Conversations with the devil – Part 2

This series is dedicated to a Man of God who is after God’s own heart. My Pastor, Elder William Eakins, II wrote a book titled Conversations with the Devil and in this book, he goes into great detail about the different strategies and tactics that the devil uses to wreak havoc in our lives. The Bible tells us in John 10:10 that the devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy. That is his job, but Pastor Eakins exposes how the devil plans to do that in his book. Being a student of the Word under the guidance of this Man of God, I am blessed to learn how to navigate this world and maintain my righteous walk with the Lord.

This is part 2 of an 8-part series about the different conversations we have with the devil on a regular basis. Part 2 is based on the scripture Job 1:6-12 and it deals with accusation. In case you don’t know the story of Job, I will give you some background information. Job was a righteous man who was just minding his business, when the devil approached God and began to accuse Job of only being righteous because his life was good. So, God allows the devil to wreak havoc in Job’s life to prove that Job would remain righteous.

Did you catch that? God ALLOWED the devil to wreak havoc in Job’s life. The devil has no power on his own. The devil belongs to God just like everything and everyone else in the world, and the devil has no more power than what God allows. So, when the devil is busy in your life, the question you should ask is, “What is God trying to teach me in this season?” God was teaching Job who he was on the inside, and he was teaching the devil that God’s people are loyal and will not be swayed away from God just because the devil messed with them. Is that your testimony?

In Pastor Eakins’ book, he discusses the conversation the devil had with God about Job. The devil brought accusations to God about Job, but God is our defender against the accuser. Previously, we mentioned seduction, which is a tactic the devil uses “to attack one’s beliefs.” However, accusation is a tactic the devil uses “to attack one’s character.” Since man was created in God’s image, the devil thinks that exposing a flaw in man’s character will give him leverage with attacking God’s character. The devil’s end goal is not just to steal, kill, and destroy man, but destroy God and take His throne. Of course, that’s never going to happen because the devil is already defeated, and he knows it, so he is just trying to take down as many people with him as he can. That is why he strikes up a conversation every chance he gets.

In God’s defense of Job, He mentioned the qualities that He saw in Job. Oftentimes, we don’t see what qualities we have, but God knows all about us.  Here is what God had to say about Job in Job 1:8:

1. Job had reached spiritual maturity, so he was not a babe in Christ who would be easily swayed by the devil and his schemes.
2. Job was an honest, upright man who did not partake in deceitful acts, so the devil would not be able to trap him in his lies.
3. Job had the fear of the Lord, meaning he considered God in all that he did, so the devil would not be able to use Job to do his bidding because he would always seek God first.
4. Job “eschewed evil,” which means whenever evil would present itself to Job, he would turn away from it. This was a “consistency of Job’s nature,” so the devil would not be able to entice Job with his evil ways.

The devil attacks the integrity of believers based on these four characteristics, so we need to examine ourselves daily to ensure that we are up for the challenge. God allows accusation for us to see who we really are and to prove that how He sees us is how we really are. In cases where we fall short, the devil thinks he has won, but falling short does not have to be the end for us. We examine ourselves daily so we can see where we fall short and allow God to correct us. We repent and turn away from the things that cause us to fall short. We seek the presence of God for Him to show us the paths we need to follow. The devil does not get to win just because we fall short. According to Romans 3:23, we have ALL sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. When we sin, we fall short, but we don’t have to stay there. Jesus died on the cross, so we don’t have to stay there. We are forgiven of our sins as long as we repent, stop sinning, and change the way we think about our sin. We need to see our sin as a sin against God, which should motivate us to change our ways.

Once we reach this level of spiritual maturity, the accusations from the devil will not concern us. As we continue to walk upright with the fear of the Lord, and eschewing evil, God will justify us to our accuser.