The Competition Is Not Fierce; It’s Not Even Competition

Posted on by Jennifer Arimborgo

Little

“This is what the Lord says — Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me?” (Isa. 44:6-7a, NIV).

Here God proclaims His absolute supremacy. He is altogether Other. There is none like Him. In other words, He has no rival. The devil does not present “fierce competition” to Him. His enemies flee from His presence, as opposed to posing even the tiniest threat to Him. In fact, Psalm 2 tells us that, seated on His throne high and exalted above all else, He simply laughs at the machinations of those that oppose Him.

In The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis explained it this way. If someone were to wrap into a ball every bit of evil from all of human history… and throw it into heaven… and it were to bump into even the smallest bird there… it wouldn’t have enough weight to disturb the little creature even in the slightest (Lewis, 1945). That’s how immense God’s manifest power is compared to all of the devil’s best efforts.

Evil is not the opposite of good. To be the opposite would be to imply that it is equally powerful in the opposing direction. It’s not even close. Darkness can only exist in those pockets of the universe where the Light of the World has not yet been invited in. Once the Light dawns, evil has no fighting chance.

It is vitally important for us as believers not to overestimate our enemies’ abilities. Let’s think about this in a specific way:

  1. The devil is far from omniscient. He cannot read your thoughts. He does not know your future. He is clueless most of the time about what God is up to. God keeps His secret counsels just that: secret. The enemy is on the outside, desperately trying to catch a glimpse of what the Lord of Angel Armies is planning and executing right now and always. He knows he is on the outside. He knows he has already lost. His activities are marked by extreme anxiety and abject fear.
  2. The devil is far from omnipresent. He can only be in one place at a time. In fact, you’ve probably never encountered him. The temptations sent your way have been through some of his lesser servants. They are also limited to being in one place at a time. And since they are not able to multiply their number, as the population of the earth continues to increase, they are frantically trying to cover more “work responsibility” with less “staff.” Their efforts are spread thinner and thinner. What a stressful existence it must be to be a demon!
  3. The devil is far from omnipotent. He has been decaying since the day he disconnected himself from the only Source of Life. He is extremely limited in what he is able to do. If he were allowed to do what he wished, you and I and the entire planet would have been wiped out by now. He’s not allowed. He was only able to have Pilate hand Jesus over to be crucified because it was “granted to him” by the Father. He is on a leash. Daddy God does not want you to be afraid of him. At all. Your life is covered and protected in the blood of the Lamb.

We are on the victorious side! Every single day of your life, even on your very worst day, you win. You overwhelmingly win. Yes, fight the good fight of faith today. Fight it from the position of victory that is yours! On the cross, Jesus already accomplished crushing triumph for you. Your enemies are under His feet… and since you are seated with Him in heavenly places, they are all under yours too!

“But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us” (Rom. 8:37, NASB).

***************************************************

Can you imagine God laughing?

18 thoughts on “The Competition Is Not Fierce; It’s Not Even Competition”

  2. A few thoughts, Jennifer. Can I visualize God/Jesus laughing ? For us this is humor, delight, an expression of joy. We can also laugh mockingly and with disrespect. So, how does God laugh, I am not certain. Did Jesus laugh during his time on earth, I believe so. Man’s imagination has depicted Jesus in the only way we can understand. I believe there may well be a difference – Holy Laughter ! 😊
    The word competition often brings thoughts of WHO is first. This does not settle with me. Jesus said, let those who are first be last. God said, I am the first and the last, there is none like ME ! Many folks believe as you described, God vs Satan. This is so wrong. For those who are true believers and followers of Jesus Christ, we need not fear the devil. Yes, he is an ongoing enemy because he dwells in this fallen world. The TRUTH is our advantage. God has provided us, His children with courage and power that will defeat the enemy at every turn. Be bless, be filled with the comfort of the Spirit. Len

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I truly enjoy reading your thoughts, Len! Yes, there are many kinds of laughter. Psalm 2 does sound like a laughter of God scorning His defeated enemies. And I also imagine Him full of joy and laugther, as Psalms 16 tells us that in His presence is fullness of joy!

      Like

      Reply

  3. Amen! No, the enemy can’t read our thoughts, but he can try to plant thoughts in our minds. We need to be careful what thoughts we speak out loud – why let the enemy know what we’re thinking, what we’re worried about or angry about? Besides, when we speak words of doubt and anger, we hear ourselves. But speaking the Word of God out loud as Jesus did – that’s the Sword of the Spirit.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Excellent insight, my sister. I agree! Since faith comes from hearing His truth, then it’s so powerful to speak it out loud so we can hear ourselves! I often tell my kids, “Use the power of your words the right way!” Thank you so much, Ann, for sharing your thoughts on this, I really appreciate and value them ❤ 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. Thanks, Jennifer. I have benefited much from the right self-talk (and not so much from the wrong self talk! :/ ) Modern psychologists may think they discovered self-talk, but Proverbs 18:21 was written thousands of years ago, inspired by God: “Life and death are in the power of the tongue.”

        Liked by 1 person

  4. I would have to disagree with the enemy not being able to read our thoughts…. they definitely can read our thoughts, especially when a human forms a line of communication with them, or forms a bond, a bond that is formed willing or unwilling without knowledge.

    there are several types of entities, spirits, demons, even the more sordid type that we like to call extra terrestrial aliens, from my experience when I have confronted these… they are the most notorious type for attempting to infiltrate the mind, read the mind…..

    we like to think that the enemy cannot… but that is false. It would be better said, they cannot read our thoughts at all times in our lives, that this ability to read us is dependent upon our current relationship with Almighty God. God is our shield. He is Almighty, and to Him they pose no threat, but to us, they do.. because none of us down here are ever 100% sold out to Jesus Christ 100% of the time…. that is impossible, we are however sold out to Jesus 100% or periods of time in our lives, and during these times… were rock solid impenetrable granite because in Christ we stand and he is our shield.

    so what if they can read our minds…. big deal, nothing to be scared of.. besides, if they can… it is because we left the door open for them to be able to… or we challenged them, we formed a direct line from point a to point b contact, or something along those lines.

    what I say, is let them read my thoughts, so they know without a doubt who I am IN THE LORD. Im a solider for the LORD ALMIGHTY, in HIM I STAND- and when we stand in HIM, they better recognize it is NOT us they have to worry about, it is our PAPA who lives within us, they need to worry about.

    because HE IS THE GREAT I AM, THE BEGINNING and THE END, THE FINAL POINT of AUTHORITY over all things in existence and those things not yet created.. HE ALONE is sovereign and reigns over and through all spaces, realms, galaxies, without QUESTION.

    those with questions or doubt, every question and doubt will be removed one by one, until there is no more room left for doubt to exist, that HE IS WHO HE SAYS HE is, and WHY HE SAYS IT.

    Because HE ALONE can BACK IT. GLORY TO ALMIGHTY GOD! hallelujah

    – FIRST AND THE LAST- THE ALPHA and THE OMEGA- OUR LIGHT- OUR TRUTH- OUR SHIELD OUR DELIVERER, OUR REDEEMER, OUR STREAM OF FRESH LIVING WATER THAT NEVER RUNS DRY… HE IS OUR SWORD, HE IS OUR DELIVERER, AND HIS ENEMIES SHALL BE OUR

    Like

    Reply

  6. Amen! Jennifer, thanks for reminding me of the power of our Heavenly Father. Nothing can even remotely compete with Him, not even the spineless enemy. I can experience God and it is all good.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment