November 20th, 2025 Devotional

💧 Living Water Vineyard Devotion Two – Thursday, November 20, 2025

“When the Enemy Steals Our Joy: The Battle for Forgiveness”

Inspired by Beloved by Francis Chan, Chapter Two

Featuring the testimony of Jacob DeShazer

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🕊 Introduction — When the Devil Doesn’t Roar… He Whispers

One of the chapters in Francis Chan’s Beloved hit me deeply this week — the chapter about spiritual warfare and deception.

Francis says something powerful:

Most believers expect Satan to show up like a monster…

But the enemy doesn’t always roar.

Most of the time…

He whispers.

He whispers in your insecurity.

He whispers in your offense.

He whispers in your wounded memories.

He whispers through the person who hurt you the most.

And his goal is simple:

Steal your joy.

Kill your love.

Destroy your peace.

As a pastor, I’ve seen obvious demonic manifestations:

   •   voices that weren’t human

   •   bodies contorting

   •   eyes changing

   •   screams, curses, torment

   •   things that felt like a scene straight out of a horror film

Every time — EVERY single time — Jesus set people free.

But here is the truth the Holy Spirit keeps highlighting:

Deliverance from demons is powerful…

but deliverance from unforgiveness may be even more powerful.

Because unforgiveness doesn’t scream.

It seeps.

It corrodes.

It quietly chokes out joy.

And that is exactly why the enemy loves to use it.

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⚠️ The Enemy’s Quietest Strategy: Steal Your Joy Through Unforgiveness

Francis Chan writes that Satan’s primary attack is not always on your belief in God…

But on your relationship with God.

If the enemy can keep you offended…

If he can keep you insecure…

If he can keep you replaying what someone did to you…

If he can steal your joy…

He doesn’t need to roar.

He has already taken ground.

The Bible warns us plainly:

“Do not give the enemy a foothold.” — Ephesians 4:27

And oftentimes, the foothold is unforgiveness.

Unforgiveness says:

“I’m right. They’re wrong. And I’ll stay in this prison until they apologize.”

But bitterness never locks the other person in a cell.

It locks us in a cell.

And few stories illustrate this truth more beautifully and powerfully than the life of Jacob DeShazer.

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🔥 THE STORY OF JACOB DESHAZER

Hatred → Captivity → Salvation → Forgiveness → Revival

Jacob DeShazer grew up in Oregon.

Raised around church — but faith wasn’t real yet.

When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, something snapped inside him.

“I wanted to kill every Japanese person I saw. Hatred was my whole world.”

Fueled by rage, he joined the Army Air Corps and volunteered for the Doolittle Raid, America’s first retaliatory strike after Pearl Harbor.

On April 18, 1942, he took off in a B-25 bomber from the USS Hornet, fully expecting not to return.

After dropping their bombs, his plane ran out of fuel and crash-landed.

He was captured by the Japanese, beaten, starved, and kept in solitary confinement.

Hatred kept him alive.

But hatred was also killing him.

Then everything changed.

A fellow prisoner and believer, Lt. Bob Meder, responded to the beatings with kindness.

He prayed for the guards.

He showed compassion where Jacob showed rage.

Jacob couldn’t understand it.

When Meder died, Japanese guards placed a Bible on his coffin.

Jacob asked for that Bible — begged for it.

They gave it to him… for three weeks.

Jacob climbed the walls of his cell to catch a sliver of light and read it from Genesis to Revelation.

One day, Romans 10:9 pierced his heart.

He surrendered his life to Jesus Christ.

Instantly — supernaturally — the hatred disappeared.

He wrote later:

“When I looked at the Japanese officers and guards who had starved and beaten me, my hatred turned to loving pity.”

His attitude changed.

His heart changed.

He forgave his captors — while he was still in prison.

The miracle had begun.

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🇯🇵 From Prisoner → Missionary: The Book That Changed Japan

After the war, Jacob returned home… but God spoke clearly:

“Go back.”

Not back to comfort.

Back to Japan.

Back to the people who hurt him.

Before returning, he wrote a small booklet:

📘 “I Was a Prisoner of Japan” (1948)

It told the raw truth of:

   •   his hatred

   •   his torture

   •   his conversion

   •   his forgiveness

The tract exploded across Japan.

Millions of copies were printed.

It touched hearts everywhere.

One of the men who read it was Mitsuo Fuchida, the Japanese commander who led the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Fuchida bought a Bible…

met Jesus…

and became an evangelist.

The man who bombed Pearl Harbor

was saved because of the man who bombed Tokyo.

Only God writes stories like that.

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🌱 What Happened When Jacob Returned to Japan

When DeShazer stepped off the ship in 1948, the reaction stunned him.

Crowds filled churches and halls to hear him speak.

People wept listening to his testimony.

Japanese families opened their homes to him.

Thousands came to Christ.

Entire families were saved.

Even former guards he once hated found Jesus.

Jacob and his wife Florence served as missionaries for 30 years, planting churches and raising children in Japan.

Forgiveness released revival.

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🌸 How Japan Honored Him When He Died

Jacob passed away on March 15, 2008, at age 95.

And the nation he once vowed to destroy honored him deeply:

✔ Major Japanese newspapers wrote memorial stories,

honoring him as a man of peace and reconciliation.

✔ Churches across Japan held special services

to thank God for his ministry.

✔ Believers traveled from Japan to Oregon

to honor his family and share what his life meant to them.

His story is still taught in Japanese churches today.

His forgiveness still inspires Christians worldwide.

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💡 The Lesson for Us

Jacob could have stayed bitter.

He had every earthly right.

But if he did, he would have missed his calling…

missed joy…

missed revival…

missed the greatest miracle of his life.

And that’s why the enemy tries so hard to trap you in unforgiveness.

Because unforgiveness:

   •   steals joy

   •   steals strength

   •   steals peace

   •   numbs prayer

   •   blocks calling

   •   and shuts down the heart

But forgiveness is freedom.

Jesus says:

“Forgive as I forgave you.” — Ephesians 4:32

“Love your enemies.” — Matthew 5:44

“The joy of the Lord is your strength.” — Nehemiah 8:10

Forgiveness is not letting them off the hook.

It’s letting you out of the prison.

Jacob forgave — and an entire nation was changed.

What might God do through your forgiveness?

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🙏 Prayer

Jesus, thank You for forgiving us completely and joyfully.

Today, reveal every place where unforgiveness is stealing my joy.

Show me who I still hold in debt.

Break bitterness off my life.

Restore my joy — the joy of my salvation.

Give me the supernatural love You gave Jacob DeShazer.

Make my heart like Yours.

In Jesus’ name — Amen.

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🎵 Worship & Reflection

Recommended songs:

   •   “Give Me Jesus” — Jeremy Camp

   •   “Run to the Father” — Cody Carnes

Take a quiet moment.

Let the Holy Spirit whisper.

Release someone.

Forgive.

Let joy return.