Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1 – 4, New International Version)
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:13 – 17, New International Version)
Theme: Rejoicing and Thanksgiving
Context:
Thank you for concentrating on the discipline of Bible Study over the last three days. The responses to the blogs have been excellent and they have helped us to see how important God’s Word is to living a life of rejoicing and thanksgiving.
We now turn our attention to the discipline of Spiritual Warfare. You may have heard the expression, “I won’t let the devil steal my joy,” You may have even said it yourself. Today we will focus on one strategy that the devil uses to discourage a life of rejoicing and thanksgiving. He tries to distort our view of God’s character. Our adversary recognizes that the more we experience who God really is, the less likely we are to have our joy stolen.
Bible Study Passages:
Our Scripture passages present an Old Testament story of spiritual warfare and a New Testament prescription for spiritual warfare. Please read the passages and answer the questions below.
Questions:
- How did the devil attempt to distort God’s character?
- What helpful responses to the devil’s tactic do you see in the armor of God?
Sharing your thoughts could be a big help to someone else. Please leave a comment on the blog.
March 2, 2023 at 6:19 am
The devil attempted to distort God’s character by rewording what God said, to make it seem like God had lied to Adam and Eve.
When in the armor of God, we are able to let temptation, lies, worry, doubt, etc., “bounce off” us. We are protected and will come out unscathed. We just need to remember to keep the armor on all the time.
I like that the sword of the spirit, (God’s word), is a weapon to pull out quickly and immediately, in times of trouble and temptation.
March 2, 2023 at 7:34 am
As Joseth said the devil distorted and twisted God’s words. This was to create doubt and temptation in the minds of Adam & Eve. We have to be ever mindful of these tactics and put on the full armour of God. Jesus was the perfect example of this when the devil tried tempting him in the desert. Jesus’ responses were quotes from the scriptures.We need to have the Word of God in our hearts and minds to carry us through the times of temptation and trouble.
March 2, 2023 at 9:46 am
Ye I agree with Phylis and Josetth. Indeed, the devil is expert in his schemes to ruin our fellowship with God and entice us to sin and destruction especially he targets the devoted Christians. I heard one pastor saying before , that the devil is especially standing on the outside of churches and trying to see who he can tempt to sin. As believer we have to be vigilant in fighting this evil by being consistent in our prayer life and grounded in God’s Word.
The armor of God is our weapon and we should be confident that our God is powerful and that the evil will never reign on earth as he was already defeated and should not be given any chance to ruin us. Keep calling on the Holy Sprit and abide in God and if possible join prayer / support groups in your church so that you will have more people praying with you each day. You will also grow in your faith as you study God’s word together.
March 2, 2023 at 10:41 am
The devil attempted to distort gods character by telling a lie he modified what God had said. Eve believed what the enemy said instead of remembering what God had instructed, she believe the lie because she hadn’t hid God’s instructions in her heart. She wasn’t wearing the belt of truth.
I like “feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” I think that peace allows time to reflect on God’s character and know He has things under control so I can remain joyful and thank Him for what He is and will do.
March 2, 2023 at 9:37 pm
There are many people who do as the devil did with Eve in this world so if we don’t remember to always wear his armor and live in the “Tree of Life” instead of the “tree of good and evil ” we will not overcome.
March 2, 2023 at 10:03 pm
Thanks for your helpful comments. It is amazing that the devil attempts to identify God as a liar. Unfortunately, if we are not careful, we fall prey to similar distortions and then rejoicing and thanksgiving are forgotten. Thankfully God has equipped us to “stand.”