Holding Hands with the Devil

For some unknown reason, or temporary insanity, I watched some of The Rite. Crazy! Right? I never, ever watch scary movies at all! For one, I'm a big chicken but I also have seen, lived, and breathed the monstrosity of evil at its most vilest of stages. So I don't know why, nor can I explain my itching to see this movie, which I only watched the beginning cause it scared me so badly I just passed out on the couch in sheer terror! (Lol, sound familiar Nicole?!?!) Now the horror of just the first 30 mins of this show left such an impression on me that it has consumed my thoughts and some of my sleep (eeek!).  So I ask myself to list the things I know to be true:

• If you believe that Jesus Christ is your Savior, that He died on the cross and rose 3 days later -- alive  and well, then His Holy Spirit lives in you; therefore, making demon possession impossible. 
• In Jesus' Name, we have His super natural power to expel the devil away from our person. 
• The devil has the power to torment me, only if I allow it!

Roughly summed up, I cannot be possessed, a demon cannot even be in my presence nor can it torment me because of the power I possess as a believer. So why do I feel like I have the claws of the enemy digging deep within my heart, talons gripped into my flesh --carrying a demon around like a parrot on my shoulder?

Because I'm holding hands with the devil! He blurs the line between truth and lies so gently, so beautifully, that I cross it and take his outstretched hand and head off down the path that only leads to my destruction and demise. Like and addict who knows better, really, really, has ever desire to stop, but cannot --falling pray to the seductiveness of "sin" --taking one last drink, one last hit, one last ride on the train with the devil headed straight to hell.

You say, "How could a Christ follower be so stupid to take the hand of the devil or be so brash as to admit it?" Because this is real life, and life can be tough! I don't want to align myself with the enemy of my soul but I mistakenly and sometimes purposely do! How you say? Simply by sinning! I'm not only talking about just the 10 commandments and the love your neighbor stuff, I'm talking about the things that the Lord has personally whispered over you; the things He has asked you not to do, places He has asked you not to go, because they will ultimately destroy you --leading only to a minefield of stumbling blocks.

And what may be sin for me, may not be for you! For instance, if the Lord has asked me not to even take one sip of alcohol, because it weakens my resolve and makes all kinds of sin look like a fun party, but allows you to drink a glass of wine after work or have a beer at a BBQ because it doesn't have the same effect on you; drinking is not a sin for you! Or say the Lord has asked you to go dig into your past for healing, wisdom, and revelation but has asked my to stay out of mine because it only cripples, enables, and victimizes me; then it is sin to do otherwise. 

My point, the devil is one clever fellow, even a thing of beauty and seductive in every way. But if we, who follow Christ, would shake of unbelief, wake up to the power that is at work within us, then there is nothing the devil or a demon could offer us that would ever tempt us to take their hand. The truth is alive and active in our lives, we need to tap into that power because truth will uncover every lie. And the most simple of all, believe God! He is stronger than our most dangerous enemy, smarter than our deepest fear, and loves us with an insatiable, unrelenting, unquenchable fire that only seeks to refine us, empower us with supernatural strength and ability, and  redeem even our most foul stench-filled mistakes. He stands there too, His hand always out stretched --calling to our heart, souls, and minds to choose Him, take His hand, and ride the love train! (hehe)  Choose wisely friends and always check with the Holy Spirit that is alive in you before you take any hand; verifying, confirming, and rechecking that you are, in fact, holding the hand of God!