Shalom to everyone following us on Facebook and YouTube. May the Lord bless you abundantly. We are here once again to continue our mega seminar on the strategies of the devil. We have already reached the 12th episode, and today we will begin with the 56th strategy.
The devil called it hardness of heart. During the meeting, he said to the assistants, "Remember the time of Pharaoh. Although Moses turned water into blood, and despite the death of all the fish, I had hardened Pharaoh's heart." Though the Bible tells us that God hardened Pharaoh's heart, however, in this auditorium, the devil also claimed to have played a part in that hardening.
He then explained his strategy: "We will make sure that human beings refuse to heed our warnings, regardless of the evidence placed before them." Notice that for human beings, for example, when a building is in danger of collapsing, someone warns the occupants that the building has a serious structural problem, yet they refuse to listen, even when the danger is obvious. Their hearts remain hardened.
People will become so hard-hearted that they will refuse to accept advice and warnings. Through this strategy, the devil seeks to make people reject advice and warnings. The devil knows that a person can succeed in life by listening to the advice and warnings of others. He also knows that when someone becomes hard-hearted, they refuse correction, reject counsel, and ignore warnings. Eventually, they suffer the consequences of their stubbornness. The greatest danger is that people eventually suffer the consequences of refusing good advice. These truly are the schemes of the devil.
Let us move on to the 57th strategy. The 57th strategy was called resurgence of the past. During the meeting, the devil declared, "We will make people remember their past." And the devil was explaining his strategies in detail. He spoke about the lives people had lived before becoming Christians, including their past mistakes, sinful habits, and former relationships.
According to his explanation, whenever someone lives a sinful life or commits certain wrongs, those experiences leave impressions in the person's memory. He called these impressions negative images. These images remain in the mind and make it possible for people to remember their past experiences.
The devil then declared, "We will use all the negative images people have retained from their past and bring those memories back to them. In other words, I want people to remember their former romantic relationships, previous lifestyles, old habits, and everything they abandoned after turning to Christ. But remembering is only the beginning."
He continued, "When they remember these things, we will make them desire once again what they had previously abandoned. This is the purpose strategy I called resurgence." Yet the Bible teaches that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. The old things have passed away, and all things have become new. When we ask God to forgive our past, we can abandon our former way of life.
However, because we have memories and a conscience, we cannot necessarily erase everything we have experienced. Let me give you an example. Suppose a man once had a girlfriend named Leticia. Later, he ended that relationship because he decided to follow Jesus Christ. If he meets Leticia again, will he suddenly forget that they once had a relationship? No, he will not forget. The memory may remain, but according to this teaching, spiritual deliverance should remove the desire to return to that former lifestyle.
A person who has genuinely turned away from their past may still remember it, but those memories should no longer encourage them to return to their old habits. Instead, they may feel remorse over the mistakes they made. This is why we must seek God's help and deliverance concerning our past, so that the attraction of our former way of life loses its power over us. The goal is not necessarily to erase our memories, but to break the desire to return to what we have abandoned. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
The devil named the 58th strategy human transfer. He declared, "When a person remains zealous and continues to grow spiritually despite our schemes, we will arrange a transfer, a journey, or a relocation that places the person in an environment where spiritual growth becomes difficult." A transfer, a geographical relocation, perhaps because of someone's job. Imagine that you are living in Paris, where you are spiritually flourishing. You attend church regularly, receive spiritual guidance, and remain surrounded by people who encourage your faith. Then, because of your employment, you are transferred to another city or country.
In truth, the devil may have entered the heart of your boss to transfer you to a geographical location that will be detrimental to your faith and growth. According to this strategy, the devil seeks to use such changes of geographical location to remove people from environments that support their spiritual development.
Brothers and sisters, I want to emphasize something. During my visitation, I was told, "Every pagan is an agent of Satan." That is how the message was presented to me, and it led me to warn believers to be cautious about influences that could draw them away from their faith.
Now, imagine that your employer does not share your Christian beliefs. You are growing spiritually where you currently live, but suddenly your employer decides to transfer you elsewhere. You may be sent to a country where practicing your faith is more difficult or to a workplace where you have very little time for prayer, fellowship, or church attendance. The person may eventually discover that their spiritual life has weakened since the relocation.
The devil described the objective of this strategy using the example of Egypt. He told the audience of demons and humans that were there in the Overworld, "We will arrange for the person to find themselves in Egypt where they will be provided for, but under the authority of Pharaoh." What does this mean? It means that someone may receive employment, financial support, or other benefits in a particular place, but the conditions of that environment prevent them from freely practicing their faith.
For example, an employer may effectively tell you, "Choose between your God and your job." So, the person is forced to choose between serving God and keeping their employment. Imagine working 7 days a week from Monday to Sunday with no time left for spiritual activities. Your entire schedule becomes occupied. This is what the devil called human transfer.
Strategy 59, voyeurism. During the meeting, the devil introduced another strategy called voyeurism. He described it as part of his organization and declared, "We will ensure that human eyes become defiled, consciously or unconsciously."
He then distinguished between two forms of what he called defilement. The first was conscious defilement. He referred to sexually explicit material encountered through the internet, television, newspapers, books, mobile phones, and other media. According to his explanation, deliberately looking at such material could influence a person's thoughts and desires.
The second form was what he called unconscious defilement. Here, he referred to sexual dreams and claimed that demonic entities, which he called incubi and succubi, could be involved. He also referred to the example of Job, who made a covenant with his eyes. The lesson I drew from this biblical example was that believers should exercise discipline over what they deliberately choose to look at.
However, the devil said, "Even if a believer avoids inappropriate material shown in TV and internet, I will attempt to influence him through dreams. We will first feed his mind, and the rest will follow automatically."
Brother, I have medical training in ophthalmology. I learned about the relationship between the eyes, the brain, and the nervous system. This strategy is dangerous, and I will try to explain as an ophthalmologist. First, the eyes receive visual information, which is transmitted to the brain through the optic nerves. The brain processes that information, and what we see can influence our thoughts, emotions, and physical responses.
For example, certain images may stimulate emotional or sexual responses through processes involving the nervous and endocrine systems. In the context of this teaching, the devil was describing how repeated exposure to certain images could influence a person's desires and behavior. That is why he said, "Let us feed their minds first, and the body will follow." The Bible also reminds us that the flesh is weak. Therefore, the practical lesson is to exercise self-control, be mindful of what we deliberately consume through our eyes, and guard our thoughts. This is certainly a strategy that calls for serious reflection.
Let us proceed to the 60th strategy. The devil named the 60th strategy top secret. Mama Grace, this particular strategy frightened me, not because I saw anything terrifying, but because of the spiritual traps the devil described. He spoke with great determination and declared, "We will use the human heart to make people keep their secrets through hardness of heart. We will prevent them from revealing certain things. Let them carry their secrets to the grave until they stand before the judgment of their God."
Imagine someone who is involved in witchcraft and is fully aware of it, but deliberately keeps it hidden. Such a person may choose to remain silent throughout their life, refusing to confess or turn away from their practices, even as they approach death. The devil's objective, as described in this strategy, is to make people carry their hidden wrongdoing into eternity, where they will face God's judgment. This is why he called this strategy top secret. The devil takes time to develop schemes intended to make Christians fall.
May I tell you a story? One day, a woman came to me for pastoral counseling. She said, "Shepherd Moses, I was once in a relationship with a man who had promised to marry me. Unfortunately, things did not work out and we separated. At the time of our separation, I was already 1 month pregnant with his child. Our relationship ended badly with bitterness and anger.
Later, another man came into my life. He loved me and wanted to marry me. At that time, I had not yet become a Christian. I began a relationship with this second man and he also promised to marry me. However, I was already pregnant with the first man's child. I was afraid that if I told him about the pregnancy, he would be disappointed and might leave me. So, I decided to keep it a secret.
Our relationship continued and eventually we got married. As my pregnancy progressed, my husband noticed that I was expecting a child. When he asked me about it, I told him that the child was his. Do you see how the secret began? She kept the truth hidden, and as time passed, the situation became increasingly complicated.
Eventually, she gave birth. To explain the timing of the delivery, she told her husband that a woman could give birth at 8 months and 1 week. Her husband accepted the explanation. The child was not his, but he raised the boy as his own firstborn son.
At the time this woman came to me, the child was already 12 years old. The child's biological father was still alive, yet the husband had never been told the truth. For 12 years, the woman had carried this secret in her heart. She confessed to me that she had never found the courage to reveal it. This is what the devil called top secret, so the husband has continued to raise the child without knowing the truth about his biological father.
Exactly, and the woman has remained silent because she fears the consequences of revealing what happened. The warning in this teaching is that people should not allow fear, shame, or stubbornness to prevent them from acknowledging their wrongdoing. If you have been hiding something serious, do not simply assume that keeping it secret forever will solve the problem. Seek wisdom, acknowledge the truth, and take responsibility for your actions.
The devil's intention, according to this strategy, is to make people remain silent until they stand before God's judgment. May God help us not to fall into such a trap. We should not allow hidden wrongdoing to remain buried in our hearts until the day of judgment. That is why I encourage people to confess their wrongdoing and seek God's forgiveness.
Someone once heard these teachings and exclaimed, "The devil is a fool." Indeed, sometimes words fail us when we try to describe his schemes. That is true.
Let us continue. The devil named the 61st strategy complicity. During the meeting, he declared, "Human beings will become accomplices. They will cooperate with those who practice injustice." Let me explain what this means. Imagine working in a company where dishonest employees are admired and rewarded. Those who steal, commit fraud, or misuse company resources are treated favorably, while honest employees are disliked or rejected. In such an environment, wrongdoing gradually becomes accepted as normal.
The devil continued, "We will do everything possible to make Christian imitate those who belong to us, those whom they call pagans." In other words, he wants people to copy the behavior of those who practice evil. He went on to say, "Let Christian imitate their lifestyles, their habits, their fashions, and their ways of doing things." The objective is to make people adopt practices that contradict their beliefs without recognizing the spiritual or moral implications.
When someone repeatedly imitates wrongdoing, they may eventually begin to consider it normal. This is what the devil called complicity. The devil wants people to imitate evil. His intention is to make people copy the wrongdoing of others. When the saints imitate the wrongdoing of pagan, they become participants in those actions. They may begin by copying a particular behavior, but after repeating it several times, they come to regard it as ordinary and acceptable. This is the essence of the strategy called complicity.
An accomplice is someone who supports or assists another person in committing an act. There is the person who carries out the wrongdoing, and there is the accomplice who helps, encourages, or supports that person. For example, someone may plan and commit a dishonest act. Another person may not have originated the idea, but by participating in it or supporting it, that person becomes an accomplice.
In the same way, when we knowingly imitate and support evil, we participate in it. The devil wants people to become comfortable with wrongdoing until they no longer recognize its seriousness. That is why Christians must be careful not to follow harmful practices simply because they are common or socially accepted.
Let us proceed to the 62nd strategy.
