Dear Diary,
My daughter showed me a YouTube video today. It only took a minute to realize this is what I wanted to post today. And I will pat myself on the back if I can actually link it up correctly!
My church's pastor presented this for the 7th and 8th graders on a retreat last weekend. It left an impression on my daughter, because she had a need to share it with me. And yet despite her desire to share it with me, she told me I probably wouldn't like it. Oh was she wrong!
I've heard a lot of sermons in my lifetime. (Refer to first post if knowing my age is important to you.) I've heard how
God loves me.
God saves me.
God sacrificed his Son for me.
God gives abundant grace.
Grace.
More Grace.
These are really, really good things to hear.
But in my lifetime, how many sermons have I heard about the Devil?
Not devil with a small 'd'. The Devil. Satan.
God's rival and, therefore, my rival.
If he's my enemy, how do I protect myself? How does he operate? What are his MO's? The answers are, of course, in the Bible. But indulge me with this song. It's not your typical Sunday School song.
Take a listen.
In the Words of Satan, by The Arrows
Sinful but Redeemed,
LJ
In the Creed, we say "He descended into Hell". From my conversations with pastors of three different denominations, all three agree that sin, death and Satan were conquered then with Christ's death and resurrection. Not that there isn't evil in this world because of our fallen nature, just that the Devil is not "alive and well" and if he/she was, why did Christ die?
ReplyDeleteLet, Christ died to save us so that we won't end up with the Devil forever. However, not all are saved. Satan is, indeed, alive and well and creating sin and drawing more souls to him. To think that we create evil because of our fallen nature assumes we alone create evilness. If that is true, we truly are hopeless, We are born into sin, but with baptism, we are forgiven original sin and carry the sign of forgiveness on our heads and our hearts. However, the World hasn't been baptized or forgiven, much to Satan's delight, and he continues his havoc.
ReplyDeleteBecause Christ to the heat for us (pun intended) and defeated Satan in his own realm, Hell, as Christ-followers we have the power to resist the devil. Because I am a believer, the devil no longer has a hold on me eternally for certain, and tho he will try to snare me and wants to wreak havoc on my temporal life, he will not ultimately get me, the prize.
ReplyDelete"Resist the devil and he will flee from you." James 4:7
I mean to say "took the heat"
ReplyDelete