Good Morning, Please join me for a daily scripture break. Psalm 91:3: "Surely He will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.” Today’s post is the third installment of our study on our enemy - the devil.  The purpose of these three posts is to remind the Body of Christ who our real enemy is. (Ephesians 6:12). Please revisit these posts in the near future and allow the Holy Spirit to take you in the direction you need to go.  In our last post, we began to unpack satan’s toolbox.  We took a look at Mark 4:3-20 - the parable of the sower.  In order to present the toolbox in one post I will outline the contents of his toolbox with references you can examine at your convenience. The dubious contents of Satan’s toolbox: 1. He uses afflictions, persecutions to choke the Word of God. He also utilizes deceitfulness of riches, cares of this life, and lust of other things to choke the Word of God. (Mark 4:3-20, Job 1-2, I Peter 5:8, Luke 8:12) 2. He is but a thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10) 3. He uses false miracles to deceive people. (Matthew 24:24) 4. He is the father of lies. (John 8:44) 5. He tells half-truths, “misquotes truth,” ignores responsibility when lies are exposed, “mistakes were made”, manipulates language to confuse the true meaning of a thought; all done in order to deceive.(Revelation 12:9) 6. He uses cunning to lure people into disobedience. (Genesis 3:1, II Corinthians 11:3, and Ephesians 4:14) 7. He uses fear to keep people in bondage. (II Timothy 1:7, Proverbs 29:25) 8. He uses worry and anxiety to paralyze the believer from action. (Matthew 6:25-34, Philippians 4:6-7) 9. He blinds us to the truth. (II Corinthians 4:4) 10. He uses temptation and deception to coax us away from God into sin.(I John 2:16, I Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5:5, Hebrews 10:26, Revelation 21:8, Romans 1:24-27, I Timothy 1:9-10, I Corinthians 5:11) 11. He is the accuser of the brethren. (Revelation 12:10) 12. He disguises himself as an angel of light.(II Corinthians 11:13-14, II Thessalonians 2:9) 13. He is full of pride. (Isaiah 14:12-14, Ezekiel 28:17, I Timothy 3:6, I John 2:16-17) 14. His nature betrays his presence (if you witness these sins in a situation - satan or his minions is (are) present) - (Proverbs 6:16-19, Deuteronomy 18:10-12, Leviticus 18:22-30, Deuteronomy 22:5, Proverbs 11:1, Deuteronomy 25:13-16, Luke 16:15) 15. He sows discord and division against the brethren. (Ephesians 6:10-12, James 3:16, Galatians 5:15, II Thessalonians 2:4. & by inference I Corinthians 14:33 and Matthew 12:26) 16. He devises wicked schemes against believers. (Psalm 21:11, Psalm 37:7, Psalm 119:150, Isaiah 32:7, and Psalm 10:2) 17. He opposes the advancement of the Kingdom of God. (I Thessalonians 2:17-18) 18. He (and his followers) pervert what is good - he cannot create anything good. (For example, in Acts 13:10 - Paul challenges a sorcerer, Elymas - “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?”) 19. He brings sickness and illness to injury us. (Luke 13:11-12,16,II Corinthians 12:7, Job 2:7) This isn’t an all-inclusive list and I highly encourage you to continue in your own research. In this last section of today's post I want to consider some of the nuances satan may employ against us. Let’s examine the following topics - shrewdness, cunning, subterfuge, discernment and projection. Cambridge dictionary defines shrewdness as "clear understanding and good judgment of a situation, usually resulting in an advantage” Cunning is defined as "the quality or skill of being good at planning something so you get what you want, especially by tricking other people.” Subterfuge is defined as "a trick or a dishonest way of achieving something.”  Discernment is defined as "the ability to judge people and things well.”  Projection is defined as "the act of imagining that someone else feels a particular emotion or wants something when in fact it is you who feels this way; an example of this act.” There are some words that insinuate a negative connotation while others are just neutral or exclusively positive. In Matthew 10:16 Jesus is preparing His Disciples to evangelize the world, the verse says, "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”  This verse encourages the Disciples how to conduct themselves “among wolves” that is to be shrewd and innocent.  Jesus would never ask us to sin and therefore shrewdness does not have a negative connotation.  Let’s review the definition we considered above. To act in a shrewd manner means to obtain "clear understanding and good judgment of a situation, usually resulting in an advantage.”  It’s funny the world is teeming with hypocrites.  The enemies of the Kingdom of God demand to pursue circumstances for their benefit even if they break the law but the same tactics are “forbidden” to be employed against them. Do yourself a favor, stop expecting the world to be fair, honest and true because it isn’t.  Shrewdness is to be judged based on the condition of the heart of the person who practices it. (Luke 16:8) Cunning is a characteristic attributed to the snake in the Garden of Eden. (Genesis 3:1) Cunning is defined as "the quality or skill of being good at planning something so you get what you want, especially by tricking other people.”   Although many would say this characteristic is a negative, this trait (like shrewdness) should be judged based not the condition of the heart of the person who practices it. Subterfuge is a negative characteristic.  The definition suggests a deliberate deception is employed to achieve something from someone else.  Psalm 141:9 says, "Keep me safe from the traps set by evildoers, from the snares they have laid for me.”  As this post examined the toolbox of satan, this characteristic should be added to his toolbox. Discernment is something we have discussed in the past, and it is definitely a tool for the Christian to navigate the ills of this world. The discerning of spirits is a gift from God. (I Corinthians 12:10, I John 4:1) Projection is revealing a weakness of those who refuse to accept accountability for their own actions and instead wrongfully assign blame on others, as if those others were motivated by the same sins that plague the person doing the projecting.  This is important because if you can detect this behavior in a person it will assist you in discerning their motives and their behavior. (It is a tell.) So let’s return to our verse for today. Psalm 91:3 - "Surely He will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.”  Despite of all the material we have reviewed please remember this verse. Please read the verse again. Whatever traps the devil plans himself or through the actions of others; God will save you. I Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”   This verse gives me such hope. There is so much out of our control.  The evil plots and schemes to destroy our country, our culture and what they have in mind is putrid evil because that is all they have to offer. Please remember to invoke II Chronicles 7:14 for the sake of our nation. Many blessings to you. Peace and be prepared.