Jesus vs Satan

I like the rest of the world have been watching the news this week with sheer joy at the safe rescue of the 33 miners in Chile. How often do we see such a disaster that doesn't result in death or at the very least, serious injury? Not very often.

It was so good to hear how so many of them have praised God, come to God and for some, returned to Him during this traumatic time. One of the miners said something which really struck a chord with me and made me think. As he stepped out of the capsule which brought him up, he said “I was with God and I was with the devil. They fought for me but God won. He took me by the hand, the hand of God and I held onto him. I never thought for one minute that God wouldn't get me out of there”. Such faith. Here was a man, who for over two months, has been trapped 2300 ft underground, covered by 700 tons of rock, initially with no food or water, yet not one in all of the 100,800 minutes he was down there, did he doubt that God would rescue him. Wow.

I'm not sure as I write this whether these men are praising my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, or whether it is their own god, but it was this man's faith that struck me.

I wonder when we look to our own lives, if, for every minute, of every day, we trust, we believe, we have faith. Or on occasion, as the devil battles to try and win us over, do we sometimes listen to him.

I wonder if when we pray for our sick loved one, do we believe for every minute that The Lord will work in that situation, or do we sometimes listen to the devils voice that they'll never get better, they've been like this for too long now or its spread too much for there to be any hope. When we pray for our loved one to be saved, do we believe in every minute that they will be, or do we sometimes listen to the devil's whisper that it'll never happen. When we pray for a revival in our church or city, do we believe in every minute that it will happen, or for the odd time hear the devil saying, it'll never happen in this church, not in this city, revivals happen somewhere else. When we want to stay clear of a TV programme/newspaper because of the language/images, do we on every occasion pray for strength/self control if we need it, or listen to the devil sometimes saying, it'll be OK, there's only a bit of blasphemy/bad language/nudity you should watch it/read it.

The thing with the devil is, he wants you. He loves you, he'll court you, seduce you, give you everything you think you want. But he will also make you feel bad, he'll make you feel guilty and will do his best to sow seeds of doubt in your mind. He'll fight a good fight to get you, telling any old lie along the way if he thinks it'll help. I'll have a bet that he whispered in those miner's ears at every given opportunity, you'll never get out, you'll starve, you'll suffocate, the cave will collapse you'll be buried alive, you'll never see your families again.

But here's the thing, Jesus Christ loves you more. He'll fight a good fight to keep you and will tell you nothing but truth along the way. As long as for every minute, of every day, in every situation we believe Him, we trust Him and we have faith in Him, then our Lord Jesus Christ will win the battle every time. Luke 1:37 For with God, nothing is impossible.

1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God which giveths us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus v satan? No contest.