To Hell With the Devil

I've come to realize something over the past couple of months. Satan SUCKS and I HATE HIM. But if I didn't hate him so much, I would actually feel sorry for him. It must be such a sad, miserable existance always striving to be God and never, ever matching up. Never even coming close. Continuous failure. We beat ourselves up for things that we do that we ought not to do, for our failures and shortcomings. And then we go to God, full of repentance, and He takes the crap and flings it into oblivion (...You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea...Micah 7:19), and He sees us as perfect, His holy vessels. I wonder what He sees when He looks at Satan.

I have always pegged Satan as being evil and awful and the antithesis of God. I have only just begun to realize, though, how much Satan wants to be like God. And how truly unoriginal he is. I've heard it said that Satan is smart...sometimes I think that we give him way too much credit. It seems to me that everything he does is just a perversion of something God has already done. Or that he takes what God gives and tries to twist and destroy it. For example, James tells us that "every good gift and every perfect (free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all that gives light... (James 1:17). Satan hates that. So he tries to ruin it however he can. In Daniel 7:25, we are told that the Antichrist (Satan's evil "son", so-to-speak) "...shall wear out the saints of the Most High..." And there are days, aren't there? Sometimes more and worse than others. But we have to try to keep this all in perspective. This is Satan's job. "The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy..." (John 10:10a) BUT THANKS BE TO GOD (Can we ever conceivably give Him enough praise for this?!?), WHO GIVES US THE VICTORY, MAKING US CONQUERORS, THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST (1 Corinthians 15:57). Our Lord Jesus Christ, that came that we "...may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance, to the full, till it overflows." (John 10:10b).

So, when we feel worn out, we need to summon the energy to praise God and remember:

• Satan sucks. He can try all he wants, but he is just a big loser wannabe. In the end, he will be the one who is worn out. Worn out by the very saints he is trying to run ragged. LO-O-O-SER.
• God rocks. He gives us great gifts, perfect gifts. They belong to us, and Satan can't have them. Because our side wins. By a freakin' landslide. We don't take ground quietly, we conquer it. Enjoying our life means consciously throwing that victory party every day we are given. WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS, MY FRIEND.

In You, O Lord, do I put my trust and confidently take refuge; let me never be put to shame or confusion! Deliver me in Your righteousness and cause me to escape; bow down Your ear to me and save me! Be to me a rock of refuge in which to dwell, and a sheltering stronghold to which I may continually resort, which You have appointed to save me, for You are my Rock and my Fortress. Rescue me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the grasp of the unrighteous and ruthless man. For You are my hope, O Lord God, You are my trust from my youth and the source of my confidence...My mouth shall be filled with Your praise and with Your honor all the day...I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of Your righteous acts and of Your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is more than I know. I will come in the strength and with the mighty acts of the Lord God; I will mention and praise your righteousness, even Yours alone...Yes, even when I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not, but keep me alive until I have declared Your mighty strength to this generation, and Your might and power to all that are to come. Your righteousness also, O God, is very high, reaching to the heavens, You Who have done great things; O GOD, WHO IS LIKE YOU, OR WHO IS YOUR EQUAL? You have shown us all troubles great and sore will quicken us again and will bring us up again from the depths of the earth...My lips shall shout for joy when I sing praises to You, and my inner being, which You have redeemed. (from Psalm 71)

O God, this is my prayer...from my heart to Yours.