CHAPTER 35 – ENEMY MINE 2026
Enemy Mine. An enemy designed perfectly to keep me in error. Proverbs 14:12 states, “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” My enemy is echoes everything crazy, supports every stupid, lawless, good for nothing, waste of time, loss of energy, money scheme, salvation doubting that occurs in my head. Without correct people, scripture, constant prayer and dedication to righteousness I will, left to myself, fail catastrophically. Why?
Isaiah 1:5-6: “Your whole head is injured, your whole heart is afflicted. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness…your whole head is injured, your whole heart is afflicted.”
Romans 7:18: “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” (Describing Paul’s struggle with indwelling sin)
1950, Alan Redpath, pastor of Duke Street Baptist Church in Richmond, London moved to the United States and became the pastor of the Moody Church in Chicago. Of his many substantial quotes I’ve chosen one to describe the christian mind under attack.
“Once a Christian gets eaten up with discouragement and unbelief it takes a great deal to shake him out of it. Those two emotions are the masterstrokes of Satan. So long as the child of God maintains an attitude of praise and trust in the Lord, then he is invincible. Once the devil gets him discouraged, that poor man is really going to take a knocking!”
In a phrase, Enemy Mine includes ego, pride, vanity, all of it hurtful and all of it designed to hurt me. Is it the devil or is it me? Am I stupid enough to believe my own garbage or does the devil have to inspire with an even stupider idea than one of my own, or does the devil absolutely verify my stupid idea as brilliant? All of the above. What is the cause? Satan is the cause and in the end the book describes how the devil loses, but in the mean time, choose wisely my friends, satan and his pals are causing much pain.
Deception & Lies: He’s the “father of lies” (John 8:44) who blinds minds to truth (2 Corinthians 4:4) and tempts with half-truths (Matthew 4:1-11).
Discouragement & Accusation: He wants you overwhelmed with negative thoughts or guilt (Revelation 12:10).
Doubt & Division: He sows suspicion and discourages faith, making you feel isolated or incapable (1 Peter 5:8-9).
Twisting Scripture: He uses scripture out of context, like twisting the gospel of James on “faith and works” to promote earning salvation (James 2:14-17 vs. Romans 3:28).
All of it without a teacher, sound doctrine and love, a believer will be confounded, confused, angry and resentful, and to no good end.
How to Counter These “Ideas” (Biblical Responses)
Resist & Stand Firm: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9).
Hard to understand, hard to have faith, yes! It was hard for the disciples who walked with Jesus. Jesus spoke to them about those who get it and those who do not.
Matthew 13:11 and 13b and 14 He (Jesus) replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 13b“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
1 Corinthians 1:18-19 For the [a]message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Matthew 13:16 But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.
Dr. Donald Gray Barnhouse, a pioneer in radio broadcasting, his program, The Bible Study Hour, started in the 1950’s continues today and is now known as Dr. Barnhouse & the Bible. I quote:
“Our lives are not the haphazard results of the moving of blind chance nor the throwing down of cosmic dice. All that comes to pass in our lives is according to the perfect eternal plan of the all Wise, all Powerful an all Loving Father. The fact that a man has been chosen according to God’s eternal purpose, immediately surrounds him with the protective care of the Holy Spirit. Nothing can touch the man unless it has passed through the approved process of the will of God. No situations that comes to you can over power you in Christ.” So what’s the problem?
2 Peter 2:1-2 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.
The enemy will help support all thinking that is destructive. Billy Graham said, “insane thoughts are like birds flying overhead. You can’t stop the birds from flying overhead, but you don’t have to let them roost in your hair.” Incorrect assessment, vicious judgements, unfair and incorrect behavior aimed right at you. Being saved, is learning the battle, what is yours and what is His. What you fight and what is the Lord’s army. “Disturbance” I call it. Second guessing everything. What do I do? How do I stop it?
2 Corinthians 10:5 “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ..”
I have a quote by C.S. Lewis “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”
Ephesians 5:15-20 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
Enemy Mine is not just in my head. Life, day to day, in the flesh, comes at me with all kinds of challenges tailored for me, tailored to challenge me, upset me, diminish me, un-hinge me. I search the scriptures for something that would tell me why such madness could be exactly made for me.
2 Corinthians 12:7: “…a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited”.
Why? I’m beaten silly by it, the stronger my Faith, the more the challenge. It is relentless. Even the people, places and things God has given me, it all revolts against me.
1 Peter 1:6–7. He says, Now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith — more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire — may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Scripture describes the prophets before Christ, punished by a Godless society. Elijah, Elisha, Obadiah, Joel, Jonah, Amos and Isaiah stood firm against all of it. How did they do that?
2 Peter 1:3 3 For His divine power has bestowed on us [absolutely] everything necessary for [a dynamic spiritual] life and godliness, through [a]true and personal knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
Will it stop or will I learn to deal with it? Does it get better? Did the apostles truly feel comfort in all this pain/agony described in the scriptures? Attacked, chastised, even murdered by their own people for an unwavering, committed, love for the Lord. Obedience beyond measure for an entire lifetime. How could my pain be any the worse? It couldn’t. I see others. They too have an Enemy. But what bothers them doesn’t bother me, and what bothers me, may not bother them. Again, tailor made, Enemy Mine. Enemy theirs.
What do I do? What have I done with this information? I get up and continue. What is mine to fight and what is His. Each year there is less fight and more “doing” what needs to be done. Fighting, inappropriately placed, leads to much drama and confusion in myself, i.e., a tool of the devil in the name of all that is holy. Walk around such things. Pray the Holy Spirit direct you. More often it is best to leave a situation and get back to the list, back to work. In Christ, teaching and learning is painful enough, but worth it. Anxiety and the enemy is real, it is all very real. You gotta call in the big guns.
Speak scriptures aloud, just as Jesus did, to counter lies and accusations with truth (James 4:7).
Turn to God in prayer, asking for strength and protection (Nehemiah 6:9).
One after another they come. Trials, troubles, impossibles, emotions, not feelings, emotions, very different, brutal. Emotions are not a passing glitch, emotions are a troubling trial requiring God to navigate, lest we make errors, and more errors from those errors.
James 4:7: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”.
1 John 3:8: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work”.
Romans 16:20: “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet”.
2 Corinthians 4:8-9: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed”.
The voice of “reason or treason.” Common sense is not so common and stupid is very expensive. My mind is a dangerous neighborhood don’t go in there by myself. God is good all the time which is good because I’m not and He’s willing to work overtime on me.
Enemy Mine is all things stupid and dangerous leading me into a high speed charge towards dead man’s curve up ahead. The devil is hunting me…
Rely on Him, as He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Resist Sin: Don’t give the devil a foothold by nurturing anger or bitterness (Ephesians 4:27).
Psalm 51:2-4 Wash me thoroughly from my guilt And cleanse me from my sin. For I know my wrongdoings, And my sin is constantly before me.
Ask God to shut off your head and engage the list, what must be done today, whether I like me or I don’t, whether you like me or you don’t, whether the world likes me or not. Be delivered from the hands of fate into the hands of destiny, discernment of the Spirit found in prayer, knowledge of scripture and Godly leadership to confirm the Lord’s correctness on the path. Why? A very important word. In Christ, who are you? Who am I?
Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
Give these kinds of battles to God and get back to work. Follow the path less traveled, the narrow gate. In this process, who got better? I did, but the devil makes it all a slippery slope and many have fallen, and many more will fall. What to do? Seek His Kingdom: “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:29), which involves a life lived for His purposes.
Exodus 14:14: “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Super hard, that’s the point. Those who struggle against the world, fight self to stay the course, work the list God has given for today. Careful not to engage an enemy you cannot see, or that you imagine, you see, without God, you don’t know the difference and perhaps there is no difference.
Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
Lean on God, take all thoughts captive and lay them at the feet of the King. No matter what, you are better today than yesterday. Stay, stay, stay, stay the course. Amen.
