By F. D. Adkins
A power-hungry control freak with a sinister plot lurks in the shadows. He is the father of lies, (“…for he is a liar, and the father of it” John 8:44 KJV), and he is a predator seeking to tear us apart, (… your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” 1 Peter 5:8 KJV).
In Ephesians, Paul details the raging battle that is ravaging us by powers that we cannot see. He says, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 5:12 KJV). Now, we know that Satan’s power cannot compare to the power of God. After all, God cast him out of Heaven, and in the end, will cast him into a lake of fire. However, as Paul notes in his letter to the Ephesians, the devil is not an adversary that should be taken lightly. Just as he caught Eve alone and magnified in her mind the one thing God had told her not to do, he knows how to create a moment of weakness and what thoughts to plant in our minds at just the right time.
This past week, I was reading the story of the demon-possessed man in Mark, chapter five, and as I studied this scripture, I began to think about how essential it is to keep our spiritual armor on at all times because the enemy seeks to control us. Why? Because if he is in control of our thoughts, our thoughts are not on God or fulfilling God’s purpose.
The man in the fifth chapter of Mark has superhuman strength. He cannot be bound by anything human-made, yet he cries non-stop and hurts himself. “And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones” (Mark 5:2-5 KJV). I picture a man being tormented as if he has some sort of slow-eating disease that has him teetering on the edge clinging to his will to live yet longing desperately to end the pain. And in the midst of this brutal tug-of-war, I note in verse two that the man goes to meet Jesus. It does not say why, but I believe he is seeking help. And what does Jesus do? He helps him. “For He said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.” (Mark 5:8 KJV).
This story is a grim illustration of the devil’s power and the battle with darkness that we are up against. Yet, the battle and the warning were not the only thoughts swirling in my brain as I pondered this story. I was thinking of Jesus’ reaction to the man and how many people we come in contact with each day who are crying out for help. Do we react as Jesus did or do we treat them as Job’s wife and friends treated Job when the devil tried to destroy his faith?
So… two takeaways from this study:
- Let us guard our hearts and our minds from the enemy. Let’s study God’s Word so we can discern TRUTH from lies.
- Let us follow Jesus’ example. Let us not judge others but instead listen for that cry for help. Let us react with the love of Jesus. Who knows? An outstretched hand or a kind word just might be the thread that saves that person hanging on the edge.
