October 31, 2012
Satan Is Real
“I don’t suppose God laughs at the people who think He doesn’t exist. He’s above jokes. But the devil isn’t.”
- Robertson Davies
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about , seeking whom he may devour.
1 Peter 5:8
I have often heard it said, that we don’t, ‘give the devil his due:’ but sadly I think I have met a few too many Christians who give the devil more than his due and they don’t take him seriously for the damage he wants to do to the spiritual lives of every human being.
It is often common to think of the devil as this impish little dude in a skin tight red suit with a pitch fork and horns, yet we are told in scripture he was the most beautiful among the angels. Sometimes I wonder if we haven’t tried to make his appearance more palatable by symbolizing him as a comedic entity. Yet the reality is the influences he attempts to impose and the destruction he sets out to create in the lives of humanity are not very funny at all.
As a youth, I often heard the catch phrase; ‘the devil made me do it;’ yet we must also remember that the devil’s influence on us is only successful to the degree we are willing to listen and follow his suggestions. Tristan Bernard wrote: “God created the world, but it is the devil that keeps it going.” And John Lincoln wrote this about the devil; “The devil is a gentleman who never goes where he is not invited.” I’m not certain that I agree with this assessment of him but the truth of this statement remains, he can not influence or control unless he is allowed to.
Satan or the devil is real and it is his purpose to take as many souls to hell with him as he can: and then to interfere with and impede the work of God’s kingdom whenever and wherever he can. Our duty and responsibility is to not let him.
On this, one of the highest of holidays for the church of Satan; Christians need to unite, take a stand and invoke the power of the blood of Jesus and the authority of the name of Jesus, which binds, weakens and makes the devil’s efforts of little or no affect.
Remember scripture tells us to “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” – James 4:7
If you doubt that the devil is real; just look at the world around you and sadly you don’t have to look very far, even within the walls of many churches to see the affects of his influence and the results of his misguidance.
Spiritual warfare is real. We do not fight each other, though it often seems that way: rather we struggle with principalities and powers of wickedness according to Ephesians, chapter six.
We need to take the devil seriously as the crafty, deceitful, father of lies, enemy that he is: and in so doing we need to stand resolute and firm in our faith, knowing he looses: and God wins: the choice, for us to make, is which side of the battle, do we want to be on.
Today’s Prayer
Father, my hope is in you; so may I stand boldly, fight fiercely and allow you to win the battles and have praise for the victories over the enemy of my soul, each and every day of my life.
“Purify my heart
Let me be as gold
And precious silver
Purify my heart
Cleanse me from within
And make me holy
Refiner’s fire
My hearts one desire
Is to be holy
Set apart for You my Master
Ready to do your will.“
- Lyrics from ‘Refiner’s Fire’ by Brian Doerksen
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