We know we have enemies — those who do not wish us well. We are never sure where they might be lurking or where they might strike at us next. We might think we know who or where they are, but sometimes the real danger is hidden behind the obvious.

Our first enemy is us. Walt Kelly, the famous cartoonist, said it well in the comic strip Pogo, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” Most of the time, we are our own worst enemy. We talk too much, we listen too little, we eat too much, we exercise too little, we worry and fret about things we can do nothing about, we give too little, we keep too much. Our health and vitality go down the drain as we pay attention to all the wrong things.

Our other enemy is the devil. There is a devil, and he is alive and well. Satan is the trickster, the deceiver. He is smarter than we are and quicker than we. He is more than happy to turn our lives upside down and allow us to blame somebody else while he sits silently on the sideline. The Bible speaks much of Satan.

The gospel of John 10:10 declares of Satan, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.”

We are being duped. We blame the Republicans or the Democrats, the Communists or the government, and, worst of all, society will blame the Christian faith and think if they can stamp out the words of God that speaks against what we are doing, that everything will settle down and we will be okay. The question is, “How is that working out?”

We do well to remember the words of Paul in Ephesians 6:12, “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

This is speaking of Satan’s system better known as the “world.” The Apostle John sums it up in 1 John 2:15-16 when he speaks of the world which promises so much but gives so little, and the flesh which all of us have and which assaults us continually.

The hatred, the conflict, and the desperation present in our culture today is largely the result of Satan and his working. Seems hopeless, doesn’t it? Apart from Jesus, it is. As powerful as the devil (Satan) seems to be, Jesus is stronger and will prevail. Rather than focusing on all that you see and hear, look up; Jesus Christ is the answer.