Make Satan Mad
by Johnny Ramsey

    We ought always to do our very best to please God, and at the same time we should concentrate on giving the devil trouble. Our great enemy constantly seeks to devour us: "Be sober, be watchful: your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (I Pet. 5:8). May we never give him a moment's pleasure!

    At the end of our earthly sojourn, we will have cause for great joy if Satan loses in his quest for our soul and heaven becomes our eternal abode (2 Tim. 4:18). But this wondrous destiny shall not be gained unless we triumph over the sinful devices of the subtle serpent (2 Cor. 11:3). By living for Jesus, trusting in the Bible and realizing the powerful efficacy of the blood of the Savior, we shall see the King some day! "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life . . . And they overcame him because of the blood of the lamb . . . Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have the right to come to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city" (Rev. 2:10; 12:11; 22:14). These promises give us real hope and confirm our ultimate goal and purpose.

    How can we make Satan mad, and make our future glad? What are the ingredients of a successful life in the Lord that will produce victory? Let us see some factors.


Godly Homes

    When we allow the Lord to lead us and our family, we rise to greater heights: "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it" (Psa. 127:1). Leaving worldly standards to focus on values that are spiritual will always relegate Satan to the role of "loser." When we magnify the Savior as a family, rich dividends become regular benefits in the home: "O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together" (Psa. 34:3). Parents and children, and husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, everyone: Let us work together to eliminate worldly matters and to provide a foretaste of glory divine in the midst of a decadent society!

Living Up to our Potential

    When one reads the magnificent and challenging parable of the talents in Matt. 25, it becomes exceedingly clear that all of us must live up to our potential and never be guilty of living beneath our privileges. We should always strive for excellence and flee mediocrity as we go forward to greater endeavor in the cause of Christ. We shall give account some day, not only for presumptuous sins, but also for what we could and should have done (James 4:17). That is a most haunting thought. This little statement is a definite challenge to me:

Across the fields of yesterday,
He sometimes comes to me,
A little lad just back from play,
The boy I used to be.
He looks at me so wistfully,
When once he's crept within,
It is as if he hoped to see
The man I might have been.

Purity in an Age of Corruption

    Satan desires to have us in his evil web, just as he wanted Peter: "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat: but I make supplication for thee, that thy faith fail not" (Luke 22:31-32). One of the realms of his devious and clever enterprise is the moral decline that runs rampant in modern society. When Christians lead morally pure lives, it gives the devil fits. When we do not surrender to debauchery and shameful acts of licentious behavior, a clear dent is found in the schemes and plots of hell. Television, movies, pornographic magazines and such filth, must be put aside by Christians who wish to think on better things (Phil. 4:8). The smut industry must be overcome!


Strong Bible Preaching

    In many ways nothing is more powerful in the spiritual warfare against Satan and sin than bold, plain, clear and courageous preaching of God's word. Jesus chased Satan off with just three emphatic words: "It is written . . ." (Matt. 4:1-11). The Lord promised, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32). The sacred Scriptures hold the innate truths that will combat every form of evil: "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord, teach me thy statutes" (Psa. 119:11-12). It is the knowledge of that word that provides us with spiritual riches God wants us to enjoy: "His divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that called us by his own glory and virtue" (2 Pet. 1:3).

Holy book divine,
Precious treasure mine,
To guide me safely home.

    Let's apply ourselves to live for the Lord, and make the devil really mad!