BIBLE PASSAGE:
“and do not give the devil a foothold.”
(Ephesians 4:27)
MEDITATION:
Why would the scriptures tell us to “not give” the devil a foothold?
It seems fairly obvious, doesn’t it?
If Satan can get just a foothold on us,
then it isn’t long before he gains full control of us, and our minds.
And when that happens, we sink deeper into sin and sinful habits,
which creates a huge gap between us and the Lord.
Since the scriptures tell us not to give the devil a foothold,
we can accurately assume that Satan will try to gain a foothold on us.
How do we give the evil one a foothold?
It starts with a thought.
We may think,
“I’m just curious about this sinful area,
so I’m going to take a brief look at it”.
It might be something we have not experienced before,
and Satan has aroused our curiosity “just enough”
to cause us to choose to “toy” or “play” with this sin.
When that happens, he has already won
the initial battle for our mind and lives – he has gained a foothold.
It is the first step toward gaining a stronghold,
which will take us down a slippery slope much
further away from our relationship with the Lord.
As an example, Satan wants to create and heighten our curiosity
about one of his strongest weapons of destruction – pornography.
He wants to cause us to look at sin in the same way someone
would look at a bare wire sticking out of a wall, and think,
“I wonder what would happen if I touch that wire?”
And when they touch it, the electricity grabs them
and gives them an unimaginable shock to their system.
Satan can give us a shocking jolt in the same way.
What we thought would be a look, ended up being an obsession.
Satan has been at work making his weapon
of pornography more widespread and easier to access.
At one time, his efforts were limited to magazines which
were bought and often placed in a brown bag for discreteness.
But in our world today, he has made it accessible in the home
(on our computer), and in our pocket (on our phone).
This weapon of his is:
destroying marriages, corrupting kids,
creating sexual abuses that are unimaginable,
increasing sex slavery, and causing deaths in some instances.
Recently eight people were murdered in Atlanta
apparently as a by-product of a pornography addiction.
The murderer was spending hours a day watching pornography.
When arrested, he said that he had a “very bad day”
and the shootings were a result of his being
“at the end of his rope”, and “fed up”.
Others described him as “big into religion”.
If it is true about his sexual addiction, his watching pornography, and
his religion, then we can see the magnitude of the battle raging within him.
He might have known that what he was doing was sinful, but felt
he was hopelessly unable to break free from the bondage it had on him.
Sin will take us further than we want to go, keep us longer
than we want to stay, and cost us more than we want to pay.
Apparently he felt that the massage parlors were a temptation
for increasing his sexual addiction, and decided to kill those who
worked there, in his effort to break free from the bondage of sin.
We don’t know how the murderer began corrupting his mind with
pornography, but we do know that Satan makes it easy to “step into”
sin, and extremely difficult to “break free” from its grip afterward.
The scriptures warn us about his tactics in order to help us avoid his traps.
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God
cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person
is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and
enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin,
when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:13-15)
Avoiding Satan’s temptations is easier than breaking free from
the addictions he can create in us, once he has gained a foothold.
Roll back the clock and consider when this man was first tempted
to take a “curious” and “casual” look at pornography.
More than likely he never imagined at that moment that it would
cause him to spiral out of control and result in him murdering someone.
The battle we face with Satan is real and any “sugar coating”
of it will never diminish the power and control sin can have on us.
Since our “fall” begins in our mind, that is where Satan attacks.
He can give us thoughts like,
“I’m not hurting anyone else, I’m just feeding my curiosity”
“I have a lot of stress in my life and this is just a way of getting relief”
“I have heard about pornography’s destructive ability on others, but I
am much stronger than them, and besides, it is only a brief encounter for me”
“God doesn’t mind me watching pornography
as long as I don’t participate in illicit sexual encounters”
“Just watching it is not a problem as long as I am not
fantasizing about having sex with the people I am watching”
See how he can corrupt our mind, and how easily he can
convince us that sin is not really bad, as long as we are in control?
First of all, we should have a desire for God to be in control, and not us.
And secondly, in the blink of an eye, we allow control of our
mind to shift from ourselves to the evil one – he owns us now.
It has been said that our strongest human drive is hunger,
and the second strongest is our desire for sex.
We can see why Satan wants to attack us in this vulnerable area.
We have looked at an example of just one area where
he can gain a foothold (which often leads to a stronghold),
but his tactics are the same for all areas of weakness in our lives.
ACTION:
So, how do we win the battles when Satan attacks us?
We recognize his temptations as attacks, and we engage in battle at that point.
Since our mind is where he attacks, as soon as we realize he is tempting
us, think the following (or you might even choose to say it out loud),
“Satan in the name of the Lord, I command you to leave my
mind immediately. You are not welcome here, so leave me alone.
You are trying to steal the place that is reserved for my Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. Leave! Now!”
It might sound kind of silly, or too simple, but if we fail to respond
to his temptations in any way at their inception, then we are giving
him free reign to corrupt us in any way he chooses.
If he already has a foothold (or even worse a stronghold) on you,
then cry out to the trinity (God, Jesus, Holy Spirit) to help you
break free from the bondage you are in.
But don’t cry out and cross your fingers – take action.
Make a commitment to do everything you can
to break his grip on you.
Read scriptures (recite them to Satan), pray,
discuss with a pastor…..do something!
It is probably a good idea to establish some milestones for success.
For example, knowing that breaking free will not be easy
(and probably not immediately), you might set a goal
to abstain from your addiction for one month.
Will it be easy?
No, it never is, and that’s the reason
we need to be sensitive to his temptations,
and resist them before they get control of our mind and lives.
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, You know the areas of sin that are most tempting
for me. I pray that You will help me to overcome the temptations from
the evil one. Remind me that Jesus died for me so that I don’t have to
be under the control of Satan. Encourage me to remember that the Holy
Spirit is my advocate who will fight for me. He is much better equipped
than I am for defeating Satan’s attempts to gain control of my mind, my
life, and ultimately, my soul. Father, You are more powerful than the evil
one who is trying to gain a foothold (or stronghold) on me and my mind.
I call on You to defeat Satan for me and help be to better equip myself
for his temptations in the future. When I read Your Word, I see how he
tempted Jesus, so I know that he will certainly tempt me as well. I also
read how Jesus turned him away by quoting scripture. Teach me to arm
myself with specific scriptures to quote whenever I am tempted. Forgive
me for ever allowing the evil one to gain a foothold/stronghold on me.”
BREAD FOR BELIEVERS 
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