Open Letter to satan

satan,

     I HAVE TAKEN ALL THAT YOU HAVE GIVEN ME

     Do you remember the Apostle Paul? You gave him fits during his life time. But he's dead now and you can't touch him. As you very well know, what Jesus did through the Apostle Paul is still giving you fits but is multiplied millions of times by all the believers that have studied his teachings.
     One of the secrets that he left us is found in 1 Corinthians 10:13. He told us that God was faithful and would not allow you to attack us with anything strong enough to break us. With the same pen stroke he told us that God had already given us the victory in every situation.

     You used to really have me scared. You played your 'roaring lion' games (1 Peter 5:8) that made me run for cover and stumble. You plundered the things that I held dear to my heart and tore apart my dreams of a happy, Godly future. You had me believing that I was worthless and that nobody cared for me. I paid more attention to your roaring than I did to the Word of God.

     But, old boy, that changed not too long ago. I got a hold of myself and began to spend more time in God's presence. You saw me. Instead of my 'Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep' prayers I began to long for His presence and began to bask in His love. In enjoyed it so much that I began meditating more on Jesus during the day than I did your lies. I love His presence more than I do your sorrow and problems.

     Oh, by the way, thank you for those problems. The problems you sent along helped me out a whole lot, too. I took some more of Paul's advice and began praising God 'in everything' (1 Thess 5:18). When I heard your roar, I immediately said, "This is going to work together for my good." (Rom 8:28). You don't hurt me like you used to. The little boy is growing up isn't he?

     The more I stay in God's Presence the more I've come to detest you instead of fear you. What's it like having another Christian slip out of your grasp?     You loser.   

     And today.....I felt another spiritual muscle develop. Why have I been fighting you all this time? Let me give you a clue. Do the words 'It's finished' mean anything to you? That's what Jesus said when He paid the FULL price for ALL of my sins. Your hold was broken over me on the cross many years ago, and it just now dawned on me.
     Today I realized what 'more than a conqueror' means. (Rom. 8:38). It means that Jesus has already conquered you. Instead of calling Him the Prince of Peace, I'm gonna start calling Him the Prince of Piece, because there's not one single piece of your power that God has NOT given me power over. (Luke 10:19)

     Don't you go no where, I'm not through with you. God allowed you to come after me hot and heavy until I thought I was done for. You plundered my goods and stole from me. I thought there was no hope for me. BUT, that was where I was wrong.

     The more I spend time in His Presence and soaking up His love for me, the more that I realize that THERE IS NO HOPE FOR YOU. That same God that gave you permission to blister me has given me permission to bind you and PERMANENTLY divide your spoils. (Luke 11:22)
     You see, I now fit the description of the 'stronger than he' just like Jesus is. He was not afraid of the cross and I'm not afraid of what I'm going through right now. That means I'm stronger than you. But, you know that don't you? You heard me praising God for what He was doing in my life instead of moaning and groaning about what I was going through. Yeah, I'm stronger than you and I'm going to stay that way.
     Have you heard that old saying that you can recognize someone by their footsteps? You know it's true because you've heard me running all over the place having my hissy fits over what you put me through. That is........I used to do that.
     You go on about your business because pretty soon you're going to hear the familiar sound of my footsteps coming toward your domain. Then you'll hear those creaky gates of hell begin to swing open. Jesus said they couldn't stop me. (Mt 16:18) I'll slam the door behind me to get everyone's attention and I'll shout, "I'M HERE TO GET MY STUFF!!!!" The same Word of God that gave you permission to attack me said in Prov. 6:31  that when the thief was found that he had to restore seven times the amount that was stolen. So let me rephrase my original statement.

I WILL TAKE ALL THAT THE WORD OF GOD DEMANDS THAT YOU GIVE ME

     Like we used to say when we were playing 'hide and seek'...ready or not....here I come.