Ps. 68:1-2, Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered,
And let those who hate Him flee before Him.
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away;
As wax melts before the fire,
So let the wicked perish before God.
John 3:30, He must increase, but I must decrease.
Gal. 5:16, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out
the desire of the flesh.
The first and great commandment in Scripture is not to stop sinning, or to defeat the devil; instead the first and great priority to God that identifies the heart of our spiritual calling is that we would love him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Christianity, and therefore true spirituality, is all about being called into fellowship with the triune God, who lives in an eternal all consuming fire of love relationship within the Godhead. Jesus isn’t looking for workers, though there is work to do; but He is looking for lovers, that is true worshippers. Is there evil to be conquered in our own hearts, and in the world around us? Absolutely, but all of those verses I quoted above tell me that if I make Him my obsession, the enemy will scatter, and the dark self will decrease. Especially among charismatic Christians, of which I am one, evil, and the evil one have too much of the focus. That verse in Galatians doesn’t say focus on stop fulfilling the lusts of the flesh, so that you can walk in the Spirit; instead, it says to walk in the Spirit (practice the presence of Jesus) and you won’t fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Like Caleb, we will never conquer the giants in the land by focusing on the giants. If all you do is look at the evil, trying to figure out how to defeat it, then your heart will never be overwhelmed by how big God is. Our first responsibility that must always stay first is to be people of first love. Be consumed with Him, loving him, and cultivating his presence and you will find that the enemy will scatter. The Scripture says that mountains melt like wax in the presence of the Lord. The devil accomplishes his greatest victory when he can get believers to focus on his activity and the activity of sin, instead of the presence of the all conquering God. Seek the Lord with all of your heart. He alone, and your invitation into this massive love relationship with Him, is your great prize. That’s the thing Satan wants to rob you of, so that you spend your entire Christian life in introspection, fighting spiritual windmills. As you seek Him, He will arise in your life, and as He does, I assure you that the enemy will scatter.