Welcome back to The War Series, Dressed To Kill. I’m so glad you decided to stop by and read The War Series, I try my hardest to give you the best content possible. We have touched on various topics like what is spiritual Warfare, Target Practice, and also our issues uniform. My hope is that you will be able to refer back and read previous posts at your leisure.
Spiritual Warfare Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you as humbly as we know how first giving you all the honor, glory, and praise that you deserve. Lord, we know that with you all things are possible and that nothing is too hard or too much for you to handle. Lord, I pray that you bless each and every one of the Golden Dreamers as they embark on this Spiritual Warfare Journey. Lord, I ask that you cover them and guide them continuously on why, and how to put on your armor. Lord, I intercede on their behalf and ask that you continue to protect them from the wiles and schemes of the Devil. Give them the strength, wisdom, courage, and faith in you that they need to do your will. In Jesus' name Amen!
EXPLOIT: SATAN’S STRATEGIC PLAN:
In last week's post, I briefed you, soldiers of God, on the FINISHED element in the F3EA targeting tactic that the military used to locate and learn about their target for capture. I debriefed you on Satan’s many infiltrating tactics. The Devil wastes no time hiding messages in plain sight. He sends subliminal messages that are meant to catch you off guard and make you question the faith that you have in God. This brings us to today’s post. We will be discussing the EXPLOIT element of the F3EA tactic. First, let me remind you of what exploit means, it means to gather and compile all the information collected from the Find, Fix, and Finish phases to that you can make full use of your resources to spotlight the target’s vulnerabilities, weaknesses, and plans. Let’s exploit the enemy so that we can dismantle his plans, weapons, and schemes.
Satan’s Strategic Plan
Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
1 John 3:8
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
1 Peter 5:8
The Devil has been here from the beginning, lying, plotting manipulating, causing confusion, chaos, destruction, pandemonium, stealing hope, killing faith, and destroying lives. He has made his goals and plans clear from the beginning. His plans always involved watching you grow distant from your Heavenly Father and then leaving you in darkness with no way to turn. The Devil likes to use distractions to fill your day and please your flesh so that by the end of your day you have spent no time with God. He wants you to get to the point where God is a distant memory and he is at the forefront of your mind.
Satan is smart and calculating he is biding his time waiting for the right moment readying himself to strike when you least expect it. He wants you so drained that you do not even have the energy to do what God has called you to do. His strategic plan is laid out in the bible in Revelations. Let's take a look, and turn in your bibles to Revelations chapters 12 and 13.
His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule[a] all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,
Revelation 12:4-5
Satan is falling and he is losing and just like a criminal that has gotten caught red-handed he wants to take as many souls with him as he can. As I mentioned earlier in the series Satan has been watching you from the beginning from the moment of your birth. He is ready to snatch you up right there as soon as you exit the womb. He does this because at that phase in your life you are the most naive and he doesn’t have to work as hard to convince you that sin is better.
The Devil wants to create a generation that doesn’t even know that God exists. The scripture above it details how even though Satan is there ready, God is too, he offers us salvation by protecting us until we are at the age where once we know better we can do better. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. [Matthew 18:14]. Remember that God protects the innocent.
Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.
Revelation 12:7-9, 17
The Devil wanted a war so that he could overthrow all that resided in heaven including our Heavenly Father and of course, Satan was defeated and cast out of heaven; he and all his followers turned against God. Pause here for a second, I just want to ask how can you have it all and yet still be jealous for more. Satan knows that his time here is short and that he has to work fast. Satan does not know when to give up he is persistent and his plan is to tempt you with sin more and more. He will create so much chaos in your life to draw you away from God. Recognize him for what he is and keep moving forward. Be about our Heavenly Father’s business.
The Devil will attack you with the things that he knows will push your buttons. These things could be your marriage, school, your job, your physical health, mental health, emotional health, family, friends, and especially your relationship with God. In this, you must hold fast to the word of God and keep his commandments so that you will have the best protection available. Remember that all of these things here on this earth are temporary and will not last forever. The only thing that will stand the test of time is God.
And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation,
Revelation 13:2-7
The Devil did not come alone he has accomplices that are here to assure that his bidding is done. These beasts are all extensions of him and who he is. This beast is described in the passage above is the Antichrist. Satan’s plan is to intimidate you and make you feel like you are up against something that is undefeated. Satan knows that if he can make you feel intimidated and inferior that he has already won. He knows that you will be too scared to fight back. God did not give you the spirit of fear but the spirit of power and a sound mind.
The thing to note here is that if you are not working to cement yourself in God and create a steady foundation in him you will be susceptible to following the Antichrist. This is why it is so imperative to know the word in your heart and live according to God. Give your life to Christ and be his servant here on earth so that when you get to Heaven you can hear God say “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” If you are distant from God you will not have the discernment to know when the devil is blaspheming God’s name, heaven, or God’s people.
Last week we talked about the Church of Satan and what they believe and the commandments that they follow. They are blatantly and directly blaspheming God, his commandments, his will, and his authority. When you have faith in God and God alone you will have all the power you need to tell the Devil to leave and he will have no choice but to do so. Remember that the bible says the Devil cannot touch God’s anointed.
Then I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.
Revelation 13:11-18
The Devil is charismatic and he uses false prophets, as his mouthpiece, that appear charming and has a large following to get his agenda across. Think about some of your favorite celebrities that have these big fan bases look at the messages, signs, symbols, and imagery that they are portraying. Ask yourself, is this what God has intended? Satan’s plan is to cause a great division amongst the people of earth.
The people of the earth will be forced to make a choice, you are either with God or you will be with the devil. In this, there will be the real test to see if you will fold under the pressure and follow along with Satan's plans taking on the mark of the beast or if you will hold fast to the commandments of God.
Last week we talked about false prophets and how they operate. They will have you believing and going along with their plans because, in theory, they sound good. You have to understand that there is no victory without tribulation. There is no win without a war. In the bible Job is an excellent example of what the Devil plans to do. He is testing your endurance. The Devil took everything from Job and yet because Job remained faithful, prayed, fasted, rejoiced, honored, and worshiped God; God blessed him more abundantly than Job could have ever dreamed of.
No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:24-25, 30-33
Satan does not want you to rely on God for anything. Please take note that Satan is jealous and he wishes to be more powerful than God. One way that he wants to take control is to make it so you only have one choice and that is to rely on him. In Revelations, 13:1-17 scripture above it talks about Satan's plans for those that follow Christ to be unable to buy, sell, or do anything unless they adorn the mark of the beast. In this, as followers, you must remain faithful to God and endure taking heed to what God says in Matthew 6:24-25, 30-33. Know that with God he will always make a way out of no way. Rejoice and be glad in this affliction and know that in Heaven God already has your place waiting for you. God already knows what you need before you even realize that you needed it. There is no need to question his authority.
I say this for your own benefit, not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.
1 Corinthians 7:35
Distractions and devices have always been a tactic of the Devil to take your attention away from what matters most and that is God. We discussed this in the first couple of weeks of this series. When you join the military one of the first things that they tell you to get rid of is distracting objects, thoughts, mentalities, and habits. They do this because they know that while out in combat they know that there will not be any time for distractions you have to act quickly and trust in what their instructions are. If you have distractions you will not be able to focus on the goal at hand and it may cause you to miss vital information that could be critical for survival. With the way that the world is going and the amount of chaos and destruction going on around you, you have to be disciplined enough to have laser focus on God. You cannot allow the enemy to pull you off course.
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:7
Golden Words of Wisdom:
As a follower of Christ, your call to action requires your constant attention and it requires laser focus on God. You are to take what you have learned about the armor and apply it to your life and to yourself daily. You must take a step back and allow the Holy Spirit to move within you governing and monitoring your hearts and minds at all times.
You must overcome the desires of the flesh so that you can better operate and serve the Lord. You must continually live by and uphold the commandments of God so that you may one day hear him say “Well done, my good and faithful servant!” The road will not be easy, you will be tempted, you will fail, you will have trials and tribulations, but you will also have good days, you will be conquered through Jesus Christ, and you will be strong if you lean on God’s understanding and not your own.
Questions To Consider: Ask yourself these questions and try to answer them to the best of your ability.
1. From what you have read about Satan’s plan, did anything stand out to you that you didn’t know before?
2. What does your faith look like? Are you able to trust in God more fully?
3. Has your perspective changed or shifted? Are there things that you once did that you are motivated to change about yourself now? If so what?
Stay tuned for the next blog post!!!
WEEK 8:[THE WAR SERIES, DRESSED TO KILL]: Basic Training Details [Part 3]