I HAVE heard many say that we talk about Satan too much. We should be teaching about Jesus and God’s love, instead of lessons on dealing with Satan, and who he is. I guess some don’t need a reminder that we have an adversary and he is the same one that Jesus viewed as His adversary while in the desert. If Jesus was tempted by Satan, what makes us think that we can avoid the same kind of encounters?
HOW SERIOUS are you? Are you having a one sided relationship with God? Recently, my attention was drawn to a scripture, that indicated, we should not be afraid to pay attention, and to learn about the Adversary. “No weapon that is fashioned against you shall prosper, and you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgement. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication from me, says the Lord.” Isaiah 54:17
ARE YOU COMMITTED, serious, whole hearted? If you are, then do not be ashamed to invite the Lord into every room in your life. Many times we have fallen into the pit of the adversary and would prefer that God didn’t visit us. God always visits His children and believe me, He is never surprised, only saddened.
WHEN WE UNLEASH ourselves from Satan, the old landlord; it is as though we have changed the locks to our lives. When the Holy Spirit takes residence, He becomes our new landlord and has full access to our living arrangements. We then can live in victory, and when this happens, God is filled with joy. And so are we!
IT IS written that we must forgive if we want God to forgive us. Satan loves to keep us harboring anger, hatred and keep our wounds festering. God’s plan of forgiveness is to heal us and to make us whole. Satan doesn’t like it! He goes jumping around looking for ways to keep us from forgiving others. We have all kinds of excuses, don’t we? What about forgiving our brothers and sisters in Christ? We are to help one another and to forgive, but what if the offense is too great? We see it as a sin against God? How can we forgive without judgement? Paul addresses an issue in first Corinthians which seems harsh and reconciles it in 2nd Corinthians which seems to go against the grain.
“WHEN YOU forgive someone for what he has done, I forgive him too. For when I forgive, if indeed, I need to forgive anything, I do it because of you, in Christ’s presence. “In order to keep Satan from getting the upper hand over us; for we know what his plans are.” Corinthians 2:10- 11 The story is that the church in Corinth joined with Paul in punishing the offender, now Paul joins with the church in forgiving the man. We as a body of Christ must do the forgiving. Paul says, that he could only confirm it when the church did it. Interesting, huh!
TO KEEP SATAN from anything, seems ominous. A harsh, unforgiving spirit, will allow Satan to get an upper hand over us! Satan, making us think it is a matter of duty and loyalty, tempts us to adopt harsh measures, to drive offenders to despair and make them give up completely, and to turn outsiders away from the Good News!. Satan is crafty, and makes it hard for us to recognize doing good, verses doing wrong. Loving one another is so important to our well-being!
WE MUST become educated in the ways of Satan and not be ignorant; remaining in the dark. Know your adversary and stop allowing him in your decision making. Satan is a liar, a deceiver and there is no truth in him. Don’t let anyone say “you worry to much about Satan.”
“Whoever continues to sin belongs to the Devil, because the Devil has sinned from the beginning. Jesus appeared for this very reason, to destroy the Devil’s works. 1 John 3:8 Habitually sinning shows who we serve! Jesus died so that Satan could not have a hold on us anymore. The war is on, and we know that the Church wins! Hallelujah! Know God’s Word and let it direct your path! Jane Ann Crenshaw 4/7/16
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