Do devils really believe?

James 2:19 (KJV): “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”

James is said to be the oldest half-brother of the Lord Jesus. The main theme of his epistle is “faith without works is dead,” and his audience is Jewish believers. Given his history, it is ironic that James is focusing on “belief ” because he and Jesus’s other half-brothers didn’t believe in Him initially (John 7:5).

However, in I Corinthians 15:7, James was one of the ones who witnessed Christ’s appearance after His resurrection. James is also seen in Acts 1:14, along with their mother, Mary, assembled in the upper room awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit. Hence, it is apparent that he is a believer at the time of this writing because he is admonishing other believers to apply external actions to their inner faith.

James commends Jewish believers in James 2:19 for believing there is one God, but he also emphasizes that devils also believe, and they TREMBLE. He points out that Jewish believers weren’t combining their belief (faith) with their works, but rather acting as if they had earned bragging rights for simply believing.

However, there is another truth that can be easily overlooked. That resounding message is that devils DO believe [that there is one God], and THEY tremble. One may ask, “DO DEVILS REALLY BELIEVE?” Yes!

Scriptures recorded in Matthew 8:29, Mark 1:24, Mark 5:7, Luke 4:34, Acts 16:17, and Acts 19:15 support this truth. The devils believe the very thing they don’t want US to believe.

II Corinthians 4:4 says, the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

Our unbelief gives him the license to put blindfolds on our minds so the (light of the) glorious gospel can’t shine there. However, Paul admonishes us in Romans 12:2b to “… be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind…”

So, Satan wants to blind what Paul begs us to renew (renovate). There is only one way to do this. According to Hebrews 4:12, “…the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Since our soul is comprised of our mind, will and emotions, the spiritual tool we need to transform our minds is the Word of God. It has the power to go places inside of us where neither medicine, antibiotics, nor scalpels can go. It is a mind reader and a heart monitor — an all-in-one weapon.

Jesus states in Matthew 4:4 that, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” This means we need both natural and spiritual food. Our mind-sight, faith, and quality of life depend on how much we eat the Word of God.

In a nutshell, Satan believes, but he doesn’t want us to believe. In his former state (as Lucifer), he spent time with God, was constantly in His presence, and pleased God… until he didn’t and was evicted. Nevertheless, he is deathly afraid for us to believe as He does. However, as we practice hearing the Word of God, faith will continue to come into our hearts and replace unbelief, and our minds will continue to be renewed. This will revoke Satan’s license, whereby he can no longer blindfold us.

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Jenise Blake Gilliard is the founder of Feed My Sheep eMinistries (formerly SONLite Ministries of Pine Bluff.) Details: fms_ eministries@yahoo.com or ›.me/feedmysheepemin .

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