LEARNINGDAILY

 

1 John 3:8, He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

 

I grew up watching cartoons that were funny. In many cartoons the devil was made to appear as a “cute” adversary. He was portrayed as red and had a pitchfork in his hand; he was always whispering in the ear of a character to do the bad stuff while an angel was trying to get the character to do what was right. However, the devil is not “cute”. His followers are continually trying to get you, me, and all of God’s followers to believe it is okay to do what we know to be wrong. The same old line from the Garden of Eden, or some form of it, is still being used today. “Did God really say…? The devil is real! Those who say he isn’t are lying to us!

 

Today, I am not attempting to glamorize the devil. Nor am I trying make light of him. For the Christian, you need to know and believe that the devil exists and he hates you. He is the enemy! After Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus was led into the wilderness where He was tempted by the devil. The devil knew who Jesus was and he was going to do everything he could to tempt Jesus to bow down to him. He tempted Him with power, position, and comfort. He still tempts God’s followers with the doubts, worldly position and power, and the fulfillment of earthly pleasures and lusts. He plays on the fears, doubts, and insecurities we have to get us to do stupid and sinful things.

 

There is something important to see in the temptations of Jesus (Matthew 4). The devil knows Scripture. Three times he tempted Jesus with Scripture to try to get Him to bow down and worship him. The devil has always wanted to be worshipped; he was thrown out of heaven because of his desire to be worshipped above the Father. You and I must be aware that the devil twists God’s Word in order to fit his desires; he tries to counterfeit miracles and all that Jesus did while on earth in order to draw people to him. God’s followers must know God’s Word, be able to know the proper context of verses in order to stand strong against the schemes of the devil. That is why I am so adamant about not just reading God’s Word but studying it in order to know what they mean.

 

The devil is real. He hates God and he hates you because you have chosen to follow God. He did everything he could to destroy Jesus when He walked on this earth. Jesus told His disciples that the world (Satan) would hate them because the world (Satan) hated Him. Our first need is to believe the devil exists. The people of the world are telling us a lie when they say the devil does not exist! When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He was more powerful than the devil. Today, He has authority over the devil! You and I can know that God is in control over every situation, every circumstance we face because of the Lord’s authority over the devil. The devil’s time is short; his destiny is close at hand because the return of Christ, the King, is near.

 

1 Corinthians 1:9 gives us hope as our faith and our thanksgiving is to be centered, “in God who is faithful, by who you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” The future of our hope is because you and I have a faithful Father in heaven.