Recognizing The Enemy's Work

Tonight, listen very carefully. I genuinely believe the Lord is going to help us understand when the enemy begins a special attack on us. Too many times we don't recognize it. We don't know what to look for. And when we don't recognize it, we're already in the middle of it. And usually by that time, we've made several mistakes. Several other people have been involved. And their consequences start to come. And yes, God has mercy when we wake up to it. And we humble ourselves. But how much better would it be if we understood and were able to recognize when the enemy has begun to seek to influence in a way to recognize what he's doing. There is a... And this has come from observing what several in our church have gone through recently. One of the things that the enemy seeks to do is suddenly direct your thoughts. Have you ever wondered how suddenly you just begin to think about something? It may have happened in the past. It may be three or four years back. It may have been last week. But suddenly... I mean, it's there all the time. Or it was there. But why do you suddenly begin to think about it? Or have you ever really stopped to think why? You're necessarily bothered by something? Most of the time, we're bothered by things that are there pretty common all the time. They're not that different. We live in the world. Days are not necessarily easy. And things don't work out perfectly all the time. But why, all of a sudden, does today seem worse? Why does this bother me now? Well, let's see if we can gain understanding into that. In the world of weather, a stable atmosphere is an atmosphere where the air is... There is an equal amount of high and low pressure. It's stable. There's an equilibrium. Equilibrium means there's equal force at work. But when severe weather happens, or rain or weather events happen, what has happened is the atmosphere has become unstable and has lost its equilibrium. And that's usually what creates a weather pattern. Now, as far as a stable or unstable atmosphere, in your mind, let's see if we can understand it. Looking at the sky, what would a stable atmosphere look like? What would you see? What do you think? Well, clear skies or... You're close. Or a layer of clouds that is very thin. This is not thick. There may be several layers. But the clouds have a limit. And so unstable air, when you look up, what are you going to see? What's going to happen? You're going to see clouds that are not thin. They're growing and growing and growing and growing and taller and taller. Meaning there's a lot of commotion and movement and flow going on that's invisible. Now, the visible part to you is what is creating with your clouds. And the thicker the clouds, the less you see the sun. The less you see the light. The sun hasn't gone anywhere. But the clouds bring a filter that you're no longer seeing the sun. How do we relate to that spiritually? And how do we recognize when the enemy is suddenly attacking us? Well, the Bible says that Satan is the accuser of the brethren. In the Greek it's kata agoras. It means he is against us in the open. Now, what would cause suddenly in our mind, in our spirit, an unsettling, a loss of spiritual equilibrium? We can't say it's going to be a day without difficulty because every day we live in the world, each of us face some difficulty with our body, with our job, with our family, with driving. There is something that is not necessarily easy or convenient. That's always there. But as long as we're rejoicing in the Lord and in conscience of all His goodness and a heart full of thanksgiving, there's two forces at work. There's equilibrium. There's stability. But what happens is suddenly the enemy can just direct your thoughts kind of away from the goodness of the Lord and all His blessings and all His mercies and suddenly you just find yourself thinking about those irritating things. Suddenly the clouds start to form. That person can always say that. You know, why does it always happen this way for me? And the thoughts just suddenly, there's not a balance anymore. You're not dwelling in the goodness of God and everything giving thanks because suddenly your focus is these things that bother you. And it's interesting. Sometimes when it involves relationships, suddenly you can actually start remembering things that happen. What caused that? What caused that? Was that your memory, really? Or was that spiritual warfare guiding your thoughts to dwell on something to turn your attention away from God's mercy and His goodness and thankfulness so you lose your spiritual equilibrium and suddenly it's just like, man, bummer. It's hard. Why are so many things wrong? And suddenly you find yourself down. The barometric pressure drops because you're not rejoicing in the Lord. Every single day there's troublesome things. And if you wanted to focus on them, you'll be troubled by them every day. So how does the enemy do this? He's called the accuser of the brethren. And Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4 that the God of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the good news of the glory of God. Now how would the God of this age remember He's the accuser of the brethren. How do you think He blinds the minds to prevent people from seeing the good news of God's glory? What do you think? This is where I've been meditating. And this is where I believe it will help us. It's suddenly the enemy helps you see everything that is so wrong. The police are bad. The streets are bad. The government is bad. The pastor is bad. The government is going to beat you back. I don't have a car. My rent went up. The doctor gave me a bad report. And suddenly, suddenly your equilibrium is off. Your barometric pressure is dropping. And your mind has just been guided away from God's goodness. The clouds inside are billowing up with the instability. And you're not rejoicing in the Lord always. You're not in everything giving thanks. You've lost perspective. He's blinded your mind by directing it on what's wrong. Without hope. Without faith. Without peace. And you lose peace. Why do you lose peace? Because you're looking at everything that's wrong. And how it's going to make it harder for you. And why does it always have to be that way? And why can't... And suddenly comes a negativity. A pessimism. Deep depression. Discouragement. Not because things are difficult. There's always difficult things. Every single day, we could focus on what's bad. Every single day, we could focus on what's difficult. What's causing the disturbance is your mind has been directed away from the goodness of God. See, this is why the scripture says, do everything without murmuring and complaining. That you may become blameless and pure children of God. Amen. You know, this... How... So how do you do this? When... Do you recognize the time when your thoughts start to be directed on what's wrong? First, that's what you need to think about then. What are you to do that first time that your thoughts about that person or that traffic situation or that news report or what that happened at church that day or what your wife didn't do or what your husband did or what your kids did. Whatever it is, what do you do when your thoughts start to go there? What does the scripture say to do in everything? Give thanks. So you see... You see what the scripture is trying to tell you? Keep your equilibrium. Equilibrium is two forces equal. You're not denying that this is difficult. Your husband did do that or your wife did do that. Your children are that way or your boss is that way. But is God still good? Is His grace still sufficient for you? Is He with you? Will He work it together for your good? You see? You see how to deal with it? You see. And this is what the scripture talks about in Isaiah when it says that God will keep in perfect peace someone. Who is the someone that God keeps in perfect peace? One whose mind or whose heart is stayed on Him. Wow. So if we know that the strategy of the enemy is to direct our focus on what is wrong is misdirection. And you see it doesn't have to be a lie. The reason we don't recognize the enemy's attack is we're looking for some kind of lie. He doesn't have to lie. He just has to point out things. That guy is a louse. Traffic is terrible. Some police are bad. Jobs are hard. People do have attitudes. That's not a lie. That's not a lie. He doesn't have to make it up. He just brings it out into the open so you will dwell on it. So you'll take your eyes off of His goodness and just think about this. And in the thought process about that He has deceived you. And you know how He's deceived you? Not by making up a lie. By taking your eyes off the Heavenly Father. Amen. That's how He's done it. The way that we address when we're finding out under attack. This is why the scripture says Resist the devil. Now what? Remember, what's his strategy? He wants you to focus on what is wrong. Okay, so here. I want you next time when you start to think about your thoughts learn to take a thought captive. And when you begin to dwell or be tempted to dwell on what's wrong Resist. How do you resist? The scripture doesn't stop there. Resist the devil. Draw near to God. Okay. You see what the answer is? What's his strategy? To get your eyes off of the goodness of God. His faithfulness. All the mercies that you're experiencing at every moment. The air he's giving you to breathe. The light you're seeing by. The gravitation of course that holds the earth stable. The environment. The atmosphere. Everything that is a daily mercy that is there making life possible. So you draw near to God. And when you draw near to God you come to Him with thanksgiving. And you remember that God is good. And this is what the scripture says. Without faith it's impossible to please God. Because those who come to Him must believe that He is and that He's a rewarder. But do you know what happens when the enemy has done his work on you and you've let it work on you? And he's gotten a hold of you? The church is not doing me right. The pastor doesn't care enough. I don't really know anyone who's living in victory. You just become real. Let's keep real. It doesn't work for me. I'm just not that sure anymore. Do you see what happens? You've been influenced. You have been influenced by the enemy. Because when you come to God in faith here's one thing you know. God is good. Amen. He welcomes us to come to Him. And He loves to share His goodness with us. And the prophets were told it's the people of Israel who were saying that the way of the Lord is hard. And the Lord told His prophets don't you say my way is hard. It's not my way that's hard. It's the way of the people that's hard. The way of the transgressor is hard. Jesus said my yoke is easy and my burden is light and you shall find rest under your souls. When you learn of Him, but when you're not learning of Him, you know what you're learning about? You're just learning how bad the people of the world really are. How bad the country really is. How bad the days ahead. How bad the economy is. How bad your financial situation is. How bad your health is. None of those things are lies, are they? If that's what you're dwelling on, without the equal force of God is good. God is with me. His grace is sufficient. His power is made perfect in my weakness. And God works all things together for good. Therefore I never complain. Never. In everything we give thanks. Everything. And this is the way we keep from being led astray to focus on all that's wrong. Amen. Even if it's true. It's not our focus. Because it's not up to, we can live in this wrong world. Remember we've been told if only for this life we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable. I really don't care what happens to this nation or what happens to the world if it gets more difficult. I just have to endure to the end because this is not home for me. If my body falls apart, okay, it's not the permanent one I'm going to live in. If I lose my house, I'm like, God, it's fine. I have a house in heaven eternal. I've got treasures that don't rust. I've got treasures that no one can steal. I don't need anything in this life to be a certain way for me to rejoice in the Lord. Every day. Can I give you an example from the scripture? Would you like to see one, an example of equilibrium? Where there's difficulty but met with faith and joy? Let me show you the Apostle Paul. If you want to turn with me to 2 Corinthians, okay? 2 Corinthians, chapter 6. Let's see. No, no. Is it 2 Corinthians or 1 Corinthians? Hold on. Let me find it real quick. I believe it is. I just have to find it. Yeah, there it is. 2 Corinthians, chapter 4. All right? 2 Corinthians, chapter 4. Let's start right at the beginning of the chapter. Back up to one verse in front. The last verse of chapter 3 is verse 18. 2 Corinthians 3, 18. But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as the Spirit of the Lord. Let me say that when you are clearly seeing the Lord's glory, your heart is going to be full of gratitude and worship and thanksgiving. And you know what it transforms you into? Stable, grateful, pure. People like Him. Content, at rest, like God is. Chapter 4. Therefore, since we have this ministry, we receive mercy. We do not lose heart. Now did Paul face difficulties? Let's see. Yet we renounce the hidden things of shame and not walking in craftiness or handling the word of God with deceit. But by manifestation of the truth, we commend ourselves to every man's content in the sight of God. And here's that verse even if our Gospels fail. It's failed to those who are perishing. God at this age has blinded the mind of those who don't believe. How has He blinded their minds? Remember again. I want you to understand this. How does Satan blind the minds of people? Why do people not come to God? Because God is not fair. God is not good. All the problems in the world. If God is good, why does this happen? You see what He's done? I've become a Christian, but I'm not going to become a Christian because the Christians are this or the church is this or I'll have to give up this. You see who's directing their mind? How does Satan blind the minds of people? Just cause them to see how bad things are. Causing them to look at the negative. Causing them to look at what's wrong. Instead of seeing the goodness and the glory of God, he blinds their minds by filling it with all awareness of what's wrong in the world, what's wrong in the church. Then he goes on in verse 5, We do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus is Lord in ourselves as your bond servants for Jesus' sake. For it is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give us the light and the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. And we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. See, there's equilibrium. What's the equilibrium there? I want you to help me see it. What's the equilibrium? Two forces, two forces in balance working together. What's the equilibrium there? Yes, we are common earthen vessels. We're weak. We're clay pots and we can crack easily. But there's incredible power inside these clay pots. See, it's not just we're weak. That's only half. The balance is God's incredible power is with us. That's stability. That's equilibrium, spiritual equilibrium right there. Verse 8, we're hard pressed on every side, but we're not crushed. You see, there's the bad. Do you think Paul's just going to go down the list, we're hard pressed, we're distressed, we're persecuted? No, no. No, no. We're hard pressed, but there's an incredible power in us. So we're not crushed. It's equilibrium. He's not denying it's difficult. He's a man of faith. And he knows God is preventing him from being crushed by the difficulty. He's perplexed. He admits it. There are things happening he can't explain. But he doesn't dwell only on that. He says we are not in despair. Why would he not be in despair? God's going to work it all together for good. This world is only so long. There's going to come a day when there's going to be no more sorrow, no more pain, no more tears, no more mourning. So no matter how difficult it is, how perplexing it is now, I'm not going to despair. That's balance. Equilibrium. Overcoming in the midst of difficulty. Not being led astray by the enemy by just focusing on what's wrong. Persecuted, but we're not forsaken. Yeah, people are after us. Some people can get after you. They can try to find your button and push it and misfeed you and do all that stuff. But God isn't forsaking you. God's with you. God's allowing him to do that. But he's with you. See, you see, he is not going to allow the enemy to just focus on the difficulties he's facing. Every single time, he meets the difficulty with God's faithfulness in his mind, in his heart. Struck down, but not destroyed. Always caring about the body, in the body, the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of the Lord Jesus may be manifested in our body. For we who are alive are always being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake. So that, always being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake. You'd think that would make him pretty pessimistic. Paul is always being given over to death so that the life of the Lord Jesus might be made manifest in his mind. It's just beautifully fixed in the Lord. It's just fixed in the Lord. He does not allow his mind and his heart to be taken off God's faithfulness or God's promises. So he doesn't get down in the dumps. He doesn't... There's another place I'll read to you earlier where he comes pretty close to that. So then death is at work in us, but life in you. Do you see how he's doing it? Let's look at the ones we're back in the same book, 2 Corinthians chapter 1. 2 Corinthians chapter 1. Starting with about verse 8, Paul says, we don't want you to be ignorant of the difficulties or the hardships we've suffered in the province of Asia. And he admits, here he says, we were under great pressure far beyond our ability to endure. Wow! So that we even despaired of life. And in our hearts, we felt the sentence of death. Now that's attack. He is facing some real difficulties. And yet, but he still doesn't lose it. He will not take his eyes off the Lord even then because he says, but this happens that we might not put our confidence in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. And he goes on to say, he goes on to say, this happened that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death and does deliver us, and in whom we trust that he will still deliver us. So he answers the very, very difficult trial, a real trial, with God delivers us and will deliver us, is delivering us, and will continue to deliver us. So he turns the most difficult moment he has into a moment of giving thanks and acknowledgement to God. So here's something simple so you can understand. How is he doing that? Is he waiting for the situation to change before he says that? How does he say, he has delivered us, he is delivering us, and he will still deliver us. How does he say that? Does he wait for the situation changes? And with a sigh of relief, finally, I thought it would never end. No. He says this by faith. This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. And that's why he says, with the same spirit of faith, which says, I believe therefore I spoke, we believe and therefore we speak. And by faith, my heavenly father is good to me and with me every moment of every day. Regardless of how difficult or wrong something else is. And if I do not lose sight of that, I will stay in spiritual equilibrium. By faith. Amen. And not let the enemy direct my thoughts away from the goodness of God. It's like an eclipse. You know what an eclipse is? It's when the moon passes in between the earth and the sun. What happens? It blocks the light out. The light becomes black. Listen. Satan wants to take things that are bad, things that are hard, things that are difficult, things that are perplexing, an eclipse. You're looking at the goodness of God. He just wants to block the goodness of God out of your mind. And when you forget the goodness of God and you start dwelling upon how bad things are, come on, what happens? In your heart, you get stirred up. That low pressure starts happening. The clouds start forming. And if they really get going, they get taller and taller and taller and taller. And the taller the cloud gets, usually the more severe the storm gets. They can get so tall that they can make these big ice balls and hurtle down and bust windows. Or lightning strikes or strong winds. And listen. Hasn't that happened to your emotions sometimes? You've so gone along with what the enemy's doing. He's got you so stirred up. The violent burst of wind comes right out of your mouth. A torrent of words. A lightning strike. I mean, it can happen faster than you even realize it. And we're all glad when those storms are over. But how much better would it be to learn not to let it happen? To never let an unwholesome word come out of your mouth. Never. Only what is good for building others up according to their needs. Only that which ministers grace. So that even when you see it, listen. Sometimes someone does something that is very painful or disturbing to us. You're not seeing it wrong. It is bad. Maybe they should know better. Or you can't figure out why they... But if you dwell on that without hope, without love, without grace, and without mercy, the only thing that's going to happen is a storm is going to build up in you towards that person. And given the right set of circumstances, lightning will strike. It just happens. This is why we need to guard our minds. This is what the scripture says. Be anxious for nothing. You know how we get anxious about something? We dwell on it, right? We dwell on it. Some of our finances are just not very secure. Some of us are okay in that area. But some of us, financially, we have no answers. We're in a constant state of, will we make it? If you dwell on that, you're going to be affected. If you're not able to support that with an equal force of, but my father knows my need, even before I ask. And if he cares so much for the sparrows, that he feeds them, is he not going to take care of me? You see? And so you do not be anxious for anything. When you have those situations that come to your mind, they come to your mind and you're thinking about them and you're concerned about it. It's not wrong to have a concern. It's wrong to have a concern and not take the concern to your father. What happens when you take the concern to your father? Be anxious for nothing, but in everything through prayer and supplication, present your request to God with thanksgiving. You can only do that by faith. See, that's whatever concern you have. When it's matched with, my father invites me to present all of my cares to him. And he's told me he loves me and he hears me and he will help me. And I can thank him that I don't have to deal with this on my own. When you do that, then what happens? What does he say happens? When you're not anxious for anything, but in everything through prayer and supplication, you present your request to him, what happens then? The peace of God that passes understanding. You don't understand how it's going to work out yet, but now you're thanking God because he's good and he's promised to be good and he's got this. What happens? His peace guards your heart and mine from simply dwelling on what's wrong. And now you remember. Because you come to him, you're looking to him, you're giving thanks to him. And the enemy's not blinded your mind by just simply focusing your attention and your thoughts on everything that's wrong. So life is good because God is good and he's with me. And he doesn't let anything happen to me that he doesn't work together for my good. It doesn't say he doesn't make things difficult. He just makes difficult beneficial. He doesn't say he keeps me from things that have pain. Things cause me pain. He just makes the pain beneficial. He lets me be trying with very difficult things. He lets me feel weak. Paul said it was actually good to feel weak. Remember? Remember when Paul was being buffeted by a messenger of Satan? Tormented, he said. And in his mind, it was difficult to deal with. So his first thought was turn to God. He still turned to God. Remember what he asked the Lord? Please take it away. Because in his mind, it was better. He would do better if he wasn't constantly fighting this nagging spirit that just constantly bombarding me. A messenger of Satan to buffet me is what he said. That was his sword in the flesh, what he called it. A messenger of Satan constantly pounding him. And you remember what the Heavenly Father said? My grace is sufficient. Yeah. No. I'm allowing this, Paul. Because when you feel strong, you're like a bull in a china shop. And you're a wrecking ball. And you're not sensitive. And you're in danger of doing things on your own. And not waiting upon me. And not looking to me. And not being led by my spirit. So I want you to feel weak. And I had sent this for you to feel weak. And Paul got it. And then he said, Therefore, all the more I will now glory or boast in the things that make me weak. Because when I'm weak, then I'm strong. Because I'm leaning on the everlasting arms. I'm not leaning on my own understanding. And so, this is why to forget or be diverted away, to let the enemy divert your thoughts away from how God is your Father and how He loves you and He wants to work all things together towards good. You're not going to see the difficulty and the hardships and the painful things and the trying things as things He's using and working with and allowing. And if you lose sight of that, it just becomes nobody knows the trouble I'm seeing. Hee haw, all over again. Gloom, despair, and agony on me. Deep, dark depression, excessive misery. If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all. You know, that's... And, you know, you know what's amazing is how corny that was and millions and millions of people could relate to that. Because that's how they felt. And we're told, never. Never live that way. Never do everything without murmuring and complaining. And take what? Murmuring and complaining, the only thing that is, is that's the language of your focus. When your focus is about everything that's wrong, you're going to murmur about it and you're going to complain about it. But when you look to your Heavenly Father, it says, they looked to Him and they were lightened. And I think it's Psalm 73. Don't hold me to it. It may not be. It's in the 70s. But David said this, When I considered the prosperity of the wicked, how they had it seem to have it easy, it vexed me. And he said, my soul became like a brute beast within me. It was so vexed. Because he found his place where he was dwelling upon how good the people that don't serve God have it. And it bothered him. And then he says this, until I entered the sanctuary of God. Then I understood their final end. See, their joy is just temporary. They're going to stand before God and what does it profit a man to gain the whole world? And the forefront looks up over the sun. And we have a hope and a promise that God, even if we lose everything in this world, we'll be rich. Paul was able to say this, is possessing nothing, yet having everything. Being poor, making many rich. This is the heart of Paul. Because he didn't allow the enemy to divert his attention, to blind his mind, so he couldn't see God's goodness by focusing all of his attention on what's wrong. This is why some of us don't recognize it's the attack. Because what you're seeing is real. It is bad. It is hard. It is wrong. It's not a lie. The lie in it, the deceit in it, is your eyes have been taken off the goodness of God and you're not responding to the difficulty by immediately turning to the Father in your heart. And that's where you've been deceived. This is what the writer of Hebrews warned about. Beware that they're developing you. None of you, this evil heart of unbelief. The evil heart of unbelief. The heart of unbelief. What is unbelief? The way of the Lord's heart. I don't know. It doesn't work for me. I've tried it. I have prayed. I've tried reading the Bible. I just don't know anybody who walks in that kind of victory. All these supposedly real thoughts, they're all lies. They're all lies. It doesn't have to be a majority. Just a single Job here and there. A Samuel. A David. A Mary. A Noah. An Abraham. They never were in the majority. But I'll tell you what, everyone who believed in God and walked with God had a blessed life. And everyone who will believe in God and will walk with Him will have a blessed life. I didn't say a life without pain. I didn't say a life without difficulty. Just a blessed life. Why is it blessed? Because God is a blessing. And God will be with you. God will make all things work together for the good. And when that's in your heart, it doesn't become evil with unbelief. Because the evil heart of unbelief leads to this, what we see in so much in the world today. And sadly, in those who once walked with the Lord in the church and don't anymore. Pessimism. Negative. Cynical. Skeptical. They don't believe anyone really lives in victory. They don't really think it is possible to experience the abundance of life in Christ. And they just think they're being real. It's not real. It's just their eyes are not on the goodness and the reality of God. So do you have it? I just want to make sure you understand it. How do you recognize it? Let's go back to one of the first questions. When you look up at the sky, how can you tell if the atmosphere is unstable? Clouds. And the thicker the clouds, the more unstable the atmosphere. A lot going on. So stable atmosphere. There may be some clouds. But you're going to still see. They don't block the light of the sun. They're just beautiful to look at. Just there. And for us, what causes clouds? What does the enemy do to try to cloud our mind, block our vision from the goodness of God? What does he try to get us to do? Just focus on what's wrong. Focus on the negative. Just direct your thoughts to all that is bad without consciousness of the goodness of our Father. With us every moment, every step of the way, every difficulty we face. His grace is sufficient for us. Amen. And therefore in everything, in everything we do this. We give thanks. We look to him. We're not anxious, grinning. In everything we do, prayer and supplication, we present our request to God with thanksgiving. And then the peace of God that passes understanding guards our hearts and minds. Stable. Stable. That's it.