By Jaymi Firestone | Be Salt & Light Blog
Do you ever feel like Satan is consistently attacking you? If you’re anything like me, you’ve experienced moments of complete struggle against him. As time passes, I realize that the world is becoming more and more corrupted by sin. Our earthly home is Satan’s playground.
He is perfectly content with us calling ourselves Christians as long as we aren’t practicing it. His entire goal is to deceive us. He was thrown down from heaven, so why would he want us to be there?
Jesus describes who Satan is in John 8:44:
“…He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.”
John 8:44 NLT
It’s terrifying to me that we have an evil power in this world fighting for our souls. He disguises sin as everything we’ve ever wanted in this world. He doesn’t tempt us with the reality of our sin, he tempts us with things we long for. He finds our weaknesses and targets them, no matter how different my weaknesses may be from yours. Satan knows.
I don’t know about you, but that scares me.
There is hope in knowing the reality of Satan though, because as we live in this world, Jesus encourages us in John 16:33:
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
The encouragement in that is that even though Satan knows our weaknesses, Jesus’ blood covers a multitude of sins. The sole reason for His death was to overcome Satan’s hold on us. Jesus loves us so much that he stayed on that cross, that he suffered in pain and agony, separated from God, to save our souls.
I don’t know about you, but knowing I have a Heavenly Father that loves me that much is the best encouragement to continue fighting to overcome this world like Jesus did.
So today, I want to offer you some encouragement.
God defeated Satan before, and He will continue to do so for us. God has conquered all evil, because He is all good. He is faithful in loving us, and wants us to stop being a slave to fear, because we are His children. He sent His Son to this earth, to experience temptation, frustration, and pain, to save us, no matter how unworthy we think we are.
Jesus, even though He was facing death on our behalf, prayed for our souls many times. This particular prayer, before He was crucified, is one I want to share this morning:
“My prayer is not for the world, but for those you have given me, because they belong to you. All who are mine belong to you, and you have given them to me, so they bring me glory. Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, you have given me your name; now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are. During my time here, I protected them by the power of the name you gave me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold…Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth…Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!”
John 17:9-19, 24 NLT
If that isn’t an encouragement to stand firm, I don’t know what is!
Jesus gave himself as a sacrifice so that we could be made holy. Covered by His blood, we have an eternal home waiting for us.
So as you begin your weekend, my prayer is that you remember our God is always faithful, and He will always protect us from the evil one. God is constant in our lives. He has overcome this world, and it is only our temporary home. So stand firm, love unconditionally, and show Jesus in all you do. Through Jesus, we can do all things!
Have a blessed Fri-yay!
