Nougat 10

For every plus, there’s a minus; so we ought not be surprised to find that today’s Holy Nougat speaks of demons.

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:38‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Some might argue that demons don’t exist, that they are as real as Santa Claus or fairies. I can’t speak to the reality of either, though I might say ‘belief kills and belief cures.’ But, I also would say, if we accept that there are angels; then it may be easier to accept the concept of demons. For demons are angels whose loyalty shifted (see Revelation 12:7-9 for more).

There may be other explanations but this is a working definition and it suits our purposes at a basic level. Inasmuch as we know that the enemy of our souls is unlikely to be horned, fork-bearing and tailed; we also know that demons don’t look like cartoon ghosts or genies. But, according to the Biblical narrative – they exist. From the basic working definition offered, we see that demons are first mentioned in Genesis 6; when angels came to earth to mingle and cohabitate with humans. That’s the story of nephilim, which reminds us to be careful with our relationships in the ‘spirit realm’.

The Gospels also mentions demons; and the contexts provide some generalizations about demons. There are many (see Mark 5, when Jesus encountered the legion); and they do different things – some threw people in the fire (see Mark 9), some tormented people etc; they also could possess human bodies just like we are filled with God’s Spirit.

But most importantly, we know that Jesus has power and authority over them! That is key, because when we know Jesus has power over demons, we have less cause to fear. We also may realize that Christ’s love definitely can and will overcome any demonic force at work in our lives. Hence we have the literal assurance that ‘greater is the One Who lives within us than the ones of the world’ (see 1 John 4:4 for the actual quote).

This (above) is our warranty. God’s Spirit Who abides in us – the ‘Third Person’ of the Trinity – can overcome demons. And our nougat corroborates that. It assures us that even if we are, were or will be facing demonic attacks or possession; God still loves us. We’re not too unclean spiritually to access or accept Jesus or His love.

And, when demons come attacking – and they will – we need not fear; we can call on God’s Spirit to overcome them, and we know that even when under attack we remain Christ’s beloved.

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May all we seek be found in Christ