Satan wants nothing more than to enter certain areas of your life so he
can gain a stronghold. He’ll try anything to throw you off center,
distract you from your focus, and render you ineffective for the Kingdom
of God.
And I believe, after more than 25 years of ministering
to women, that there are common areas he attacks – not just in women,
but in any of us. As long as we’re aware of his strategies, we can be on
guard to keep him out of his targeted entry points.
These are the five areas of your life Satan wants to enter:
1. Your heart – so it’s not God’s alone.
There’s
a reason God’s Word tells us: “Above all else, guard your heart, for
everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23). Satan knows he has an
entry point into your life if God is not first in our hearts. God’s
first commandment, set forth under the Old Covenant, was: “You shall
have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). And Jesus restated that
under the New Covenant when He was asked what is the greatest
commandment and responded by saying “‘Love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with
all your mind’…” (Luke 10:27). Satan’s greatest desire is to prevent you
from giving God all of your heart so he will constantly dangle people,
things, and desires in front of you – anything to distract you so he can
erect a false god in front of you that you don’t even realize you have.
Do you love God more than you love anything (or anyone) else in life?
He
will try to lure you with a false god like your career, a spouse or
love interest, a dream or goal, a hobby or lifestyle. I know many women
whose first love is their bodies, so they spend more time in the gym
working out than letting God work within. It’s a subtle way of starting
to love other things more than God. Some of us love food, money,
recreation, our children, a substance, or a “feeling” (like being in
love, or feeling energetic) more than God, Himself. Guard your heart by
keeping Christ on the throne of your life so Satan doesn’t try to sneak
anything else in there.
2. Your worries – to make you doubt God’s love and provision.
Satan
wants you stressing, because then you’re not resting in God’s ability
to care for you. Women tend to stress over the temporal – bills that
must be paid, whether or not a man will come into our lives, if we’ll be
able to have a child, what someone is saying about us, how our body
looks, and so on. Men tend to stress about their jobs, providing for
their families, and whether or not they are “making the cut” in several
areas of life. Then there’s health concerns, fears about our aging
parents, and other situations that can crowd out God’s peace in our
lives and even cause us to begin to blame God for our circumstances.
Are you living like God’s love and provision are real?
Don’t
let Satan in this door through his tantalizing “what if?” questions and
the doubts he weaves through your mind. God instructs us in Philippians
4:6-7 to “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (NASB). Keep praying about your
concerns and keep thanking God ahead of time for what He’s about to do,
so Satan doesn’t get a stronghold in your mind through your worries and
fears.
3. Your everyday thinking – so you’re just like the world.
It’s
amazing how many people profess to know God and follow Him, yet their
thinking patterns are just like those of anyone else in the world. Satan
loves that. He wants you to be so absorbed with the ways of the world
that you are clueless about what God’s Word says. He will do this
through subtle messages in music lyrics, statements from your favorite
celebrity, and words of advice from friends (even friends of yours who
are believers, but are quoting “verses” that are not in the Bible).
Is your everyday thinking different from the world’s?
Scripture
commands us: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but
let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.
Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good
and pleasing and perfect his will really is” (Romans 12:2, NLT).
Furthermore, God’s Word instructs: “fix your thoughts on what is true
and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and
admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise…
and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8-9, NLT). But
Satan would rather have us in mental anguish by listening to the world,
rather than the word of God. Guard your everyday thinking by soaking it
in Scripture. It’s the only way to keep Satan and his worldly
philosophies from entering in.
4. Your speech – so you tear others apart.
God
wants us to be holy mouthpieces for Him – people who heal and help with
our words. But Satan would rather have you and me blowing it big time
with our mouths. A few critical words here, a few complaints there, some
profanity mixed in with a little gossip on the side and we have given
him permission to make us people who tear others apart and sound no
different (and sometimes worse) than unbelievers. Satan knows we can
cause much damage with our mouths if we do not bring them under God’s
control.
Are your words building up others?
Whether
it is gossip, criticism or unkind remarks, our mouths can be instruments
of righteousness or unrighteousness. Close that door to Satan,
altogether, by applying God’s instructions in Ephesians 4:29: “Do not
let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is
helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may
benefit those who listen” (NIV). And 1 Thessalonians 5:18 tells us “in
everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”
(NASB). Be a verbally thankful person who speaks only to lift others
up, not tear them down. That will diminish and destroy a critical and
complaining spirit that gives Satan a stronghold in our lives.
5. Your Body – so it no longer glorify God.
Why
is it that when people get depressed they overeat or drink excessively
or turn to substances? Why is it that young girls will cut their bodies
or starve themselves when they are dealing with emotional pain? I
believe it’s because Satan will turn us against our bodies if he can, as
a way of “getting back at God.” Our bodies are precious to God.
Scripture commands us to “Give your bodies to God. Let them be a living
and holy sacrifice – the kind he will accept. When you think of what he
has done for you, is this too much to ask?” (Romans 12:1, NLT).
Are you glorifying God through your body?
Satan
knows that God considers our bodies His temple and therefore God wants
us to keep our bodies holy, healthy and honoring to Him (1 Corinthians
6:19-20). Scripture says keeping our bodies holy is our “spiritual act
of worship” (Romans 12:1, NIV). So because our bodies are holy to God,
Satan would love to have us harm them, mutilate them, starve them, and
destroy them with substances. Don’t let him in. Not in how you dress.
Not in how you see yourself. Not in how you treat yourself. Ask God for a
healthy body image and a desire to protect your body so you can serve
Him on this earth in it for as long as possible.
The best strategy:
So
what’s your strategy now that you know the areas where Satan wants to
enter your life? God gives us a great defense through Paul’s
instructions to the saints in Ephesians 6:11-18: “Put on the full armor
of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes…”
In other words, put on Christ-likeness. Abide in Christ, be clothed in
His character and righteousness, and you will fend off the attacks of
the devil.
[written by Cindi McMenamin
