So let’s just jump in. Jump in and splatter it everywhere. If someone is racist to you, how do you react? With love or hat? You know love is right don’t you. Do you storm out of the restaurant or approach them in a loving manner? I read someone, who I consider to be a powerful Christian, how they reacted on a facebook post. They just rushed out and left. So they let the demons win. There was commercial a few years back. It had a company representative that was standing on a stage talking on a microphone. He would talk about how great his company was, and then drop the microphone, and walk off the stage. He would walk off because, in his opinion, there was nothing more to say. He just told you his brand was the best. Jesus’ brand is the best and He wants you to love everyone else. It is hard though. If it makes you angry, and you act out on it without being a loving person, the trickster wins. Anger about injustice is right, but how you react with that anger is important. Do it in a loving manner.

Well imagine that there is a preacher (or an atheist) standing up front of a bunch of people and he asks: “If God can do anything, can he make a rock so big, that He can’t pick it up?” Then the preacher just stands there. Everyone gets quiet. Think about it. Then imagine me – yeah that smart aleck guy – stands up in the back and yells give me that microphone. I take a deep breath and say: “Yes He can!” and I drop the microphone and walk off. Nothing more needs to be said. Now there is also always one other guy. He probably sitting about halfway back on the left side of the church. That guy is saying to himself, “Well how big is the rock?” No one answers…. Because I already dropped the microphone.

My wife asked me to move this rock the other day. It was a “big” piece of quartz. She wanted it in the garden as decoration. So I picked up this rock. It had to weight at least 200 pounds and I started to carry it over to her and she moved farther away! Oh I want it over here she says….. Now I tell people all the time that “big” is a relative word. I mean how big is big? To my wife, it was a big rock. To me, it was a big rock. To the tractor, it was just one of many rocks in the front bucket. No matter. Just pick up all the rocks that the trickster puts in front of you

So I want to talk about torments today. Everybody Stop! Half the married men here are going: “Yeah, I can’t believe his wife was tormenting him like that with that rock.” And half the married women are going “I can’t believe that he is going to talk about his wife tormenting him like that.” Well what? That isn’t torment. I know, because God chose her for me, that my wife loves me and would never …. Intentionally torment me. No, the person that I am talking about is the guy who is being tormented with questions about God and the rock on the left side halfway back. This is torment: Matthew 15:22 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

Or this is torment: Mark 1:12-15. The Spirit drove Jesus out into the desert, and he remained in the desert for forty days, tempted by Satan. That is clearly true torment where the demons are clearly there and you know who is the enemy.

I used to say that I only know one man who is perfect. He is the one who can stick his hand in a bucket of water and when He pulls his hand out, the water doesn’t move back…… because he doesn’t want it to move back. Now the trickster can do that but is not of man. The trickster or his demons will show you that he can do it just to torment you. There were magicians in the Bible. Like Saul did in the Book of Acts. They did tricks that looked like miracles, but they were for personal gain. True miracles are for others and the common good. Jesus fought back against the trickster in the Bible. Sort of like we do when autocorrect twists our words and meaning. Sometimes, we have type them out carefully… and then check them. How did Jesus fight back? In Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus was tempted in the Wilderness: 4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted[a] by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” 10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

We all have demons that torment us. The question is how do you deal with them. Every torment from the trickster, like questioning God’s ability to make a rock or racism, can be prayed away or pushed away with love. Like 10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! We need to stop all the demon’s tricks. Remember: “Love Wins” and “God will not fail”.