The Invisible Cartel (That You Can Overcome)

There is a thief about. He and his cohorts work together as a cartel. They operate under cover and many people don’t even believe they exist. They love to steal, to kill, and to destroy. The thief’s name is Satan. He is known as the devil. (John 10:10.)

There is a powerful way to overcome the thief and his torment and destruction. It is through the presence and power of the One known as the Lamb of God. His name is Jesus, the Christ. He is the God-man, the Creator in human flesh.

The devil and his demons are invisible, non-physical beings. They have no physical power. Their power is the influence they have over human beings. They use lies, accusations, guilt, shame, worry, fears, insecurity, depression, self-righteousness, pride, lust, greed, jealousy, anger, hatred, rebellion, suspicion, doubt, and many other weapons to tempt, torment, and manipulate human beings into destructive thought, words, and actions that steal our peace, kill our hope, and abandon us to the inner prison of quiet desperation and lingering despair.

There is a way you can overcome that cruel cartel. Revelation 12:11, says: “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto death.”

–The blood of the Lamb: Jesus died on the Cross as a sacrifice for your sins. Your sins are the things that you are thinking, saying, and doing (or have been in the past) that separate you from heart-to-heart connection and deep daily intimacy with the living God. The blood of Jesus (the Lamb of God) isn’t just a religious idea. It’s a powerful weapon. Here’s how you can use it to overcome the guilt and shame that Satan puts on you:

“If we say that we have fellowship with Him (God), and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:6-9.)

–The word of their testimony: A testimony is a verbal telling of how the risen Jesus became real to you — of how you were transformed from darkness to light — how you once were blind but now you see. It declares how you lived before you met Jesus, the way you met Him, and how your life is different now.

To share the Good News about Jesus, it’s necessary to use words! If you will frequently testify how Jesus became real to you and about the things that you have seen and heard Jesus do in and through you, you will overcome the devil and help other people to overcome him.

I believe that almost every church has at least a few people in attendance who have personally experienced the risen Jesus as alive and real. However, the members of the congregation don’t know about those people’s encounter with and transformation by the risen Jesus, because they have been trained to sit in silence and not to testify. It’s time to obey the Bible. “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.” (Psalm 10:2.) Testify about how you were born again and testify about the other things that Jesus has done and is doing in and through your life. Start today and overcome the devil and his torment and temptations.

Here’s the short version of how I got saved form the devil’s darkness and brought into Christ’s light. I was an agnostic college freshman. I sensed that there was more to life than our physical existence, but I I was stuck in darkness and couldn’t see any convincing evidence of that. A classmate kept inviting me to a weekly meeting that he called “Dorm Devotion.” I wasn’t interested, but he wouldn’t leave me alone, so I finally attended in order to get him stop pestering me.

I heard something in that meeting that I had never heard before — people talking about Jesus Christ like He is real, alive, present, and working in their lives. As they testified something happened inside of me. I suddenly became aware that Jesus is alive and with me. As if a switch had been switched, I could feel myself being changed from deep within me. Ever since that moment, I’ve been filled with the awareness of Christ in me and hungry to follow and obey Him and to know Him better and better.

My Salvation Testimony

–Not loving your life (abandoning self-focus): “Love not their lives unto death,” doesn’t mean that you have to physically die for your faith in Christ. It means that you abandon self-focus — that you die to your thoughts, feelings, and desires and replace them with daily obedience to the living Jesus.

I am the most miserable when I ask myself if I am happy? And when I focus on myself. I am the happiest when I forget about myself and focus on other people and on the presence and activity of the living, resurrected Jesus. You will be too. Try it and see.

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