Yesterday, we learned about how we can lean into faith so that we don’t freeze in fear when we encounter desperate circumstances. Today, I want to talk about something else that we’re often afraid of and that is demons, or the forces of darkness. One of the most eye-opening things about living in the Kingdom of God is embracing the reality that there are hosts of invisible spiritual armies all around us, and unfortunately, some of them belong to Satan. The images we’ve seen depicted by Hollywood can make this an especially daunting thought if we dwell on it, and many find it so overwhelming that they choose to deny the existence of the devil and his minions all together. However, the Bible makes it clear that they are real. Thankfully, for those of us who are surrendered to Christ, these fallen hosts are really nothing to fear. Because we are covered by the Blood of the Lamb and Jesus Himself lives inside our bodies, His Spirit within us makes the forces of darkness tremble. When something goes bump in the night and we have a strong sense of spiritual oppression, we can take authority over it and cast it down in the Name of our Savior. Along those lines, while I’m almost certain it’s apocryphal, I love the old story about Martin Luther, who woke up in the middle of the night with a strange feeling then looked around and saw the devil crouched in the corner of his room. Without much alarm, he calmly said, “Oh, it’s only you,” then rolled over and went back to sleep.

My friend, even though evil surrounds you, you have nothing to fear! While the forces of night can seem foreboding, demons tremble at the One who lives inside of you, and no matter how noisy or scary they appear, they must submit to the Name of Jesus. Because you’ve accepted His atonement for your sin and received His gift of salvation, you’ve been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into His glorious light. Now, He is the Banner over your life, and His presence that radiates from within you causes the shadows to flee. When the devil tempts you to be afraid, you can call on your Savior with the certainty of knowing that every demonic spirit has to submit to Him and His Name that is above every other!