Life happens and we always look for answers, don’t we? When storms come in our lives….a tragic loss of life, the breakdown of a marriage, the ending of a relationship, the loss of a job or a debilitating disease…..we look for answers. We look anywhere for anything that might help us make “the right” decisions, or might predict our future (it’s always good to be in the know, right?). Unfortunately, I believe, we often look everywhere but where we should look. And in these sometimes seemingly innocent places…..we take the chance at opening a door that should always stay closed.
Evil is real, evil is not always grotesque looking, evil can look rather innocent….but evil always is trying to get a foothold in our lives by taking our eyes off the true mark….Jesus. And evil always ultimately destroys. Today, many might disagree with what I am saying. That’s okay…but please read on.
Mark 5:1-2 (TNIV)
1 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him.
Very often we open the door to evil in our lives through innocent means. Our society has conditioned us to see Satan, to see demons, to see evil as grotesque and ugly…indeed to be very easily recognizable. This is part of the great deception of Satan. Because for evil to get a foothold in one’s life, evil can actually start out very appealing, fun, carefree, and very innocent.
Ultimately, what Satan wants to do is to destroy us, to destroy our desire for good, and to keep us away from REAL truth in life….Jesus.
What are some of the innocent ways that evil can get a foothold (don’t demonize me here, LOL): Horoscopes, fortune-telling, Ouija boards, anything to do with the occult. You might say, “Yeah Jan, but they work!” “The lure is just enough to draw you in”, is what I say, to get you to take your focus and hope off of God, indeed Jesus, and to put your focus somewhere else. So, yes…..I agree…they work. To many, these things are an innocent and fun pastime….to others….(it starts to take a foothold) it becomes a way of life and their hope comes from these things. Yes…..I agree……they work. Satan agrees too, LOL
Other seeming innocent, and too many, not so innocent things are money, drugs, sex, pleasure of any kind. If we are putting our hopes in anything but Jesus….our hopes are misplaced and CAN ultimately result in destruction.
Many of us self-medicate on drugs, alcohol, sex or other pursuits…..even jobs and careers….because we are missing something inside or believe that they these things will either HEAL our emotional pain or provide HOPE for our future. NO, Jesus is our TRUE hope!
Am I saying that these things are FORBIDDEN and all wrong, NO. Indeed, jobs are important, indeed, sex has its beautiful place inside the context of marriage and “A” drink or two is not wrong. The key is our intent. If we need these things to provide fun, to take away the emotional pains of life, or to provide hope for our future….beware.
<<– Visit “dontbepimped.com” Demons exist and are active today as much as yesterday. They are dangerous and powerful and…..they are destructive. They often look innocent, appealing and draw us in with the promise of some kind of hope or emotional healing. Satan is no less dangerous today than he was in Jesus’ time. Dabbling in the wrong things can open us up to the wrong influences, the influences of demons.
The answer? Well, it is said best in the Scriptures:
James 4:7 (TNIV)
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.