“When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)
Not too long ago, my seven-year-old son Jude was playing in the backyard, slashing a cardboard lightsaber through a legion of invisible storm troopers, when he suddenly stopped everything and came back to our world. “Dad!” he shouted up to me on the deck. Before I could answer, Jude let me know he’d made an important discovery: “Dad! There’s a wasp on the ground. I think it’s dead, but be careful—it still has its stinger!”
The Bible is very clear that Satan has been defeated, once and for all, when Jesus went to the cross. The Son of God paid the price for our sins so we could be declared righteous, giving Satan no room to accuse us. He disarmed the devil and took His place as the rightful King of this world. Satan is as good as dead. But like that wasp my son found in our backyard, he still has a stinger.
The apostle Peter reminds us that Satan is still on the prowl, “like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Therefore, we must resist the devil by faith. You see, our enemy has been using the same tactics since the beginning. His goal has always been to get God’s people to doubt God—His promises, His love, His goodness. That’s what he got Adam and Eve to do in the garden (see Genesis 3:1–5), and that’s what he tried to get Jesus to do in the wilderness (see Matthew 4:1–11).
This world is a difficult place, filled with darkness and suffering. In the midst of pain and uncertainty, we may be tempted to question God. It’s in those moments we must resist the devil and rest on the truth of Scripture. God is good—better than we can imagine. How do I know? Because He gave us His Son, while we were still sinners, in order to rescue us from eternal death. There’s no greater love than that.
Remember the cross, and trust in the goodness of God. When you do that, you’ll shut the mouth of that roaring lion.
I still have a few copies left to send out. If you’d like a copy of Rediscovering Christmas in exchange for an honest review, just send me a note with your mailing address, using the contact form here.
To find out more about the new book, check out RediscoveringChristmasBook.com.
Pages of Joy // John Greco 
Leave a comment