The Devil's Playbook
God is alive and active and so is the enemy who is bent on pushing back against God’s ways, his best and his people. The Scriptures call us to engage the reality of the spiritual battle we navigate - to stay alert and stand firm in our faith. The tactics of the devil are many, but in this series we’ll examine a few ways he tries to detour you away from God. Tonight we examine the truth that distractions dilute our devotion. We’re to turn down the distractions and turn up our devotion in following after Jesus in this chaotic world.
SERMON NOTES:
Jesus on a number of occasions discusses the reality of the devil, as an enemy of God, one who speaks lies as his native tongue and is against God’s work in this world.
So YES, if we’re going to be followers of Jesus; we must take his claim to be true - that the enemy exists. The Scriptures are full of truths regarding this spiritual battle we are in.
1 John 3:8
"The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work."
1 Peter 5:8-9
"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith."
Quote:
“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors…”
― C. S. Lewis
RECOMMENDED BOOKS:
The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis
Live No Lies, John Mark Comer
Victory Over Darkness, Neil T Anderson
Don't Give The Enemy A Seat At Your Table, Louie Giglio
1 John 4:4 CSB
You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
Tactics the devil uses:
Distracting with words: The devil uses lies to plant seeds of fear and doubt, condemnation…
Distracting with actions: The devil uses bold tactics like pornography, abuse, addictions, violence, and immorality.
Distracting with social media: The devil uses social media to divert our attention away from God — or to stir the comparison trap, which can lead to discontentment and insecurity.
Distracting emotional whirlwind: The devil stirs us up internally - —emotional turmoil / we lack emotional regulation - we feel overwhelmed. And we can become paralyzed
Distracting with past wounds: The devil can use past wounds to distract and keep them stuck in unhealed and unhealthy cycles of destruction.
Distracting concerns that WOO US: entertainment, hobbies, politics, ambitions, causes — and they can get more of our devotion then God
Distracting with idols: The devil can use idols in people's lives to distract them. Idols are anything that we put in an elevated status above God
Distracting with even good desires: The devil can use good desires, like the desire to be married; to become financial stable - to distract people and pull them off mission. We can become consumed by a pursuit & want and we stop pursuing the one thing that Jesus called us to focus on most.
Himself & the Kingdom of God -- see Matthew 6:33
Truth: Focus is a giant challenge in our culture!
The Anxious Generation book, by Jonathan Haidt
Quote from sociologist Sherry Turkle:
“Because of our phones, we are forever elsewhere.
We’re never fully present.”
We live in a busy and full society - so avoiding all distraction is impossible.
But the dangerous kind of distraction - is the shifting of our attention from something of greater importance to something of lesser importance.
The Scriptures refer to this as idolatry.
Luke 10:41-42 CSB
The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many thingsbut one thing is necessary. , Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”
In our busyness, we must CONSIDER OUR DISTRACTIONS?
Are we seeking God, the Greater, or settling for the lesser things…?
Psalm 27:4
One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.
My heart’s deepest attention would be upon the ONE who deserves my deepest devotion
“Distractions dilute devotion”
Do you need to do a “time audit?” (Looking at where your time goes in a daily/weekly basis)
(think radio dial)
TURN DOWN DISTRACTIONS
(What might you need to DISENGAGE from) (volume down)
TURN UP DEVOTION
(What might you need to Engage in more) (volume up)
SERENITY PRAYER
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things
I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardship as a pathway to peace; taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will;
so that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with You forever in the next.
“Distractions dilute devotion”
We want to become people who in our following of Jesus; are turning down our distractions and turning up our devotion to Him.
James 4:7
So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
1 Peter 5:8-9:
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith.
