Satan, The Commander Of Hell’s Forces, Is Determined To Stop You From Ever Becoming What Jesus Died For You To Be. It Is Important To Understand That Satan Does Not Want You To Gain Any More Ground!

 

Mark 4:15, “These [in the first group] are the ones along the road where the Word is sown; but when they hear, SATAN IMMEDIATELY comes and takes away the Word which has been sown in them.” (AMP)

When you around military people, you learn quite a bit about military lingo. And one of the terms I learned was “beachhead”. Now, since we are not all military types, it is probably good to explain what a beachhead is before we talk about one. A beachhead is not where the beach begins (yeah, that is what I thought it was, so what, do not laugh!). And for further clarity, it is also not a guy who just thinks about getting to the beach all the time!

You see, in wartime, a beachhead is serious business! It is a small piece of ground that you try to take as your first step in taking all the ground that your enemy holds! The dictionary defines it as “a fortified position on a beach taken by landing forces.”

For example, during WWII, two of the world’s greatest generals went against each other when the Allies set out to take North Africa back from the Germans. General Dwight Eisenhower, the commander of the Allied forces, planned to land and take three important beachheads. German general Rommel, the famous “Desert Fox “, basically said, “We must stop Eisenhower within 48 hours of his landing, or we won’t stop him.” They did not stop him. And five months after Eisenhower successfully captured that first beachhead, Rommel had to flee and surrender everything, including 250,000 soldiers. And he lost it all at that first beachhead!

Satan, The Commander Of Hell’s Forces, Is Determined To Stop You From Ever Becoming What Jesus Died For You To Be! And like any smart general, he knows he must stop you at that first beachhead, before you grow and gain any more ground. His strategy is revealed in Mark 4:15. “Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. AS SOON AS they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.”

Let us look at this Scripture in a few translations:

“The ones along the path are those who have the Word sown [in their hearts], but when they hear, SATAN COMES AT ONCE AND [BY FORCE] takes away the message which is sown in them.” (AMPC).

“This is the meaning of the seed that fell on the path: When the word is scattered and people hear it, RIGHT AWAY SATAN COMES and steals the word that was planted in them.” (CEB).

“The farmer plants the Word. Some people are like the seed that falls on the hardened soil of the road. NO SOONER DO THEY HEAR THE WORD THAN SATAN SNATCHES away what has been planted in them.” (MSG).

Listen to what Satan does WHEN YOU HEAR A WORD FROM THE LORD: “AT ONCE AND BY FORCE… RIGHT AWAY SATAN COMES… SATAN SOON COMES… SATAN IMMEDIATELY COMES… SATAN COMES AT ONCE… NO SOONER DO THEY HEAR THE WORD THAN SATAN SNATCHES… SATAN QUICKLY COMES…”

Here is what happens: God’s Word has landed in your heart. You are starting to gain some ground spiritually, so hell has been notified and your enemy is alarmed. He comes immediately to try to take away the ground you just gained through God’s Word. This is what causes us to become discouraged so quickly. Because as soon as God gives us a Word, Satan goes to War! God speaks healing, and here comes Satan with another symptom; God speaks wealth, and here comes Satan with an unexpected bill; God speaks promotion, and here comes Satan with a layoff; God speaks a new home, and here comes Satan with a leaky roof; God speaks opportunity, and here comes Satan with obstacles; God speaks calm, and here comes Satan with chaos; God speaks anniversary, and here comes Satan with divorce papers! And he does not drag his feet either, the Bible says, “at once, by force, right away, immediately, no sooner than, quickly, and as soon as” the Word is Sown, here comes Satan with his Shovel!

It is important to understand that Satan does not want you to gain any more ground!

Remember the beachhead, is “a fortified position on a beach taken by landing forces.” It is important to know that the beachhead is not vulnerable, it is fortified! And the word “fortified” is defined as, “to provide with defensive works as protection against attack.” Its Latin Origin “fortificare,” from “fortis” literally means “strong.” So, General Eisenhower was not landing on a ground that was not protected! It was guarded, just not well enough to stop him from taking it. Which is why Rommel said, “We must stop Eisenhower within 48 hours of his landing, or we won’t stop him.” Rommel knew Eisenhower was coming and knew that he was coming to take their ground, their land, their territory, and their beachhead. And he obviously knew how strategic and strong Eisenhower’s troops were because he immediately tells his own, “We must stop Eisenhower within 48 hours of his landing, or we won’t stop him.” And surely you recall how this attack ended from the opening statement: “…five months after Eisenhower successfully captured that first beachhead, Rommel had to flee and surrender everything, including 250,000 soldiers.” And he lost it all at that first beachhead!

Because Rommel did not stop Eisenhower, he had to flee, and surrender everything, including his soldiers!

Listen: If you do not Guard the Word God has given you, Satan will come in IMMEDIATELY, and fight to steal it! And in the end, you will be the one fleeing, and surrendering everything, including those attached to you!

In other words, by no means is Satan playing games, in fact, he is playing for keeps! “The thief’s PURPOSE is to STEAL AND KILL AND DESTROY…” (John 10:10 NLT) Nothing about that sounds like child’s play! Which is why it is so vital that you take the enemy seriously! He has a Purpose just as much as you do! And if you let him, he will fulfill his, leaving you to forfeit yours!

Which may help explain why here at the beginning of the year things have suddenly gotten so tough for you, why things are going wrong, maybe why you do not have the spiritual enthusiasm you did before. Your logical reaction is, “I’ve been really trying to do what God wants, so what’s wrong here?” The answer is, “‘Nothing is wrong! It is because something is right! “

You have a beachhead (‘a promise’; ‘a word from God’) and the enemy is worried and ready to attack because he cannot let you have that ground, then gain more! So suddenly he is interested in you. He did not have to bother you when you were not a threat. He did not bother you when you stopped fasting, became lazy in reading/studying the Word, started slacking in your prayer/devotion time with God, when you stopped going to Sunday School, and started making excuses for skipping Bible Study. The enemy did not think 2 cents about you. You didn’t even appear on his radar, in fact he may have said something like this: “But the evil spirit retorted, “I know and recognize and acknowledge Jesus, and I know about Paul, BUT AS FOR YOU, WHO ARE YOU?” (Acts 19:15 AMP)

The enemy does not bother those who do not bother him! If you are not reading the Word, in prayer, fasting, obeying the commandments, fellow shipping with your brothers and sisters in Christ, walking in the Spirit, being directed, and guided by the Holy Ghost, what does he want with you? After all, what can you do to attack his kingdom, when you are not armed with any of the weaponry of the Kingdom yourself!?

However, for those who have made the decision to LAY ASIDE AND GET RID OF their bad habits, attitudes and addictions (Hebrews 12:1, “Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (UNNECESSARY WEIGHT) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us,” (AMPC); those who have decided to REIGNITE THE FIRE in their gifts, prayer and devotion time (2 Timothy 1:6, “That is why I would remind you to stir up (REKINDLE THE EMBERS OF, FAN THE FLAME OF, AND KEEP BURNING) the [gracious] gift of God, [THE INNER FIRE] that is in you by means of the laying on of my hands [with those of the elders at your ordination].” (AMPC); (1 Thessalonians 5:17, “BE UNCEASING IN PRAYER [PRAYING PERSEVERINGLY]” (AMPC); (1 Timothy 2:10, “But by doing good deeds (deeds in themselves good and for the good and advantage of those contacted by them), as befits women who profess reverential fear for and DEVOTION TO GOD.” (AMPC); those spending more time with God, the saints, and in the sanctuary; those hearing from God and following the directives of the Holy Ghost, the enemy is screaming from hell, “READY, AIM, FIRE!”

And by no means should that terrify you, in fact, it ought to excite you, that you are finally on the enemies hit list! It is not because of what you have done wrong, it is because you have finally got it right!

So now he has got to get himself in position to make it hard for you! He has got to stop your forward progress fast or there is no telling how much ground he is going to lose! He must stop you before you start interceding for folks, laying hands on people, speaking in tongues, binding the works of the flesh. He has got to stop you before you start pleading the blood of Jesus over your family; before you start anointing your children. He has got to stop you before you start speaking those things that be not as though they were. He has got to stop you before your hope is renewed and your faith is revived. He has got to stop you before you start believing that God meant just what He said concerning you. He has got to stop you before you start dreaming again. He has got to stop you before you stop living in the past and start seeing yourself in a great future. He has got to stop you from walking with God before you gain more ground! Remember this is the beginning of a new year and Satan must stop you before you even get started. If you recall my reading a couple of weeks ago while entering the New year, I mentioned that this year was going to be Bigger, Better & Greater and that scares the fool out of Satan.

Satan gets busy whenever God has made a major landing in your life. Maybe you have recently made a new surrender of your life to Jesus or you have said yes to His call on your life. You have stepped up to leadership. Could it be that you have begun a new work for the Lord? Made a new commitment to be the marriage partner or the parent you should be, to give more to the Lord’s work, to live by new priorities? Guess what? If so, alarm bells are going off in hell!

But do not get discouraged. Do not go back to the old ways. This is just your old enemy trying to stop this progress while it is new and fragile. If you keep going this way, your enemy’s going to lose big time and he knows it. So, step up and launch a Biblical counterattack. In the words of James 4:7, “Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you.”

Remember, Rommel’s beachhead was guarded, just not well enough to stop Eisenhower’s attack! Which is why you must be sure you guard well your beachhead (‘your promise/your Word from God’). And how do you do that? By doing your part and allowing God to do His. What I love about James 4:7 is that when I come near to God, He comes near to me. And what greater protection can your beachhead possibly have than to have the Presence of the Lord nearby? Look at it like this: If there was a thief across the street from you, but you were surrounded by 20 of the NYPD’s finest, armed, locked and loaded…how scared would you really be of that thief? You would probably stand there in full confidence saying, “what you waiting for? Come on over here, in fact, I double-dog dare you!” And why are you able to say that? Because you are heavily guarded and protected! And just so you know that is not just an illustration, but it is the truth!

Psalm 91: “You who sit down in the High God’s presence, spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow, say this: “God, you are my refuge. I trust in you and I’M SAFE!” That is right—he rescues you from hidden traps, shields you from deadly hazards. His huge, outstretched arms protect you—under them you are PERFECTLY SAFE; his arms fend off all harm. Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night, not flying arrows in the day, not disease that prowls through the darkness, not disaster that erupts at high noon. Even though others succumb all around, drop like flies right and left, no harm will even graze you. You will stand UNTOUCHED, watch it all from a distance, watch the wicked turn into corpses. Yes, because God is your refuge, the High God your very own home, Evil cannot get close to you, harm cannot get through the door. HE ORDERED HIS ANGELS TO GUARD YOU WHEREVER YOU GO. If you stumble, they will catch you; their job is to keep you from falling. You will walk UNHARMED among lions and snakes and kick young lions and serpents from the path. “If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,” says God, “I’ll get you out of any trouble. I will give you the BEST OF CARE if you will only get to know and trust me. Call me and I will answer, be at your side in bad times; I will rescue you, then throw you a party. I’ll give you a long life, give you a long drink of salvation!” (MSG)

That is the security you have when you come near to God and He comes near to you! Not only is He your refuge keeping you safe, but He is also Ordered (not asked) His angels to guard you wherever you go! Remember this the next time God gives you a Word. Protect it by remaining in the Presence of God. Knowing that His angels are with you, guarding you, keeping you safe, wherever you go. That is how you protect your beachhead (‘your promise/your Word from God’). Do not just let the devil take your property! Fight for it, guard it, and stay as close to God as you can!

Do not get all excited about the Word from God and forget to Guard it! Remember the enemy is ready to steal, kill and destroy, and that includes you and the Word of Promise given to you. Do not let him get it! He is ready and alert, now make sure you are too!

1 Peter 5:8-11, “Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You are not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It is the same with Christians all over the world. So, keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering will not last forever. It will not be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are! —will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.” (MSG) Stay Alert, The Devil Is Poised to Pounce! The Danger for us as believers in becoming lazy, is that the devil never is! He’s Poised to Pounce! He is in Position to Attack, are you?!

Charles Spurgeon said, “The greatest sign of God’s will and God’s power is the Devil’s growl.” If you are hearing the “growl” you are probably on the right track! The battle for the beachhead… it might be raging around you or even in you right now. Hold your ground, soldier! You are not losing, or the enemy would not bother with you. You are on your way to some of the greatest victories of your life! Protect Your Word, Protect Your Promise! He’s Only Getting Worse Because You are Getting Better! It will be a fight to the finish, but one you will finish and win! Keep your armor on and fight the good fight of faith!

You will Gain More Ground If You Keep the Devil Under Your Feet!

1 Timothy 6:12, “Fight the good fight of the faith [in the conflict with evil]; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and [for which] you made the good confession [of faith] in the presence of many witnesses.” (AMP)

Psalm 144:1, “Praise and thanks be to the Lord, my rock. He makes my hands ready for war, and my fingers for battle.” (NLV)

2 Corinthians 10:3-5, “For though we walk in the flesh [as mortal men], we are not carrying on our [spiritual] warfare according to the flesh and using the weapons of man.  The weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood]. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.  We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ” (AMP)

1 John 4:4, “Little children (believers, dear ones), you are of God and you belong to Him and have [already] overcome them [the agents of the antichrist]; because He who is in you is greater than he (Satan) who is in the world [of sinful mankind].” (AMP)

Therefore, Soldiers in the Lord’s Army, Put Your Warfare Clothes On, Go to Battle and Guard the Word God Gave You!

Ephesians 6:10-18, “And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So, take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we will walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. Be prepared. You are up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it is all over but the shouting you will still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You will need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out.” (MSG)

 

Blessings

J.P. Olson

www.thewordwithjpolson.org