We want to be as clear as possible what we mean by an “agreement.” 

Satan is a liar, “the father of lies” (John 8:44), so utterly convincing he deceived a glorious man and woman to betray God, whom they walked with every day. I think we tend to dismiss Adam and Eve as the idiots who got us all into this mess in the first place. But they had not yet sinned; they had experienced no wounding; they were man and woman in their glory. And they were deceived. It ought to give us all a healthy respect for what the enemy is capable of. 

Even the best of us can be taken in. 

What Satan is hoping to secure from us is an agreement — that often very subtle but momentous shift in us where we believe the spin, we go with the feeling, we accept as reality the deception he is presenting. (It always feels so true). Just settle for what you’ve got. Don’t risk being hurt again. Once we buy into the lie, make the agreement, we come under the spell, come under the influence of that interpretation of events. Then it pretty much plays itself out; it becomes self-fulfilling. These agreements begin to define the relationship. They certainly color the way we experience one another. It can be devastating to just let this stuff roll on unchecked and unchallenged. Look what happened to Adam and Eve. 

The first thing we want to do is recognize what’s happening as the enemy presents an agreement, and give it no quarter. Fight it, resist it, send it packing to the outer reaches of hell. Recognize what is at stake here. 

The kingdom teeters on the hundred small choices we make every day.

Now, many of these agreements are already deeply rooted in our lives, some of them so historic and familiar we barely even recognize them. So, how do we acknowledge them?  

Well (this will be an absolute epiphany) ask Jesus.

Want more? Order your copy of Love & War today