God said, "Let's make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." God created man in his own image. In God's image he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27 WEB.

I love cars, always have. When I was younger, I used to have several project cars I tinkered with. I spent a lot of time in junkyards, searching for parts like I was on a treasure hunt. One of my projects was an old Pontiac Grand Prix that I was slowly restoring. I started with a shell and hand-picked all the parts. I had refreshed a big block 400 engine that I pulled from a 69 and a custom-built transmission from a 72. I put it all together and installed a new dual exhaust system, and she was riding on a set of BFGoodrich T/A radials. The old Pontiac was coming back to life. She was clean and mean.

Unfortunately, I lived with someone who would try and destroy something that I cared about whenever she became angry, which was pretty often. When I had the Grand Prix close to finished, I came home one day to find that she had spray-painted profanity all over the car. She had painted over the windows, chrome, bumpers, grille, rims, and tires with expletives in bright neon pink. I sold the car that afternoon to a junkman to get it out of the yard because I was ashamed for my neighbors, friends, and family to see it.

Yet, the story doesn't end there. It should have, but it didn't. Over time, I watched her beat the windows out of my cars with shovels, kick dents in the fenders and door panels, and ram them with my other vehicles. It was an uncontrollable jealous rage, but she couldn't take her anger out on me directly. So the way that she hurt me was to attack something that I cared about.

We are made in the image of God, and He loves us. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16). God is big and strong, so satan can't stand up to Him. Instead of attacking God, he takes his anger out on something God loves: Us. Every time we fall into one of the enemy's traps, he is filled with happiness because it hurts God a little more. This is his way of getting back at God by attacking those God cares about.

For example, King David had Uriah killed and took his wife Bathsheba to be his own wife. So the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to David, who told him this:

"Because by this deed you have given great occasion to Yahweh's enemies to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you shall surely die" (2 Samuel 12:14).

When satan got David, the great man of God, to fall into his trap, it gave the enemies of God "great occasion" to blaspheme, curse, and laugh. Overall, the enemies of God loved it, and they celebrated a victory.

Your actions and choices affect more than you, for there is a spiritual battle raging on in the spirit realm. Stay close to God. Don't be used as a tool to hurt Him by falling into temptation. Though sin may look pleasurable, it's nothing but a trap designed to trash the image of God one more time.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please help me stand strong and see the road ahead clearly. Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from the evil one. Protect me from my own weaknesses, and let me never give Your enemies a reason to rejoice. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!

Note: Today is Thankful Thursday at the Ministry Events group! This event gives us an opportunity encourage each other by posting thoughts, moments, and prayers of gratitude for Him, His creation and all that He does in our lives. All our welcome! To join, just click on the group name and then the join link on the page that will follow. As always, if you have a prayer need, we are here for you! We and the prayer team are ready to lift you up at our private prayer page: RHM Prayer Network.