Finding Freedom in Our Walk with Jesus
Eighty years ago, as Notre Dame was preparing to play the USC Trojans in college football, Fighting Irish coach Knute Rockne was aware that his opponent had a far better team. So he devised a plan to intimidate the opposing players.
Rockne scoured the city of South Bend, Indiana (Notre Dame's hometown), and hand-picked 100 of the largest men he could find—each at least six-foot-five and 300 pounds. He put the men in Fighting Irish uniforms and, at game time, marched them onto the field ahead of the real team. (Obviously, this was before the days of limited rosters and eligibility restrictions.)
As USC watched those giants line up on the sidelines, they forgot about their talent and their undefeated record, and they began mentally preparing themselves for a beating. Though none of the specially recruited men played during the game, their presence on the sidelines was enough to knock Southern Cal's concentration off balance. Knute Rockne's trick had worked; he had intimidated the Trojan players into giving up before the game even started.
The story is illustrative of how the devil seeks to intimidate and discourage believers in Jesus Christ by tempting them to believe that his lies are truth and that he has the authority, and power, to hold people captive. People are tempted to believe that sin, frustration, and brokenness is just a way of life and there is no real hope for meaningful change. In reality, the Lord Jesus Christ defeated the devil at the cross and by virtue of our relationship with Jesus we have been given the authority over the devil and his angels. It was Jesus who said in Luke 10:19, “behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy.”
In the preface to his book, The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis writes, “there are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.”
We must come to believe, and then act as if we believe, that we are in a great spiritual battle. That each and every day we battle against our old nature, the world system and the devil, all of which are seeking to lead us out of our covenant relationship with God and enticing us to live in another kingdom (under the rule of another). The devil hates Jesus Christ and all who claim His name, and he will do anything that he can to destroy us and the church of Jesus Christ.
In order to do this, we need to have a shift in the way that we view the world. We must acknowledge that there is an unseen reality that cannot be discovered by the five senses because it is spiritual and not physical. We need to come to understand, and believe, that “we are not human (physical) beings having a spiritual experience but spiritual beings having a human (physical) experience.” (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin)
The apostle Paul also tells us in 2 Corinthians 2:11 that “no advantage can be taken of us” if “we are not ignorant of his (the devil’s) schemes.” The devil has specific (time-tested) strategies that he continues to use today with great effectiveness. Some of the major ones are as follows.
Strategies of the devil
- Seeks to cause us to act independently of God, doing of our own will (Genesis 3:4-5).
- Seeks to incite us to fear and unbelief, the opposite of faith (Numbers 14).
- Creates circumstances and situations to incite the old nature (James 4:4).
- Casts doubt upon the Word of God, creating confusion, discouragement, and depression.
- Tempts us to lie, become prideful and harbor an unforgiving spirit (2 Corinthians 2:10; 1 Timothy 3:6)
The beginning place to finding freedom is to recognize that we have a personal enemy, who knows our weaknesses and seeks to exploit them. Then to adopt that battle position that is described in James 4:7, “submit therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. The only power the devil has over us is the power we give him by giving him place through sin and by believing his lies. We need to believe God’s truth rather than the devil’s lies and when we do we will have victory over the enemy. Let’s not be intimidated by the enemy’s bluster but encouraged by the Lord’s faithfulness and His power and authority. Submit and resist, then freedom will be yours.
Author
Pastor Bruce is the Executive Director of God's Living Stones. He lives in Omaha, NE, with his wife Barb. They have two adult children.
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