I am currently working with a young man who had been incarcerated for a short while and he, by his testimony, got a lot closer to God during this trial in his life. As a matter of fact, he says prison is indeed, the devil’s playground, if there ever was one. Due to his attempt to walk with God, he claimed to be under constant attack. I’ve heard many a minister in my time say there is one sure way to get satan’s attention and that is to turn your life over to Christ. I guess what I’m saying is, your lifestyle is what gives Lucifer access to your world. As long as you engage in the negative side of life, he doesn’t need to spend any time struggling for your soul. Succumbing to life’s trials and temptations is sentence enough to insure that you will die and live void of God’s presence. And if you didn’t know it, life without God is the quintessential definition of hell.
I mean, dealing with all we have to deal with in the physical world, it is easy to sometimes lose sight of the obvious. A life without purpose, one without direction or faith, is a life wandering aimlessly on a highway headed straight to hell. The devil does not have to expend any energy trying to gain access to this kind of a life. He can merely set up a toll booth at hell’s entrance and collect unsuspecting souls on the way by. I’m suggesting that many of us can’t even remember the night before. We just try and deal with the headache of the morning after. I’m thinking perhaps we should at least try to make the devil sweat just a little bit, put in some work if he’s to add you to his trophy cabinet.
On the other hand, a life dedicated to purpose, anchored in faith, lived with integrity means satan has his work cut out for him. Yeah, I know that makes you a target for attack, as my incarcerated friend described. But it also guarantees your victory. Believe me, I’m trying to ambush the devil everyday by appealing to the Lord to allow me to do his will as opposed to my own. The reality is, satan is coming for anyone who tries to hear and respond to God’s Word. It’s his job. “Some people are like seeds along the path where the Word is sown. As soon as they hear it, satan comes and takes away the Word that was sown in them.” Mark 4:5. The question is, if we know this, what are we doing to arm ourselves against his assault? Now, you gotta remember, satan is a liar. He’s good at what he does. “And no wonder, for satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” 2 Corinthians 11:14.
My point is that as a believer, you have a neon sign that shines brightly in all kingdoms of this world and the next. It alerts everyone around you about your life’s purpose to honor God with how you live. For the record, satan has a problem with any life so filled with the love of God that he can’t wreck with the temptations of this world. You see, I’m told that he once loved God himself. But he came to love himself more. And that’s the game he plays on you. He wants you to come to love yourself more than you love God. “For, as I have often told you before, and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach and their glory is their shame.” Philippians 3:18-20. I just hope and pray that you recognize your next challenge as nothing more than a speck on the windshield of your life, a mere spattered piece of nothing trying to stand in your way to the Promised Land. Any other consideration would be a mistake and an insult to the God who loves you. May God bless and keep you always.
James, jaws@dallasweekly.com