The Bible does not teach for us to ‘ignore’ the devil; we are taught to ‘resist him’. (James 4:7; 1 Pet. 5:8) We are, after all, not ‘ignorant of his devices and schemes’. (2 Cor. 2:11; Eph. 6:10). Or I should say…we are not supposed…to be ‘ignorant’ of them. And yet it is a ‘lack of knowledge’ in this area that has brought much suffering and destruction to God’s people. (Hosea 4:6)

Yesterday, I did ‘go there’ and point the blame for much of this ignorance that exists today on the very ones God places the blame on. I merely pointed to those verses which backs this up- it is the ‘shepherds…who destroy and scatter the sheep of His pasture’. (Jer. 23:1). Now don’t go grabbing pitchforks and ‘pull a Jan. 6’ scene on your local churches. There is no time for that. And for the record, I was right there with everyone else myself, trying to ‘figure out this pastoring thing’ for years.

Matt. 12:43-45 has been our ‘base camp’ for the past few days as we have sought to gain understanding to what has happened to so many people over the years with their faith walk, and how sadly, they ‘crashed and burned’ ...leaving spiritual wreckage all over the place today. A popular topic being tossed around of late, centers on this idea of ‘deconstructing’ one’s faith, which has been the cause of many people leaving the ‘faith’ all together, and in alarming numbers as well. I am not sure what much of that is about, nor am I overly concerned. I just know what I am seeing laying right there in our Bibles for all to read... truly demands the attention of anyone who calls themselves a ‘follower of Jesus’.

We were reading what happens when an ‘unclean spirit’ leaves a person. (Matt. 12:43). Jesus said they are prone to going out and seeking another place of ‘rest’ to inhabit and when unable to find a dwelling place, they seek to return from the very place they were ‘evicted’ from. Can I just tell you now that Jesus is still...in the business of ‘evicting unclean spirits’ from folks. But I have a pretty strong hunch that He’s not been in a terrible hurry to do that, even at the point of not answering desperate pleas and prayers from many of His own people. I make the case that those kind of prayers have gone unanswered for one reason alone- it’s been His mercy.

Why do I suggest that? Because for the most part, many of us have been clueless to the fact that our ignorance in this area would only make things worse for us if Jesus was to answer those desperate prayers. For starters, how many sitting on church pews today could not even begin to come to terms with the possibility that those ‘sins’ they have failed to overcome may very well be a ‘spiritual’ problem to begin with; as in having a ‘spirit’ of lust...or spirit of anger ...or spirit of greed? Have we not all at one time or another sensed certain people who had a ‘critical spirit’, or manifested a ‘prideful spirit’? Anyone out there struggle with ‘fear, depression, or anxiety’? Any chance those might be a ‘spirit’?

For those who are old enough to remember, there was a popular comedian by the name of Flip Wilson who had the whole country laughing when he would pop off how the ‘devil made him do it’. Ha Ha Ha... what a copout, right?...blaming things on the ‘devil’ of all things!

So why would anyone be interested to know how those spirits even got there to begin with, let alone ask how one can rid themselves of them, if we are skeptical that they are the ‘problem’ to begin with? Yet...Paul tells us explicitly what it is we are contending with, and it is not your DNA (Eph.6:12).

But it’s this area of not allowing ‘them’ back in... when (not ‘if’) they come looking...that is where things have truly unraveled for many. No doubt, many were given some ‘fake insurance policy’ that convinced them as long as they were baptized after ‘accepting Christ’ ...that ‘no demon/unclean spirit’ could ‘be in them’ or ‘come back in’ since they were now the ‘temple of the Holy Spirit’; .... sigh. So why make the case the early church writers did in Eph. 4:27 and 1 Pet. 5:8?

When this particular spirit returned in our brief story, taught by Jesus in Matt. 12, he found an ‘opening’. Yeah...that previous ‘house’ had been picked up and ‘decorated’ , but there was one problem- it was still ‘empty’. And guess what this ‘spirit’ proceeded to do? Jesus said he ‘took with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they entered... and dwelt there...and the last state of that man was worse than the first.” (44). Now isn’t that unfortunate?

If you ran a ‘pest removal’ business, would you not be reluctant to take a person’s money to spray their home and remove some pretty bothersome pests, if you sensed the homeowner seemed unconcerned about replacing broken windows in the house, maybe putting some doors back on their hinges so any and all ‘critters’ could not come and go any time they desired? Yeah...well guess what?

Join me tomorrow?