One
of my favorite quotes from the movie The
Usual Suspects is, “The greatest trick the
Devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he doesn’t exist.” I’ve heard a lot of people say that Christians
give the devil too much credit, when the fact is, the world doesn’t always give
him enough. The God v. devil argument is
an ever-present battle of principle and worship acted out in our everyday lives. If you
refuse to recognize the power of the devil you are powerless to engage the
might of God to overcome him. How do you
work to defeat someone that you never considered a threat?
A few weeks ago my Bishop’s message of the day was on the
might of the devil and the power that we as humans allow him to have over
us. “Greater is He that is in [me], than
he that is in the world” (I John 4:4), is one of the most widely quoted Bible
verses in history, but very few stop to consider it’s true meaning. Though God is far stronger, the devil does
have some very real power. The devil can
amplify any bad habit or foreign thought you have if you fail to employ the
Power of God to overcome it.
In
December 2011, I got into a car accident and while blessed to walk away
unharmed, my car was totaled. Needing a car right away I bought a Pontiac
Grand Prix, it just wasn't what I wanted. I wanted an SUV.
I
don't believe in New Year’s Resolutions, but I do believe in improvement and claiming
every blessing that the Lord has set aside for me. I have decided that in 2013, I will more
actively pursue those blessings. The
first that I decided to pursue was that SUV, which led me back to another post
I wrote about being “hard to bless”. Once
I figured out what SUV I wanted, I looked for low-mileage used models in my
area. I walked into the dealership sure
of what I wanted and was direct with the salesman, whose natural response was, “have
you ever considered buying new?” Let’s
be serious, he’s a car salesman so of course my thought was ‘the newer the car,
the bigger the commission’.
I test drove all three vehicles and
was determined that I was NOT about to buy a brand new truck! It took me 4 days to make my purchase because
I literally tried everything I could to get that used truck…until I did all the
research. With insurance, used car
interest spikes, and the cost of the vehicle, not only did the new truck come
out $100 cheaper monthly than the used, but the used had been in a major accident,
making it unsafe to sell. It’s amazing
what the devil will try to convince you.
When you place it in this context,
it sounds like an obvious choice, but as I mentioned before, it took me 4 days
to get clear in my mind. The day I
bought it, my daily Bible lesson was about ‘Breaking Open the Storehouse’. Not
too far into my adulthood the First Lady of my church told me that every
blessing God has set aside for me is housed in a storehouse - a secret room
with my name on the door that no one can open but me.
Understand this, there IS a very
real devil and a very real God, and no allowance for the overpowering acts of
the devil can block your blessings if you don’t allow it to. Stop letting the worlds’ manipulation and the
devil’s tricks manipulate you into being your own worst enemy. He does exist and he is warring against you
every moment of your life. Acknowledge
his presence, work to defeat it, and break open the door to that storehouse! You deserve it!
Follow me as I follow God.
-
@RevealingRuth
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