Ephesians 6:11 (NIV) Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
The word scheme means craftiness and is associated with the deceitful methods of the devil in his attacks on God’s people.
The Bible calls the devil by several names:
- Dragon, Satan, the deceiver, the accuser – Revelation 12:9–10 (ESV) And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
- The ruler of this world – John 12:31 (AMPC) Now the judgment (crisis) of this world is coming on [sentence is now being passed on this world]. Now the ruler (evil genius, prince) of this world shall be cast out (expelled).
- The god of this world – 2 Corinthians 4:4 (TLB) Satan, who is the god of this evil world, has made him blind, unable to see the glorious light of the Gospel that is shining upon him or to understand the amazing message we preach about the glory of Christ, who is God.
Satan is on the lookout for you. He wants to destroy you.
1 Peter 5:8 (AMPC) Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour.
Psalm 10:8-9 (NKJV) He sits in the lurking places of the villages; In the secret places he murders the innocent; His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless. He lies in wait secretly, as a lion in his den; He lies in wait to catch the poor; He catches the poor when he draws him into his net,
You are the target of Satan. He wants to destroy you, but God has stripped him.
You are more than a conqueror
Colossians 2:15 (MSG) God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.
Romans 8:37 (NKJV) Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.