March 25, 2018

Is Satan Real?

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. – James 4:7-8a

I have a question for you: Is Satan real? Or is he merely a symbol of evil? What does the Bible say? Do you even know what the Bible says?

Last week in Sunday School class we discussed who Satan really is. Fortunately, all who were present believe that Satan does exist. That’s amazing because it really isn’t the case for many Christians.

It doesn’t stop Satan from wreaking havoc in our lives. I think he wants us to doubt his existence. That way we won’t be on guard, ready to use the power of Jesus to thwart his plans. We’ll just kind of amble into a trap. Peter told us to be wary of that.

All throughout the Bible we are warned about Satan. He is a liar, a deceiver, a murderer. He is a serpent, a tempter, a destroyer. He plots and schemes, turning Christians against one another. He convinces unsuspecting people that just a little step away from God isn’t such a big deal. It is. Remember Eve and the apple? Yeah. Satan can be convincing as he twists God’s words.

Sometimes Satan will attack us directly. Other times he will create adversity aimed at causing us to give up and stop trying to follow God. Satan doesn’t want us to do what God has called us to do. He’d rather make God look bad.

Yes, Jesus has already defeated Satan. The devil is headed to the lake of fire. In the meantime, Satan is over the world and he will do everything in his considerable power to take as many people to his doom as he can.

Ephesians 6:10-18 refers to the armor of God. We are to put it on. All of it. Because that’s how we defeat Satan. We aren’t powerful enough on our own. Please don’t think you can. That’s exactly what Satan wants you to do. He wants you to think you don’t need God because that’s the only way he can gain victory. Satan is no match for God Almighty.

Some people are confused about that. They believe that Satan is equal, or almost equal, to God. He’s not. Satan is a created being. God created Satan and all the angels. Satan is on the same level as, say, Michael the archangel.

Remember that Satan fell to his doom when his pride led him to challenge God. Satan wanted to be God but that led to an uprising that sent Satan and about a third of the angels to their ultimate doom. Ultimate but not yet.

Be wary and watchful. Satan prowls around looking for unsuspecting Christians to devour. He is real. He is powerful. Place your trust in Jesus and fight through His might. Draw close to God and demand that Satan flee from you. Use the mighty name of Jesus. Victory belongs to Him.

February 20, 2018

Stay Alert

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. – Matthew 4:1

Satan is a sore loser. Even though he has already lost, he continues to plague God’s people. We are temped again and again but we have the power within us to resist the devil. If we use it.

Jesus gave us a perfect example to follow. Of course, we aren’t perfect people. Still, it is a lesson all of us should consider, especially on the tough days. The devil waited until Jesus was at his most vulnerable to tempt Him. Satan does the same with us.

Jesus was hungry. He’d fasted for forty days and nights. Can you imagine? And that is where the first temptation came.

“If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loves of bread.” – Matthew 4:3

Don’t miss the word “if”. That’s one of Satan’s most powerful words. He wants to make us doubt who we are as God’s children.

Jesus was ready with Scripture. Are you? Can you, will you, confront Satan’s lies with God’s Word?

But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” – Matthew 4:4

Satan wasn’t finished. He never really is. Satan will continue to attack us, again and again. The one thing the devil doesn’t want is for God’s children to walk by faith.

“If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” – Matthew 4:6

Do you ever challenge God? Do you test His love for you? Do you ask God again and again to prove His love by giving you the desires of your flesh?

Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” – Matthew 4:7

The devil’s attack continued. Just like with us. Have you ever gone through a season where you wondered where God was and why He was allowing the repeated attacks against you? (Read Job for a good lesson on this.) Most of us have been there. The closer we come to God, the more intense the attacks from Satan.

And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” – Matthew 4:9

Oh, we would never worship the devil. Would we? What do you value most in your life? Your home? Your job? Your status? Your bank account? A good test: What would you give up for Jesus? Ah. That’s a different story. We’re all about Jesus until He asks us to sacrifice something we really, really want.

“Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” – Matthew 4:10

Who do you serve? What do you worship? Satan will continue to prowl this earth and seek to destroy God’s children until Jesus returns and finishes him off forever. In the meantime, remain alert. Call upon God’s Word. We are in a war that, thankfully, Jesus has already won.

March 10, 2016

Resist The Devil

7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. -- James 4:7-10

Who controls your life? You? God? Satan? Whoa! Wait a minute, you’re saying about now. Satan isn’t in control. I am. Or at least God is. Not Satan. I’m a Christian!

Okay. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t allowing Satan to push your buttons, disrupt your mind and your thoughts, and cause disruptions in your life. Satan causes havoc and ruins so many things.

I just watched the movie War Room -- again. I’m not sure how many times I’ve seen it. I love its message because the power of prayer is something we so often overlook. We pray when we are desperate rather than praying before we reach that point.

In one scene, she is praying and repeating “resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Then she gets up and basically calls the devil out and tells him to leave her house because Jesus is in charge now. How powerful! Why don’t we all do that?

Because we don’t recognize what Satan is doing. We blame others. In this same move, she blames her husband for everything but wise Mrs. Clara tells her to pray for her husband and blame the devil. Amazing things start to happen when she truly does pray for her husband. She stops trying to fix him and turns him over to God. Truly.

Ah, there we are back to that control issue. We really don’t want to give that up. How much grief do we cause ourselves and others by trying to control what we can’t control? We can’t control the actions of others. We can’t control events around us. We can’t control much of anything beyond ourselves.

The good part is that we’re not supposed to control those things anyway. We aren’t called to fix anyone or anything beyond ourselves. We’re to pray for people, resist the devil, and focus on God.

So stand up and fight -- with prayer. True, heartfelt prayer. That’s where you fight for those you love. That’s where you fight when you’ve been wronged. In prayer. Trust God to handle it all and He will. Always. He will.