Giro Gomes – one of our first students in the Bible School I was asked to start up again in 1976 following the 11-year war for independence in Guinea-Bissau – became a close friend. He still is. For many years he has been a very powerful and effective evangelist. He would often say, with a twinkle in his eyes and a warm smile on his face, "God loves us all, but I am his favourite!" I believe God wants all his children to feel that way. Sue does, but I cannot boldly declare that I do, and I'm sure that I'm not the only one.

What lies of the enemy might this uncertainty lead to me believe? That God's greatest gifts and blessings are for others but not for me; that he loves others more than me; that his plans and purposes for me are much smaller than they are for others; that I don't match up; that I am inferior; that I should keep in the shadows; that my gifts and contributions don't amount to much; that He is pleased with others but not with me; etc., etc. Even as I am typing this list I realize that none of it glorifies God. It is all about me and therefore diminishes Him and it does smack of self-pity.

We need to acknowledge and recognize that we have a formidable enemy when we try to take him on without God's help. We are no match for him if we rely on our own wisdom and strength. We can only overcome him "by the blood of the Lamb", by the word of our "testimony" and by not being "afraid to die" (Rv 12:11).

From this I conclude that I will be defeated by him if I am unsure of my identity in Christ; unsure of God's love for me; unsure of my forgiveness and unsure of his desire to bless me in the same way as he blesses his most faithful servants. I become an easy target. What to do? I must decide to believe all of God's promises as applying to me, and decide to receive all the encouragement that comes to me through the members of God's family; as if it were coming directly from Him.

"The serpent was the shrewdest [most crafty, subtle and skilled in deceit] of all the wild animals the Lord God had made" (Gn 3:1). This ancient serpent is defined in Rv 12:9 as the devil. He is the father of lies, the one who accuses us day and night, and the one who contradicts God and attacks his character. He constantly seeks to sow doubts and confusion in the minds of those who listen to him, especially regarding what God is like and what he requires of us. I must decide not to dialogue with him, but rather to take every thought captive that dishonours God and diminishes – in the slightest way – all that He has done for me in Jesus.