Lip

Our friend A.W.'s been talking back to the devil lately:

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. --Romans 8:1

God knows that sin is a terrible thing-and the devil knows it, too. So he follows us around and as long as we will permit it, he will taunt us about our past sins.

As for myself, I have learned to talk back to him on this score. I say, "Yes, Devil, sin is terrible-but I remind you that I got it from you! And I remind you, Devil, that everything good-- forgiveness and cleansing and blessing-everything that is good I have freely received from Jesus Christ!"

Everything that is bad and that is against me I got from the devil--so why should he have the effrontery and the brass to argue with me about it? Yet he will do it because he is the devil, and he is committed to keeping God's children shut up in a little cage, their wings clipped so that they can never fly!

This was timely - last week at the whatever we spent the evening talking about the issue of evil and whether or not God really was "in charge". I suggested that we give the devil way too much credit, and that we actually strengthen and embolden him by concerning ourselves too much with his activities.

"The devil really got a hold of me today."

"I've really been under attack lately."

I do not doubt the sincerity of those who speak that way. And I have no doubt that the devil looks for any opportunity to get his foot in the door. I also adhere to a theology of "shit happens sometimes", and I don't feel the need to assign blame for every little storm cloud that appears on the horizon to you-know-who. Granted we need to maintain humilty and not completely disregard him... that would be asking for trouble.

A couple of thoughts:

+ I don't believe the Spirit and the devil can occupy the same space. So I prefer to focus on practicing the presence of God in my life than focusing on the other guy.

+ The other guy is a bully and a coward.  When we "talk back" to him with holy confidence, as A.W. suggests, then he moves on to greener pastures.

Obviously this comes on the heels of my thinking on hell. Any reactions to what I've said here?

Comments

[Connie Knighton]

Just lost my first set of comments. Was that the evil one? No that was computer ineptitude. Had a car accident yesterday. Was that the evil one? No, it was ice, snow and an impatient driver trying to pass me. My family has suffered much sickness lately. Was that the evil one? No, it is the frailty of the flesh. We ascribe too much power to that evil one, scare ourselves silly, and flirt with the necessity of exorcism.
EVIL is acting against conscience, clear scriptural teaching and accepted ethics. THE EVIL ONE whispers insidiously that wrong is right and right is wrong. He/she encourages actions which, unleashed, lead to many holocausts. The evil one rejoices in confusion of mind, political dealings based on power, corruption of morals for the sake of self-interest. He/she is slaughtered every time an enlightened mind screams "No."
I love this topic, Mike. Could go on all night. Won't. "No."
Connie

[anj]

Yes, I am with you. I remember reading a book years ago, by John and Paula Sanford, and they spoke of doing spiritual warfare by inviting Jesus into whatever place they were to speak in, whatever situation they were in. That was when I first heard of inviting His Light to fill the room. It makes so much sense, it is what I have done every since. I'm with Connie, could go on all night. I'll listen to her wisdom and leave it here.

[Fish]

I agree with you. While "you know who" is definitely an influence in the world, the Holy Spirit and the Evil Spirit can not dwell in the same 'house' together.

I think too many people sometimes use 'the devil' as an excuse and a way to not take responsibility for their 'laziness'. Negativity and bad deeds are not always a direct influence of the dark, but are a result more often of laziness, that people don't want to make the extra effort to be the opposite, and 'shit happens' is just an excuse as well.

The Holy Spirit takes effort sometimes, He makes us work for our reward, and too often people just are too lazy to do so. Then there are those that think 'works' is everything, and are also wrong.. but that's another post.... :)

[Paul - SteelerDirtFreak]

Good thots, exactly along the lines I have been thinking lately.

I'm even more stoked that I found your blog and thru you the link to that awesome Tozer site! I thought I was pretty much up on all things A.W., but I'd not seen that one before.

That said, your blog looks awesome itself, I just added it to my reader, so I expect I'l be around fairly often.

Grace and Peace,
Paul

[Barbara K]

Mike, I agree with you totally.I don't think that the enemy needs to wreak havoc in my life most of the time because I manage to maintain enough chaos on my own.

I have come to believe, though, that there ARE real attacks. Every time my husband goes out of the country on a mission trip, all of our appliances break, our paid bills go astray in the mail, our bank makes errors NOT in our favor, and the kids and I will get spectacularly sick. Last month when he was in India our entire sewer line caved in. (Talk about shit happening!)

I know that appliances break, mail goes astray, and things just go wrong all the time. I also know that it ALWAYS happens to us when we're doing what we're supposed to be doing and those things will create the maximum havoc for us.

Those things happen when I will be MOST tempted to beg Dave to find another job or when I'll be MOST tempted to carry on frantic, angry exchanges via email. Those attacks happen when Dave MOST needs to focus on where he is and what God is doing THERE and not on the sewage crisis at home. The pattern has become quite recognizable, actually.

What I don't experience, however, is the sense of demons around every corner or things lurking outside my home. I believe that the attacks are real...like clouds of biting mosquitos are real and need to be slapped away. I believe the attacks are real like the mud that clumps on my shoes and weighs my feet down when I'm out hiking after the rain. I need to knock the mud off and keep hiking. I don't (and can't afford to) live in fear.

BTW, you know my husband, Dave.....

[stan]

I agree Barbara, The devil is not very creative,and we can count on those attacks. his mission is to steal, kill and destroy. As long as we realize the spiritual battle that is taking place we can put him where he belongs! (out of mind 2 Cor. 10:4-5 )we are overcomers through the Blood of Jesus!