Devotion 

Satan Has Been Defeated

Frances Taylor 

Salvation and power have come with Christ and Satan has been defeated. Sin and death have been conquered by the actions of one man, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, both human and divine who came into the world to bring the Good News of salvation by living, dying and rising for us. As Christians we claim to believe this but our actions sometimes deny it. Unfortunately, people seem to resurrect Satan all the time. We allow him to lead us away from God, forgetting the way to the Father that is love, and giving in to Satan's path of hatred, anger, pride, lust, chaos and destruction.

Satan, of course, doesn't present these as bad things, he makes them seem attractive. He presents sin as goods to be desired, as things to make us happy or give us pleasure. It can be hard to stay on the path that leads to God when the world seems to be crowding us and pushing us off of it. How easy it is to forget the sacrifice that bought our freedom! Which of us would go to the cross to save undeserving strangers? There are days when it's hard enough to stand up for our beliefs within our families. I'm willing to believe that most if not all of us have family members who have turned away from God, who may not even believe any more.

For some of us, making the decision to be Christian was going against the wishes of their families and, in some cases, being threatened with harm or even death because of it. Would those of us born into Christianity have had the courage to make that choice? Christians are being threatened in many parts of the world just for their religion; would you or would I have the courage to admit being a Christian if we were in that position? I don't know about you, but I hope I never have to make that decision. May our lives be a witness to God's love and keep Satan defeated.

Prayer 

Lord, you have sent your Son who has saved us and defeated Satan. May we never invite him into our lives. Amen.