The Battle Rages

 THE BATTLE RAGES

     The ugly picture above is a version of Satan on display at the St. Catherine Church in Brussels, Belgium.  The statue depicts Satan under the foot of the angel Michael, but I prefer to think he is under the foot of Jesus Christ.  I see this as being a picture of the fulfillment of Genesis 3:15, when God cursed Satan in the Garden of Eden and said to him, "He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel."

     This version of Satan's appearance also gives us a better glimpse of his true nature which is evil and ugly, beastly and vicious.  The sharp teeth are used for tearing apart his hapless victims.  While he sometimes disguises himself as angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14), his true nature is the epitomy of evil and he is the father of lies (John 8:44).  

     Sadly, too many people fail to see Satan for what he really is and they fall for his honey-laced lies over and over again.  He's actually not very creative, because he's using the same lie that he's been using for thousands of years -- the same lie he used with Eve in the garden when he said, "Has God indeed said..." (Genesis 3:1).

     In her book, "Praying God's Word," Beth Moore wrote, "Tragically, Satan has successfully duped the vast majority of our churches into imbalance regarding all things concerning or threatening him.  We tend to give the devil either far too much credit or not nearly enough.  A war of unprecedented proportions is raging against the church and the people of God.  We must put on our armor, learn how to use our weapons, and fight with the confidence of those who know they are destined to win."

      I love the way she ended that quote -- we are indeed destined to win in the battle against our enemy Satan.  He will not win and he knows it.  Therefore, he fights tooth and nail to keep sinners from being saved and to keep Christians off their knees and distracted by the world.  We need those weapons described in Ephesians 6:10-20, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places," verse 12.

      Suit up for battle, sisters and brothers!  We are definitely on the winning side, but we don't want the enemy gaining any ground in the meantime.  Stay true to our commander, Jesus Christ, and He will give us victories that will thrill our hearts and set the enemy running for cover.  I love the verse in 1 John 4:4 that tells us of the awesome power who resides in us as children of God:  "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."