Your enemy the devil....

Spiritual warfare... I think most of us who are Christians admit we believe it exists, but I really don't think it is something we give much thought to. I think we imagine Satan as this bumbling idiot who occasionally stumbles into the perfect situation to taunt us or make us trip, but I do not find that image of Satan backed up by the Word AT ALL.

The past five or six months, I have battled some EXTREME spiritual warfare. I have come face to face with the snarling beast. I have rounded a corner to find the sneaky snake lying in wait for me. I have exhausted myself going one more round with a formidable foe who seems to have endless endurance. And I have stood in awe at the incredible craftiness and intelligence my enemy uses to get to me.

Make no mistake. Satan is NOT an idiot. He is a wise and beautiful creature who got too big for his britches. He does not bumble. He craftily plans attacks. He does not stumble. He knows what has made you fall in the past. He knows what has made other people fall too. He is not just out to make you fall. He is out to destroy you. He is out to devour you. He uses his wisdom, his experience and his tricks to deceive us. And guess what? He is VERY good at it.

The most important, key lesson I have learned about fighting Satan is that I canNOT defeat him on my own. The ONLY thing that wins against Satan, the only thing that has any power AT ALL, is the blood of Christ, the name of Jesus. He alone can beat the devil. When I try to face the enemy on my own, with my willpower or with my "vast" knowledge of Biblical things, I fall FLAT on my face over and over again. The only way to beat the devil is to admit that you cannot beat him alone, and then remind him, loudly and CLEARLY, that you don't need to beat him because there is One who defeated him for good and that One is on YOUR side. When Satan throws your failures in your face, throw the success of Christ's death on the cross in his. When Satan tells you, there is no way you can resist the temptation in front of you, remind him that in Christ you can do all things. When Satan tells you your situation is hopeless, your marriage will never recover, your cancer will never go away, your finances will never improve, remind him that your God is the God of the impossible and that your Jesus defeated death itself when he rose from the grave.

I don't know what battles you're facing today, but I do know this: Satan is at the root of them. He is trying his best and hardest to destroy you, and he doesn't give up. But here's the part I love the best: every single situation we face, every single battle we are fighting with the devil, God can (and wants to) use for our good.

I believe that Satan wanted this brain surgery experience to destroy the Kastners. I think he used many different weapons: the hand grenade of physical setbacks, the machine gun of constant exhaustion, the bayonet of fear of the unknown, and the nuclear bomb of financial devastation. All those weapons had the same battle plan: destroy the Kastners. But do you know what? Not only did he fail completely, the Kastner family is still standing, alive and well and serving their God, but God used his attack to accomplish His good purposes, and the Kastner family has gleaned a MULTITUDE of GOOD things from this experience, including but not limited to:

***improved family relationships - not only was the "forced family fun" of being around each other 24-7 used to bond this group of six people like never before, but also we experienced growth and healing in our relationships with John's daughters too. We mended broken bridges with our extended family. We reconnected with family we'd lost touch with. We brought a MULTITUDE of new people into our "family." People we would have NEVER crossed paths with if not for this situation.

***increased awe in the power of God - we saw God use a mortal man to intricately operate on John's brain and heal him completely... We saw God provide for our physical needs over and over again.... We saw God heal relationships and change our attitudes and purify us like never before.

***unshakable faith - we still stand in the midst of the battle: John is NOT up to full physical strength, we are still not back to full salary, we are still EXHAUSTED... but we face those situations with an unshakable faith, like we never have before. We face those situations with knees wobbling a little, but hearts STEADY and FIRM in the belief that God will NEVER let us down... He will give John the strength to work through his pain and weakness. He will continue to provide for our financial needs till we make it to the end of this road and beyond. He will give us the energy we need to face every challenge put before us.

This is the beauty of spiritual warfare. Not only does Satan NEVER win in the end, but God ALWAYS rubs his face in it and turns what Satan has meant to defeat us into our victory. He sat there chuckling and gloating. He had destroyed Christ. He had foiled God's plan of redemption. Then what he thought was his victory came crashing down all around him when gloriously, victoriously Christ ROSE FROM THE GRAVE! But not only did he fail at killing Christ, he lost because now there was a way paved to heaven for all of us.

What battle are you facing today? Realize that without the blood of Christ, you canNOT defeat it. Invoke His name. Invite His power. And then sit back and watch God turn your possible defeat into AMAZINGvictory, and glean the many blessing which will rain down around your head because you simply gave the battle over to the only One who can win it.

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

I Peter 5:8