Red horns, really ?

Some cartoon caricatures portray the devil as coming dressed in a red cape, and he has pointy horns.  Yes?  I would guess that we have all seen that at least once in our lifetimes.  I suppose that is an effort to put some definition to him.  Sadly, I think it is a "humorous" effort to diminish the insidiousness of the beast that works within us all.

You see, satan comes at us in a variety of ways.  He knows our weaknesses and our tendencies.   He knows our instincts as flawed and broken humans, and he pounces on them with a flourish.  He knows the limits of our resolve, and he will play with that like a Stradivarius violinist playing a masterpiece.  You see....he wants us, and will do anything to get us.  His fight for us will never end, even to our dying day.

There's an old saying..."the enemy you know is better than the enemy you don't know".  Fortunately, Christians know at least a little about satan, and therefor we also know a bit about the havoc he can wreak in our lives and are able to go about our lives fighting against him.  One major tool in our "Growing to be more like Christ" tool box is prayer.  It is essential that we all pray for wisdom and discernment constantly to counteract those thoughts that satan loves to place in our minds. 

Another tool is the recognition that Christ died for our sins.  Our struggles against satan will be never ending, and there will be times he will succeed within each of us.  Those are but temporary setbacks, because we are made secure by the cross.