do we battle the enemy so that we overcome him, not just somehow, but triumphantly? The example of victory over the enemy has been set by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Immediately following the spiritual and emotional blessing our Lord received at His baptism when His Father leaned out of heaven and said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased", "the Spirit led Jesus into the desert to be tempted by the devil". In order to overcome the enemy, we need to heed the warnings implied by our Lord's experience.

The warning about the timing of Satan's attack in Matthew 4 is that often, after the benediction, comes the battle. For the first time since Jesus had left His Father's side, He heard His Father's audible voice! His Father had publicly owned Him as His beloved Son. As a human being, in His flesh, it must have been the most thrilling moment of His life on earth up until that point!

What incredible blessing has God given you? Whether it involves your ministry, your family, your career, your position, your reputation, or your personal walk with God, watch out! Very often following a tremendous blessing, there comes a confrontation with the enemy, Mark tells us that following the Father's public praise of His Son, "at once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan." Satan times his attack when we are off guard--when we are perhaps relaxing in a victory achieved, or an honor received, or an effort rewarded, or a blessing enjoyed.

But there is also a warning conveyed in the place of the attack. Satan attacked in the desert, a place of quietness where Jesus sought to be alone with His Father in order to receive wisdom for the days to come. It was in the desert that the battle commenced! You and I need to draw aside each day for a time of quiet prayer and reflection that we might hear God's voice, discern His will for the details of our daily life, receive His wisdom, sharpen our focus, and be strengthened in our love relationship with the Father. But be warned! Our daily quiet times can become a battlefield!

How are your daily quiet times? Has simply making the time for prayer each day become a struggle? Have you struggled with keeping your concentration or staying awake once you finally get into your prayer time? Have you struggled with maintaining consistency? Your prayer life can become the biggest fight of your life as you engage the enemy in warfare on your knees.

The warfare can be a lightning attack, or a day after day siege. Because the Bible tells us "after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him...", we assume that Jesus was only tempted after forty days and forty nights of fasting when He would be in a physically weakened condition. Yet Luke records that Jesus was tempted by the devil for the entire forty day and night period. We are just given the climactic details at the end. How difficult it would be to continually resist temptation for forty days and forty nights, then when spiritually, emotionally, and physically drained, be confronted with the strongest, most subtle, most dangerous temptations of all.

It has been said that "the Lord Jesus flung the temptations from Him, like powerful waves are flung back from the immovable rock upon which they have dashed themselves". (Miss A. Wetherell Johnson, Bible Study Fellowship lesson notes, Matthew, Lesson 6, page 3) How did He overcome? His example gives us three basic keys to victory over the enemy.

The first key is to victory is to remain in the will of God. Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where He was tempted by the devil. The Bible leaves no room for doubt--Jesus was in God's will when He was severely attacked by the enemy. Does that surprise you? Did you think that if you were secure in God's will, you would be safe from the enemy? That you would be protected from his onslaught? Have you ever struggled to carry out what you thought was God's will, thinking, "if it's this hard, it can't be God's will," and therefore quit? Satan attacks those in God's will. And it is very important to remain in God's will- before during, and after the attack if you want to overcome it. Because when you and I are in God's will, we are protected from the full brunt of the attack.

The most powerful attack ever unleashed by the enemy on anyone was unleashed by Satan on Jesus at the cross. The Cross was a demonstration of the enemy's power at its peak--it was the absolute worst the enemy could do. yet Jesus, the night He was betrayed, knowing full well what the enemy would do, took the cup that represented His own blood shed as a result of the enemy's attack, and gave thanks. Later that same evening He told His disciples who were resisting the soldiers arresting Him, "Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?" Jesus was so secure in His Father' will, that He took the attack from His Father's hand.

Jesus knew that although Satan seemed to be in control of the events and circumstances as he attacked, he was actually an instrument in God's hand, being used to accomplish God's greater sovereign will and purpose. As Jesus remained in His Father's will, He overcame in such a way that God was magnificently glorified.

Because if the Cross represents the demonstration of the enemy's power at its peak, it also represents the demonstration of God's love at its most glorious. And the Cross preceeded the demonstration of God's power at its greatest when God "raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come."

If we want to overcome the enemy triumphantly, we must not go one step out of our way to confront him, nor go one step out of our way to avoid him. We must remain steadfastly in God's will, accepting what comes as from His hand, for His glory and our own good.

The second key, in order to overcome the enemy's attack, is to resist the enemy in God's way. When led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Jesus fasted forty days and nights. Fasting means going without anything and everything in order to seek God, acknowledging our total dependency upon God., Jesus never acted on His own initiative as a human being--He maintained a total dependency upon His Father for everything He said and did. His attitude was reflected in His fasting.

When do you fast in order to seek the Lord in prayer? When do you make the time to go without the telephone, without the car, without your appointments, without your shopping, without your house or yard work, without your friends, without your TV, without your exercise or eating or entertainment--and make the time to get alone with the Lord in prayer? In Matthew 6:15, Jesus said, "when you fast," not "if you fast." Fasting is not an option if you and I want to live a life that triumphs over the enemy.

How have you been resisting the enemy? With your own common sense and determination? Paul said, "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does." The weapons we fight with are not the weapon "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ". As Jesus battled the enemy in the desert, His prayerful fasting exhibited a dependency upon God that enabled Him to bring every thought into captivity, releasing a power to demolish all of Satan's arguments and pretense that set itself up against the knowledge of God.

The third key to victory in warfare with the enemy is to be in the Word of God. Each time Jesus was attacked in Matthew 4, He countered with "... It is written...It is also written. . .For it is written. The Word of God is called the Sword of the Spirit because it is our primary offensive weapon. On the day when Jesus returns, asserting His right to rule and reign on earth, He will defeat the enemy, overcoming all those in rebellion against Him, with the Sword which comes from His mouth. If Jesus uses the Sword as a necessary weapon to defeat the enemy, why would you and I think we could do without it?

Where is your sword? Is it ready on your mind? in your heart? on your lips? Or is it tucked away as a dusty relic of Sunday School, an outdated manual for living that has been surpassed by modern psychology, public opinion, and scientific discoveries? What shape is your sword in? Is it polished from daily reading and study, sharpened on the anvil of your experience as you have applied and obeyed its truths in your life? Or Is it rusty from lack of thoughtful meditation and dulled by disobedience? If Satan can get us to put down our sword through our disregard or disobedience or denial or doubt or dilution of it, he will have us in a very vulnerable position. and we will be easily defeated.

Our Lord Jesus Christ gripped His sword and effectively countered every thrust of the enemy, victoriously defeating him in the desert. Following His example, empowered by His Spirit, we can win the war! Praise God! "The one who is in you, is greater than the one who is in the world." We are promised the victory in Jesus Christ!

Therefore, while heeding His warning and engaging in warfare with the enemy, would you join with this AnGeL in a victory celebration of praise?

In His Joy,

Anne Graham Lotz