The Beauty of Satan

Today's Reading: 2 Corinthians 4

Scripture:
"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves. We are afflicted…" 2 Corinthians 4:7-8

Observation:
The phase Paul uses here for "we are afflicted" does not mean something that happened in the past. It means something that continues to happen. Affliction. There is nothing pretty about the word. Nothing attractive about it. Even the most vile of society seeks to avoid being afflicted.

It is this desire to escape suffering that satan has used as the ultimate bait for his trap. He was weaved together a web of ideals, opinions, goals, hopes, and views that blinds the world from God. He uses his beauty to offer something easy. Something pleasurable. Something good. Something deceptively deathly.

Application:
I can honestly say that I have never woke up and said to myself, "Self, we just need to be wicked today." Never happened. Yet, at the end of many days I have looked in the mirror and sat in stunned silence over the level of wickedness I had achieved. Satan was an angel of light before he fell from heaven. He was beautiful. He still is.

It is his beauty that often allows my defenses to be penetrated. He invades my ideals, opinions, goals, hopes and views with beautiful promises and noble ambitions. When any area of life heats up and I feel the weight of it; he is always there with a promise of escape. A simple pleasure. A new line of thought. A better destination. A promised relief. A better justification.

Prayer:
This is huge for me. My desperate desire for simplicity and escape is my greatest weakness. This morning as I sit with You I realize that I desire a life free from affliction. I want to live free of pain. Everything I seek in life that draws me away from You is something that I have thought would make me feel less afflicted. These things are quite often pure, but they are seldom holy.

To live in this world is to face troubles. They come with the same certainty as the sun comes in the morning and the moon at night. I have looked to the outside of the gift of Your Son for escape from the worries and pressures of life. My dreams seem to always end with me being in a place where all is well with me. I need new dreams. Dreams I am not capable of manufacturing. Father I lay down before You today all my ideals, opinions, goals, hopes and views. I ask that You take them and burn them. Utterly destroy them from my life.

Help me to seek only the beauty of the light placed inside of my by Your Son. Refocus every ounce of my energy, creativity, hope, ambition and determination to bringing Your Kingdom into the lost world. Be my peace. Be my strength. Be my reality. Be my dreams. In everyplace and in every moment allow my joy to become seeing Your light shine through me.