Creates Hatred for Satan

[Daily Devotional]

Creates Hatred for Satan 

Give no opportunity to the devil. Eph. 4: 27, R. S. V. 

Satan's enmity against the human race is kindled because, through Christ,
they are the objects of God's love and mercy. He desires to thwart the
divine plan for man's redemption, to cast dishonor upon God, by defacing and
defiling His handiwork; he would cause grief in heaven and fill the earth
with woe and desolation. And he points to all his evil as the result of
God's work in creating man. 

It is the grace that Christ implants in the soul which creates in man enmity
against Satan. Without this converting grace and renewing power, man would
continue the captive of Satan, a servant ever ready to do his bidding. But
the new principle in the soul creates conflict where hitherto had been
peace. The power which Christ imparts, enables man to resist the tyrant and
usurper. Whoever is seen to abhor sin instead of loving it, whoever resists
and conquers those passions that have held sway within, displays the
operation of a principle wholly from above. 

Like a roaring lion, Satan is seeking for his prey. He tries his wiles upon
every unsuspecting youth; there is safety only in Christ. It is through His
grace alone that Satan can be successfully repulsed. Satan tells the young
that there is time enough yet, that they may indulge in sin and vice this
once and never again; but that one indulgence will poison their whole life.
Do not once venture on forbidden ground. In this perilous day of evil, when
allurements to vice and corruption are on every hand, let the earnest,
heartfelt cry of the young be raised to heaven: "Wherewithal shall a young
man cleanse his way?" And may his ears be open and his heart inclined to
obey the instruction given in the answer: "By taking heed thereto according
to thy word" (Ps. 119: 9). The only safety for the youth in this age of
pollution is to make God their trust. Without divine help they will be
unable to control human passions and appetites. In Christ is the very help
needed. . . . You can say with the apostle: "Nay, in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us" (Rom. 8: 37). Again; "But I
keep under my body, and bring it into subjection" (1 Cor. 9: 27). 

>From God's Amazing Grace - Page 107