Stop Giving Satan Power - Devo

Kyle Carpenter Story

The man you see up there is Kyle Carpenter.

He is a United States Marine, purple heart recipient, and he is currently the youngest living recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest decoration that someone can receive from the US military.

He recently released a book that explains how exactly he came to earn the medal while he was on duty in Afghanistan.

He recalls in his book how he and his partner were on the roof of a building keeping a night watch patrol, when suddenly he heard something hit the roof, and he looked down to see that a grenade had been thrown up there with them.

He doesn’t remember doing it, but his squad mates say that without hesitation, Kyle jumped onto the grenade, and saved his partners life. The blast of the grenade blew a hole in the roof underneath him, and as you can imagine, severely injured Kyle.

He lost his right eye, nearly lost his right arm, and needed an incredible amount of facial reconstruction surgery, but he lived to write his book that he titled “You are worth it.”

He explains in the book that the title of the book is how he now responds when people thank him for his service or show compassion or sorrow because of his ongoing medical problems and injuries. Instead of just saying thank you, he replies with “You are worth it.”

That’s pretty amazing isn’t it? To think that there are men and women out there that everyday put themselves into harms way, jump in front of bullets, disarm bombs, jump on grenades, because they think we as individuals and the freedoms we get to enjoy are worth defending and fighting for.

That’s a humbling thought, and I think it should motivate us to be better stewards of freedom and better citizens.

But that’s not the part of Kyle’s story that I want to focus on tonight.

Instead I want to focus on something he wrote about his recovery process when he got back to the United States and regained consciousness.

He said that as soon as he was fully aware of all the things that was wrong with him, he became determined to recover to the best of his ability and to live out his life the best that he could.

He became so motivated to get better that his doctors and family thought that he was in denial about the extent of his wounds, but he told them he new exactly how bad things seemed, but that he wasn’t about to let the Taliban have that kind of power over his life. He was determined not to let them have any victory over what life he had left.

Thinking about Kyle’s situation and the decision that he had to make laying there in the hospital bed, I can’t help but think about the similar decision that we made when we first followed Christ, and really, the decision that we make every time we mess up and sin.

We know that we’ve messed up and sinned, we know that God loved us so much that he died for us. That we were worth all the humiliation and pain that Christ endured on the Cross so that we could be saved from our own sins.

And often times we realize that joy and excitement of forgiveness initially, but as time goes by Satan starts working back into our minds and he starts causing us to remember our old wounds, our old way of life, our old sins or even our more current ones and often times he succeeds at causing us who have been born again to live like dead people.

Read

2 Corinthians 12:1–10 ESV

1 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— 6 though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. 7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

1 Corinthians 12:1–10 ESV

1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. 4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

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Now we don’t know what exactly this thorn was, all we know is that it was from Satan.

Could it have been Paul’s struggle to put his past sins behind him?

Was it the constant persecution of his opponents?

Was it a physical ailment?

Was it something else? Was it all of these put together? We don’t know and it’s not too important.

Here is what we do know. Paul was being harassed by Satan and it made him feel the opposite of what he felt when he was in the presence of God. He felt weak.

Weak… Isn’t that a nice word that we use when we visit someone who isn’t doing well?

See, that’s how Satan wants us to live! He wants us to feel weak, He wants us to focus on how terrible we are, how undeserving we are of salvation, how we are hypocrites when we speak about sin and truth!

And church, we fall into that mindset all too easily, How many christian’s do you know who have fallen away because Satan had convinced them that they didn’t deserve salvation?

How many more do you know that aren’t living a life bursting at the seems with joy and life that Christ has given us?

How many of us have been raised to walk in newness of life only to walk around like zombies because we gave Satan the power to steal the new life we have in Christ?

And what do we do when that happens? We run, we hide away, we don’t talk about it, we pretend like everything is fine.

It’s not fine.

Church, we have to STOP allowing Satan to have that power over us.

We have to understand that in those moments when Satan makes us feel weak, we must heed the knowledge that God gave Paul that God’s power is made perfect in weakness!

So when you find yourself embarrassed and weakened because of sin, confess it, repent of it, and see God’s power at work.

When Satan attacks your old sins, publicly proclaim what you used to be and how God’s power changed you.

Stop hiding, stop running away, but instead own it.

Yes I was dead in my sins. Yes those things were terrible. No I’m not proud of them

But yes God so loved the world that he gave his Son

Yes my transgressions were forgiven.

Yes God remains faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Yes I am weak, but he is strong. No I’m not perfect, but he is perfect.

Yes I was dead, but now I live in Christ.

And with that knowledge we Stop Giving Satan power over our lives, and we live the life we were called to live in Christ.