Bible Study | Strategies Against the Wiles | Week 1

To know how to obtain and receive victory you must first identify your enemy and know them.

We are in a war every day. The enemy is unrelenting and so must we be. God has equipped us with an overabundant supply of arsenal, authority, and power to be victorious.

Once you know your enemy you must then, as the military say “go behind the wire” or your home base that is a safe place. You must go through and take inventory of your arsenal supply. What do you have? What are you running low on? What are you completely in need of? What breaches need to be fixed? What areas on your body need to be bandaged and healed? Who do you have with you? What are other areas that first need to be taken care of before you head back out to war to prevent the enemy to gain access? What are your weak points? What are the latest updates from intelligence (holy spirit)? What is the strategy and commands set forth from your officers? What has changed? Review the geological location of the strongholds and enemy territory. Where is the enemy located? What are their strengths and weaknesses? What are their patterns and strategies? What is their main goal? What is the bait that will draw them out? Do practice drills need to be run? What is your specialized weapon and when should it be deployed? What are the motivations? What do they REALLY want?

Who is our enemy? His name is Lucifer. A created being by God to be one of the Archangels who was, essentially, the worship leader in Heaven. The bible says he has instruments built into his body. The short version of the story, the devil had an ego-complex and pride complex and decided he wanted to be worshiped and wanted to take the throne of God from God Himself. God denied him.

He then led a coup in Heaven.

The archangel Michael fought and threw satan out of Heaven and the devil took 1/3 of all the angels with him. These angels are now called demons and the devil and the demons reside in the belly of the earth and have limited power on the earth.

God created hell - a place to capture the devil and his minions. It was not created for man. It is important to note that God does not send anyone to hell, people of their own free will, choose to send themselves there. It is God’s desire that none should perish but all shall have eternal life through His son Jesus Christ.

Matthew 25:41 “Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.’”

In Luke Jesus says He saw Satan fall from Heaven like lightning.

Isaiah 14:12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world.”

God did not send a redeemer for Satan. He did however send Jesus as our redeemer. Why?

Jesse Duplantis explains this wonderfully. He explains that satan never had a tempter, while he was Heaven deciding to become powerful like the most High and turn against God, he did that on his own accord. Nothing and no one persuaded him to cause the coup d’etat in Heaven. However, God created man after the devils were on the earth and Adam and Eve first sinned because the devil persuaded, manipulated, and pulled them into temptation. Every person and every sin since then has happened because we have been pulled into temptation.

That is why in the Lord’s prayer, Jesus instructs us to pray to “lead us not into temptation” - it is the devil who does the leading into temptation, not God. God has promised us in His word that He will always provide the means of escape. No matter the situation you are facing. He is good to His people.

While we are evaluating the work and schemes of the enemy we must not confuse the doings of the devil with our wrong decisions nor placing the blame on God for things He did not cause. You must learn to decipher the difference. That is why it is vitally important for you to learn to hear the voice of God.

You must learn to discern from the voices that will influence your every decision of every day for the rest of your life. You will hear the voice of the enemy, your voice, and the voice of God. God is the quietest. It takes knowing His Word inside and out. The enemy will always distort, confuse, bring doubt, raise questions (what if, etc). God is not the author of confusion. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. You will know the voice of God and the correct answers to your questions by knowing the check of peace in your gut and Spirit. God will also never tell you something that goes against His word or is contradictory to it.

Psalms 5:8 “Lead me in the right path, O Lord, or my enemies will conquer me. Make your way plain for me to follow.”

God makes it easy to know Him and His voice.

The Bible says the devil is the deceiver of the brethren, he is the father of all lies and the truth is not within him. He is a murderer, a thief, and a destroyer. The devil can speak and prompt people to say and do things. He is a manipulator and manipulation is rooted in witchcraft. The devil is the father of the occult. He does have some control over the earth. John 14:30 describes him as the “ruler of this world”

Luke 4:6 “I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please.”

Ephesians 2:2 “You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil - the commander of the power in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the heart of those who refuse to obey God.”

Both hell and heaven have their armies. This scripture defines satan as the commander. The Bible also declares Jesus as the Host of angel armies. There are legions of demons and legions of angels. Both sides are organized. Even though the devil has to strategy to cause confusion and destruction he is organized and planned out when he does so. However, the Bible also says that we have the authority to bind the prince of demons and we can call down and loose the legions of angels to war on our behalf.

We usher into command the activation of either side by the vows and words made with our mouth. This is why our words are so important and we must be diligent in watching over the words we release. Angels only harken to the word of God and complaining and negative words prompt the demons.

1 Peter 5:8 gives a sober warning “ Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”

2 Timothy 2:26 “Then they will come to their sense and escape from the devil’s trap. They have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.”

Are you looking for traps sent and set by the enemy?

Jesus came to set the captives free. Isaiah 42:7 says, “You will open the eyes of the blind. You will free the captives from prison, releasing those who sit in dark dungeons.”

Galatians 5:1 “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.”

The enemy will use people with wounds, weaknesses he can manipulate, the biblically illiterate, and those with any sort of soft pressure points he can press against to get them to fulfill his will on the earth.
Let’s be very clear — the enemy and his cohorts do not have any power over the Trinity or those us who are in Christ.

Romans 12:21 “Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.”

Psalms 91:10 “No evil will conquer you, no plague will come near your home.”

Deuteronomy 28:7 “The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven!”

Acts 10:38 “And you know that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.

Then Jesus went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”

And we can do the same through the power of Christ because we are in Christ and Christ is in us.

Hebrews 2:14 “Because God’s children are human beings - made of flesh and blood- the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death.”

Because of the victory in Christ, we now have victory over the enemy because Christ transferred the gift of His power to us. Luke 10:19 “Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you.”
God is still ruler over all. We do not need to be scared or live in fear. God surrounds our enemies and He is faithful to take care and sustain us. God is still on the throne of Heaven and no one, including the devil, can ever take Him off.

Psalms 47: “For God is the King over all the earth. Praise him with a psalm.”

So, now that is it establish we are not to be afraid of the devil or his demons. What equipment do we have to defeat him?

First, we must accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. You do not have any authority over the devil without the power of Christ.

Romans 10:9 - 11 says, “Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes and so is justified and with the mouth, he confesses and confirms his salvation. The Scripture says, No man who believes in Him will ever be put to shame or be disappointed.”

What is the arsenal God gives us to equip ourselves? Let’s look at scripture. Ephesians 6:10-18 NLT “A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God’s righteousness. For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared. In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrow of the devil. Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.”

Put your armor on daily before you start your day!

Activate your angels and defeat the enemy with Psalm 91 (read from Bible)

Homework: Look over your life and determine your weak areas and your strengths. Also, identify what areas the devil is currently using against you. Find 4 scriptures to counteract your weak areas and where the devil is currently trying to manipulate you. Speak these scriptures aloud daily and bring them to

Thank God for your strengths
Speak the scripture to strengthen your weak areas
Doing both, you are defeating the enemy
Put on the armor and speak Psalm 91 daily
Analyze the voice/situation/problems by these three guidelines…
1- is it your own dumb mistake?
2- is it destruction sent from the enemy?
3- is it a transition sent from God?