I Have You Now

My coworker and friend at The River radio station, Hiawatha, was sharing an amazing story with me yesterday. She said she had a friend who was going in for heart surgery that did not believe in Jesus Christ. Right before he was to go under, a man in the operating room leaned down close to his face and said, "I have you now." Under anesthetic, he wrestled with this man during the entire surgery, until he finally called on the Name Above All Names, "Jesus!" When he did, he heard a voice say, "Leave him alone" and Satan went away. Yes, he believes he saw Satan in his operating room prior to his surgery and wrestled with him all during surgery. And when he awoke, this man asked Jesus Christ into his heart. I got the chills when she shared that story.

Hiawatha and I were discussing what an interesting method of evangelism that could be in hospitals. A person is going in for a major surgery, a man comes up prior to surgery and asks "Do you know Jesus?" If the person says yes, proceed to pray with them prior to surgery. If they say no, whisper menacingly "I have you now." It may just scare the hell out of them ... literally.

We had a laugh about this, but thinking about it later I wondered what reaction people would have. Because, let's face it, if they don't have Christ in their lives and their life is cut short, the truth of the matter is, Satan does have them. Because Christ told us "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me." John 14:6. There is no other way to the Father. Not good works, not being a good person, not any other religion. It is Christ and Christ alone. He died the most horrifying death for the very purpose of bringing us to the Father. To pay the ultimate price for the sins we've committed.

I remember another friend telling me about two men in the trenches during World War II. During heavy fire, one man asked the other if he believed in Jesus and Heaven. One said he did. The other said he didn't. As the barrage continued, the one who believed said, "One of us is wrong and one is right. I'm thinking in a few minutes we're both about to find out. I'm pretty confident about my beliefs. I hope you are confident about yours."

There is no doubt in my mind about Jesus Christ. Not one. I believe in Him. I love Him. I want everyone to know Him. And my heart aches for the ones who do not. French poet Charles Pierre Baudelaire wrote: "The finest trick of the devil is to persuade you that he does not exist." And yet he does. And he's a liar, constantly trying to convince the children of God that the Word isn't true.

If you knew you were being lied to, wouldn't you want to know?

The Word is the Truth. Christ, the Son of God, died for you so that you could be in Paradise with Him. And Satan since the beginning of time has been trying to pull you from Him. Who do you want to believe? The liar? Or the one who loved you so much He died for you?

Because let's face it, if you believe the liar, then he can in all confidence say .... "I have you now."

The Right Tool For The Job

Several months ago, both of my children, at separate times, approached me about a situation in their life dealing with an acquaintance. Each of them had a relationship where someone was doing something that was annoying them. I remember asking each of them at the time, "Is this thing something worth losing a friendship over, or is it something you can just put behind you?" Both thought about that question and decided the annoyance was not worth losing a friendship over and moved on in love.

See, I'm pretty sure in friendships - and marriages for that matter - Satan tries to bring bubbly little annoyances to the surface to see if they will boil over in an effort to destroy those relationships. Correction: I'm not pretty sure, I'm certain of it. How many times in your life have things happened where someone says or does something that just drives you crazy? Then you notice something else, and something else, to the point where you wonder why you've even associated with this person at all.

Recently I commented to a co-worker about someone who did something I was frustrated with. She said to me, "Don't you let Satan use you as a tool." That was all she said. No empathy. No sympathy. No "That's terrible, so what are you gonna do about it?" Just one deeply profound sentence. And I realized I was going through the same thing my children had talked about. I was being used as a tool of destruction. I went home that night and prayed God would help me put that ridiculous thing behind me to focus on the beautiful, positive things.

I have lost relationships in the past by being used as a tool, or being on the receiving end of another being used as such. Was it worth it? Christ said the second greatest commandment was to love our neighbors as ourselves. He was quoting something God told Moses back in Lev. 19:18. I think we as Christians, need to access situations before letting them get legs of destruction. Whatever little thing is bothering you, is it worth losing a friend or even acquaintance over? It may be this very person is going to team up with you to do great things for Jesus or you may be doing so already, and Satan just won't have that. Learn to see as Christ sees. Learn to listen as He listens. Forgive as He forgives. Love as He loves.

Don't allow yourself to be a tool ... unless - as it says in 1 Thess. 5:11 - it's one of grace for Christ in building one another up. Heaven knows this world could use a whole toolbox full of those.

2 Cor. 13:11 "Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you."

The Whispers

You know the old cartoons with the character who is at the crossroads of a decision who suddenly has an angel appear on one shoulder and a devil appear on the other? Each is whispering in the ear of the poor confused soul as to what they should do. Sometimes the character follows the angel's advice, sometimes the devil, flicking the squealing angel off his shoulder. It's comical. We all laugh.

Recently some friends and I were talking about that "shoulder" advice. The whispers you get in your ears. Oftentimes, it's not about a decision you're about to make, but rather just continuous badgering about our frailties.

Let me give you an example. One friend said she'd sent a message to a relative. The relative didn't respond to several texts and phone calls. So it got her thinking: "I wonder what's wrong? Did I say something wrong? Did I do something wrong? Why wouldn't they accept my calls or respond to texts?" 

As you've probably guessed, the family member's phone had stopped working. They didn't dislike the other person, didn't think they'd done anything wrong at all. They just had a faulty piece of technology.

So where did the thoughts come from that brought my friend to this place of doubt, paranoia, frustration, disappointment, etc?

I'm going to go with the demon on the shoulder. Okay, that may be too cartoonish or comical for you, but is it really beyond possibility? Think about it. What better way to distract someone in a perfectly fine relationship than to whisper all those ridiculous things above.

I'm pretty convinced that is one of Satan and his army of demon's greatest weapons ... whispered deception. Let's face it, Christ himself called Satan the "father of lies" (John 8:44). He prowls around looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). So naturally, the demons are hovering around us all day long looking for kinks in our spiritual armor to whisper to our weaknesses.

"Can you believe that person is behaving like that?" "What did he just say about you?" "You can't trust them." "That is never going to work." "You look terrible." Relentless, continuous. You've heard them, surely.

I told a friend recently we should probably give them names: Fear, Disappointment, Confusion, Doubt, etc. If we would identify those crazy thoughts as they're happening as the enemy whispering, we could do a little rebuking, say the name of Jesus out loud, recite some Scripture (our one spiritual weapon) and start putting these demons in their place.

It takes a little work to get to that place where we recognize those thoughts as the demon badgering they are. And being continuously in the Word helps us identify them. None of us is immune from the whispers. Even Jesus dealt with it after 40 days of fasting in the wilderness prior to starting his ministry. And he rebuked the devil with Scripture every single time. He is our example.

My accountability group is one of the best discerners of those whispers. When we share our challenges and struggles with each other, we can identify the lies Satan is whispering and move forward in strength. I pray you have someone who helps you in those times.

We have an enemy we can't see daily waging war against us. But beautifully, we have a Champion that we can't see either, that has armed us with the most powerful weapon there is. And he already has the victory.

Who are you going to listen to today?

Worthy

I read something this morning in World magazine that dug deep into my heart to the point of causing me to tear up. The story [The Death Of An Archdeacon, Nov. 7 issue] told about the increasing death toll in southern Sudan. While a peace agreement has been in place since 2005, the government there continues "its forced Islamization and Arabization" with little patience for Christians. One such Christian was Archdeacon Joseph Mabior Garang of the Episcopal Church of Sudan. One late August morning while leading a prayer service, the militia attacked his town, killing 43 people and injuring 62. Mabior was one of those who died. Mabior was shot twice in his legs. The part that got me was what happened after he was shot.

Writer Faith J.H. McDonnell says "30 men and women from the church and town, including tribal chiefs, soldiers, a university student and other youth leaders, and several of the town's oral historians, covered Mabior with their own bodies. All 30 gave their lives in their effort to protect him. Mabior died two hours later."

I called to my husband who was reading in another room to tell him about this and said, "I don't think I even know 30 people in one place who would do this for me." Imagine 30 people jumping in the line of fire to protect this man. Imagine him watching as each was killed in his place. My heart just aches thinking of it.

How awesome a man he must have been that they went to protect him. How much they must have loved him, a man worthy of giving their lives for.

We have one who seeks our life because of our love of Christ, and not our earthly lives so much as our eternal ones. Beth Moore once wrote of him: "We have a powerful enemy who - let me say this clearly - absolutely hates us." Peter tells us he prowls around like a lion seeking to destroy us: our adversary, the evil one, Satan.

While Satan attacks on a regular basis, it's important to remember Jesus already stepped in the line of fire for us. He died to save us, Romans 5:8 explains.

I try to visualize Satan coming for me again and again and watch as Jesus steps right in front of me. I see him hanging on that cross in utter agony for me. It's a powerful image, one that drives a person to their knees to beg for forgiveness.

What's so amazing about this is Jesus did this for every single person, every single sinner. Some don't acknowledge it; some don't absorb the depth of it; and some don't even know about it. Sadly, some think they are too unworthy to have had Christ die for them.

Well, we all are unworthy sinners, but God certainly doesn't think so. He apparently finds us worth dying for. He must love us very much.

I pray everyone comes to know and understand this.

And I pray for the people of Sudan.

[Photo shot by Rev. John C. Daau as found on www.theird.org]