Dear Satan

Dear Satan,

I’m pretty sure you know me. I’m positive I know you. Actually, I without a shadow of doubt know that you know exactly who I am. You convinced me to tell my first lie as a kid. When my parents went to bed, I wrestled with sneaking out at you told me it was alright. As I got older, you paraded girls in front of me and told me if I pursued them like all my friends, “No one would ever know what happened behind closed doors.” The addictions I faced and battled were defined by you as “Fun, exciting, and a way to have people like me.”

You broke my Spirit.

But God knew me too. He knows me. He knew me before I was even created. He knows what I’ll be doing a year from now- 50 years from now. He saved me. His power is real. He put a new spirit in me. Not to replace my personality, but to enhance and complete who He designed me to be from the very beginning. But, somewhere along the way I slipped. Maybe it isn’t necessarily a slip… I guess I’d say- lost perspective. I quit looking in my rear view mirror. I became so wrapped up in the amazing love of God that I completely discounted one simple truth…

You’re still real.

You’re just as powerful as the day you convinced me to lie. I’m older and wiser, but so are you. You know my weakness. My fear. My loneliness. My pain. You know how to hit me just right and knock me down. But, I discounted you. I forgot about you. Well, I didn’t completely forget about you, I just figured I love God so much, that He will protect me (which he does) and I guess I just let my defenses down from time to time. God warned me to take you seriously. He taught me to see you as a smart, stealthy, powerful adversary who wants nothing more than to separate me from His love.

You’re not a cartoon. You’re not dancing on my left shoulder with a little angel on the right one. You’re not George Burns. You’ve been portrayed in such a light that you’re not longer a threat- you’re a punchline. The problem is the threat is very real and the joke will be on me if I don’t listen to God’s wisdom and teaching: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8).

The good news is that the end of the story is already known: You Lose, God Prevails. I will hold to that truth- and never forget you’re watching… waiting in the wings for me to lose my footing. Lurking in the darkness to press in on my Spirit. God has claimed me, so you can take a trip to Hell. I’m a follower of Jesus and you have no place here. Step off.

Jason *over and out*