Satan is a schemer

We've talked a lot about the man of God, Nehemiah, in these studies. We've also talked a lot about the Jewish people in Jerusalem. We've discussed the leaders of the regions surrounding Jerusalem.
And we have also discussed the devil.
Because at the root of it all, it is he who is so vehemently opposed to the city of Jerusalem being restored.
We've seen that sometimes it is really easy to see his work.
Other times, it takes true discernment to perceive his "backstage" machinations.
That seems like some of the things in our world, today, too.
Since the fateful day in September 2001, when the US was attacked, we've had to live under the threat of terrorist attacks. In Paris, in London, and all across the globe, terrorism has changed many aspects of how people live. There are increased security screenings at borders and in airports. We hear of attacks at malls and sporting events, and we are concerned about possible attacks in other public places. Citizens are told to report abandoned packages, since they could be explosives. It's difficult to fight terrorism, because it's not as visible as an army marching toward a battlefield. It's an enemy that hides and uses surprise attacks to achieve its evil goals.

Well, I'm here to tell ya, the threat of terrorist attacks is nothing new for Christians. No, I don't mean to trivialize today's threat, but centuries ago Paul warned:

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. (Ephesians 6:11, NIV)

The devil is a terrorist.
Satan is a schemer.
He has used trickery, deception, and many other schemes to try to destroy (or at least to incapacitate) God's people -- to neutralize us, so that we don't do what God has called us to do.  If we want (and we should) to finish our course and accomplish His purposes, we absolutely must learn how to resist his schemes.
I'd like to ask for each of us to include reading the sixth chapter of Nehemiah in our quiet times this week. We saw in chapter four that Nehemiah had to stand up to truly violent threats of the Jews' enemies. In chapter five, he had to deal with trouble within -- the conflict between the wealthy Jews and the poorer ones. Now, his goal of rebuilding the walls is almost done. The broken down places in the walls have been repaired. The walls are pretty much complete except for the doors for the gates.

But the devil is not giving up!
We will see three different tries from Satan and we'll see Nehemiah's responses. Then, at the end of the chapter, we will see that Nehemiah wins the victory of the completed wall, but Satan will begin infiltration of the community. We'll see how that turns out later. (Grin)

This week, we'll be looking at some pretty subtle ways the devil uses to make us get off focus; he uses these to get us offtrack and the work of the Lord can suffer. We'll look at tactics to help us resist, too!
Hope you're ready!

(Be sure to read Nehemiah 6 and join me next time!)