Marsha's Musings: Schemes of the Devil

Our pastor recently preached a series of messages on the schemes of the Devil. His text was:

Ephesians 6:10 ¶ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 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. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

One of the schemes of the Devil, among many, that he pointed out is trying to tempt us to be discontented with what we have or with our circumstances. He pointed out in Genesis in the account of the Fall of Man that the serpent convinced Eve that she was getting the short end of the stick by not being able to know good and evil as God does. He got her to be discontented with what God had provided because she was missing out on this one area of knowing good and evil as God does.

Satan does the same thing to us. He gets us to look at our neighbors & friends and start thinking about how much better they have it than we do. He gets us to wish for something better than what we have. He gets us to feel sorry for ourselves because we don't have it as good as the next guy. We begin to feel like God has given us the short end of the stick. He gets us thinking in this vein and then we become depressed and unhappy. That's exactly what he wants us to do! If he can be successful in getting all these thoughts to take root then he can make us ineffective for God's use.

What does the Bible say? Godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 Timothy 6:6 ) After thinking about the above, that verse has a whole lot more meaning for me.