In the grand scheme of things, when we think of demonic activity, we picture the red devil with the pitchfork. In my absence from posting, I have been reading quite a bit and praying. I hadn’t realized that I was under such a great attack. This post is about the victory of knowing that we do have the power of God in us: the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, the sword of the spirit to combat his attacks. I am talking about our thought life and the emotions that the devil uses to a great extent to keep us from walking in that power. He knows that when we truly get a hold of using the knowledge and power together, many will be saved. The Word says that the harvest is plenty but the workers are few. Why? Because many of us are fighting our own personal battles instead of standing in the gap for others. I have to say that I did feel the prayers of those who did pray for me. It makes me more sensitive to the fact that we should be praying even more so for our brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as the unsaved.
I had the pleasure of reading On the Edge by Parker Hudson. This is an awesome book for me. It details in fiction the activity of the enemy on the lives of Christians, to steal, kill and destroy families. The book details the lives of several families with two different outcomes. One ending is based on the family not choosing God and the other ending is based on these families choosing God. Although the challenges are there in both versions, it is very interesting to see the how the outcome displays when you choose God and when you don’t. What is also very gripping is that the thought life is so influenced by the enemy that sometimes we are not even aware of his influence in our lives.
I do realize this may be a very touchy subject for many, but the devil is real and he is out to destroy everyone he can. While he cannot take those who belong to God, he does seek to distract, dissuade, deter them from being effective in this spiritual battle. We are called to be soldiers and that means to fight. It is not just about our own personal lives though. It is about eternal salvation for all those seeking to see the Savior face to face. It is serious. Many on the fence need our prayers. All of us are searching for meaning and purpose in this life. God created us to love and worship Him. The devil knows this and desires to destroy anyone worshipping the one true God.
Hudson uses his writing skill to present awareness that this battle is all too real and we need to take it seriously. We are called to prayer, the Word and sharing the Gospel with others. The harvest is plenty but the workers are few. The time will come when Jesus will return. What will that mean to you? This book enlightens to the degree that it prompts you to be more aware of your thought life. Is every thought from God? Do these thoughts honor the Word of God in your life? Once the thoughts have been planted, how are your emotions used to fuel godly behavior or worldly behavior? All of these questions are significant to us. As we examine our lives, and see that even though the families are fictional, the activity in their lives is directly relatable to our own.
Hudson’s characters are all too real. They are relatable to us in the various aspects of what we are going through or dealing with at any given point. From being married and being tested in the relationship to the influences on our teenagers that bend their young lives so destructively early on. Even the work aspect is included to the extent that we work too much thereby sacrificing our families and by working too much to acquire the next best toy or item on our “pointless” list. One of the disheartening points of the story includes the aspect of parents not being saved or on the fence and when children need this critical guidance, the parents are ill-equipped to point them to God. This is, of course, when the enemy has a field day because his job is made so much easier. Check it out. This book is one that I will read again and again.
And, by the way, God sees us personally. He allowed me to get a hard copy of This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness for fifty cents. I went to work too early this particular day and stopped by the thrift store across the street from the job. They had a book sale where every book was fifty cents. Lo, and behold, there was both together in one hardbound book. I didn’t have any change on me since I left my purse in the car and had to go to work. I asked the clerk to hold the book for me for twenty minutes. I didn’t think anyone heard me say that except the clerk. However, a customer was checking out. As I was leaving, she called to me and I approached her. Never met her before in my life so I wasn’t sure what she needed. She told me I didn’t need to come back for the book and bought it for me. Since I lost quite a few of my books when I moved to the West Coast, I have been working on rebuilding my library. These two had been on my heart. He sees us.
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