Checkmate
JOE LOUIS was the heavy weight boxing champion of the world, holding the title for 15 years.
He fought 71 professional fights and only lost one of them. Towards the end of his career, the “Brown Bomber” was asked what techniques or secrets he used in order to win over men who were much larger than he. His answer was simple.
Joe Louis said “I STUDY my opponent. I plan my fights very carefully. I KNOW my opponent’s weak points and his strong points. I base my fight on what I know of HIS tactics. The results are always the same. I’m never surprised. I stay on the offensive.”
Now isn’t that pretty good counsel for Christians in dealing with their opponent, the devil?
Satan wins many of his attacks because he SURPRISES us. He catches us off-guard. We are told that we should NOT be ignorant of his devices (2 Corinthians 2:11). We should KNOW how he operates – his weak points and his strong points. His actions should NEVER surprise us.
James 4:7 Submit to God: resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Ephesians 6:16 Take the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
1 John 4:4 He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
Romans 8:37 In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us.
~~~~~~~
# The devil is most devilish when he is most respectful ~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning
# The devil uses very effective camouflage paint.
# Satan does far more harm as an angel of light than as a roaring lion ~ Vance Havner
# The devil cannot lift his head higher than the saint’s heel when Christ is in control of his life.
~~~~~~~
Anyone having a problem in defeating the already-defeated foe would do well to heed the advice of the highly successful Joe Louis. He makes sense and it kept him the world champion for 15 years, with only one defeat in his career.
Better still, the Bible says the same thing.
MEETING IN THE CLOUDS 
Your post reminds me of a dear old man we used to regularly visit in a retirement home.
He once fought and beat a man who went on to be a British Heavyweight Champion.
Every 4 weeks I’d seek him out & we’d shake hands (he had an iron grip). The poor chap lost the ability to stand about 20 years after he stopped boxing due to the brain damage of all the fighting.
We used to share the Gospel, amy he and many other “fighters” find the one who beat the the grave.
Stephen
LikeLike
I cannot understand why men like to box but maybe that is because I am a lady. Personally I would ban boxing as a sport. There have been way too many brains damaged and other disastrous results. At least they do wear some protective gear now.
Great that he acknowledged His Saviour.
LikeLike
Another great post, filled with the practicality that I spoke of before. I enjoy the way you use the natural, to explain the spiritual. I must say, as I read it, I thought of my most recent post. I mentioned how Satan wanted to know exactly what we were made of, and that he knows what our Achilles’ heels are. Therefore, as you so eloquently put it, we should also know his plan of attack. One Scripture that you mentioned, fit perfectly into what I had written, so I added it to my post. The Scripture is James 4:7. God bless you, and may He continue to use you!
LikeLike
The devil is a formidable foe but when we FIRST submit to God and then resist Him, he has no option but to flee. The very first thing we need to know about the devil is that he is a defeated foe. When we are aware of his tactics (and these are revealed in the Word) we are more prepared and will not be taken by surprise.
LikeLike
Amen!!!
LikeLike
I agree fully with the principle that we must learn about how Satan works to adequately defend against him. The one thing we must keep in mind is that the Bible tells us all we need to know about Satan and his demonic devices.
One time I knew a teenager (who had been brought up in a Christian home) who was reading the Satanic Bible and other occult books. He used the excuse that he was simply learning more about Satan and the occult so he could adequately war against the powers of darkness. His parents had come to me not knowing how to answer him. I explained to them that the Word of God taught us all we needed to know about how Satan works.
Using occult materials, for any reason, can be a very dangerous thing, even for a Christian.
May the Lord continue to bless you. Great posting.
LikeLike
Hi Rob. I COMPLETELY agree. Thank you for making the comment about not using occult materials. We are to abstain from all APPEARANCE of evil. We never need to go outside the Word of God to understand the way the devil operates.
However, I think the attitude of Joe Louis in studying his opponent is good advice and simply backs up the advice of Scripture that we should NOT BE IGNORANT of his devices; or as Joe Louis put it, we should STUDY the way he works – as clearly shown in the Word of God.
LikeLike