Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale Daily DevotionalSample

Your enemy has an agenda If there is one thing to be learned from this Psalm, it's that the enemy has an agenda. The Psalmist enumerates the ways that God's enemies array themselves against Him. They make a tumult, they lift up their head, and they take crafty counsel. They form a confederacy, and they conspire, conspire, conspire. Make no mistake; the enemies of God are busy. That's a reality we need to be awake to, because God's enemies are also our enemies, and the sooner we understand our enemy has an agenda, the better. C.S. Lewis once remarked, "Regarding the Devil we make one of two mistakes. We give him undue attention or we ignore him altogether." Psalm 83 protects us from making the second of these mistakes. It's the wise Christian who is on watch against the enemy's agenda and advances. This doesn't mean they're preoccupied with a devil lurking under every rock or being behind everything that disagrees with them. They don't live in fearful apprehension of the enemy. But they are alert enough to identify his attacks when they do occur. And just as importantly, they know enough to take refuge in their Mighty Protector, because they know the battle belongs to Him. God wants us to be preoccupied with Him, not Satan. But that doesn't mean we meander mindlessly and naively unaware of the battle plans that have been drawn up against us. We honor the Lord by being wise as serpents (Matthew 10:16), and a big part of that is being aware of our enemy's agenda. O Protector of our soul, fill us with wisdom that allows us to see our enemy's agenda, and prompts us to take refuge in You. It's the wise Christian who is on watch against the enemy's agenda and advances. Think about it... What does this passage reveal to me about God? What does this passage reveal to me about myself? Based on this, what changes do I need to make? What is my prayer for today?