"Enemy In Disguise"

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Ephesians 6:12

As I was praying for the word to share with you this morning, the Lord impressed upon me to go back to a certain date and read the devotional that I sent out that day. It was the devotion entitled, "Camouflaged". That morning we talked about how the enemy doesn't always come right out in the open plainly visible. But he comes in disguise and tries to blend in with the surroundings so as not to be detected. We talked about how he comes disguised as an angel of light blending into religious surroundings in order to ensnare us with that which is false.

This morning I want to talk about another disguise he uses-- it's people. He often comes disguised in "human" clothing. He'll look like our boss, our spouse, our children, a church member, etc. When we have a conflict with people, we must remember that they aren't the enemy- we don't wrestle against flesh and blood. It's not the person, it's the enemy using that person- he has disguised himself and made us think that it's the person so we will not recognize that it is him. He tried to do this with Jesus. But Jesus recognized the enemy when he came at him through Peter. Jesus knew who the enemy was. He knew it wasn't Peter. He knew the enemy was in disguise. "But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan." (Matthew 16:23a)

If we don't look past the "disguise" to see who the real enemy is we will focus our attention, our anger, our criticism, our grievances toward the person and begin to fight with and against them instead of fighting against the real enemy. This is just what the enemy wants. As long as he goes undetected he will continue to steal, kill and destroy.

Get victory today over the real enemy. Disarm him this morning by realizing that that person is not the enemy, he is only using them to hide behind so that you will not fight against him.

Have a great day. Stop spending your time fighting the "disguise", while the real enemy goes undetected.

For further reading:
Ephesians 6:10-19
2 Corinthians 10:3-5
Matthew 13:39