Daily Reflections, Monday, March 10, 2008

Today's Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:6-8;1 John 2:16

Imagine a soldier going to battle unaware of his enemy. Imagine a football team approaching game day without any knowledge of their opponent. Imagine a candidate for President who hasn’t studied his opposition.

This sounds like a formula for failure. But many Christians approach their spiritual lives this way. Unprepared. Unfocused. Unaware.

The Bible says the Christian has three enemies: The world, the flesh, and the devil.

When the Bible talks about "the world" in a negative sense, it doesn’t mean the earth or even the people. It’s referring to "the world system." This is society, the culture—the movement against God.

Who runs the world system that is against God? Our other enemy, the devil. The Bible says he is the prince and power of the air and the spirit that motivates those who disobey God. He roams the earth looking for souls to devour.

Lastly, perhaps our toughest enemy is right inside our own hearts. Our flesh, our old sinful nature, wars against God and tries to get us to disobey Him on a daily, moment-by moment basis.

Now you know your enemies—but how do you fight them? Read tomorrow’s devotional. But here’s a quick clue. You can’t fight them yourself.

Today's Quote: The reason why so many Christians fail all through life is they underestimate the strength of the enemy. —D.L. Moody