Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Wednesday's Word: Satan vs. Demons

Growing up I never really thought about the difference between Satan and demons. As a little girl I never really felt attack by Satan or his demons.

However, upon starting seminary, I definitely started to feel demonic attacks. And once we entered full time ministry, we were pretty much constantly being attacked. By who though? Satan himself? Probably not. I am so thankful that God allowed me to take seminary classes, and in my Systematic Theology class we discussed subject of Satan – What are his characteristics? Is he the polar opposite of God? Is he everywhere?

Satan is not omnipresent. I repeat, Satan is not omnipresent. He can only be at one place at one time. Therefore, he can only attack on person (or group of people) at a time. Did he attack Martin Luther? Probably. Did he attack Billy Graham. Probably. Is Satan himself personally attacking me right now? Probably not.

Satan has demons, however, that work for him. Satan's demons number in the thousands upon thousands. In fact, Scripture tells us that Satan’s demons make up 1/3 of all angels! So, his demons could certainly be attacking my family. How have they attacked? They’ve attacked through fires, misrepresentation of me and my family, etc. Anything they can do to distract my family from Jesus and spreading His word, I completely believe they will attack and have attacked.

Demons are not always the answer to when bad things happen. Bad things happen because we live in a fallen world, and we sin ourselves, but when you are preaching Jesus and seeing lives changed and children accepting Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, watch out for demonic attack on your life.

The children's ministry in general is growing like crazy and Charlie had his biggest week in attendance that he has had since he has been here (287 in Sunday School). Spiritual warfare is so difficult. It is so hard not to sin in your words and actions when you are attacked. It is so easy to focus your thought life on problems and complaints, and not on solutions and Jesus. However, if you just focus on problems and have no solutions for problems, then you yourself become part of the problem.

My point of this post however, is that I really want us ladies to think of events in our lives as spiritual. And the next time you hear someone say that the Devil is just after them, I hope you do not cringe like I do (demons definitely could be after someone but there is a very small chance that it is the Devil himself) Ha!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Would you feel less spiritual and effective as a Christian if you felt that demons were not attacking you? In other words, does your perception of demonic attack validate your work as a Christian?