Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
Over the centuries, Satan has been made into a gigantic, menacing, powerful figure by Christian ministers. Based on what some ministers tell us, we should believe that Satan is a chief figure in every book of the Bible. The truth is that Satan is not even mentioned in the Bible until very late in the thirteenth book, 1Chronicles. Christianity has always given the Devil much more attention and glory than God does.
Satan is a loser, a fool, a liar, and a coward. He has no power whatsoever to determine anything concerning you; isn’t Jesus Lord of all? Satan is a pawn in the hands of God, used for His wise purposes and powerless to resist Him. According to the revelation given to Isaiah, in the end, people will be amazed at how frail a creature Satan really is. In that day, they will see that fool without having to look through the confusing fog of Christian myth. Here is what Isaiah prophesied about men’s final reaction to this “king of Babylon”, when God exposes him to be the frail, frightened, contemptible little creature that he really is (chapter 14):
4 Thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, “How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!”
5The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the scepter of the rulers!
6He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth.
7The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet; they break forth into singing.
8Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, “Since you are cut down, no feller [woodsman] is come up against us.”
9Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming. It stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth. It hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
10All they shall speak and say unto thee, “Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us?”
11Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
That doesn’t make Satan seem so powerful and fearful, does it? This is the Bible’s consistent attitude toward Satan. At every turn, we are encouraged not to be impressed with Satan’s power and wisdom, but to be very much in awe of the wisdom and power of God, in whose hand is every breath you take, and who is fully in control of every moment of all life in this universe, and of every event in your life.
Fear God, not the Devil. That is the beginning of wisdom.