There’s a lot of bad stuff going on in the earth today, and we see it all around us, fires, floods, earthquakes, all kinds of disasters, not to mention all the strife between people of every nation. Well, it should show us where we’re at in the timeline of the Bible. It is written in Revelation 12:7-12,

7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

We know, according to verses 9 and 10, that this must have happened right after the resurrection of Christ Jesus from the dead. Here Satan managed to have Jesus killed, and he thought he had won, because apparently he didn’t believe Jesus would be resurrected. Heaven was then rejoicing, because they had had enough of him, but verse 12 tells us that now our problems on earth were just beginning.  It appears Satan, or Lucifer, who had been going between heaven and earth freely, even from the time of Adam, deceiving whom he could, was now denied access to heaven, and was permanently marooned on earth until the time of the end.

Unfortunately, Adam and Eve listened to him, and down through history most have, but not all. There have been a few that have drawn a line in the sand, determined not to allow Satan to deceive them into disobeying God.  Job, Daniel, Shadrach, Mesach, Abednego and Joseph were examples of that.  We’ve always had problems with Satan, ever since his first visit to earth. But now, knowing his time is short, he is doing all the damage to earth and its people that he can.  And as we can easily see, most all of society is under his influence.

Things are not easy, and the Bible tells us things are going to get progressively worse as time passes. The Bible tells us to stand fast in the knowledge of the LORD. Are we subject to temptation? Sure, and the Bible tells us we are led astray by our own lusts. But we cannot be led astray if we keep our mind stayed upon the LORD. Keeping our mind stayed upon the LORD is not as easy as we would like it to be, though. You see, Satan is very subtle and tricky. He has been around a LONG time, and we have no idea HOW long. We do know he was the chief of all of God’s angels, and very wise.

Think of this; do you think you’d be smarter than you are right now if you had perhaps tens or hundreds of thousands of years of life already behind you? Sure you would be, no doubt about it. Our intelligence is no match for Satan’s, he was not only created smarter than we are, he’s had all these years of experience to gain knowledge and wisdom. Considering our short lifespan, we are only a flash in the pan compared to the time Satan has existed. BUT, if we learn during our lifetime to obey God in every circumstance and not listen to Satan’s voice, we can indeed overcome him.

Job did, even though Satan afflicted him sorely, he would not curse God, and of course we see how God gave Job “double for his trouble”. Few of us compare to Job in our steadfastness unto the LORD. But we CAN, if we so choose.Fortunately for us, Satan cannot force us to do anything against our will, or against God’s will. However, being subtle as he is known to be, he can make even the vilest thing appear to be a most desirable thing in the world, and the longer we listen to him, the more appealing that thing will become.

Do we have the power to draw a line in the sand and say, “NO!”? We do, but it comes at a great price. We must surrender OUR will and be moved only by the Word of God, and so few are willing to pay that price, because the devil makes sure we have plenty of distractions. And they will always be what appeals to us the most. Surely the devil won’t tempt you with stuff that you aren’t already attracted to.

For example, I don’t smoke or drink, so the devil would be wasting his time trying to get me to do either one, for I have no desire toward them whatsoever. But he knows the things I do like, and he will use those things to try to draw me away from the LORD. And he does the same to all of us. None of us are immune to temptation, but none of us have to give in.

I’m so thankful for the Word of God, and this passage in Hebrews 13:5-6 is of great comfort to me.
5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
And in 1 Corinthians 10:1-14,

1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.
7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.
9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

You see, it’s all about the choices we make. Even when Satan whispers in our ear, “You really NEED to do this, you’ll be the envy of all your friends..”, you still have the power to say “NO!”. You always have the power to draw a line in the sand that neither you nor Satan can cross. And the blood of Jesus is that line that will always keep you safe from anything the devil throws at you. You always have the power to determine you will honor God in all you say and do, regardless of how sorely you are tempted of the devil to do otherwise.

How is that? It’s because of who you are. As a child of God, you are a joint-heir with Christ Jesus. All His Father has is His. All Jesus has, is also ours, by His own promise. Never in all eternity has God ever broken a promise. That unbroken promise of His hand upon you will give you the unbroken strength of character to be an OVERCOMER! You see, God doesn’t create losers. Even Lucifer was not created a loser. He CHOSE to become a loser! And YOU have the power of choice to be an OVERCOMER!

Just think of all the power and privilege Lucifer had in heaven. You can read all about it right here in Ezekiel 28:13-19, He was the greatest of all of God’s creation, until he thought HE should be God instead of God. Lucifer was destroyed by the lusts of his own heart.
13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

Do you know where Lucifer messed up? He crossed the line in the sand that separates God from all else. He thought HE should be God instead. He thought he should do it HIS way. Now, imagine being as wise and smart as he was, yet he was deceived by his own lust for power, do you think it’s any different in how WE lust after our own will, and are destroyed by it?

Don’t be like Lucifer. Be satisfied to take your proper place as a Joint-Heir with Christ Jesus, for it is God’s perfect will for you. It is a place of perfect peace and contentment, knowing your heavenly Father will forever have you in His presence. That line in the sand I’m speaking of is the blood of Jesus, that is there to protect you FOREVER! Thank Him for it daily!