Wise as A Snake
Friend, be not deceived. Satan is alive and roams about seeking who he may deceive and use and eventually destroy; gaining himself a follower in the underworld - albeit sometimes a soul who does not want to be there but finds himself stuck in the hell of having willingly followed satan.
Satan is the great deceiver. He knows that God has a Plan for us to live an eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven, but satan is jealous and does not want any of us on this earth to ever know God. He puts up obstacles to our believing in God. He sets God up as a mean and vengeful God, he twists all God has for us into a falsehood that many of us fall for.
He manipulates our thinking, the media, entertainment so that we're deluded into thinking that what he presents to us is good, and for our best interests, when in fact God is saying, "No, don't follow that thinking, that way, that path. Follow Me."
The way for us to know real Truth is to set our minds on God and His Son who died for us to have Freedom and to know Love and Truth and Inner Peace. Reading His Word will encourage and enlighten our minds and fill us with a new revelation of who God is - Good, Perfect and Holy, All Knowing, All Powerful, Wise, Law Maker, Judge - these are some of His attributes.
Satan is abhorrent and perverted, a killer and murderer who masquerades as light when in fact he is darkness and full of evil with not one good intention to anybody, even those close to him who think they are serving him and will receive good rewards from him. No, he is a liar and a deceiver of the first order who harms babies and children in order to get blame thrown at Almighty God. The evilness of his undertakings, is without end and never ceases to amaze the Godly.
When you think that he and yourself are all palled up, you will find that something is required of you that you would never think of doing, but he will have you in a place where because of what he has given you, to get out of it you will have to expose yourself or someone dear to you and the fix is then "on". You have been snared and there is no escape only shame or dishonour in your life.
The Bible calls us to be wise like snakes because satan is who we are in a spiritual battle against, and gentle as doves because that is who we represent, the great God of Peace & Love.
So friend, start practising now, being wise as a snake with the Holy Spirit's help and through the reading of God's Word where He will reveal how you must proceed with evil; how to know it's intent and how to nip it on the bud and stop the onslaught before it becomes a real threat to your believer status.
Following the world and it's ways which are becoming more and more evil and ungodly will never give you the victory.
Start with asking yourself, "Am I being selfish in this situation in wanting to do such and such?"
Will God be pleased if I go ahead with this new plan even though I may hurt those who are vulnerable who have looked up to me as a role model? Is the encouragement I am getting to make a change for me, "because it's my time now," the really correct choice and will God be pleased with me when I accomplish this even though others will be hurt and misguided and may follow in my footsteps?
These are important questions to ask; and examine the truth in our spirits to the answers that come up and; the insights we might get as we contemplate these questions.
The Light of the world was born as a baby; poor and homeless, laid in the feeding trough for the barn animals as a sign of true humility and the ability of God to show his Great Power through this humble beginnings to foil satan and speak to believers down through the centuries that God works in mysterious ways.