Blinded

"But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them."
2 Corinthians 4:3-4

I read these verses in my quiet time this morning, and I couldn't help but think about people I know, people who are close to me, who have been blinded by the "god of this age," who is the devil himself. And frankly, it stirs up a holy anger within me, directed at Satan, for deceiving the ones whom I love.

I know people, who I know to be completely rational and reasonable, become like a completely different person, because Satan has put what I call a "dark cloud" over their ability to "think spiritually." And to the person, they believe they are acting normal, and making logical decisions, while the rest of us look on from the outside and think to ourselves "How can they even think that, let alone be doing it?" The god of this age is very cunning and insidious, and as the time approaches for his demise, we see more and more people whom we know and love, become blinded by him. Some even walk away from their faith in Christ. And that is heart breaking.

It isn't that the light of the gospel is powerless against this darkness. It is just that there is more required from us, believers, to overcome the devil and his darkness, especially in these last days. In Matthew 17, the disciples return to Jesus, asking Him why they were unable to cast a demon out.

"Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, 'Why could we not cast it out?' So Jesus said to them, 'Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, "Move from here to there," and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.'" Matthew 17:19-21

Could it be, that we too, must go beyond the daily prayer for our friends and loved ones? That we need to set aside time for prayer and fasting? While I will save a teaching on fasting for another time, I will say that there is "maximum power" in the prayers we pray while we are fasting. It is a more focused power. It is a purifying time for us, spiritually and physically. When we fast and pray, things happen in the spiritual realm. I believe that it is a time to show that our will is totally focused on the spiritual realm, and our desire becomes aligned with the desires of God's heart. And there is power in that; unbelievable power. Oh, not in a human understanding of power, but there is spiritual power, that overcomes what I call the "veil of darkness" or "cloud of darkness." And prayer and fasting pulls that back and away from the hearts and minds of our loved ones, and God gets glory, and our friends and loved ones begin to come around. But there is also the element of their will and their desire, too. It is a concerted effort. Our part, God's part, and their part. Christian, I say that we begin now, if we haven't already, to do our part for the kingdom, and let us begin to set aside a time of prayer and fasting, for our friends and loved ones, for our church, and for our nation.