I had a good conversation with Pam Gibbs, Lifeway Girls Ministry Specialist the other day. That’s the joy of being so close to Lifeway—we can just drop in on people.  It was a quick discussion about what was going on in the girls ministry and in my life, and vice versa. She’s getting ready for a girls conference that is being hosted at Lifeway in about a week. Still time to register and i hear there are going to be some great breakout leaders there :). But in the midst of that conversation it linked up with my previous article about The Deceiver, and I started to discuss how recently I had been aware of some of his activity around me as I planned for events and such. We talked about the reality of spiritual warfare. It was a reminder to both of us that Satan is prowling around. We often go about our lives and forget that we truly need to be alert and on guard to Satan’s attacks. Here are 4 quick triggers that I found written in the back of my teenaged bible this past week. It meant a lot to me then to write it down, and when I stumble across it—those 4 words are always great reminders of how Satan likes to prowl and attack.

Satan wants to DEVOUR. (He is not playing around. He will attack with a flesh wound and then go for the juggler.)
What does he try to devour? Reputations. Marriages. Families. Time spent with God. What else have you seen him try to devour?

Satan wants to DISCOURAGE. This is one in particular that he continually uses to bring me down. And what happens when we’re discouraged? We lose confidence. We become focused on us. We lick our wounds and can’t lift our heads to see others.

Satan wants to DIVIDE. I see this happen a lot in our girls ministries and I see it happen among ministries. If Satan can divide, then he has weakened the impact of the team. Also I like to think of it like this, it’s like a paper cut. You may not think the quick cut to the skin will do much damage, but if that division is not mended properly then an infection sets in and well the rest gets pretty gorey but it ends with gangrene.

Satan wants to DIVERT. This one is kinda clever.  This is when we get off-focus and get away from the mission God called us to in the first place. This is when the gospel kind of gets pushed to the corner for someone’s pursuit of themselves or maybe other motives that are not God-centered. This one could have me stepping on toes—mine first though:).

Now a question for you?  Have you seen this going on lately?  Don’t forget to find encouragement in 1 Peter 5:8-11. 🙂

1 Peter 5:8-11 (MSG)

Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.