On my walk with the dog this morning (4/6/2024) The Lord spoke these words to me…
“Satan lives in The Church.”
I thought about it for a moment, and I was taken aback at first, but then agreed with that statement. Afterall, The Lord does not tell me things that are not true.
Satan is an undercover agent in The Church. He mirrors everything He sees. He gains access, he gains trust, he gains participants in his plan.
Similar to how undercover police officers gain access to a gang, they mirror everything the gang does. They do much research before hand to know how each member of that gang operates; the leader’s mannerisms, their go to members and their preferences for all things…whether that be their favorite restaurant, drink, dessert, drug, etc…Being undercover means you learn ALL aspects of ALL those you will be infiltrating. That way you don’t stick out, you blend in. When you do all that as an undercover agent the gang LITERALLY opens their door to you.
When an undercover officer first gains access to a gang they are tested to great lengths by the leaders of that gang and its members. Gang members don’t easily trust newcomers and that newcomer needs to prove their worth. Once they gain the trust of the leaders most often the rest will follow suit.
This is what the enemy has done in The Church. He has gained access. We in return trust him. Understand we are not actually ‘trusting Satan’…we are trusting the person he is operating through at the time.
We are all susceptible to the enemy working through us when we open the door to him. You may be saying…”I wouldn’t open the door to Satan.” Well, of course, you knowingly wouldn’t open the door, BUT do you have unforgiveness towards someone? That’s an open door for him to enter. Do you gossip? That’s an open door for him to enter. Do you harbor bitterness and offence towards anyone? That’s another open door. Do you think you are superior to others and judge them with contempt? Again…another door opens to the enemy.
Personally, I believe The Church tries to present itself as a holy and pure thing; when the only thing that is truly pure and holy is The Lord. We mask and coverup our imperfections and believe that is for the best. Truth be told, it is better to let the truth out in the good and the bad. The enemy cannot entertain his ways where raw truth is present. When we confess our sins, shortcomings, and mistakes we shine light on what the enemy wants to use to keep us in bondage to him.
Perhaps the true awakening of the modern-day church will happen when we no longer try to hide who we are. We are ALL flawed. We are ALL in need of saving. We are ALL on a journey to sanctification that is constant every moment of our earthly lives.
Do you want Satan to continue to live in The Church? Your actions speak WAY louder than your words. I would imagine each person reading this would say a resounding ‘NO of course I don’t want Satan to live in The Church’. Really? Because your actions are holding the door wide open for him to enter. Gossip and unforgiveness are two strongholds that I think hold the door open the MOST at The Church! Soooo…if you struggle with either of those YOU are not only holding the door open for the enemy to operate in your personal life you have opened the door for him to LIVE in The Church! We each need to take responsibility for our part in the downfall of The Church. It is no longer an option to keep pointing our finger at others for opening the door or to be naïve enough to think the church you go to is ‘good’ and it’s the ‘other’ churches that have the problem. NOPE! EVERY CHURCH is responsible for this. We need to take ownership of our part and FIX it!!!
Knowing the issue is a huge part of making things right. If we don’t acknowledge the problem, we cannot ever fix it. Trust me, just because you are choosing to ignore the issue does not make it go away. It exasperates it to grow with great force.
I’m not writing this to say The Church is bad. I’m writing this to say The Church needs a reboot. We have stepped off the cornerstone of our mandate from God. We have chosen to allow the government to do for the people what The Church is meant to do for the people. By us ‘dropping the ball’ we have enabled the government to become a Goliath. It is WAY PAST TIME for the David’s to rise! ‘Who defies the Army of The Lord’…well, with the way things are currently going in our society I would say The Church does not believe in the power of the Army of The Lord. If we truly did believe we would be operating MUCH differently.
Let’s reflect on who we are and what part we play in the door being open to Satan to live in The Church. Then be real with yourself and acknowledge those areas…and THEN do something about it! For some repenting in the moment and turning from that behavior will close the door. For others it may be deeper than that and going through prayer and deliverance with those trained in that area will allow you to close the door to Satan living in The Church.
It is time to take back what we have freely given to the enemy. We are not entering the enemy’s camp to take back what he has stolen from us. We are entering our own camp and taking back what we have given to him of our own free will.
The Lord brings things to my attention when He wants me to share. I do my best to be obedient to His whisper to me and that is one of my contributions to CLOSING the door to ‘Satan living in The Church’.
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6:12