“For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.” 1 John 5:4-5 NLT
Every Biblical author knew there was a real and present danger, an evil circulating among the people on this planet. Evil has a name – Satan. He is a liar, a thief and a murdered of all that is good. And, to make matters worse, that evil one commands a bunch of fallen angels, referred to as demons. The evil one cannot be everywhere at all times, and it is not all powerful or all knowing. It’s personal pronoun is LIAR. It’s biggest trick of all is too make people believe that it doesn’t exist at all.
What we would call some mental illnesses, addictions, or even mass murderers and serial killers may in fact be physical, emotional, tormented possession! The mad naked man, living in the hillside tombs, would have been diagnosed with schizophrenia and been given tons of medications, counseling and possibly even shock therapy. He wasn’t crazy or ill, he was possessed by thousands of demons all bent on destroying him. The little boy mentioned after Jesus and a few friends came down from the mountain. The whole town was frightened and held captive from a little boy who kept throwing himself into the fire and writhing about. He wasn’t mental, he was possessed! Jesus FREED both these folks from a very real enemy.
The battle, the enemy is very real. I have to constantly remind myself what the Apostle Paul told the churches in Ephesus, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Every single time there is a schism, a spat, a division, or a war – there is something much more than mean, selfish people behind it. There’s an enemy of our soul at work in the world and if we let it or allow it – even in our churches.
The instigator of all evils is a soul-pyro starting fires of hate, gossip and lies everywhere. John admonishes us to fight evil with faith. Recognize the source and win through confrontational prayer towards who’s causing the problems. I may not believe there’s a demon behind every rock, but I do believe there’s one behind every riot! Sometimes it takes a direct confrontation to expel evil from demonic possession, but more often we can kick out evil through faith when we choose to love, forgive, dispense mercy and grace. Jesus gave his followers the authority to do both, drive out demons and overcome with love.
Prayer
Dad,
There is so much evil! There are so many places that evil seems rampant and out of control. There are so many times I struggle and can only see evil in people behaving badly. I often forget there is an enemy behind it all. Help me to see good. Help me to see opportunities to bring light to darkness, applying mercy and goodness to anger and hate. Help me in my faith to remember that you have overcome the world! Help me fight these fires with grace to extinguish the flames.