The Devil Tries
But we can resist!
Happy Friday, my fellow anime lovers!
How are you all doing? I know many of us are struggling through tough times, compounded by painful events in our communities and throughout the world. Satan seems to have his hand on everything. But Christians can take comfort in knowing that God is truly in control; His reach goes further than the evil one could ever dream of. We can similarly take comfort in knowing that God understands our trials. Today, I hope to encourage you to remember that God is by our side, even as the devil tries his best to separate us from Him.
Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
~ Matthew 4:10-11 (ESV)
The other day, I was watching a Christian movie called Pilgrim’s Progress, based on the classic book of the same name. The main villain (Satan) in the movie reminded me very much of the antagonist in the anime Babylon. For those who haven't seen the anime (and warning, it’s a graphic, difficult watch), the entire show revolves around the question, “Should suicide be legal?” As a Christian viewer, my immediate response was “no,”—and the anime’s protagonist, Zen Seizaki, feels the same; so does much of the rest of the world in the series.
But there’s more to this than a philosophical or political discussion. Ai Magase arrives on the scene and slyly presents the real threat in the story; if Satan took a wife, I’m sure it’d be her! Through clever schemes, deception, and intelligible lies, she is able to switch the entire world’s opinion about suicide, causing massive mayhem. Only Zen and a few of his companions know that she’s the cause. As Zen hunts for Ai, he realizes she is a lot more than just manipulative—just like the devil, Ai tries seemingly every possible scheme to get Zen to agree with her way, to see the beauty in death and the relish in the sorrow which death brings.
The anime does a remarkable job in helping us understand that we alone can’t resist that temptation and power. Through Christ, we have the power to resist the devil—and with how wily he is, we had better learn how to do it, turning to scripture, prayer, and community for strength. By the power of the Holy Spirit and through the blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, nothing—not one of the devil’s tricks—will be too strong for us to handle.
Weekly Mission: Let’s grow our confidence in the power that God has over the devil. When evil in the world is discouraging you, pray, “God, I know you have already won. I have nothing to fear. You have all power over the devil, and the Holy Spirit in me gives me the strength to resist—and I will resist him and his schemes.” We need to have confidence in our authority over the devil. I encourage everyone this week to practice using that authority, but saying “In the name of Jesus, I command…”
Memory Verse: “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.” - Luke 10:19 (ESV)
BtT in Review
Join Steve from Finding God in Video Games, Samuru from Gaming & God, and BtT’s Twwk for FAITHCON 2025! The trio are participating in a panel called “Beyond the Pixels: Digital Ministry Across Generations” tomorrow (Saturday, September 20th) at 4pm central time. We know you’ll like it! Registration for the entire conference is just $5!
Can you believe we’ve reached fourteen volumes of A Condition Called Love? Yep! Is it still going strong? Laura lets you know in this week’s Reader’s Corner, and also gives her thoughts on other releases, including the first volumes of Mechanical Marie and the Villains Are Destined to Die novel, while Twwk checks out the opening volume of the Campfire Cooking in Another World manga!
Last week on Fanart Friday, we posted a bunch of Shinobu Kocho illustrations to celebrate the new Demon Slayer movie, which was a major financial success. Have you watched Infinity Castle yet?
We’ll see y’all next week!