The Devil for President

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The Devil for President

UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, ALL SCRIPTURE QUOTATIONS

ARE FROM THE New American Standard Bible.

Imagine the Devil running for the office of President of the United States of America. What would he look like? How would he act? What would he say and do?

Doubtless the Father of Lies would be the quintessential politician, telling people exactly what they wanted to hear, as well as drawing a distinction between his own personal beliefs and the public policies that would be best for the country.

And no doubt the God of This Age would be intelligent, articulate, and charismatic.

The Tempter would certainly be liberal, denouncing restrictions of any kind and championing absolute personal autonomy.

The Prince of Demons might go so far as to claim to be a Christian.

Certainly the Murderer would be progressive, characterizing traditional morals as severely outdated and a major hindrance to the advancement of society.

And of course the Prince of This World would be the darling of both the secular mainstream media and the liberal entertainment industry.

The Roaring Lion very well might would call together prominent religious leaders and appear warmly and sincerely concerned with what they had to say, smoothly disguising his strategy of acquiring as much information as possible so as to better fashion his believable-sounding lies.

And without a doubt the Serpent would make the same three offers he made to Eve in the garden (Genesis 3) and Jesus in the wilderness (Luke 4):

Physical health and comfort. EVE: Following her encounter with the serpent, Eve made a studied observation of the forbidden tree and convinced herself its fruit would enable her to meet her natural desire for what was necessary to sustain her life. Eve made herself believe doing without the fruit from this one tree would constitute an insurmountable personal hardship. JESUS: Jesus resisted the Devil's offer of bread, choosing instead to believe God would meet his needs according to his perfect will in his perfect timing.
Emotional security. EVE: Eve set her mind on growing as a person by eating of the forbidden fruit; she persuaded herself it was the path to emotional security. Trust being absolutely necessary to emotional security, however, ironically Eve's failure to trust God guaranteed she would not find it. JESUS: By resisting the Devil's offer to jump from the temple, Jesus proved he trusted God by refusing to put God to the test.
Spiritual and intellectual fulfillment. EVE: Eve talked herself into believing the forbidden fruit would make her wise -- that it would increase her understanding, and make her prosperous and successful. In the process, Eve did nothing less than worship the tree rather than God. JESUS: Jesus resisted the Devil's demand for worship, knowing that God alone is deserving of our reverent devotion and full allegiance.

As seen in Jesus' example, the starting point for an effective defense against Satan's bid for the presidency would be to know and apply the Scriptures.

But of course we know the Evil One would never run for President of the United States of America -- would he?

Beware Friendly Snakes

There is an old tale about a peasant who, while hoeing in his field during the spring thaw, came across a highly poisonous snake.

He raised his hoe to kill it, but the snake begged for mercy. "I am too frozen to do you any harm," it cried. The farmer, full of compassion, picked up the half-dead serpent and put it into his tunic, against his chest.

As he began to work, the snake got warmer and warmer. Suddenly, the snake bit the peasant. The peasant frantically reached into his tunic and pulled out the snake, throwing it to the ground.

"Why?" asked the man, "I befriended you. I trusted you."

"True!" hissed the snake as it slithered away, "but do not blame me. You knew I was a snake when you picked me up" (2,000+ Bible Illustrations).

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