Our Enemy

Let's get one thing straight. We never "play nice" with the devil. Playing nice implies there is mutual respect between us and him. Um. No. I'm afraid not. This is a war, not a football game, ladies and gentlemen. The devil comes only to steal, kill and destroy you. He doesn't show up at your door to sit down for a cup of tea and chat...well without an agenda to rape you of everything. He may act like he's playing nice, but don't be fooled by the wolf in sheep's clothing! 

If he does show up at your door, don't even allow him an INCH! Push back on that door like your life depends on it! We don't comply, even for a moment, with the enemy. We don't play his game or by his rules. He is NOT our master, NOT our friend, and he will never have our best interest in mind! Period. The End.

But we must separate our war with him with our relationship to people. Though the devil will use humans as hosts to do his bidding, people are not demons. And we must be very careful not to demonize people -- people that Jesus died for, people that Jesus deeply loves. Now, this is not to say that these same people that make agreements with the devil will not reap what they sow or live out the consequences of their actions if they do not repent (think of Judas who betrayed Jesus). But we must be reminded that our struggle is not with flesh. Our struggle is with the unseen world... demons and principalities. We must fight for people, not against people. We must have proper perspective, or we are only scoring for the wrong team. Don't you think the devil would just love it if he got you hating the people you should be praying for and showing the love of God to? See things rightly so you can be effective! Remember who your enemy is. Remember.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 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.  2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (NIV)