“I love it when a plan comes together!”  Have you ever heard that said before?  Usually this is a statement that indicates the satisfaction that comes from the process of getting a job done.  My wife and I are in the final stages of building a house and as I was walking through it recently I couldn’t help but reflect on the process we underwent.  We watched as an open field was bulldozed to provide a level site soon followed by the concrete work, framing, roofing, electrical and plumbing and all the details that followed.  As each step was completed I sensed a feeling of fulfillment.  Even as hurdles were overcome and the steps were completed I couldn’t help but be pleased with the outcome.

I say this as a means of introducing a quote I read recently in an email.  “When a Christian shuns fellowship with other Christians, the devil smiles.  When he stops studying the Bible, the devil laughs.  When he stops praying, the devil shouts for joy.   – Corrie Ten Boom

Friend, just as we “love it when a plan comes together,” so also does our adversary, the devil!  When the apostle Paul wrote the church at Ephesus (Eph 6:11-12) he spoke of the scheming enemy we face when we strive to serve the God who loves us.  We are told of the warfare that we engage in as “enlistee’s” in the Lord’s Army, and encouraged by Paul to put on the full armor of God so that we can be able to stand against the “schemes of the devil”… Yes, even Satan loves it when his plans come together.  For that reason we should be ever mindful of the words of Peter, “Be of sober {spirit,} be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Pet 5:8, NASB)

As children of God, however, we are ever mindful of another plan.  A plan put into place by a loving God Who gives us the hope of the salvation that comes through none other than Jesus Christ and our obedient faith.  When that happens, the plans of Satan are thwarted, and remain ineffective as long as we “fight the good fight of faith”.  Don’t allow our adversary the satisfaction of having his plan come together with you…

Copyright © 2005, Nolan P. Rutter