I remember there was a time in Oregon when Annie and I knew Satan was stronger than God. That was what we were experiencing with setback after setback with no letup in sight. That kind of living will beat you up something fierce. I’m not saying the devil is God’s match, but that was the reality we were living in for years. We even shared that thought with my grandma back in California. That we would say such a thing took her by complete surprise.
The devil (the thief) is like a burglar trying to get into your home (in this case, your mind) to steal, kill and destroy.
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and
he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw
nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify
your hearts, ye double minded.
James 4:7-8
Resist the devil and he will flee.
I used to live with the devil, and I was a Christian. What? It’s true. We were double minded at best and that is a horrible no man’s land at best. Until I began to renew my mind, until Annie and I began to put up verses on the walls of our Oregon home, until we memorized passages of scripture God was pointing out to us, we lived with so many dark thoughts. Unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, frustration, offense, fear, confusion, shame, jealousy, pride, the feeling that nothing could possibly be working for our good, our own understanding…We were stuck, couldn’t resist the devil, had unrenewed minds and kept taking on more of the dark, destructive thoughts the enemy was bombarding us with. Unless you begin to resist the devil by getting to know and use God’s Word like the mighty weapon it is, you will not be able to resist Satan. This is what submitting ourselves to God is all about. We can stay put as the prey of the enemy or we can learn to live in the victory God desires.
This is why Annie and I are such proponents of renewing our minds and want to be transformed by not conforming to this world and its ways. We know the stark death and Life difference between living with the devil’s influence and then tasting and enjoying the Lord’s precious presence by memorizing, doing and experiencing God’s Word alive in us.
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans 12:2
Thanking and praising God in all things,
Note: While we may not agree with everything a particular church or Christian group teaches or believes, there are times when we can be blessed by something outside the realm of our current understanding of God.