Who’s Your Daddy?

            A friend shared with me the other day a funny story:

            Two boys were walking home from Sunday church after hearing a

strong sermon on the devil. One boy said to the other, “What do you think  

about all this Satan stuff?”

            The other boy replied, “Well, you know how Santa Claus turned out. It's probably just your dad.”

            Peter realizes that Satan is not a myth: 8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings (I Pet. 5:8-9.)

            

The Loser’s Card Game

            The story is told that during the Revolutionary War, a colonial spy, loyal to the British, presented himself at the headquarters of Hessian commander Colonel Johann Rall. With him, he carried a top-secret message of highest importance the Hessian military leader.

            The message contained the information that General George Washington and his army had surreptitiously crossed the Delaware River and were fast approaching Trenton, New Jersey—the camp of the Hessian army. To the spy’s chagrin, his request his request to meet with Colonel Rall was turned down. 

            The spy then recorded his information on a piece of paper and asked an attendant to take it to Colonel Rall. The message was delivered; however, Rall ignored it. Instead, he stuffed it in his pocket. Rall was engrossed in a poker game and did not want to disturb his concentration.

            Later, Rall’s day was rudely interrupted… by the muskets of the soldiers of Washington’s army. Washington’s army leveled the Hessians. Many, including Colonel Rall, ultimately lost their lives.

            This event occurred on December 26, 1776. It was the first major victory for the colonial army. They possibly would not have gained the victory had Colonel Rall been alert.

            Satan gains a lot of victories because Christians are not on the watch. Perhaps that’s why the apostle Peter wrote, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (I Pet. 5:8.)

Source: Today in the Word, MBI, October, 1991, p. 21

Stay Out of Those Places

            A story passed around for a few decades now involves the old TV show HEE HAW. A character on the show, Doc Campbell, sees a patient complaining about his arm, “Doc, I broke my arm in two places.”

            Doc Campbell replies, “Well then, stay out of those places!”

            That’s pretty good advice. The best strategy for giving in to temptation is to regularly visit places that tempt us. Maybe that’s why Paul admonished his readers to flee temptation.

The Devil’s Coattails

        An old preacher grew tired of hearing Christians complain about all of the temptations Satan was placing in their paths. Consequently he proclaimed, “People are always portraying Satan as pursuing them to tempt them. The truth is, so many people are pulling at the Devil’s coattails, he has no time to chase anybody.”

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (I Cor. 10:13.)

Don’t Ignore this Warning!

            Ignoring warnings can be dangerous. TODAY IN THE WORD wrote, several years ago, about a Hessian commander, who learned that lesson the hard way.

            During the Revolutionary War, a loyalist spy appeared at the headquarters of Hessian commander, Colonel Johann Rall, carrying an urgent message. General George Washington and his Continental army had secretly crossed the Delaware River that morning and were advancing on Trenton, New Jersey, where the Hessians were encamped.

            The spy was denied an audience with the commander and instead, wrote his message on a piece of paper. A porter took the note to the Hessian colonel, but because Rall was involved in a poker game, he stuffed the unread note into his pocket.

            When the guards at the Hessian camp began firing their muskets in a futile attempt to stop Washington’s army, Rall was still playing cards. Without time to organize, the Hessian army was captured. The battle occurred the day after Christmas, 1776, giving the colonists a late present—their first major victory of the war.

            The apostle Peter two thousand years ago sent us all a warning:

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings (I Pet. 5:8-9).

Breaking Into Jail

On March 29, 20-year-old Ricky Flowers was stopped by a member of the Garfield Heights, Ohio police department for a traffic violation. (Garfield Heights is a suburb of Cleveland.) Perhaps, knowing he was about to be cited for driving with a suspended license, Flowers fled the scene.

A high-speed chase followed. Suddenly, Flowers pulled his car over, hopped out, and climbed a fence thinking he had escaped. Little did he realize, he was jumping into a women’s prison.

I think a lot of people have had this experience. They think they are escaping a pressing problem, but what they are doing is jumping into Satan’s prison. They are under bondage. Satan’s prison varies. It could be alcohol, it could be drugs, it could be greed, materialism, worry, anxiety, the list goes on and on.

We don’t have to live this way. We can be free from bondage. Paul writes, 16Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. 18You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness (Rom. 6:16-18.)

The Mobro 4000

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded (James 4:7-8.)

On March 22, 1987, the barge Mobro 4000 set sail from Islip, New York. It’s destination was Morehead City, North Carolina. There, it would turn over its cargo to the proper authorities. The mission failed.

A WRAL-TV news crew had flown by helicopter to investigate and on April 1, 1987, revealed in a newscast the contents of the Mobro 4000’s cargo. Outrage required that the Mobro 4000 sail on. The barge sailed along the Atlantic coast all the way to Belize. In port after port, the ship was not allowed to unload its load.

Back up the coast the Mobro 4000 sailed, finally arriving at the New York City suburb of Brooklyn in October—seven months later. What was the Mobro 4000 carrying that caused every port to reject her entry? 3,168 tons of… garbage.

I wish Satan had it that hard. Every day he seeks to unload garbage in our minds and hearts. He transports his garbage on vessels as big as billboards, and as minute as a mass media messages in our email accounts.

If we stopped him there, things would not be so bad. Instead, if we are not on guard, we invite him into our ports and invite him to unload his garbage—and leave it behind. We promise to take care of it. But too often, we never get around to incinerating it.

Lowell Harrelson and Salvatore Avellino were the two who contracted with the owners of the barge named Mobro 4000. Maybe next time they would have better success contracting with the devil.