The devil gave me taco-bell food poisoning & other thoughts on spiritual warfare.

I’m not gonna defend the devil. Ever.

But he sure does take the blame for a ton of things doesn’t he?

The devil gave me food poisoning. He made me not do my home work. He got our house foreclosed. He made me forget to put the toilet seat down. The devil made me sin sexually.

If you grew up in a hyper charismatic culture like I did, you’ve heard it all. I admit, I’m a big skeptic of any statement that begins with “the devil made me ______”

I’m not saying the devil isn’t responsible for some things. I’m just not sure the reason you’re sick from taco bell is the devil.

I mean, could it be that the reason we sinned was because *gasp* we chose to sin?

I know it’s easy to blame every misstep on the enemy but I’m sorry, the devil just isn’t that good and truth is, much of our mishaps is a consequence of choices that we have made.

Now having said that, I think you’re kidding yourself if you don’t think a devil exists. Just take one trip overseas (where it’s not quite as subtle as it is here) and you’ll see it clear as day.

Or you could save yourself a plane ticket and read what Jesus himself said...

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. - John 8:44

The devil exists people. He's not a little red guy with horns. No. He’s a murderer, he's real and he’s not messing around.

But he’s also not omnipotent. He’s not everywhere and his power is limited, which is why I had a hard time discerning what happened to me a week ago when I was supposed to speak at a Christian school.

This was my face-book status that morning:

"About to speak to middle school students at a Christian school. I think there's this unwritten rule that you're supposed to keep it easy and shallow cause they are kids. I don't get it. I think kids can change the world. And a 12 year old doesn't get a pass cause of their parents love for Jesus. I'm hitting them hard. This sould be interesting"

This was my face-book status 2 hours later:

"So I get in my car ready to go speak and I get in an accident right in front of my house barely pulled out of my driveway. Everyone is fine. Just crazy. Waiting on cops now"

I called the school as soon as the cop said I could leave and the voice on the other side said ‘we just finished chapel’.

It. was. so. weird.

Again, I’m not one to be quick to give the devil credit for any and everything but this is the closest I’ve come in a while to chalking something up to spiritual warfare. At the end of the day though I really didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about it because no matter how you slice it...

Jesus is sovereign and has overcome the world and because He is for us, no one (even the devil) can be against us.

And that is the most important thing I can say about spiritual warfare.

But I do want to know...

What are your thoughts or experience with the devil & spiritual warfare?