The Devil is Real

 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

What do we think when we read verses like this one? Or when we are told that our fight is not really against the physical things that anger us, but our fight is with the evil spirits that we cannot see? (Ephesians 6:12)

Many times, I think we do not really believe it, unless we experience it. Jesus says to us now, “Be not faithless, but believing.” (John 20:27)

How well I remember when the devil first became very real to me...It came during what was clearly the hardest trial I ever had.

My job was in a wood shop, working for a good friend. He let me come in and work on my own projects after working hours. This particular day was a Saturday, and neither he nor his family was home.

So I went to the shop, planning to make a small wooden cross as my project. It would stand on a base, and was about the size of a 1/2 liter (16.9 oz.) drink bottle. I had never made such a thing before. The project was going well, and I was almost done...But I was hit with many depressing thoughts about the crisis I was in. Then one particular bad thought hit me, and I knew it was the devil speaking; it did not come from myself.

As I was aware of this, I became angry, and I “told off” the devil in fleshly rage, really putting him down. I left the shop for maybe 5 minutes, but when I returned, the cross was GONE! I could hardly believe it! I searched at all the work areas I had been in, but found nothing. Besides, I knew I had left it in my work assembly area. The devil had responded to my rage against him. I had to start over, and it did not go nearly so well.

I told my friend about it on Monday, and later he found it in a big pile of saw dust – the devil had thrown it in a scrap pile, and no, this was not an area I used!

The devil is real, and we are no match for him without Jesus. We must always remember that the battle is the Lord's, and depend on Jesus to win!