Wed., 10/16/13 Devotion (1 Thess. 2:18b)

Today's encouragement comes from 1 Thessalonians 2:18b, where we read these few words:

" . . . but Satan hindered us."

Even true believers have to admit, from time to time, that Satan gets his "licks" in on us. Does God *allow* this to happen? Yes. Is it under God's direct supervision and sovereignty? Yes. But does this lessen the fact that sometimes we feel the cold and clammy hand of the evil one on our hearts? No.

This struggle with Satan is one of the hardest parts of living the Chris-tian life down here. We must always keep in mind that God has a pur-pose for allowing the devil to sometimes seem to prevail; and we must also remember that Christ has completely crushed the snake's head, in His resurrection.

[Puritan quote of the day: "It is not duty, but love to duty, God looks at. It is not how much we do, but how much we love." --Thomas Watson, in, "All Things for Good"]