There is a Dutch Proverb which states: “Never was hood so holy but the Devil could get his head in it.”* As a church member, has the Devil ever gotten in you (John 8:43f)? When one fails to assemble for worship services and Bible classes (see Hebrews 10:25-31), does the absentee need to ask, “Has the Devil got-a-hold of me?

Even church going is no guarantee for pure living (see Tit.1:15f). Our assemblies repeatedly include some who are not “close to each other” (see Eph.4:31-5:2); have some whose homes are torn asunder by dubious deeds and worldly weaknesses (see Matt.19:4-6; I Thess.4:3-8); some who started when young (and now may be old) to follow fleshly follies that fostered and fragmented family relationships in a multitude of painful patterns (see II Tim. 2:19-22); members with issues and views that are prone to segregation and separation, rather than “speaking the same thing,” and being “perfected together in the same mind and same judgment” (see I Cor.1:10); members who hear announcements of individuals in real need, but who walk away with nor prayer or plan to personally see such souls or help bear their burdens (see Gal.6:2; I John 3:16-18); members who sing beautiful thoughts in selected songs, while their minds wonder afar, rather than “teaching and admonishing one another” or singing with the spirit and the understanding, making melody in their heart to the Lord ( see Col.3:16; I Cor.14:15; Eph.5:19); members who gather week after week, but fail to prepare so they can truly worship God in spirit and in truth, as He desires they worship (see John 4:23f; I Pet. 1:13-17)!

Rest assured that the foregoing comments were in no way intended to discourage any soul from seeking to assemble or serve the Lord. We must continue to gather and grow in Christ Jesus (II Pet. 3:18; Acts 2:42-47;12:12; I Cor.5:1-5). This article is just to remind us that the Devil is busy, bad, and seeking to bother all of God’s children (I Pet. 5:8f). Henry George Bohn (in Handbook of Proverbs) reminds us: “The Devil entangles youth with beauty; the miser with gold, the ambitious with power, the learned with false doctrine” (12,000 Inspirational Quotaions, p. 108). Also, the Devil is so subtle and crafty, using many to do his devilish deeds (I John 4:1; Matt. 24:23-25; II Cor. 11:13-15). As Heinrich Heine (in Pictures of Travel; The Return Home) stated:
“I call’d the devil, and he came
And with wonder his form did I closely scan;
He is not ugly, and is not lame,
But really a handsome and charming man”
(12,000 Inspirational Quotations, p.110).


Despite all the Devil’s deception, if we resist him with the Truth, he will flee from us (James 4:7; Matt. 4:1-11). Incidentially, many Scripture references were noted in this article. Will you take the time and interest to look up those verses, checking out yourself by Truth (II Cor. 13:5)? Rest assured that the Devil would not want you to do that!! Will the Truth or the Devil’s trickery prevail in your life???


* Frank S. Mead, 12,000 Inspirational Quotations, A Division of Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, Springfield, Massachusetts, 2004, p. 109