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Lesson 6
Recognizing the Enemy

"So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honor.  Give all your worries and cares to God for He cares for you.  Stay alert!  Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.  He  prowls around like a roaring Lion, looking for someone to devour.  Stand firm against him and be strong in your faith.  Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.  In His kindness God called you to share in His eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus."  1 Pet.  5:6-10

 

     In order to win we must study the enemy's playbook and be aware of how he operates.  If we ignore the power that Satan can be given in our lives we will fall prey to his destruction.

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Here are a few things that the Bible tells us about Satan:

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2 Cor. 11:3  "cunning"

Acts 5:3   "able to fill your heart"

John 8:44  "murderer, liar, void of truth"

John 10:10  "thief"

Genesis 3:1-5  "more crafty than others"

Eph. 6 "He has schemes

2 Cor. 5:11  "He can outwit us if we are unaware of his schemes"

 

     When we first see the devil in the garden of Eden, we see the tactics Satan used to deceive Adam and Eve.

 

"Did God Really???????"

 

"You won't die"

 

"You will be like God"

 

Only 3 chapters into the Bible and we can learn two of the Devil's plays; Doubt and deception.

 

     I fiind it interesting that when Satan lies it is not grand.  Usually the lie is surrounded in much truth.  If we are not strong in our faith, as 1 Peter urges us to be, we can easily fall for his lies.

 

     Along with the lies, shrouded in truth, the Devil loves to cast doubt on our beliefs.  His words were,"Did God really say that?"  We, too can question what God says in His word and when we dwell on the doubts, it becomes easier to believe the deceptions.

OTHER PLAYS OF THE DEVIL

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1.)  Division - Creates arrogance and pride.  We are all to consider ourselves to be mere servants.  No one is better than another.  No ideas are superior to another.  We, who are in Christ, strive to be united.

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2.)  Comparison - This robs us of confidence and gratefulness.  All are given gifts by God to be used for His glory.  Constantly comparing ourselves to others develops in us a sense of pride or insecurity for there will always be those who can do more and those who can do less.

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3.) False Humility - We are to humble ourselves under the mighty power of God as was said in the 1 Peter text.  This is a pure knowledge of who we are in Christ.  We are loved and protected and valued by our creator.  And yet we are submissive to that benevolent God.

     Humility is not thinking less of yourself or thinking that others are better because of any number of things. This false thinking keeps us ineffective, depressed, and a terrible witness to a great God who heals and empowers His people.  

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4.) Selfishness - The Devil is great at appealing to our selfish nature.  It is so easy in our culture to start to feel entitled to many things.  "I am worth it!"  "I deserve a vacation!"  etc.  Sacrifice, which is one of the tenants of the Christian life is seen as a negative thing.  "I shouldn't do so much.  Others should be.........fill in the blank."   Giving in to the selfish nature will always bring dissatisfaction and a warped sense of what it means to be a Christ Follower.  A christian imitates Jesus and being selfish is very far from that.

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5.) Fear - The Devil loves to keep us in fear because fear demonstrates that we do not trust in our capable God.  Fear keeps us paralyzed and unable to be effective in the kingdom.  Love casts out all fear and God has showed us the greatest of loves in His creation and in His salvation for that faltering creation.

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     Whatever the tactic, you can be sure that Satan knows you very well.  He knows what will be the thing that tempts you to sin.  Identify those things and hold yourself accountable.

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     You can have victory because God knows you better.  He has given us the Holy Spirit and the body of Christ to be our helpers.  Developing habits that surround our minds in the Word of God and bring us into fellowship with His church will transform you to a person who laughs at the Devil's attempts to knock you down.  Developing a Biblical World view will allow us to see the spiritual battle that rages all around us.  "Get behind me, Satan" can be our battle cry and we can have confidence that when we resist the Devil, he will flee from us. (James 4:7) Jesus always wins.

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STUDY QUESTIONS

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1.) What are some ways Satan tries to attack you personally?

2.) What are some ways Satan tries to attack your family?

3.) What are some ways that you can shield yourself from those attacks?

4.) How have you been successful in fighting the devil's schemes?

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"I want to be the kind of woman that when I wake up in the morning, Satan says, "Oh crap, she's up!"

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Let's be a thorn in Satan's side and not easy prey!"

  

 

 

WOMEN’S ROLES

Lesson 1

“ROLES, NOT IDENTITY”

 

As we look at the creation story in Genesis, we see that God was satisfied with each day of His handiwork.  We see the phrase “And God saw that it was good” over and over.  On the sixth day God said:

 

“Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness”  “So God created man in His own image.”

 

God ordained man to rule over creation.  The Bible says that male and female, He created them.  And God said it was not only good but “VERY good”

 

In Genesis 2:18 God indicates the first thing that He said was not good during the seven days of creation.  And that was, it was not good for man to be alone.  In all of creation, the birds of the air and the fish of the sea and the beasts fo the land, there was not found a suitable helper for man.

 

“So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept she took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh.  And from that rib that the Lord God had taken from the man, He made a woman and brought her to him.” Gen. 2: 21 and 22

 

Woman was created to be a “suitable helper”.  The King James Bible uses the term “Help Meet”  What does that mean?

 

As we look at scriptures that talk about the role of women, we can be thrust into so many emotions.  These scriptures can be hard to swallow.  But I ask the question, Are the scriptures difficult or is it my heart that is not soft enough to meditate on these verses? Do I have preconceived ideas, negative past experiences, or selfish, self preserving defenses that go up immediately as I look upon such ideas?

 

In Elyse Fitzpatrick’s book entitled, “Helper by Design”  She says this about handling such scriptures as she started the project of writing her book:

 

“Honestly, there were days I strongly considered forsaking the whole project.  Then, when by God’s mercy, I once again regained forward motion, I felt I was walking in the dark…trying to learn what I just tripped over, picking up a stone, holding it…examining it, experiencing it.  What does the heat of this rock mean?  Is it really blistering hot or is it just that my hands are so cold?  Is it genuinely sharp?  Does it have to cut, or am I hanging on to it too tightly or holding it in the wrong places?”

 

I believe that as we look at what God instructs, it does not have to sting. If we open our heart to God’s instructions we will see something powerful and beautiful.

 

Let’s remember a few things before we begin.

 

  1. We are God’s beloved children.  (Eph. 5:1)

  2. Everything God instructs is for our own good and pleasure. (Jer. 29:11)

  3. God longs to bless us and give us the desires of our hearts. (2 Chron. 16:9)(Psalm 37:4)

  4. We can only control ourselves. (Phil. 2:12-13 )

 

As women we fill many roles.   We are daughters and sisters. We may choose to marry taking on the role of helper and wife.  We may have children taking on the role of mother.  We may choose roles like teacher, health care provider, coach, boss of a company, etc.

We must remember that no matter the roles we fill,  they are not our identity.

Our identity is CHILD OF GOD CREATED IN HIS IMAGE.  This is the main point I want to get across in this lesson.  And I believe that if we put this truth into our hearts it will help us accept the role of helper to our husband. It will help us embrace the role in a different light.

 

As a christian woman, our goal in life is to reflect Christ in all we do.  To be His hands and feet.  We seek to glorify God with the work of our hands and to glorify and imitate God within any role we fill.

 

Elyse Fitzpatrick suggests that we can gain greater understanding of what a helper does if we imitate our Heavenly Father who is our great helper.

 

 

IN WHAT WAYS IS GOD OUR HELPER?

 

God strengthens-

Psalm 54:4 - “Behold, God is my helper:  The Lord is of them that uphold my soul.”

 

Isa. 41:10 - “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.  Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”

 

Psalm 46:1 - “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble.”

 

 

God sustains-

 

Isa. 46:4 - “I will be your God throughout your lifetime- Until your hair is white with age.  I made you and I will care for you.  I will cary you along and I will save you.”

 

God comforts-

 

2 Cor 1 : 3-4 “…God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.  He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others….”

 

God protects-

 

2 Thes. 3:3 - “…The Lord is faithful; He will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.”

 

 

We can always count on God to hold to his promises.  So, in that light let’s answer these questions.

 

  1. Can our husband always count on us?

  2. How can we strengthen our husband?

  3. How can we help sustain him?

  4. What is the best way to comfort our husband?

  5. How can we protect our husband?

  6. How do we treat our husband in a time of trouble?

 

We all know that the world is a tough place.  As we go out to work and purchase and live our lives we can be knocked down in many ways.  I want our home and my presence to be a source of strength, comfort and protection to my husband and family.  I want my husband to want to come home because it is the place where he feels safe, secure, respected and a respite from the world.  As wives, we have the power to create an atmosphere that fosters those characteristics.

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Last night Frank came home and to my surprise he said to me, “ My eyes were really opened today.”  He had been out plowing snow for 13 hours. This caught my attention. “ I just want to thank you for being the kind of woman that you are.”  Ok. That was nice. Why was he compelled to say this?  Apparently he had witnessed some conversations where he was shocked at how the man in those conversations was being spoken to.  He heard great disrespect, ungratefulness, and ugliness.  He said he could not imagine being spoken to in the manner he had heard.  I said thank you and asked, “ So my nagging isn’t so bad?”

He laughed and said,”Bring it on!”

I love my husband with all my heart and was so thankful he sees me as a source of strength, comfort and a safe haven from the world.  I am not perfect by any means but I only want my husband to thrive in our lives and family.

 

 

 

 

Being a helper to our husband goes far deeper than just having dinner ready at a certain time.  It is not a lesser role.  It does not devalue us.  If anything it is a beautiful thing when we show the love that God shows. It is tremendously powerful when we “build our house”.  We want good things for the man we love.

 

As parents it is a wonderful gift to give our children; showing them how to love and honor another human being and to strive for what is good in another person’s life.

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