5 WAYS TO BEAT THE DEVIL BEFORE YOU MEET THE DEVIL

I was in high school and one day our big gym class was running a race. I wanted to win. There were a lot of guys out there that morning but I felt invincible. As soon as the starters pistol was fired, I ran. We were running 600 yards which means you have 2 options. You can run fast or you can lose the race. I was either near the front or close enough to sprint ahead most of the way. Then about 50 yards from the finish, I felt immediately queasy and uncontrollably sick. I had to run to the side of the track, too sick to do anything else. When I got back in the race it wasn’t much of a race. I jogged across the finish line near the back of the pack. I’ve thought about that day several times over the years. I was running my best race but I quit before the finish line. It’s an embarrassing thing to do when you are in high school in front of your friends, but quitting before the finish line is a deadly thing to do when you’re walking with God! That day in high school my enemy was physical. But the enemy in the Christian life is spiritual and relentless. Here are 5 ways to beat the devil before you meet the devil!

🔺RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST

“But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
(Romans 13:14)

You have to know Christ so you can have victory over the constant lure the flesh. Keeping off the casualty list is not about a formula for success it’s about a personal relationship with Jesus!

You have an enemy and he is no match for the Lord. When temptation calls let Jesus answer.

🔺PRAYER

“Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41)

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
(Matthew 6:13)

Jesus Himself advised His followers to develop a prayer life to overcome the temptations thrown our way. He even said prayer keeps many temptations at a distance. I would rather fight my battles “in the heavenly realms” than go toe to toe in hand to hand combat with the prince of darkness! No wonder some old saint once quipped, “The devil trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.”

🔺STUDY THE WORD

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”
(John 17:17)

When I was in college the pastor’s wife at our church challenged us to invite friends to Sunday School. She would give the one who brought the most new people a new leather Bible. My friend brought the most guests and won the Bible. In the front of the Bible the pastor’s wife had written these words attributed to D L Moody: “Sin will keep you from this book or this book will keep you from sin!” Read the Bible everyday and you will grow strong in the things of the Lord.

🔺CONSTANT FELLOWSHIP WITH BELIEVERS

“And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one… I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.”
(John 17:11,15)

Every believer needs a good church and Christian friends or you will be an easy target for the devil. He doesn’t play fair but he plays for keeps. He wants to separate us from the group and pick us off one by one. Members of the Body only remain healthy when they’re part of the Body!

🔺WALK IN THE SPIRIT

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
(Galatians 5:16)

The Christian life is not a play ground it’s a battleground. Ask God daily to fill you with the Holy Spirit and declare war on the devil! This war is spiritual and you’ve got the arsenal of God at your disposal- the Holy Spirit of God!

–JKB