LayGuy

2nd Corinthians 2:11 says:

“…in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.”

The context is in regards to forgiveness here but the subject is being aware of the schemes of the enemy.  In today’s day and age where we crave for instant gratification, I reckon that the schemes of the devil are largely forgotten by so many people.

Do I need to remind you that we as humans are the centre piece of a cosmic battle we have little comprehension of?  The prize is the human soul – which is you and me – and the main players are God and Satan.

Just like wooden chess pieces have no comprehension of the hand that moves them, we also have very little comprehension of the players that battle for our souls.  And a battle it is.  We know that God has won – but it took the death of His Son to accomplish this.  Anything less and it wouldn’t have been good enough. 

We have a powerful and crafty enemy who understands the human psyche very well indeed.  We fall for his handy work constantly and because of our ignorance, we are walking targets.  Even Scripture alludes to this when it says:

“Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

Spirituality in 2009 is very much centred on the “me" and “I” – whatever helps me and gets me what I need and crave for is the team I will follow.  And often truth is sacrificed in order to reach this self centred goal.

You don’t have to look far to see this happening all over the place.  It happens in our families, in our churches, neighbourhoods and workplaces. We are “human” after all.

But I want to share a video that exemplifies this to another level.  Travel to Thailand and you will come across the following festival…

What comes to my mind is what is echoed in 1 Cor 10:20..

“No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons.”

I strongly believe these people are possessed by demons.  And they enter a trance and the demon manifests into their lives and they perform and endure miraculous things.  And all this is verified by “miraculous healings” of others.  The end result is that people believe.  So what’s going on here?

This exposes another facet of the “schemes of the devil”.

As a Christian I believe that many ailments people endure have a spiritual connotation to them.  Even a casual reading of the Gospels reveal Jesus curing all sorts of physical and mental ailments by “casting out demons”.

Decisions and lifestyle choices open up the door for a demonic influence we really have no idea about.  Paul urges to not let the sun go down on a simple argument in order to not give the devil a foothold.  Now that’s just for a simple argument – imagine repetitive decision making – we open the flood gates so wide.

One of the schemes of the devil is to take away our attention off Jesus.  In the above video, it’s plainly seen that to heal and protect people, it’s up to these possessed people to appease the “spirits” – Jesus is nowhere to be seen.

You may feel removed from the above example, but let’s bring it closer to home – the context of your local church.  How are these schemes manifesting themselves – the ability of the devil to take away the focus on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus as the means of obtaining grace in your life leading to salvation?

Let me share of something that happened at a local church.

Recently there was a movement to pray over handkerchiefs in order for their recipients to experience God’s miraculous healing in their lives.  Scripture used to support this view was..

“And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.” Acts 19:11

As was expected, some of the recipients experienced “miraculous healings” and people’s hearts were stirred.  But you know what the problem was?  Jesus was not in the picture at all.  It was these supernatural handkerchiefs – probably bought from a local discount store – that were “prayed over” – that kicked Jesus out of His place.

Let me ask the questions.  How different is this to the above video? How much bondage does the schemes of the devil wish to achieve? How can we learn from this experience?

Let me state my position.  I am not one of those who believe the works of the Spirit ended after the NT was penned.  I strongly believe that the Spirit can manifest powerfully even today.  But what I also believe is that the pursuit of such things, while replacing Jesus, can have disastrous effects.

For example, if someone was experiencing illness due to demonic influence as a result of life style choices, if one of these “handkerchiefs” was presented, who’s to say that the demonic influence would be lifted only under the sole purpose of taking this person attention away from Jesus and place it squarely on these mystical occurrences?

A “miracle” would occur and this person would be gob smacked with what just happened.  But would he/she pursue Jesus or would he/she have a desire birthed in them to chase down further miraculous events?

Our enemy is a mastered craftsmen of using even God’s Word to deceive many.  Even when he was tempting Jesus, did he not quote Scripture?

I am often scared by the reality of the battle for my soul.  An unwilling participant between two warring parties.  How I wish I was simply safe in the arms of my Creator.  But the reality is, that without Jesus and a proper understanding of who He is, I am a sitting duck.

And spirituality in the naughties has made many of us sitting ducks with a signpost over our heads attracting attention to an enemy prowling around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

Jesus.  I need you to save me from this reality.