Your Journey Toward Christ
The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy
(John 10:10).
How do evil spirits interfere with our lives? Let me answer
with a simple illustration. Imagine that you are standing at
one end of a long, narrow street lined on both sides with
two-story row houses. At the other end of the street stands
Jesus Christ, and your Christian life is the process of
walking down that long street of maturity toward Him. There
is absolutely nothing in the street which can keep you from
reaching Jesus. So, when you receive Christ, you fix your
eyes on Him and start walking.
But since this world is still under the dominion of Satan,
the row houses on either side of you are inhabited by beings
who are committed to keeping you from reaching your goal.
They have no power or authority to block your path or even
slow your step, so they hang out of the windows and call to
you, hoping to turn your attention away from your goal and
disrupt your progress by tempting you, accusing you and
deceiving you.
What is the enemy's goal in having his demons jeer you,
taunt you, lure you, and question you from the windows and
doorways along your path? He wants you to slow down, stop,
sit down, and, if possible, give up your journey toward
Christ. He wants to influence you to doubt your ability to
believe and serve God. Remember: he has absolutely no power
or authority to keep you from steadily progressing in your
walk toward Christ. And he can never again own you, because
you have been redeemed by Jesus Christ and you are forever
in Him (1 Peter 1:18, 19). But if he can get you to listen
to the thoughts he plants in your mind, he can influence
you. And if you allow him to influence you long enough
through temptation, accusation and deception, he can control
you.
If I could influence you to believe a lie, could I control
your life? Yes. Let's fix our eyes on Jesus, "the author and
perfecter of faith" (Hebrews 12:2) and take "every thought
captive to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Dr. Anderson, Freedom in Christ and Harvest House Publishers www.ficm.org