Fiery darts Satan uses

Fiery darts Satan uses

This has been adopted from a sermon by Dr. David Jeremiah by Bruce Herwig
 
In Ephesians 6:16 we are told that the evil one, Satan, will use fiery darts to wound and discourage Christians so they will no longer be in the battle for mankind's eternal soul.
 
Here are twelve of some of the common fiery darts Satan uses against Christian. As you read them, ask God to help you identify if any of these fiery darts have wounded you:
 
1) Keep them busy with non-essentials so their time with God and their church and helping others will diminish or stop all together.
2) Tempt them to over spend and go into debt so they will become discouraged and their giving to their church and missions diminishes or stops.
3) Make them work long hours to maintain an empty lifestyle so they will be too tired to read God's word or hear God's leading in their life.
4) Discourage them from spending quality family time so when their homes disintegrate there is no refuge from work.
5) Over-stimulate their minds with TV, video games, movies and computers so when God speaks they cannot hear Him.
6) Fill their coffee table and night stand with newspapers, magazines and popular secular books so they have no time to read the Bible.
7) Flood their mailboxes and inboxes with sweepstakes and get-rich-quick schemes so they will keep chasing material things.
8) Put glamorous models on TV and Internet and magazine covers to keep them focused on outward appearances so they will become dissatisfied with themselves and their mates.
9) Make sure the couples are too exhausted for personal intimacy so they will be tempted to look else ware.
10) Emphasize Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny so they will be diverted from the real meanings of these holidays.
11) Involve them in good causes so they will not have time for eternal ones.
12) Make them self-sufficient and keep them busy working in their own strength so they will never know the joy of God's power working thru them.

Now rate your own life as to the effectiveness of these 12 fiery darts of Satan. Are you a walking wounded Christian?

However, we are also told in the same verse that the shield of faith will be able to quench these fiery darts before they can wound us. By faith in our Lord, time in the Word and prayer, you can begin to heal as you quench out these fiery darts. Remember, as long as Christians stay close to God, Satan has no power over them.

"In addition to all of this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the fiery darts of the evil one."     Ephesians 6:16

Some translations use "flaming arrows" instead of "fiery darts". To me "flaming arrows" implies they were shot from a far. On the other hand, "fiery darts" implies up close and personal. I like that translation because Satan knows our weaknesses and uses the fiery darts to wounds us right at our weakest spots.