The Destroyer

From When The Devil Knocks by Pastor Craig Groeschel

When the devil knocks, you don’t always hear it. Right? He’d rather sneak in an open door. He’s the deceiver who targets your mind with lies, trying to cover up God’s love and truth. Other times, he blows situations way out of proportion as the accuser who targets your heart with accusations. Today, let’s talk about a word Jesus used when He talked about the devil: destroy. He’s the destroyer who targets your will with pride. 

In John 10:10, Jesus utilized one of the simplest forms of human thinking to show the difference between real good and real evil. He put them next to each other. What happens when you look in a dark room? You see the dark. What happens when you look at light? You see the light. What happens when you put the light next to a dark room? You see the light. Light wins. In this one sentence, Jesus showed the whole world the light. 

‬The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

‭‭John‬ ‭10:10

In other words, the devil takes away. Jesus gives. But what do we do with this? How does Satan destroy? He targets your will with pride. Pride happens when you look past God to fulfill your desire to do good, to matter, to get your needs met, and to be loved. Pride is what convinces you to act without God, or worse, to use Him to accomplish your purposes. Pride comes before the fall because pride is trying to walk without God, in the dark. Your destroyer wants you prideful, in the dark.

‬Pride goes before destruction,and a haughty spirit before a fall.

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭16:18

How do we destroy pride then? With its opposite. Humbly surrender to the other side of John 10:10. Jesus gives life, and life to the full. Humility happens when you realize full life comes only when you receive (there’s that word again) what you don’t deserve from Jesus. Light, salvation, freedom, grace, power to fight your daily battles. It’s all a gift. It can’t be earned. Humble submission to Jesus defeats pride.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

‭‭‭‭1 John‬ ‭2:15‭-‬16‬

What do you have that you think you earned? You didn’t earn it. Humbly thank God for giving it you. Tell Him He can do whatever He wants with it. Then, obey.

Here’s what else. We receive freely, so we give freely. Pride says, “I earned this, so I’ll give God and others a little.” Humility says, “This was a gift, so have it all.” When we respond to God and others with this kind of humility-fueled, open-handed living, the thief can try to steal, but there’s always enough. He can try to take life, but it’s an unending gift. He can try to destroy, but we’re forsaking pride to humbly receive life to the full. Because when you put darkness next to light, you see the light. 

‬What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

‭‭James‬ ‭4:1‭-‬10

Pray: God, thank You for everything I have. I don’t deserve any of this. I repent for the ways I’ve tried to work around You to do my will. You can have it all, Lord. Amen.