Lies and Schemes
I once had the pleasure of seeing the African Children’s Choir perform at an international celebration for Operation Christmas Child. It was an unforgettable thing to behold. Decked out in matching bright blue and green outfits, they sang and danced several numbers. One song stands out particularly bold in my memory. With giant smiles and unbridled boldness and passion they belted out: “I love Jesus…He’s my friend…I will never leave Him…He’s my friend. I hate Satan…He’s my enemy…I will never follow him…He’s my enemy.”
At first I admit it disarmed me to hear these words come out of the mouths of these beautiful babies. These weren’t the typical declarations of children that I hear in churches in my American culture. But it certainly was truth! We do have an enemy. And his name is Satan. And we should acknowledge his existence. Ignorance is not bliss.
By knowing about our enemy, we can better know by contrast who God is and who we are in Jesus.
As I read through Romans 8 recently, I came across a list of things our enemy may use to try to separate us believers from the love of God. It is a pretty prolific list. Our enemy can use both success and failure, both seemingly good and bad things to draw us away from God, to harass us into doubting our identity in Jesus, to try to lure us away from the freedom we have in Jesus.
I remember some of my first experiences of my eyes being opened to the enemy at work in the world around me. I was a young undergraduate theatre major, and I witnessed in multiple situations and through various types of people a ravenous desire and attempt to pull vulnerable fellow students—my friends and people I loved—into sinful sexual behavior and false identities. This period of my life is when I first really started to recognize the schemes of the enemy and his tactics and lies.
Once I began to see the enemy’s ways and voracious appetite to drag people into sin, I started to see the pattern of how one who was dragged into a sin then wanted to drag others to join them in that sin and promote and celebrate that sin. They seemingly wanted others to put on the same shackles and names. Once I witnessed these schemes of the enemy, it put me on guard not to treat them lightly. I quickly knew that these intoxicating tactics and lies were not something to be ignored nor friendly nor complacent towards. It also gave me eyes to see the dangers lurking for other people—and it gave me a desire to want to protect them and not let them buy the lies and get sucked into the enemy’s snare.
Over time this also built in me clarity that the most important thing in someone’s life is that they have a relationship with Jesus. For only a relationship with Jesus—the love of Jesus—can protect us from this enemy. I began to realize and see that a person can’t even know the enemy is the enemy until that person knows Jesus for who He is. Until one understands the great rescue; the great love of God that is ours once we make Christ Jesus our Lord. That’s why the African Children’s Choir song was so profound. It clearly laid out essential truths: Love/Jesus/friend. Hate/Satan/enemy.
The things I witnessed and learned in my early days in the Theatre department have led me to pray daily for the grace to love and pursue God more and to know Him more. I pray for the grace to hunger and thirst after righteousness for His name’s sake. I thank Him for giving me eyes to see Him for who He is and to believe and accept Him and His rescue and protection. I want to fill myself up with His love, His words, His grace. My experience taught me my need to intentionally and voraciously keep my eyes on Jesus. “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (Philippians 4:8, NIV). This world (and the enemy who rules it) will eat us alive if we don’t pursue and seek to be filled up with the things of God. As the old African American spiritual says, you can have all this world, just give me Jesus.
In recent years, I’ve grown even more aware of the work of the enemy as I witness my culture shift before my eyes to more blatantly and broadly calling what is good bad and what is bad good. It’s been scary and fascinating to behold how effective the enemy is at turning heads and blinding eyes and recruiting vast numbers to adopt and promote his lies. I have, however, found a blessing in this: it has stripped away any pretense we may have had. We cannot rely on our society to uphold and promote the things of God for us. We have no room for apathy. The blatant work of the enemy in our current society forces us—in a way some of us may never have had to before—to choose this day whom we will serve. We have glorious occasion like never before to declare, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Remember, our enemy can hurl insults and lies at us, but he cannot condemn us. Our enemy cannot separate us from Jesus and His love. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? No one. In all the schemes and tactics of the enemy, we are more than conquerors through Jesus.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come
Let this blest assurance control
That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate
And hath shed His own blood for my soul
-From “It Is Well with My Soul” by Horatio Gates Spafford
Destiny Teasley lives in Nevada, where she is a lover of the arts, pop culture, and travel (you'll often find her daydreaming about being in Israel or Disneyland). She delights in encountering beauty in the world and helping others to see and celebrate it for themselves. Destiny studied at Baylor, UNLV, Oxford, and Dallas Theological Seminary. You can find more of her writing at her blog,whentherockscryout.com .