“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.” Ep6.11 ESV
One of my spiritual goals is to wake to the presence of God and to remain awake to Him. Should the Christian wake also to the presence of the devil? Well, we certainly should in light of this verse but not as we wake to God. Scripture tells us that God is present everywhere, the devil is not. He is merely a creature and like all creatures he is confined to one place at one time. The devil is not all knowing and all powerful. He does not, nor could not sit at the same table with God playing chess for the souls of men. People tend to over estimate the devil but it would be foolish to underestimate him as well. He may not be God’s equal but he is God’s enemy and the enemy of His people. Osama Bin Laden is a creature, with creaturely limitations but his malevolent schemes have been far reaching. Satan is an active evil evidently accompanied by unnumbered other demons with similar intent. We might view them in one sense as spiritual terrorist. God’s word also tells us that those outside of Christ are also under the devil's influence, certainly illustrated in the terrorist mentioned above, and he uses them to accomplish his malicious purposes. Even Christians have tragically served the cause of the enemy and do so, every time we revert to self-rule.
Satan is called the father of lies, using deception in cunning ways. How vividly illustrated this is, by those whom he has convinced that they serve God, and will be rewarded by him even as they run into a crowd of children with explosives strapped to their chest. We do well to remember that the devil’s real intent is not the destruction of the body. He pursues this only as he seeks to destroy the soul. He has managed to convince many people that they too somehow serve God and will be rewarded by Him even as they run through this world chasing their selfish ambitions. We do well to remember the warning of Jesus, “If the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness.“ 3/22/07 ts
Just me trying to be honest with God.
