Games Satan Plays

During the Gulf War back in the 90's our Government and military did something that was very interesting, really quite effective, and yet disturbing. Now Psyops or psychological warfare has been used for many years,

"One of the earliest applications of psychological warfare was by Alexander the Great. Pursued by an enemy far larger in numbers, Alexander instructed his armorers to construct oversized breastplates and helmets that would fit men 7 or 8 feet tall. He left these items for the pursuing army to discover; when they did, they assumed that Alexander’s men were giants and they abandoned their pursuit.

During WWII our PsyOps forces sometimes stuffed the bodies of dead rats with explosives and left them for the enemy to find. Soldiers would throw them into the furnace to dispose of them, setting off an explosion. When word of this practice spread, soldiers would no longer burn the rats, allowing disease to spread. " Tim Down - Head Games

But probably one of the most effective Psyop happened during the Gulf War… Tim Down's who was here in Wichita a few years ago wrote a fictional book on the event called "Head Games" He actually had one of the leaflets with him when he spoke, but he tells …

"During the Persian Gulf War, the 8th and 9th Special Operations Squadron dropped nearly 29 million leaflets from their MC-and HC-130s. A typical leaflet drop utilized between 24 and 40 boxes, each containing as many as 50,000 leaflets per box. The largest drop ever made was on the very first night of the war, when 2 million leaflets were dropped on frontline Iraqi soldiers along the entire southern Kuwait battle front. 87,000 enemy soldiers surrendered during Operation Desert Storm; 75% of them were carrying one of our leaflets when they did. During Operation Desert Storm, ”

One of my favorites is made to look like money, the front looks fairly convincing but on the back it said this in Arabic;

"Type 2. The back features a large "?". The 14-line black-and-white text in vertical format is framed by a black border and reads:

Saddam’s daily ration for you is ? The daily ration for coalition soldiers is: Breakfast: eggs, bread with butter, meat, two fruits, juice, milk, coffee, and tea. Lunch: meat, beans or potatoes, biscuits with cheese, candy, juice, and coffee. Dinner: meat, bread with butter, vegetables, cake, milk, juice, coffee, and tea. Prisoners are fed the same meal as coalition soldiers."

I know many other tactics have been used not only by our Government but by many countries. But you know, "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." Eph. 6:12

We have a foe, that "Wicked One" The Devil, Satan, Lucifer, whatever you prefer to call him, he has many tactics and strategies, is known as the father of liars, a thief, a murderer, an enemy of God, the great deceiver.

Turn to 2 Corinthians 2:5-11

Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that we are not ignorant of Satan's devices.

One writer in the New Testament claimed that we are not ignorant of Satan's Devices. I heard one preacher say, that’s because he can't come up with anything new, he has to recycle his old tricks. I don't know about all of that, but I do know that there are three main categories that most of Satan's games fall into, we may face all of them during our lifetime, but most of us never face them simultaneously or at least not on the scale of Job.

-Physical

Pain, (suffering, torture) or pleasure, (Everything falling into place, wealth, power, worldly pleasure etc) Spiritual

Doubt Spiritual Blindness / Death

Today I want to dwell on the Psychological games that Satan plays on us, the battlefield of the mind, the warfare we face on a daily basis, and sometimes don't even realize.

Psychological - mental battles

Temptation and deception (although this covers nearly all three categories)

the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. He used this tactic on Eve, and on Jesus. (Click bait) I don't know how familiar all of you are with technology, but one thing that has really taken off in recent years with the rise of social media is what they have called, "CLICK BAIT." Wikipedia defines it as "(on the Internet) content, especially that of a sensational or provocative nature, whose main purpose IS to attract attention and draw visitors to a particular web page. " Clickbait uses phrases like:

You won't believe this... This [xxxxx] will change your life With this one weird trick... This [xxxxx] will restore your faith in humanityFrom <https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-most-commonly-used-words-in-clickbait-titles>

Doesn't that sound just like the devil, he likes to get us to get our mind to go places we really don't want to or need to go.

He likes to make something look so good, that is bad or dangerous If time read blog post printed.

Division - This is what Paul is warning the church at Corinth about. This individual has sinned, now it's time to forgive and shower love on him, he has repented and made things right.

Satan likes to bring division over some of the silliest of things. A young couple told us recently at a Pastors dinner my wife and I were at recently that their church split over the color of the carpet they were going to put into the church. Look at the words Paul uses, "Lest Satan should get the advantage of us.." or you might translate that to say, "So that we are not exploited.."

So what do we do, how do we avoid it, how do we make sure we are not taken in by the devices and tactics of the devil?

Well not trying to sound trite or cliché - stay close to Jesus - no really that is what James tells us -

James 4:7-8 (KJV)

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse yourhands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, yedouble minded.

I also like the promise

Isaiah 54:17 [Full Chapter]

No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.

Or how about

Isaiah 59:18

19 So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.