Live Dead Joy: 30 Days of Living and Dying with JesusSample

“Depressed Devils”

How frustrating it must be to be the Devil. Whatever he means for evil (Gen. 50:20), God has the ability to turn for good. Time after time they have blown out the victory cigars in hell at the realization that certain defeat has once again been grasped from the jaws of victory. “This just in: The cross is still bloody, but the blasted tomb is now empty!” God’s unmatched ability to turn

the schemes of the Enemy into the good of the saints has made both the Devil and demons insecure. Poor devils, their only certainty is defeat. God’s faithfulness has robbed them of their parties.

We should not assume, however, that man has no part to play in God’s interventions. When evil surrounds us, we must long for deliverance. John Owen reminds us: “Longing, breathing, and panting after deliverance is a grace in itself, having a mighty power to conform the soul to the likeness of the thing longed for.”  When evil seduces us, we have to run away like Joseph. We must purpose with the psalmist, “I have purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. . . . I have kept away from the paths of the destroyer” (Ps. 17:3–4). When we play our part, God confronts the Devil and casts him down. Jesus then keeps us as the apple of His eye, sheltered under His wings (Ps. 17:8).

When we think too highly of ourselves, we stumble and are vulnerable to the evil of our Enemy. Too much belief in self leads to powerlessness. We often wonder why we cannot cast out demons (Matt. 17:16). It is because we are too fond of our dignity and not dependent enough on Jesus. Some things He alone can do. Some things we cannot do unless we are willing to fail or to appear foolish. Even if it is done through us, it still has to be Jesus who casts Satan down. It is the lowly and faith-filled follower who makes the Devil depressed.

Pray for the Unreached:

Saudi Muslims of Saudi Arabia

12,041,000

0.1% Evangelical

Pray for the word of God in written, oral, musical, and dramatic forms to be translated and to rise among the Saudi (Isaiah 55:10-11).