How the Devil Attacks

One of my favorite television shows is Seinfeld. There was this one episode where the guys are going to go and watch the New Jersey Devils play hockey in a playoff game, and Jerry invites Elaine's boyfriend David Puddy to go with them. Well it turns out that Puddy is a rabid fan, and on top of that a "face painter" too.

As the group is walking home from the game Puddy is not paying attention and walks into a car driving down the street. The car stops and inside the passenger seat is an elderly Catholic priest. Puddy slams the hood of the car with his hands and then begins to shout and holler like the rabid fan that he is, "We're the devils, the devils! Bleh, bleh!!!" And then they walk away leaving the priest in shock.

This episode makes me laugh, mainly because Patrick Warburton who plays David Puddy looks hilarious in his face paint and wild expressions. Something fans of the show know, he hardly ever has any look other than a dull stare on his face, with the exception of this episode.

The past couple of days have found me melancholy again, as the pressure of life has been increasing. Things that normally don't upset me, or that I even give a second thought to have been troubling me, and that in itself is troubling. And that brings me to why I was thinking about David Puddy and his face painted expression. You see as I've talked numerous times, we have an enemy. His is called the devil, and his job description is to steal, kill and destroy. (John 10:10) The thing most people fail to realize is that he isn't very blatant about it. Oh occasionally he will rear his ugly head and there is no doubt as to where the attack is coming from. But most of the time that isn't how he operates.

As a born again, blood bought child of God, I have all that I will ever need to defeat the enemy. I am very capable of rendering his attacks null and void, if I am aware that they are happening. And this is where he is very, very sneaky. He knows that if he is to jump up in my face like Puddy did to that elderly Catholic priest in the Seinfeld episode, I would jump right back at him, proclaiming the Name of Jesus and taking my authority over him.

So what he does instead, is he comes at us subtly through typical everyday things that happen in life. Having a struggle in your finances? The thought comes to you that it is just the way things are, what with the economy in the crapper an all. Then as we meditate on those thoughts, we begin to give voice to them and then we are surprised that what we've been thinking and saying has come to pass?

You see our enemy is a crafty little sucker for sure. After all he has been at this a lot longer than we have. The problem comes when we just throw up our hands and say, "Well that's that! There is nothing I can do about this!" That is a lie, and that is what he is good at, lying. This is why it is imperative that we keep our faces in the Bible. We must know who we are, and what we can do in Christ so that we can be ready for the attacks when they come.

I'll say that there is absolutely no excuse for me in this regard. I have bitten into his lies this week and taken them in, hook, line and sinker. I know better than this, I have been teaching this for quite a while now. It is embarrassing for me to admit, but the true path to freedom is in exposing ourselves to the light of God's Word and admitting it when we make a mistake. After all, none of us are perfect, and this whole attitude that in order for people to be able to learn anything from us, we must be perfect and not face challenges is bogus.

And it's not only bogus, but something that has taken a good many men and women of God out of the game. Well let me tell you, this is one man of God who will always tell you how it is; the good, bad and ugly. Because I will no longer stand for the enemy taking what is mine, and me just rolling over and acting like nothing is happening because I don't want to go to the trouble and effort to make him leave me and mine alone!

Get 'em up for real folks...we're in a battle that we lose only if we don't make a stand!