Dear Friend,

The moment I trusted the Lord Jesus as my Savior, I became a child of God. All my sins were forgiven. I received the gift of everlasting life.

This is wonderful, but I must remember that I have a great enemy—Satan (the devil). I have taken a step that has made him very angry. I have left him and joined those who belong to the Lord Jesus. And anyone who tries to live for Jesus will be attacked by Satan.

Satan can never take me out of God’s family, but he will do all he can to discourage me. He will try to make me doubt my salvation. He will tell me that I cannot overcome temptations. He will even try to get me to doubt God’s love for me.

God has begun a good work in me, and I can be sure that He will continue that good work. The Bible says, "…He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).

In this lesson we are going to learn four things that God wants us to know. We will have verses for each of these things. Be sure to memorize these verses, so you can use them when Satan tries to discourage you.

One of the first things Satan will do after we are saved is try to make us doubt our salvation. He may put thoughts like these into our mind:

"You do not really think that you are saved just by believing on Jesus, do you? That is too easy. Besides, you are still the same person you were before. And how can anybody know for sure that he is saved?"

When Satan puts thoughts like these into my mind, what will my answer be? I cannot say, "I know I am saved because I have such a good feeling." My feelings may change many times in one day. The way I know for sure that I am saved is by the Word of God. My feelings may change, but God’s Word never changes.

What does God say in His Word? He says, "He who believes on the Son has everlasting life." If I believe on Jesus, I have everlasting life. I know because God says so in His Word.

God wants me to know that I have eternal life. God’s Word says, "These things have I written unto you who believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may KNOW that you have eternal life…" (1 John 5:13).

The Lord Jesus not only saves us, but He keeps us forever. He calls us His “sheep” and He says we will never be lost.

Jesus tells us that we are in the hands of His Father. No one can ever take us out of the mighty hands of God. Jesus said, "No man is able to take them out of My Father’s hand" (John 10:29b).

Here is another way the devil may attack us. He may put thoughts like these into our mind:

"All right, so you are a child of God, but you have certain sins in your life which you will never be able to overcome. You have tried before and failed, and you will keep on failing."

Here again, our weapon to defeat Satan is the Word of God. Let us look at our verse carefully and see what it says. It is a long verse, so we will think about it in four parts:

This means other believers are tempted with the same things that tempt me.

This means that God always does what He says He will do. God always keeps His word. I can count on the fact that God is faithful.

This means that God promises that He will never let me be tempted more than what I can handle.

This means that God will always make a way for me to escape out of temptation, so that I do not have to sin.

As long as I am in the world, I will be tempted. But temptation is not sin. Jesus was tempted by Satan, but He did not sin. I sin only when I give in to temptation.

Be sure to memorize this verse. It is a long verse, and it may take you some time to memorize it, but work at it until you know it by heart. Then use it when you are tempted to do wrong things.

It is true that we do not have to sin. It is also true that there will be times when we will sin.

What happens when we sin? Immediately Satan condemns us with thoughts like these:

"Now you have done it! You are supposed to be a Christian, and look at what you have done. Christians are not supposed to do such things. Now God is displeased with you, and He will not forgive you."

We know that our sins hurt God’s heart, but what does God say in His Word? He says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

What should I do when I sin? I should go to God at once and tell Him that I am sorry for what I did. When I confess my sins to God, He forgives me and makes me clean again because Jesus died for my sins.

No matter how many times I sin, God promises to forgive me when I confess my sins to Him. God’s love for me never changes.

I may wonder how God can love me when I am so weak and sin so many times.

The reason God loves me so much is that I belong to Christ. When God looks at me, He sees me "in Christ." He loves me as He loves His own Son. This is hard for me to believe, but it is true. Jesus said, "The Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came out from God" (John 16:27).

Christ lives in me, and if I really love Him I will not want to keep sinning. Instead of losing my temper when things upset me, I should ask Him to take care of these things for me. He loves to do this!

The Lord Jesus said that we will have many troubles and many problems in this world. When we have problems, what does Satan try to do? He tries to discourage us. He may put thoughts like these into our mind:

"God does not really care about you. If He did, He would not let this happen to you." Or he may say, "God is far away and He is too busy with other things to care about you and your problems."

But what does the Bible say? The Bible says that God is our heavenly Father, and He hears and answers the prayers of His children. What am I to do with my problems? The Lord tells us to pass them on to God. "Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7).

In His Word, the Lord tells us exactly what we are to do with our daily cares and problems. He says, "Be anxious for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God" (Philippians 4:6).

What is God telling me here? He is telling me that I should not be worried or anxious about anything, but in everything I should come to Him in prayer. In every thing"—little things as well as big things—I am to go to my heavenly Father and tell Him about it. I tell Him what I need and ask for His help. And I tell Him over and over how much I love Him. I thank Him for all that He has done for me.

I go to my heavenly Father and I tell Him my problems. I pour out my heart to Him. After I have prayed, has the situation changed? Perhaps not, but I have changed.

I have talked to my Father about my problems, and I am changed. Before I talked with Him, I was worried and upset. But now I have been to my Father. I have put the matter in His hands. I know that He will do what is best for me. I have “the peace of God” in my heart.

We have seen how our enemy Satan works to discourage us and condemn us. He is a terrible enemy, but I do not have to be afraid of him. Christ is living in me, and He is greater and stronger than Satan, who is in the world. The Bible says, "…greater is He [Christ] who is in you, than he [Satan] who is in the world" (1 John 4:4).

No matter what happens, I know that I am saved. I know that I can overcome temptation. I know that God will forgive me when I sin. I know that God hears and answers my prayers. I know that God has begun a good work in me and that He will continue that good work in me until the day when I go to be with the Lord Jesus.

(The Mailbox Club is indebted to The Navigators for the outline on this lesson.)

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