Editor’s note: There's no doubt we have an enemy... but what do you know about him? In Pastor Jonathan "JP" Pokluda's new book Your Story Has a Villain, you'll learn how to recognize Satan's sneaky tactics get equipped to battle spiritually, and be reminded that Jesus has already secured the victory. PLUS, when you purchase either the book or the study guide from FaithGateway you’ll receive free access to a LIVE virtual teaching and Q&A with JP! Enjoy this excerpt and we hope to see you on March 4th for the live event.
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A while back, I spoke at an event with the leading exorcist for the Roman Catholic church. It is literally his job to train priests on how to perform exorcisms. I didn’t even know that was a job! The day before we met, he had performed three exorcisms. Just a normal workday for him.
While he was talking, he said something that really stuck with me — and I have been thinking about it ever since. It is something we all know to be true in a “nod our heads” kind of way, but I am not convinced it has fully sunk into all of our hearts.
We all believe that the Bible teaches that when we sin, we are inviting Satan in. We are giving him a foothold. We are opening ourselves up to the Enemy. We can all agree that is a biblical concept. But, he noted, we can often find ourselves living in this paradoxical way where we will pray one moment and say, “God please protect my family, keep my children safe, and bless my marriage” and the next moment we go look at porn, go drink too much, or go make another impulse purchase.
Do you see how confusing that is? That must frustrate God as He is watching us in real time. You are inviting the Enemy to set up shop and build a home in your heart every time that happens.
You know that your story has a villain. Why would you invite him in?
The longer I follow Jesus, the more I am convinced: to live the full, abundant life that Jesus offers us, we must be committed to the long, bumpy, and often difficult road of faithfulness.
Friends, you will never achieve perfection. You will never reach a sinless existence. You will continue to stub your toes, fall on your faces, and return to sin that you do not want to do, only to repent and turn back and start walking the road of faithfulness once again. Christian maturity is not an overnight process, as much as we may want it to be. While the Enemy would love for that to discourage you, the Scriptures actually tell us to expect it. But we cannot lose heart; we must keep fighting. And we must keep sharing our stories with each other.
As you pursue the road of faithfulness, you get to be one of the ones cheering along everyone else running the race. How do you do that? You use the story God has given you. Deep inside of me is a conviction that every time you tell your story, the Enemy’s grip on your life loosens a little bit more.
- The more you tell your story over time, the less of a hold the Enemy has on your heart.
Time and time again in my own life, I have seen God do this exact thing. Even with my story. I am a chump from a small town in Texas who grew up in the church, then chased after everything the world had to offer. I was addicted to pornography, gripped by alcohol, and self-absorbed, living as if I was the center of the world. Then, as I was sitting in the back row of a church, hung over from the night before, God grabbed ahold of my heart in a whole new way.
Trust me, I have so many regrets from my life before Christ. I wish I could have so many do-overs. But at the same time, I feel total freedom. For as long as I can remember, God has made me extremely comfortable in telling my story, because if He can use me, He can use anybody. If I lived in shame and guilt and kept that story to myself, it wouldn’t help anybody else find freedom.
The Enemy loves when we keep our stories to ourselves because it keeps others chained up. You have a story, and it has a villain. But you also have a Savior who wins every time. Share your story of victory and help set others free.
Excerpted with permission from Your Story Has a Villain by Jonathan Pokluda, copyright Jonathan Pokluda.
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Your Turn
How might your story help set others free? In prayer today, ask God to help you tell your story and loosen the grip your enemy has over your life and the lives of others. The more we bring our stories into the light, the less we find ourselves feeling alone, isolated, and oblivious to the ways of the villain in our stories. Remember, God always has the victory. ~ Devotionals Daily