He Drew First Blood

I never saw him coming. He blindsided me. I did not hear him either. Stealthily he came up from behind and hit me. I did not even know he was there until I  felt the pain. When I looked down blood was oozing out of the top of the backside of my upper calf. The blood startled me more than the pain. I am not talking about a little blood. It bubbled for a moment.

Then I spotted my assailant. A pesky horsefly. He attacked on my afternoon walk. He drew first blood. I can't swear to it but over the next four miles something buzzed me nearly every step of the way. Buzzing past my ears. Clipping my fingers from time to time. Just being a nuisance. At some point the or a horsefly landed on my arm. I squashed him with my hand. Problem resolved.

Now Satan is like that. He attacks in stealth. He hits up from places we do not expect and at times we do not expect. He is intent on drawing first blood and to destroy. He is a masterful deceiver. He is also a liar. He and I have a mutual agreement. I HATE HIM AND HE HATES ME.

There are ways to combat his attacks. I wrote about this recently. The word of God is a powerful weapon against his pesky and annoying ways. There is one short verse anyone could remember to use against the devil.

James 4:7 (ESV)
7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

The word submit means to rank under. Rank under who? Rank under God. If we try to fight Satan in our strength and with out wisdom we will get soundly whipped every time. He can outsmart the most cunning. He can manipulate the most independent people. He is crafty. He has deceived people since Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. So we have to bow in submission and trust in God who outranks us and the devil to help us.

Then we are to resist the devil. We are to oppose and stand against the devil. We oppose him just by quoting this scripture and others like this one. We stand against him by trusting God for the strength to say no to temptation. We oppose him by exalting the name of Jesus and telling others about His great salvation. We oppose  him by being light and shining brightly in this dark world.

When we do this did you catch what happens next from James 4:7? The devil must flee. He must runaway. He has no choice in the matter. When we stand in faith using the sword of the spirit as a weapon against him he tucks tail and runs like a scalded dog. HALLELUJAH! He is no match for the word of God. He is not match for Jesus.

Satan may draw first blood but Jesus has the last say. Satan is defeated. His days are numbered. He is operating on borrowed time. It may look like he is winning but he has already lost. His future is secure and he loses. Take hope in that today. Just like the horsefly drew fist blood but I had the last say, so will Jesus when he banishes Satan forever. O what a glorious day.