Crush that serpent!

Psalm 91 is one of my favorite Psalms, I must have read it hundreds of times. The words always encourage me, boost my faith, and ease my worries.

The best thing is that I still find new insights while contemplating the ancient words of wisdom. The other day verse 13 caught my attention:

You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!

This verse is, of course, about spiritual warfare. This verse is about us silencing the voice of the enemy (in the Bible Satan is depicted as a serpent and compared to a roaring lion). This verse is calling all of us to take action. I have read it many times before.

But this time the word fierce stood out for me. We will not just crush any lion or serpent, but fierce ones! That are ferocious, vicious, aggressive, brutal, and relentless ones. No matter what kind of attack the devil brings our way, we will set down our foot and crush his stupid efforts.

Jesus said to His followers: I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you (Luke 10:19). So, the writer of Psalm 91 must have had a prophetic vision about the ins and outs of spiritual warfare. I love that Jesus refers to what was already written in the Tanakh (what we call the Old Testament).

Throughout the Bible we see people dealing with the issue of spiritual warfare, don't be mistaken. The apostle Peter has quite a serious warning for all believers. Let's take it to heart.

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith (1 Peter 5:8-9).

We are called to stand firm against the enemy (not people, but the devil), to trample and crush him under our feet! Think about that if you are feeling attacked by godless situations and circumstances. Jesus gives the orders, not the enemy!

Give me a V

In my Bible Alphabet Blog Series V stands for Victory.

Photo: Wietse Visser

This picture was taken several days ago. Quite amazing isn't it? (You can see it even larger here.)

It might be hard to believe that all these people are Christians, but they are. It is maybe even harder to believe that they are from all different churches and denominations, but they are. The hardest thing to believe is that this picture was taken in The Netherlands.

Yes, The Netherlands, that liberal and secular country where God seems to have left the premises. But I want to tell you something, contrary to popular opinion, Christianity is thriving in The Netherlands. Jesus is alive and well. And 65.000 people came together last weekend to celebrate Pentecost, in larger numbers than last year and the year before and the one before that...

No, this happening does not make it to the front pages, maybe because it is too good to be true. And no, it was not always this big. It started 47 years ago with a small group of people who believed revival would come to The Netherlands. They did not give up praying and they refused to be overcome by all the negative news. Let me encourage you with this word: Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God (1 John 5:4-5).

What we see in the daily news, all the violence, death and destruction, is in reality propaganda of the enemy; Satan showing off his trophies. I surely believe it is nothing more than his reaction to what is really going on... people all over the world are discovering that God loves them and that Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but to save it.

But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:57-58).