The other day I had an honest and civil conversation with someone who is not a believer in Jesus. Yet, when we parted ways, I felt shaken, as if I’d just fought and been beaten.
Troubled, I took that emotion to the Lord. When I got quiet before my loving God, I realized I had just crossed swords with, not the human, but with Satan. I asked Jesus, “Did I lose that confrontation between two opposing belief systems?”
Jesus reminded me of the great confession about Him that Christians all over the world in their churches say in the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe …
“in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.”
— Lutheran Service Book: Pew Edition by LCMS
https://a.co/0cYJUo0b
In other words, Jesus is saying, “My work is over. I won. I’m alive, crowned with glory, holding this dysfunctional universe together until I return to restore it new for you to enjoy. Your words have been said in My Victory. Yes, you battled the devil in My Name. Let your fumbling words do what I can do with them in the spiritual realm—rescuing the heart of the person who listened to you.”
So, I’m no longer rattled by that episode of spiritual battle. Jesus used me to get the word out about His protection from the evil one.
In this country, the USA, the devil’s lie system that many, many people believe is tangled together with the theory of evolution by chance, atheistic science, a universe that endlessly remakes itself, a view of the Bible as “old myths,” a label of Christianity as coercive and therefore undesirable, and an unhealthy interest in the supernatural.
I have a great desire to fight that big demon. But I’ve been warned not to take it on. What I can do is trust that Jesus has already defeated the big demons, all of them. And what I do, say, pray, and write humbly and under His authority will enable the rescue of those who come within my sphere of influence.
Amen!
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