When it comes to spiritual warfare, most people either ignore the devil or focus on him. The only way to fight the devil is to focus on the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Evil spirits exist and their main objective is to destroy our faith in Jesus. They don’t worry much about the people who are already under their control, but they do worry about the influence that the Spirit of God has over people who are searching for truth.
While fallen angels cannot possess a Christian, they can oppress and torment representatives of Jesus Christ. We cannot fight them in our own wisdom and strength, and the only way to overcome these battles is to pray, praise, and to saturate our minds with the truth of God’s word. Lucifer is the father of lies, and he flees from the king of Truth–Jesus Christ.
One of the biggest traps that Christians can fall into is extremes. Evil spirits are happiest when they can turn a Christian into a “double agent” and work havoc from within a christian home, church, or community. Jesus warned us about false Christs and false prophets. Don’t forget that it was the temple priests who called for the crucifixion of Jesus.
It is possible for a person to become earthly minded and be of no heavenly good, but it is more likely for a christian to become overly concerned with spiritual extremes to be of no earthly good. God wants us to be practical and balanced in using our mental, physical, and spiritual gifts. Yes, we must hate sin–but we must love the sinner and do everything in our power to let them know of God’s love for all his created beings.
The gospel is the power of God, and Jesus said that the cross would be the magnet to draw people into a love relationship with himself. The cross is the central focus of God’s message to the world. This is the message of truth that God has given us to proclaim. This is the message that makes the devil flee, and gives us the strength to break the spiritual bonds of evil.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.
Revelation 12:10-12, NIV
~Stephen Beagles