Anything that distracts you from God is from Satan.
This will be the driving focus and the corner stone of your foundation during spiritual boot camp. This is the motto of a true soldier of God the anthem to carry in your heart and the battle cry of your soul. Take no offense to this for it is truth, but be not deceived it is not meant to pull you away from doing what is right nor is it an excuse to abandon your obligations to others. The driving force behind our motto is to always remember that a true devotion to God and Christ comes with a price, a heavy price and one most people aren’t willing to pay. The entire point of following Christ is to give up the world, the right to call yourself a Christian comes with the cost of living for him and him alone.
But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds
may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3
Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Matthew 19:21
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and
where thieves break in and steal. Matthew 6:19
The first true church understood the importance of this and they were willing to give up all their worldly possessions in search for the true treasure of eternal life. Many times our King spoke of the kingdom of Heaven in terms that described the willingness to give up the world and all that we treasure in this life for the true victory over sin. The church of Acts, who called their devotion “The Way,” truly devoted their lives to the kingdom and we must also do the same.
Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Acts 2:45
The truth is in order to truly devote your life to Christ you must be willing to give up the world and everything in it. This is the hardest part of spiritual boot camp but if you cannot receive the truth of the word you will lose the battle. We cannot fit the scriptures into our lives we must fit our lives into scripture. You cannot choose the parts of the scriptures that best suit the lifestyle you wish to
live. The Holy word of God is all or nothing; there is no room for anything less. Times and circumstances change nothing, there is no excuse for anything less than one hundred percent pure devotion to Christ. Do you think the men and women who sold their belongings 2000 years ago cared any less for them than you do? Do you think that life was different for them in some way that made it easier to give up all they had so that they could truly devote everything to their walk with God? No they had houses and lands and jobs and money and families just like you do but they believed in the words of Christ and in so doing they were able to devote everything to him.
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Matthew 13:44
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. Matthew 13:45-46
The true victory and treasure of our war is eternal life and freedom from the slavery of sin. The flesh profits nothing by following Christ, the flesh is here today and gone tomorrow but the spirit within you is eternal and there are only two places for it to go, Heaven or Hell. It is easy to see the importance of giving up the sinful desires of our temporary physical body in light of the grievous
consequences of eternal damnation, but it is another thing to live it every day of our lives. It is a very serious matter that truly requires all of your devotion every minute of every day, for you do not know when you will be taken from this life. The cares of the world separate a believer from God and it is in this separation that the devil finds victory.
What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? Matthew 16:26
The ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough. Psalm49:8
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
Matthew 16:25
The driving force behind the truth of the word is the willingness to lay down your worldly possessions and even your life for the sake of Heavens Kingdom. The questions one must ask is where does your money go, what are your possessions used for, and do you glorify God with everything that you own? The first church of Acts was a model of how it should be, many sold all that they have and many kept houses and lands to use as gathering places and shelter for the church and if need arise they too would sell their homes for those in need. The main point here is that even those who did not sell all that they had dedicated what they owned to further the Kingdom and to God. This is the main test of a true Christian.
Willingness to give up all for God
The focus of boot camp is this principle by which you should train your heart and follow with steadfast resolution. Remember that life is less than a drop of water upon the ocean in comparison to eternity and nothing here is worth losing your eternal soul. It often amazes me how many people think that the words and commands in the bible should be translated and modified to fit modern day life. The truth is the truth eternally and its message never changes, as we already stated you cannot fit scripture into your life, you must fit your life into scripture. In just a few verses you have seen the truth of the importance of laying down all that you
have for God and yet there are those who twist scripture into what best suits their lifestyle. The reality of the scripture is simple and black and white.
#1 you must be willing to give up everything you have for God.
#2 what you do posses should be dedicated to further the kingdom and to God.
#3 if you aren’t willing to give up everything you have even your life you are not worthy of God.
Remember this, God forgives you of sin over and over and yet you continue in sin, God gave his only son to die for you while you were still sinning, God sends soft rain and warm sunshine on the believer and the murderer, God is true pure righteous love. All he asks is to follow his commands and to love each other and him more then we love ourselves and the world. The scriptures are the words of our Heavenly father and Jesus was the word in the flesh, his words are Gods words and right now you need to make the commitment to believe every word he said. Saying you believe in Jesus and not doing everything he said is akin to saying you believe in the law but breaking it whenever you see fit. The difference here is that there is no getting away with it. When you break the commands of God through Christ the punishment is eternal damnation, remember you will have to make an account of every idle thought and word you have spoken in your life on the Day of Judgment.
Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Matthew 7:21
For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. Romans 2:13
On judgment day many will say to me, 'Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and
cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name. But I
will reply, 'I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God's laws.
Matthew 7:22-23
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All
the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in
prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Matthew 25:31-46
This passage tells us many cold hard facts about the truth of Judgment Day. First and foremost that following his commands gives us victory over the eternal damnation and secondly if we do not follow the law we will take our place in the fire. You should see
by now that simply believing in Christ is only the beginning of the battle, keeping his commands is the war itself and overcoming sin and the world is the victory. This brings us to the main section of our strategy in overcoming Satan.
Follow the commands of God through Christ.
Jesus was able to sum up the Ten Commandments and all the laws from the beginning into a few short verses.
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Matthew 7:12
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and
greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40
If you haven’t noticed there is a definite pattern developing here. In the passage before we saw that we are judged on how we treated others in life and the entire law and commands of God require that we are willing to love him and put him first above all possessions even our own life as well as loving everyone else as much as we love ourselves. Scripture always brings light to those who read it and the truth is repeated over and over again so that there is no excuse not to know what is expected of us. We even have a clear definition of what constitutes righteousness and that is he who does the will of God by keeping his commands. In order to overcome Satan you must keep the laws of God period.
The biggest obstacle to overcome is the entrapment of the world due to the very nature of our existence; we are in essence trapped in our worldly environment. We are akin to a Special Forces soldier dropped into battle behind enemy lines with everything
against us. Our objective is to adapt improvise and overcome, to complete the mission and gain the victory over Satan. We are facing a surrounding army in the very midst of its fortification and this is the driving force behind giving up what you know and love. The simple fact is the world is Satan’s battlefield and everything in the world is devised to keep you distracted from God, from television and movies to your jobs and mortgages each set of layers builds upon the next until the time devoted to worldly obligations overcomes Godly obligations. Do you think this is coincidence? No it is a system well planned out and executed by a master tactician, Satan. Simply put to be present with God is to absent from the world.
When a soldier is behind enemy lines and is surrounded by enemies he uses evasive tactics and maneuvers to complete his task. This is why the bible teaches us to flee from sin, you have to evade the enemy forces when you are outnumbered and surrounded by them. This brings us to the next tactic in winning the battle.
Know your enemy.
Without a clear and definite understanding of the enemy you will be lost. Knowing its tactics and strategies will prepare you for the battles to come and give you insight into its mindset which in turn equips you with the ability to evade and outmaneuver its forces. Understanding how Satan thinks, acts and attacks will be a deciding factor in your battle for victory over sin. Keep in mind that the closer you draw to God the harder he will fight to draw you back, this is true of everyone and there are no exceptions. If you do not feel pursued and persecuted by Satan you are not truly engaged in battle and he is gaining the victory over you because you are no threat to his army.
Satan loves the Sunday warrior, the one who once a week goes to church and devotes a few hours to hearing the word of God and spends the other 6 days of the week living by the ways of the world. It is true that faith comes from hearing and hearing by the
word of God but as we already have shown, it is not the ones who hear the word but those that do the word that are counted as righteous. The Sunday warrior is comparable to the armchair warrior who sits at home on his couch watching war movies and collecting every scrap of research on military tactics but never truly practices the principles of all his learning. Who do you think is better prepared to fight in a true battle a trained soldier with a solid foundation and practice in the ways of war, or the armchair warrior who has never even fired a gun?
Make no mistake this is the biggest downfall of modern Christianity and it has been slowly integrated into the church over generations. Satan is the master of infiltration tactics and he has infected the modern believer with this doctrine of pretending to be
Holy on Sunday. The truth is every day of your life should be treated as a Sabbath Day. Every moment of your existence should be devoted to God and to doing what is right. Remember we are behind enemy lines on Satan’s battlefield
and there is no room for mistakes. At every road there are landmines along every path lies danger and at every turn there is a battalion of enemies waiting to take you down. This is the fight for your very soul and the outcome determines
your eternity. If you cannot grasp the magnitude of this battle you will never truly be able to overcome.
Satan also Uses the world because there are endless devices set in place to draw you away from a pure and sincere devotion to Christ. How much time do you devote to God? Most people today spend one half to three quarters of their lives making money. Jesus
said point blank you cannot serve two masters; you cannot serve money and God. When you look at the time you spend in devotion to God and the time you devote to making money which one wins out? The next question is this since you do spend
so much of your life making money, how much of that money goes to God? Are you truly serving God with your job? This has been a hard truth for everyone to accept even the Disciples of Christ had a hard time accepting this but it is none the less true. Making money is the antithesis of serving God, unless you devote that money to help the kingdom of Heaven.
The word is very clear on these matters and whether you accept it or not may decide the outcome of your battle with sin. Many false teachers will tell you that you don’t have to give up your jobs or your money or the new boat to follow God, they say that the scriptures were not meant to be taken literally or that for this modern age we must change the meaning to fit today’s way of life. If that were true why did Jesus repeat the saying so many times, and why did the first followers of Christ follow these sayings to the letter? There is no room for worldly interpretation of the word of God; scripture must be interpreted with scripture, precept on precept, and word on word. Gods ways are not mans ways and his words are not mans words, the very nature of man is to rebel against the truth of the Gospel through worldly ways and interpretations but this too is a tactic of Satan.
Satan knows the word of God he even quotes the word of God to Jesus during his temptation, in fact for those of you who think that believing in Jesus alone or even knowing the word and believing is enough remember this fact; Satan knows the word of God and
he not only believes that Jesus is the son of God, he knows it! Does this mean that Satan is then saved because he believes and knows the word of God? No because Satan fights against God and all those who do not keep Gods laws also fight against God which is why they will take their place in the fire. Remember anything that distracts you from God is from Satan.
Satan knows your deepest desires; he knows exactly how to tempt you and how to lure you into evil thoughts. This is one of his most powerful weapons and the closer you draw to God the harder it will become. But you always have a way out, when you begin to
realize that we have already been given the ability to overcome sin you will find victory. Behind enemy lines there are many dangers, tripwires, landmines, machinegun nests; patrolling guards but we have a powerful device against these traps.
True repentance becoming of a new mind
True repentance is becoming of a new mind and the only way to accomplish that is through God by thegrace of Jesus and intense training. We are shown through scripture how to train our minds to prepare for battle.
Finally, brothers, 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. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9
This is the training that will equip you to become of a new mind and find true repentance. Training your mind to think on Good and Holy things immersing yourself in the ways of Christ and the word of God stripping away all worldly thoughts and replacing them with righteous thoughts leaving no room for evil in your mind. In essence you will become that which you meditate upon and if your thoughts are full of righteousness sin will find no place in your heart. This is like being given a map that shows you where every danger lurks, where every mine and tripwire is placed, where every enemy patrol is gathered, you will have the Intel you need to avoid Satan’s traps. Make no room for sinful thoughts by filling your mind with righteous ones.
Satan will kick you when you’re down so keep that thought close to your heart when you are going through tragedy. Life is full of tragedy but remember it is not permanent it is very temporary. Whatever you are going through may feel like eternity but it is not, it is just a short step on the path to eternity. When we are down and saddened by life Satan will step in and drag you away from God sometimes to the point of blaming God for it. Stay strong no matter what happens and remember suffering is a normal part of life. It tempers us and forges strength and faith when we stay devoted to God through even the most terrible times of life. One of the most quoted verses of the bible is in fact not even in the bible at all and is actually against everything the bible teaches. “God helps those who help themselves.”This is the exact opposite of what scripture teaches we are to trust and rely on him alone and nothing else, not in others or even in ourselves but in him alone. When tragedies strike us it is the time when we must draw closest to him for strength and peace not run from him or blame him for it. Tragedy is inevitable accidents happen natural disasters and sickness and death surround us every day such is the nature of flesh, here today gone tomorrow. That is why living for God right now and every moment you live is so important because there is no guarantee that you will be here even ten minutes from now. When you are going through hard times keep the good thoughts in your mind and remember that even in this do not let it distract you from God.
He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and
bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you
go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Still another said, “I will follow you,
Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus replied, “No
one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom
of God. Luke 9:57-62
Overcoming the cares of the world
This is another area we must overcome as soldiers in Gods Army, the cares of the world. Satan will drag you down and pull you away from Christ through the cares of the world and your own personal tragedies. We are at war with Satan and as a soldier in that
war it is your responsibility to fight against Satan and live for God every second of every day. Remember you are behind enemy lines with dangers all around, you do not have the luxury of growing complacent or careless nor can you risk distractions from any worldly affairs. This is not to say that you should not give thought to death or suffering around you nor should you turn away from those in pain the main point is that once you’re committed to the battle you cannot turn away from your objective, which is to overcome.
Remember this is boot camp you are training to become a soldier in the Kingdom of Heaven nothing is easy about the training but it is necessary if you are to become an asset to the fight. You will be no good to Christ or to your fellow soldiers until you have become fully trained. As Christ said, “How will you pull the splinter from your brothers’ eye when you have a beam in your own eye?” You cannot see clearly to help others until you learn to do what is right within yourself. The first stages of becoming a soldier in this Army is to build you up and give you the means to effectively engage your enemy Satan, until your training is complete and you have the ability to overcome sin you will not be ready for the war.
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked man ruling over a helpless
people. Proverbs 28:15
Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Mark 4:15
Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 peter 1:13
But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Mark 4:19
Let’s take a look at the principles that you have learned to this point one more time.
1
Anything that distracts you from God is from Satan
2
Willingness to give up all for God
3
Follow the commandments of God through Christ
4
Know your enemy
5
True Repentance becoming of a new mind
6
Overcoming the cares of the world
The next step in boot camp is weapons training; we have the most powerful weapon in the world at our disposal. The word of God, this is our sword and our training manual all tied into one, it is the source of our strength and our direct line to our commander, it is the lifeblood and the energy to sustain, the wisdom and the knowledge to bring you to victory. A soldier takes his weapon with him everywhere he goes; he eats with it, sleeps with it, relaxes with it and works with it. Our battle against Satan cannot be won without our weapon; a closed bible is as good as a rifle without bullets or a sword that never leaves its sheath. If you do not use your weapon when you are attacked you will be brought down. We are in a prolonged lifelong battle and the sword will grow dull if it is not continually sharpened, reading Gods word is the sharpening and strengthening of the sword. It is in essence the beginning stage of learning to use the weapon, remember Satan knows the word of God and you will need to know it even better if you are to overcome him. When you have a deep understanding of God’s word you have an understanding of God and it is through his word that you gain power over Satan.
When Satan tempted Christ every response began with “It is written”, this is the power of the sword, this is the sword in action slicing through Satan’s attacks sending him fleeing to recover. You need to become so versed with the scriptures that you too can respond to Satan with powerful blows from the word. Carry your weapon with you daily keep it open and read from it often, this has a twofold effect for one you will be meditating on righteous things filling your mind with good which brings true repentance and for another you will be ready when Satan attacks, skilled in wielding your weapon. If the gravity of the situation has not escaped you then you understand the purpose of keeping your weapon ready and being trained in how to use that weapon.
The purpose of this is not to train you in bible theology or to make you a scholar in the bible, there simply is only one way to learn the word and that is by reading it and practicing what you read. There are many great courses on the bible through accredited collages and even free online courses if you seek to become a bible scholar. Keep in mind however that practicing the word is more important than the hearing of the word, learn it and know it with all your heart but most importantly practice it. As stated before do not become complacent in simply reading the word or you will fail in overcoming, unless you learn to live according to scripture you are no different than Satan.
Commitment to God, his word and to Christ is paramount in the war against Satan at this point you have seen through scripture that everything depends on your ability to forsake all for the cause and that you must live and practice scripture not just read or
hear it. You have also learned that you cannot take a middle of the road or lackluster approach to the word of God that if you believe part of it you need to believe all of it. On top of that you have learned that fitting scripture into your life is wrong but that fitting your life into scripture is the way to true victory. You have seen that the battle is hard and that the right to call yourself a Christian comes with a price. If you doubt any of this put it to the test through scripture and you will see that it is true.
Tactics to overcome sin can give you strength and security when the attacks come and they will come. Strategy is using tactics to gain advantage, in this battle you are surrounded and on the enemies land so here are some strategies to help you in the fight.
1
Surround yourself with believers of a like mind who are willing to go the
distance with you.
2
When sin starts whether a thought or action evade the attack by returning to
God’s word.
3
Fill your mind with righteousness and strip away anything that is
worldly.
4
Stand on ground in which you cannot be defeated.
5
Know your weapon and train with it often.
6
Know your enemy and his tactics so as not to be caught off
guard.
7
Be a practitioner of scripture.
8
Keep your heart soul and mind on God through all things and your body busy doing
his work.
9
Be willing to accept that tragedy will happen and trust God through
it.
10
Understand that this life is very short and nothing here is worth losing
eternity over.
It is a new day every day in the Kingdom of Heaven and today is your day to become a soldier in God’s
Army. Stay strong and vigilant, never underestimate your enemy and fight the good fight until the very end!
But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds
may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3
Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Matthew 19:21
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and
where thieves break in and steal. Matthew 6:19
The first true church understood the importance of this and they were willing to give up all their worldly possessions in search for the true treasure of eternal life. Many times our King spoke of the kingdom of Heaven in terms that described the willingness to give up the world and all that we treasure in this life for the true victory over sin. The church of Acts, who called their devotion “The Way,” truly devoted their lives to the kingdom and we must also do the same.
Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Acts 2:45
The truth is in order to truly devote your life to Christ you must be willing to give up the world and everything in it. This is the hardest part of spiritual boot camp but if you cannot receive the truth of the word you will lose the battle. We cannot fit the scriptures into our lives we must fit our lives into scripture. You cannot choose the parts of the scriptures that best suit the lifestyle you wish to
live. The Holy word of God is all or nothing; there is no room for anything less. Times and circumstances change nothing, there is no excuse for anything less than one hundred percent pure devotion to Christ. Do you think the men and women who sold their belongings 2000 years ago cared any less for them than you do? Do you think that life was different for them in some way that made it easier to give up all they had so that they could truly devote everything to their walk with God? No they had houses and lands and jobs and money and families just like you do but they believed in the words of Christ and in so doing they were able to devote everything to him.
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Matthew 13:44
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. Matthew 13:45-46
The true victory and treasure of our war is eternal life and freedom from the slavery of sin. The flesh profits nothing by following Christ, the flesh is here today and gone tomorrow but the spirit within you is eternal and there are only two places for it to go, Heaven or Hell. It is easy to see the importance of giving up the sinful desires of our temporary physical body in light of the grievous
consequences of eternal damnation, but it is another thing to live it every day of our lives. It is a very serious matter that truly requires all of your devotion every minute of every day, for you do not know when you will be taken from this life. The cares of the world separate a believer from God and it is in this separation that the devil finds victory.
What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? Matthew 16:26
The ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough. Psalm49:8
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
Matthew 16:25
The driving force behind the truth of the word is the willingness to lay down your worldly possessions and even your life for the sake of Heavens Kingdom. The questions one must ask is where does your money go, what are your possessions used for, and do you glorify God with everything that you own? The first church of Acts was a model of how it should be, many sold all that they have and many kept houses and lands to use as gathering places and shelter for the church and if need arise they too would sell their homes for those in need. The main point here is that even those who did not sell all that they had dedicated what they owned to further the Kingdom and to God. This is the main test of a true Christian.
Willingness to give up all for God
The focus of boot camp is this principle by which you should train your heart and follow with steadfast resolution. Remember that life is less than a drop of water upon the ocean in comparison to eternity and nothing here is worth losing your eternal soul. It often amazes me how many people think that the words and commands in the bible should be translated and modified to fit modern day life. The truth is the truth eternally and its message never changes, as we already stated you cannot fit scripture into your life, you must fit your life into scripture. In just a few verses you have seen the truth of the importance of laying down all that you
have for God and yet there are those who twist scripture into what best suits their lifestyle. The reality of the scripture is simple and black and white.
#1 you must be willing to give up everything you have for God.
#2 what you do posses should be dedicated to further the kingdom and to God.
#3 if you aren’t willing to give up everything you have even your life you are not worthy of God.
Remember this, God forgives you of sin over and over and yet you continue in sin, God gave his only son to die for you while you were still sinning, God sends soft rain and warm sunshine on the believer and the murderer, God is true pure righteous love. All he asks is to follow his commands and to love each other and him more then we love ourselves and the world. The scriptures are the words of our Heavenly father and Jesus was the word in the flesh, his words are Gods words and right now you need to make the commitment to believe every word he said. Saying you believe in Jesus and not doing everything he said is akin to saying you believe in the law but breaking it whenever you see fit. The difference here is that there is no getting away with it. When you break the commands of God through Christ the punishment is eternal damnation, remember you will have to make an account of every idle thought and word you have spoken in your life on the Day of Judgment.
Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Matthew 7:21
For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. Romans 2:13
On judgment day many will say to me, 'Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and
cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name. But I
will reply, 'I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God's laws.
Matthew 7:22-23
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All
the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in
prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Matthew 25:31-46
This passage tells us many cold hard facts about the truth of Judgment Day. First and foremost that following his commands gives us victory over the eternal damnation and secondly if we do not follow the law we will take our place in the fire. You should see
by now that simply believing in Christ is only the beginning of the battle, keeping his commands is the war itself and overcoming sin and the world is the victory. This brings us to the main section of our strategy in overcoming Satan.
Follow the commands of God through Christ.
Jesus was able to sum up the Ten Commandments and all the laws from the beginning into a few short verses.
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Matthew 7:12
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and
greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40
If you haven’t noticed there is a definite pattern developing here. In the passage before we saw that we are judged on how we treated others in life and the entire law and commands of God require that we are willing to love him and put him first above all possessions even our own life as well as loving everyone else as much as we love ourselves. Scripture always brings light to those who read it and the truth is repeated over and over again so that there is no excuse not to know what is expected of us. We even have a clear definition of what constitutes righteousness and that is he who does the will of God by keeping his commands. In order to overcome Satan you must keep the laws of God period.
The biggest obstacle to overcome is the entrapment of the world due to the very nature of our existence; we are in essence trapped in our worldly environment. We are akin to a Special Forces soldier dropped into battle behind enemy lines with everything
against us. Our objective is to adapt improvise and overcome, to complete the mission and gain the victory over Satan. We are facing a surrounding army in the very midst of its fortification and this is the driving force behind giving up what you know and love. The simple fact is the world is Satan’s battlefield and everything in the world is devised to keep you distracted from God, from television and movies to your jobs and mortgages each set of layers builds upon the next until the time devoted to worldly obligations overcomes Godly obligations. Do you think this is coincidence? No it is a system well planned out and executed by a master tactician, Satan. Simply put to be present with God is to absent from the world.
When a soldier is behind enemy lines and is surrounded by enemies he uses evasive tactics and maneuvers to complete his task. This is why the bible teaches us to flee from sin, you have to evade the enemy forces when you are outnumbered and surrounded by them. This brings us to the next tactic in winning the battle.
Know your enemy.
Without a clear and definite understanding of the enemy you will be lost. Knowing its tactics and strategies will prepare you for the battles to come and give you insight into its mindset which in turn equips you with the ability to evade and outmaneuver its forces. Understanding how Satan thinks, acts and attacks will be a deciding factor in your battle for victory over sin. Keep in mind that the closer you draw to God the harder he will fight to draw you back, this is true of everyone and there are no exceptions. If you do not feel pursued and persecuted by Satan you are not truly engaged in battle and he is gaining the victory over you because you are no threat to his army.
Satan loves the Sunday warrior, the one who once a week goes to church and devotes a few hours to hearing the word of God and spends the other 6 days of the week living by the ways of the world. It is true that faith comes from hearing and hearing by the
word of God but as we already have shown, it is not the ones who hear the word but those that do the word that are counted as righteous. The Sunday warrior is comparable to the armchair warrior who sits at home on his couch watching war movies and collecting every scrap of research on military tactics but never truly practices the principles of all his learning. Who do you think is better prepared to fight in a true battle a trained soldier with a solid foundation and practice in the ways of war, or the armchair warrior who has never even fired a gun?
Make no mistake this is the biggest downfall of modern Christianity and it has been slowly integrated into the church over generations. Satan is the master of infiltration tactics and he has infected the modern believer with this doctrine of pretending to be
Holy on Sunday. The truth is every day of your life should be treated as a Sabbath Day. Every moment of your existence should be devoted to God and to doing what is right. Remember we are behind enemy lines on Satan’s battlefield
and there is no room for mistakes. At every road there are landmines along every path lies danger and at every turn there is a battalion of enemies waiting to take you down. This is the fight for your very soul and the outcome determines
your eternity. If you cannot grasp the magnitude of this battle you will never truly be able to overcome.
Satan also Uses the world because there are endless devices set in place to draw you away from a pure and sincere devotion to Christ. How much time do you devote to God? Most people today spend one half to three quarters of their lives making money. Jesus
said point blank you cannot serve two masters; you cannot serve money and God. When you look at the time you spend in devotion to God and the time you devote to making money which one wins out? The next question is this since you do spend
so much of your life making money, how much of that money goes to God? Are you truly serving God with your job? This has been a hard truth for everyone to accept even the Disciples of Christ had a hard time accepting this but it is none the less true. Making money is the antithesis of serving God, unless you devote that money to help the kingdom of Heaven.
The word is very clear on these matters and whether you accept it or not may decide the outcome of your battle with sin. Many false teachers will tell you that you don’t have to give up your jobs or your money or the new boat to follow God, they say that the scriptures were not meant to be taken literally or that for this modern age we must change the meaning to fit today’s way of life. If that were true why did Jesus repeat the saying so many times, and why did the first followers of Christ follow these sayings to the letter? There is no room for worldly interpretation of the word of God; scripture must be interpreted with scripture, precept on precept, and word on word. Gods ways are not mans ways and his words are not mans words, the very nature of man is to rebel against the truth of the Gospel through worldly ways and interpretations but this too is a tactic of Satan.
Satan knows the word of God he even quotes the word of God to Jesus during his temptation, in fact for those of you who think that believing in Jesus alone or even knowing the word and believing is enough remember this fact; Satan knows the word of God and
he not only believes that Jesus is the son of God, he knows it! Does this mean that Satan is then saved because he believes and knows the word of God? No because Satan fights against God and all those who do not keep Gods laws also fight against God which is why they will take their place in the fire. Remember anything that distracts you from God is from Satan.
Satan knows your deepest desires; he knows exactly how to tempt you and how to lure you into evil thoughts. This is one of his most powerful weapons and the closer you draw to God the harder it will become. But you always have a way out, when you begin to
realize that we have already been given the ability to overcome sin you will find victory. Behind enemy lines there are many dangers, tripwires, landmines, machinegun nests; patrolling guards but we have a powerful device against these traps.
True repentance becoming of a new mind
True repentance is becoming of a new mind and the only way to accomplish that is through God by thegrace of Jesus and intense training. We are shown through scripture how to train our minds to prepare for battle.
Finally, brothers, 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. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9
This is the training that will equip you to become of a new mind and find true repentance. Training your mind to think on Good and Holy things immersing yourself in the ways of Christ and the word of God stripping away all worldly thoughts and replacing them with righteous thoughts leaving no room for evil in your mind. In essence you will become that which you meditate upon and if your thoughts are full of righteousness sin will find no place in your heart. This is like being given a map that shows you where every danger lurks, where every mine and tripwire is placed, where every enemy patrol is gathered, you will have the Intel you need to avoid Satan’s traps. Make no room for sinful thoughts by filling your mind with righteous ones.
Satan will kick you when you’re down so keep that thought close to your heart when you are going through tragedy. Life is full of tragedy but remember it is not permanent it is very temporary. Whatever you are going through may feel like eternity but it is not, it is just a short step on the path to eternity. When we are down and saddened by life Satan will step in and drag you away from God sometimes to the point of blaming God for it. Stay strong no matter what happens and remember suffering is a normal part of life. It tempers us and forges strength and faith when we stay devoted to God through even the most terrible times of life. One of the most quoted verses of the bible is in fact not even in the bible at all and is actually against everything the bible teaches. “God helps those who help themselves.”This is the exact opposite of what scripture teaches we are to trust and rely on him alone and nothing else, not in others or even in ourselves but in him alone. When tragedies strike us it is the time when we must draw closest to him for strength and peace not run from him or blame him for it. Tragedy is inevitable accidents happen natural disasters and sickness and death surround us every day such is the nature of flesh, here today gone tomorrow. That is why living for God right now and every moment you live is so important because there is no guarantee that you will be here even ten minutes from now. When you are going through hard times keep the good thoughts in your mind and remember that even in this do not let it distract you from God.
He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and
bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you
go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Still another said, “I will follow you,
Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.” Jesus replied, “No
one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom
of God. Luke 9:57-62
Overcoming the cares of the world
This is another area we must overcome as soldiers in Gods Army, the cares of the world. Satan will drag you down and pull you away from Christ through the cares of the world and your own personal tragedies. We are at war with Satan and as a soldier in that
war it is your responsibility to fight against Satan and live for God every second of every day. Remember you are behind enemy lines with dangers all around, you do not have the luxury of growing complacent or careless nor can you risk distractions from any worldly affairs. This is not to say that you should not give thought to death or suffering around you nor should you turn away from those in pain the main point is that once you’re committed to the battle you cannot turn away from your objective, which is to overcome.
Remember this is boot camp you are training to become a soldier in the Kingdom of Heaven nothing is easy about the training but it is necessary if you are to become an asset to the fight. You will be no good to Christ or to your fellow soldiers until you have become fully trained. As Christ said, “How will you pull the splinter from your brothers’ eye when you have a beam in your own eye?” You cannot see clearly to help others until you learn to do what is right within yourself. The first stages of becoming a soldier in this Army is to build you up and give you the means to effectively engage your enemy Satan, until your training is complete and you have the ability to overcome sin you will not be ready for the war.
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked man ruling over a helpless
people. Proverbs 28:15
Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Mark 4:15
Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 peter 1:13
But the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Mark 4:19
Let’s take a look at the principles that you have learned to this point one more time.
1
Anything that distracts you from God is from Satan
2
Willingness to give up all for God
3
Follow the commandments of God through Christ
4
Know your enemy
5
True Repentance becoming of a new mind
6
Overcoming the cares of the world
The next step in boot camp is weapons training; we have the most powerful weapon in the world at our disposal. The word of God, this is our sword and our training manual all tied into one, it is the source of our strength and our direct line to our commander, it is the lifeblood and the energy to sustain, the wisdom and the knowledge to bring you to victory. A soldier takes his weapon with him everywhere he goes; he eats with it, sleeps with it, relaxes with it and works with it. Our battle against Satan cannot be won without our weapon; a closed bible is as good as a rifle without bullets or a sword that never leaves its sheath. If you do not use your weapon when you are attacked you will be brought down. We are in a prolonged lifelong battle and the sword will grow dull if it is not continually sharpened, reading Gods word is the sharpening and strengthening of the sword. It is in essence the beginning stage of learning to use the weapon, remember Satan knows the word of God and you will need to know it even better if you are to overcome him. When you have a deep understanding of God’s word you have an understanding of God and it is through his word that you gain power over Satan.
When Satan tempted Christ every response began with “It is written”, this is the power of the sword, this is the sword in action slicing through Satan’s attacks sending him fleeing to recover. You need to become so versed with the scriptures that you too can respond to Satan with powerful blows from the word. Carry your weapon with you daily keep it open and read from it often, this has a twofold effect for one you will be meditating on righteous things filling your mind with good which brings true repentance and for another you will be ready when Satan attacks, skilled in wielding your weapon. If the gravity of the situation has not escaped you then you understand the purpose of keeping your weapon ready and being trained in how to use that weapon.
The purpose of this is not to train you in bible theology or to make you a scholar in the bible, there simply is only one way to learn the word and that is by reading it and practicing what you read. There are many great courses on the bible through accredited collages and even free online courses if you seek to become a bible scholar. Keep in mind however that practicing the word is more important than the hearing of the word, learn it and know it with all your heart but most importantly practice it. As stated before do not become complacent in simply reading the word or you will fail in overcoming, unless you learn to live according to scripture you are no different than Satan.
Commitment to God, his word and to Christ is paramount in the war against Satan at this point you have seen through scripture that everything depends on your ability to forsake all for the cause and that you must live and practice scripture not just read or
hear it. You have also learned that you cannot take a middle of the road or lackluster approach to the word of God that if you believe part of it you need to believe all of it. On top of that you have learned that fitting scripture into your life is wrong but that fitting your life into scripture is the way to true victory. You have seen that the battle is hard and that the right to call yourself a Christian comes with a price. If you doubt any of this put it to the test through scripture and you will see that it is true.
Tactics to overcome sin can give you strength and security when the attacks come and they will come. Strategy is using tactics to gain advantage, in this battle you are surrounded and on the enemies land so here are some strategies to help you in the fight.
1
Surround yourself with believers of a like mind who are willing to go the
distance with you.
2
When sin starts whether a thought or action evade the attack by returning to
God’s word.
3
Fill your mind with righteousness and strip away anything that is
worldly.
4
Stand on ground in which you cannot be defeated.
5
Know your weapon and train with it often.
6
Know your enemy and his tactics so as not to be caught off
guard.
7
Be a practitioner of scripture.
8
Keep your heart soul and mind on God through all things and your body busy doing
his work.
9
Be willing to accept that tragedy will happen and trust God through
it.
10
Understand that this life is very short and nothing here is worth losing
eternity over.
It is a new day every day in the Kingdom of Heaven and today is your day to become a soldier in God’s
Army. Stay strong and vigilant, never underestimate your enemy and fight the good fight until the very end!
