He plants suggestions
Gen. 3:4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman, "for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Acts 5:3-4 Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God."
  We can imagine what Ananias and his wife Sapphira were hearing between themselves when working out the sale of their plot of land: "They won't miss it...since they don't know what you plan on giving them anyway, it isn't going to make a difference!" But Paul took care to expose to them how their minds had been blinded to blatantly obvious logic: "Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal?" (v.4) They weren't obligated to sell the land and they could have been upfront about what they wanted to give and what they wanted to keep. An unnecessary deception led to their tragic end...God may not deal with us quite this harshly today (at least not on earth), but he takes the principle of "honest scales" very seriously!
 Matt. 4:3 The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."
 
He distorts facts.
James 3:14-16 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
Matt. 4:6 "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: " 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. (Found in Psalm 91:11-12)
  We looked at this scripture earlier, and more of the surrounding story will be examined further in the course of this series. It is included again here because I've always found it laughable that Satan would think he had even a ghost of a chance of using God's own words to deceive him! Jesus provides us with one of the most definitive spiritual battles in scripture. There is much to be learned from this prototypical conflict.
 
He outright slanders
Job 1:9-11 "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied. "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."
Job 2:4-5 "Skin for skin!" Satan replied. "A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face."
  We are told that the enemy rails accusations against us day and night(Rev. 12:10). That's why it's so great that we have Jesus as our intercessor: "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus"(1 Tim. 2:5). It's interesting to note that the Lord volunteered Job's name when talking to Satan on two different occasions (Job 1:8 & Job 2:3) as an example of righteousness. Job was never in Satan's crosshairs until that happened. This illustrates the enemy's obsession to undermine all that God has approved, as well as his murderous envy of not being seen in the same light.

He counterfeits truth
Mark 4:15,  Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.  
  How many excuses have we heard for people hearing the Gospel and choosing not to act on it? Satan may not necessarily tell the hearer that doing so is a bad idea if they are not mentally predisposed to doing so. A prospective convert may get the idea that he likes what he's heard but he wants to explore it further or watch it in action for a little bit longer before jumping in. The sense of urgency either was not communicated to him or is lacking in him.
   Another way the word is taken away is through distraction and/or a short attention span:
James 1:23-24, "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like."
2 Thessalonians 2:9, "The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders."  
  It is a tragic mistake to assume that every assault the enemy levels against us will always involve pain and suffering. Often his most effective methods against us are fooling us into putting our trust in abilities and blessings that come from God. For example, we may be embracing spiritual displays that he is generating as an imitation of that which God is currently doing, or has previously done and put aside when His purposes for them in the church were fulfilled.
 
Coming Up Next - Part III: The Enemy's Role in God's Universe