It seems that no matter how much teaching and preaching is done for some people, they are
dead set on following Satan, rather than following Jesus Christ. They seem to get along faithfully
for some little time, but before long, they need to be pumped up, coddled, persuaded and
encouraged to straighten up again. Although many of them will extol the virtues of Jesus Christ,
and claim that they support living in a good, “Christian” nation, it’s hard to get them to darken the
door to the church building. They seem unable to finally make the cut from the world and follow
Christ wholeheartedly. So, for those who are constantly struggling to make the right choice, I
thought it might be helpful to remind us of what Satan has actually done for each one of us.
All of the senseless killings and murders ever committed in this cruel world, and the lies
and dishonesty leading up to each one of them, have their ultimate origin in Satan. I knew a good
family whose mother was murdered many years ago in a senseless act of violence. They have
struggled with pain and despair ever since. One of our children had a classmate whose father
decided to take his own life on the school football field. No one can imagine the pain and heartache
such a selfish act has occasioned. I had a case once where a grandmother’s precious baby boy was
beaten to death by a selfish boyfriend. The sad, annual vigils for reform to our child abuse laws
are a continuing monument to the little boy’s life. All of these incidents, and countless others, are
traceable to Satan himself. “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your
will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and standeth not in the truth, because there is
no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father
thereof,” (John 8:44).
All of the jealousy, strife, and denominationalism ever conceived in the human heart is a
direct testament to Satan himself. Such byproducts of ugly human pride, and a thousand other such
departures from God’s perfect will, must truly make the devil smile each time they rear their ugly
head. “But if ye have bitter jealousy and faction in your heart, glory not and lie not against the
truth. This wisdom is not a wisdom that cometh down from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
For where jealousy and faction are, there is confusion and every vile deed, (James 3:14-16).
All of the sickness, cancer and other disease which plagues mankind around the world is
actually thanks to Satan himself. He is the one who perverted God’s perfect creation in the long
ago, (Genesis 3:1-8). Scientists are still struggling to understand what is going on. Where is all of
this cancer coming from? I can tell them in a nutshell. It is coming from Satan. He is the one who
introduced the thorns and thistles into God’s wonderful original garden.
Every broken heart, all pain and agony, and even death itself is properly credited to the
devil. That includes tears of sorrow from divorce and shattered homes, custody battles, broken
hearts, betrayals of trust and fidelity—all the things which take the joy and laughter out of life.
Only when Satan and his followers are finally and forever cast into the “lake which burns with
fire” will Gods people finally be free of such curses. “And he shall wipe away every tear from
their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any
more: the first things are passed away, (Revelation 21:4).
Yes, Satan has done a lot for each of us. He has so filled this world with sin, and it’s dreadful
effects, that none of us can escape it, except by the power of Jesus Christ and His cleansing blood.
We need to remember that the next time we seem to have trouble making the right choices in life!
As Joshua declared, in the long ago, “And if it seem evil unto you to serve Jehovah, choose you
this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the
River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will
serve Jehovah,” (Joshua 24:15).
