Can you be blessed by the Devil?
When I say "God bless" to anyone of you I am asking God to look after you, to take care of you, and to gift you and your family good things. I am praying to God on your behalf. And I believe God listens and responds in His time and in His way. The same applies when you pray for me your much needed and appreciated prayers.
But if God blesses people; does the Devil also blesses people?
We often see people who do not believe in God, who perhaps deny Him publicly, and encourage others to do the same by what they say and do. They are role models to a secular society. They may be successful in business, or are famous politicians, celebrities, singers, comedians, sportsmen or whatever; some may well be dishonest in their dealings with others and in their behaviour; yet these people are doing well in life. Certainly better than you and me.
We ask ourselves, perhaps enviously, (beware the sin of envy), "why are such bad people so successful and I am not?" We say, "I'm a good Christian", (beware the sin of pride), I go to church regularly, I give to charity ... blah ... blah ... blah ... yet I am not as successful as them." (Beware the sin of coveting your neighbour).
So the question applies: Does the Devil bless people? Give them good things in life to keep them on-side. In his camp. Amongst his followers. His job is to recruit as many as possible, so can he do so by giving them goodies in this life in preparation of the next?
The answer is, in my view, probably yes.
The Devil blessed Jesus. Or attempted to.
"Then the Devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in all their greatness. 'All this I will give you,' the Devil said, 'if you kneel down and worship me.'
Then Jesus answered, 'Go away, Satan! The scripture says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him!’ " Matthew 4:8-10
So you see. The Devil tempted Jesus with goodies. Do this and I'll give you all that.
And if he tempted Jesus, we should not be much of a challenge to him.
I'm not sure I would call what the devil gives "blessings". They may seem like it to some, but they are the carrots that lead to death. (Not sure where that thought came from...but I thought of someone luring a rabbit with carrots when they intended to have him for dinner...) The devil's "blessings" are deception, temptation, false promises and prophecies...things that lure a person into a life filled with emptiness and tragedy and ultimately eternal death. One would be wise to keep his eyes on Jesus and not be deceived by the great deceiver. There's only One Way to Heaven, and that's through the shed blood of Jesus. So that's my thoughts about the devil's so-called "blessings". Stay away!!!
ReplyDeleteVery well said, Pamela. I agree totally. What may be seen as blessings by some are in fact traps and tricks to derail people from the path. To lure them away from God. And many seem to be doing so judging from the state of the world today.
DeleteGod bless you always.
...I hope that many politicians here will be blessed by the devil asap!
ReplyDeleteSad isn't it, Tom.
DeleteGod bless.
All blessings come from God. The devil has no blessings to give to anyone. Satan would not bless God's creation whom he hates and tries to destroy.
ReplyDeleteThere was a woman by the name of Lena for whom I had done work on one of her properties in my town. She was a woman of low morals and had angered another of my customers when she went to that person's home in search of me. The other customer was angry but I wasn't there at the time. When I got back to that job, the lady of the house was quite upset but wouldn't explain why. Her husband took me aside and told me about Lena, that she wants to get into my pants. I was extremely upset over all of this and decided I would do no more work for her.
Later, while walking in the city, Lena stopped in her new Cadillac and asked me if I had decided to go and work for her in Atlanta. I told her I was too busy to travel all that way to work. She then said, "Your wife will never have cars like this and coats like mine." She was wearing a mink coat. There's a lot more to the story but today I don't doubt she was one of Satan's sidekicks, promising me blessings of wealth while trying to take me away from my wife. The expensive things she owned were her 'blessings' but she didn't get them as a blessing from God, and she didn't get them as a blessing from the devil; she got them from her greed and wheeling and dealing, and the numerous lawsuits she filed against people.
What are seen as blessings and good fortune can in effect be traps from the devil to take us away from God. He is good at influencing people with promises of good times.
DeleteGod bless, Anonymous.
A great reminder to us all, Victor, that if the devil had the audacity to tempt Jesus, then we are more than easy prey for him. May our treasures be stored up in heaven, and never on earth.
ReplyDeleteBlessings and prayers, my friend!
Indeed Martha. He had the audacity to tempt Jesus with good things - all the kingdoms in the world. And he similarly tempts people today.
DeleteGod bless.
I never thought about it that way, Victor. Evil and material trappings, cleverly disguised as blessings. One can almost hear Satan giggling.
ReplyDeleteYes, he laughs at modern days' naivety. And the secular world lets him.
DeleteGod bless you, Mevely.
Tempting us woudn't even be a challenge for Satan, very easy pickings for him .
ReplyDeleteVery sad that it is so, Bill. Very sad.
DeleteGod bless always.
If only I had Jesus' strength of character. I've no doubt you've read The Screwtape Letters?
ReplyDeleteWe don't have Jesus' strength of character because we are not Jesus. But with prayers He will be at our side when temptation is at hand.
DeleteGod bless you, Liz.
Hi Victor, the only thing I call 'goodies' and 'blessings' in this world are the things I can have access to in Christ. It is not my desire to be raised up in this world, being raised up in Christ is what is important to me. I have already been given all I need in this world, and can only look foreword to having eternal life with Him in Heaven - which the devil can not give. God bless.
ReplyDeleteAmen.
DeleteGod bless, Brenda.
In Matthew 5:45, Jesus said our Father makes His sun shine on the good and the bad, and sends rain to the just and the unjust. Maybe those who ignore Him often get their only reward in this life, or maybe, as one wag has said, the unjust simply use the just as their umbrella.
ReplyDeleteMaybe ... but I also believe the devil does tempt people with good things. As he did to Jesus.
DeleteGod bless, Mimi.