Satan is alive and active!  Each of you has caught the attention of Satan.  Kelli in her post asked us to pray for her because she has been under the attack of Satan.  I would venture to say that each one of you will be encountering his attacks either now or in the months to come.  As long as you are sitting still and complacent in your Christian walk, Satan will leave you alone.  When you get active and serious about your walk with the Lord, you've stirred the enemy.  You have now become an interest to him and he wants to discourage you in any way he can.  As you continue to walk with the Lord and are having an impact on the Kingdom, then you've become a threat to him and he will do whatever he can to try to get you to stop.  Satan does not want any of you to go out to the field this September.  He wants you to remain comfortable right where you are.

As you prepare for this mission trip recognize that you will be attacked.  Sometimes those attacks will be subtle.  There will be things that will happen to discourage, things that make you think God doesn't want you to go.  Here are some things to do to combat the attacks:

1.  Recognize the attacks for what they are.  Satan is sneaky and deceptive.  He wants to take away your excitement, he wants to steal your joy, he wants to get you discouraged so you won't go.  Once you recognize the attacks, you can do something about it.

2.  Put on the spiritual armor daily.  Read Ephesians 6:10-18.  Memorize it.  We can't survive without the armor.  You need the shield of faith to extinguish those flaming arrows.

3.  Stand your ground.  Ephesians 6:13-14 tells us to stand our ground, to stand firm when the day of evil comes.  James 4:7 tells us to "resist the devil and he will flee from you."  But we can only do it with the strength of the Holy Spirit.  Try doing it on your own and the enemy will win every time.

4.  Recognize who is superior.  1 John 4:4 reminds us that "the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."  We as believers in Jesus Christ have His Holy Spirit within us who is so much greater than the enemy.  Satan doesn't stand a chance and he knows that.  His hope is that you won't rely upon the Holy Spirit, but on your own strength.

5. Pray at all times.  Ephesians 6:18 says, "And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.  With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."  We need to be seeking the Lord daily for our strength and lifting up each other.  There is power in prayer.  Don't neglect what God wants you to do in ministering to others.

Vicki and I are praying for you.  We don't want to loose any of you to Satan's attacks.  Arm yourselves and stand your ground!!