Articles
Our Enemy
In Hollywood, he has been portrayed as a handsome British man, a shrewd robot, a little red man with a pitch fork, and so many other “disguises.” While these portrayals are not accurate, they do help convey two important aspects of the devil: the fact that he does have many forms (many of which are in plain sight) and that he is relentlessly persistent with his goal of turning us away from a life of God-pleasing and righteous living.
Being believers in God our Father, we also must believe that the threat of Satan to our souls is very real. For some people there may very well be a handsome British gentleman who is a bad influence, a person who devotes every hour of the day to sci-fi instead of reflecting on God and his blessings, or even a person who looks to Little Caesar’s pizza more often than he should. But for you, what in your life is a struggle or focus that takes too much of your free time and thoughts that could otherwise be spent focused toward God and others?
Aside from distractions, another persistent form the devil can take is when we interact with others. Comparing ourselves and our actions to others can easily lead us to a state of anger, annoyance, self-doubt, or even attempting to control others. We have no control over what others do or say, but we can control how we react to situations, thrown stones, and others in our lives. We can let God’s will shine in our actions, allowing us to plant multitudes of seeds year after year. Just as it talks about in Luke 8, some seeds will fall on rocky ground (stubborn people) and not grow, others will grow around thorns (the world), but others will fall on good ground!
The devil is persistent in his forms and in how he can get us to turn away from God, whether it be momentarily or for a long period of time. Revelations 12:10-12 reminds us that we have hope. With the death of Jesus Christ we are given the means that allows us to triumph over all that can scare us, death and the devil alike. If we as Christians repent in our hearts claiming Jesus to be our savior and take on the Holy Word of God in our lives, we can overcome all! There are so many books and verses in the Bible that describe how we can live a Godly life. If we haven’t yet opened our Bibles this week, let us look at Ephesians, 1 Peter, 1 John, or 1 and 2 Timothy as a good place to start.
