by DDSP | Oct 22, 2025 | Archives, Devil
Understanding the Devil: He is Cunning and Deceitful
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. – Genesis 3:1
Another attribute of the devil that believers need to be aware of and must always watch out for is cunning or deceit.
The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary defines cunning as ‘having or showing skill in achieving one’s ends by deceit or evasion’. This tells us that the devil uses deceitful methods to achieve his diabolical ends, and we know that is usually targeted against the children of God, particularly those who maintain a good relationship with the Father.
The devil rarely bothers about those who do not have a relationship with God. Those are easy catches for him anyway. However, those who genuinely worship God in spirit and in truth are his focal targets for two reasons. Firstly, these people have a divine hedge around them that shields them by virtue of their communion with God. Secondly, they are also his most fearsome spoilers, as they have the capacity to scuttle his works on the earth or around them.
Therefore, he will go to any length to do anything that will make these his greatest threats, genuine believers, lose ground or face in the eyes of God, or not even have a settled mind to take him on. One of the ways he gets at them is through cunning tactics. According to the same Oxford Dictionary, synonyms for cunning include crafty, wily, artful, guileful, devious, sly, knowing, scheming, designing, tricky, slippery, slick, manipulative, Machiavellian, deceitful, deceptive, and duplicitous. The opposite of these is honest, guileless, naïve (innocent).
These words sum up the various ways and methods the devil will approach a believer to try and unsettle or rubbish them, so that they can lose their confidence in Christ Jesus or lose face before God.
Now, we are one tactic more aware of his devices.
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. – Habakkuk 2:14
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by DDSP | Oct 21, 2025 | Archives, Devil
Understanding the Devil: The Master of Disguise and Subtle Conspirator
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. – Genesis 3:1
Our first introduction to the devil in the Bible was not in his natural form. He came in disguise; he appeared as a serpent.
Note, the serpent was not the devil. Serpent is another word for snake. However, to fulfil its mission of orchestrating the downfall of humanity, the devil needed an earthly collaborator. The snake was the perfect match for his scheme as the snake itself was described as having natural cunning attributes. That was why the devil partnered with it to get at the woman.
The fact that the devil did not approach the woman directly himself indicated that he knew he would not have her audience. Therefore, he had to come to her in the guise of one of the friendly neighbors of Adam and Eve in the garden, the snake.
The Oxford Dictionary defines conspirator as ‘a person who takes part in a conspiracy: conspirators had planned to seize the state.’
The synonyms for conspirators include conspirer, plotter, schemer, intriguer, colluder, collaborator, conniver, machinator, confederate, cabalist; traitor.
The classic earthly agenda of the devil as crystalized in John 10:10 as coming “to steal, to kill, and to destroy,” gels perfectly with the nature and operations of a conspirator. Therefore, a child of God must always be alert and watch out for the disguised antics of the devil and the friendly atmosphere or form he may appear.
So, in order not to fall prey to the devil’s antics, we must be prayerful and pay attention to subterfuges, developments, appearances, and entrances that come to us in a seemingly harmless or friendly form. Obviously, not every new thing, person, proposition or development that come to us are treacherous and originate from the devil. It takes discernment to identify which is which.
The more reason a child of God must be spiritually grounded, as the key to cultivating discernment is to watch and pray.
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. – Habakkuk 2:14
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by DDSP | Oct 20, 2025 | Archives, Devil
Understanding the Devil: Exposing His Schemes and Tactics
Lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. – 2 Corinthians 2:11
This series has long been due. The topic was first inspired over 10 years ago, but the writer, not long afterward, suffered a well-orchestrated attack from the devil that made him lose footing and got him distracted from the assignment altogether.
Then it came back a few weeks ago. But not long afterward, before he could start writing, this site and other sites managed by the writer and his colleagues got infected with malware, which got him again sidetracked as attention immediately shifted to how to remove the fast-festering malware from about 50 websites as well as reclaim those invaded by hackers.
That is to let us know how mad the devil is at the prospect of this series. But ‘thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place!’ [2 Corinthians 2:14]. Again, Christ has prevailed, and the devil has lost this battle as well.
One would think revealing the truths of and about God would be the greatest anathema of the devil. This writer has come to realize otherwise and has learnt from this experience and related developments that what gets the devil mad the most is being exposed, as that makes him really vulnerable and without an edge.
For the next few days, or weeks, as the LORD helps us, we will be unveiling the schemes, crafts, modes of operations, and other sneaky ways of the devil. Please pray along with us as we start this interesting journey, and stay tuned too, so you do not miss out in any way.
To be continued…
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. – Habakkuk 2:14
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