Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.

Dear Satan,

You’re very clever. Disguising yourself as light, while beneath your white robe, you are the very embodiment of darkness. Good job. You fooled me.

You reminded me of how sinful I am. You whispered into my ear whenever I had a moment to myself. Whenever I found cause for joy, you reminded me I had more cause for anger. You entered my mind, your voice mimicked my own. I thought my thoughts were my own, but you were there, putting the words into my head.

Why shouldn’t I have believed you? You spoke truth. At first. You reminded me of all the things I have done wrong. All of the things I shouldn’t have said. All of the things I shouldn’t have thought. All of the good I could have done, and yet refrained from doing.

Nice tactic. You got me so wrapped up in myself, so miserable with the person I am, and set the evidence right in front of me. It’s like you made a scrapbook of my life, and sat down to flip through it with me. Instead of recalling fond memories, though, you only showed me the dirt. The stuff I thought was tucked away for good. The stuff I thought nobody knew. The stuff that would condemn me.

But you left out the most important truth. God loves me. Not the eventually-sinless-when-she-finally-keels-over-Marissa, but the Marissa who has been saved from herself (and from you) by the only one who could ever accomplish something so impossible. By Jesus Christ. He who knew no sin became sin for me. So I could stand before God, blameless, holy, washed clean.

I am a new person. I’m not who I was. I died, and my life is hidden with Christ in God. Christ is in me, and I am in Christ. I am seated with Him in Heaven. God looks at me, and sees Christ. We cannot be separated. I go where He goes. He goes where I go. His love has no limits. His grace has no boundaries.

You see, my whole life, you’ve been trying to tell me that I need to earn God’s love. That His grace is dependent on my good behavior. That He frowns upon me when I slip up. But God says that where there is forgiveness, there is no longer any offering for sin. By the offering of His Son, he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. My new self is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created me. My heart is sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. There is nothing I can do to get closer to God. I am as close to Him as breathing. As close as Christ!

No more striving. No more crying out in desperation for God’s forgiveness. I AM forgiven. Sins past, sins present, and sins future. Nothing can take that away. Nothing can make that less true. Not Satan, not me, not any voice of darkness, nor “angel of light.”

Thank you, God.

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:31-39

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” Ephesians 6:10-13

Lead me on level ground

Hear my prayer, O Lord,
Give ear to my supplications!
Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness!

And do not enter into judgment with Your servant,
For in Your sight no man living is righteous.

For the enemy has persecuted my soul;
He has crushed my life to the ground;
He has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have long been dead.

Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me;
My heart is appalled within me.

I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all Your doings;
I muse on the work of Your hands.

I stretch out my hands to You;
My soul longs for You, as a parched land.

Answer me quickly, O Lord, my spirit fails;
Do not hide Your face from me,
Or I will become like those who go down to the pit.

Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning;
For I trust in You;
Teach me the way in which I should walk;
For to You I lift up my soul.

Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies;
I take refuge in You.

Teach me to do Your will,
For You are my God;
Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.

For the sake of Your name, O Lord, revive me
In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.

And in Your lovingkindness, cut off my enemies
And destroy all those who afflict my soul,
For I am Your servant.

(Psalm 143, NASB)

On being saved and brought into the fire

“Awake, O sword, against my shepherd,
against the man who is close to me!”
declares the Lord Almighty.
“Strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered,
and I will turn my hand against the little ones.

In the whole land,” declares the Lord,
“two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
yet one-third will be left in it.

This third I will bring into the fire;
I will refine them like silver
and test them like gold.
They will call on my name
and I will answer them;
I will say, ‘They are my people,’
and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’ “

Zechariah 13:7-9

When life feels tiresome…

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

“According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

(1 Peter 1:3-9, ESV)

A Prayer for Strength

Ephesians 3:13-21

“I bow my knees before the Father,

from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,

that according to the riches of his glory

he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—

that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,

that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,

according to the power at work within us,

to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.

Amen.”