As I get older I find myself exhibiting attitudes and beliefs very similar to my dad. He’s been in Heaven since 1995, but it still amazes me that every once in a while I’ll say something which sounds so much like him that I almost do a little double-take. “Did I actually say that? That sounded just like Dad!”
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For Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11:14 (HCSB)
In the waters off southern Australia lives the sea dragon, a delicate fish that looks just like a torn piece of floating seaweed. Sea dragons have many elaborate, leafy extensions on their bodies, colored and shaped very much like the algae in which they lurk. They can grow up to 18 inches long. Sea Dragons are arguably the most spectacular and mysterious of all ocean fish. Though close relatives of sea horses, sea dragons have larger bodies and leaf-like appendages which enable them to hide among floating seaweed or kelp beds. Sea dragons feed on plankton, larval fishes and small shrimp-like crustaceans called mysids (“sea lice”), sucking up their prey in their small mouths. God designed the sea dragon so that it would be able to feed itself, but this is a good object lesson to us of the ways that Satan disguises himself to make his tactics even more effective. Many times his work is all the more effective because he hides himself. Think about it: if we were always aware that Satan was behind a thought or action, we certainly would avoid it. We wouldn’t say those things which spring into our minds, and we would be more careful about where we allow our minds to roam. In those cases and many more, his work is much more powerful because we are unaware that he is at work. Sadly, however, just being aware of Satan doesn’t prevent us from coming under his influence. As believers in Christ, we never have to be afraid of him, but we should always be wary of anything he might attempt to gain leverage over us. Just as the sea dragon hides itself by appearing to be floating seaweed, Satan hides himself in the things we would be unlikely to consider. The Bible tells us how we can escape the pull that Satan can have on our lives, but it only offers one solution. It has nothing to do with our own ingenuity or cleverness. The answer is found in James 4:7– “Therefore, submit to God. But resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.” If we submit to God in all things, it won’t matter what Satan looks like or where he tries to hide. --Rocky Henriques, www.uticabc.com |
PastorDr. Rocky Henriques is the Pastor of Utica Baptist Church in Utica, Mississippi. Archives
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