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Don’t Give Place to the Devil

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

Ephesians 4:27 NIV and do not give the devil a foothold.

 

Today I awoke at 1:00 am and couldn’t go back to sleep.  I just laid there tossing and turning and pondering things over in my head.  I got to thinking about this passage of scripture in Ephesians as to what it means.

 

The past week or so I have been wrestling with some things in my own life that seem to be causing me to have depression, frustrations and feelings of inadequacies.  I have had these before and as usual when I start going through these things I find myself thinking about things that I shouldn’t and then I begin talking in ways that are not in line with who I am in Christ.  It is amazing how it only takes a second or two for a thought to get planted into you and then you begin acting on it. 

 

As I laid in bed thinking about it I realized that the devil is always ready and waiting to jump on me when my thinking and my emotions and feelings start controlling my life. Listen to what the Amplified Bible says, Ephesians 4:27 AMP Leave no [such] room or foothold for the devil [give no opportunity to him].

We are not to give the devil any opportunity or give him no place in our lives.  He cannot do anything to us unless we allow him to.  He is always looking and listening for an opportunity to get a foothold on our lives.  1 Peter 5:8 CEV Be on your guard and stay awake. Your enemy, the devil, is like a roaring lion, sneaking around to find someone to attack. He is just waiting for you and me to give into a thought or a feeling and then he will start working to lead us down a road that leads to sin in our lives.

 

The Bible says in Ephesians 6:12 NLT For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. We need to realize it is not people or things of this world that cause us our problems, but it is the devil himself; he goes after the arena of our flesh and our mind because he knows very well that if we will begin thinking on something we will eventually act on it.  Our thinking dictates what we believe and what we believe is what we live.  Our thinking shapes our attitude for living.  The Bible says we are to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.  We have to take those thoughts that are not Godly and cast them out, refuse to think on them.  I find that when I start having trouble with my thoughts I start reading the Word or studying the Word, because the Word will bring freedom to me.

 

The Bible tells us in James 4:7 NIV Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. We have to first submit ourselves to God, then we can resist the devil and know that he has to flee from us.

Don’t let the devil get a foothold in your life today, determine that you are going to submit to God and give yourself to Him and His Word, then you can be assured that the devil will have no place in your life.

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Independence or Dependence

Saturday, July 4th, 2009

Psalms 42:1-2 NIV  For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.  2  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

 Today is the Fourth of July, a day in which we as Americans celebrate the establishment of our nation.  Our forefathers declared their independence from British rule especially in the area of religious freedom.  They may have declared their independence from Britain, but they did not declared independence from God.  They knew very well that this nation would never survive unless it had a dependence on God and His ways.

 Sadly today America has wonder far from our founding fathers original design and purpose.  We have become a nation of people who want our independence from everything including God. 

This should not be the case for us as Believers; we should never want to be independent from God.  In the Psalm 42, the psalmist indicates how much he needs and desires God.  He uses the illustration of a deer panting for water.  I remember when I was a teenager I went to work with a friend of mine who was working on the Interstate 20 at that time, I was asked to be a flagman for dump trucks bring dirt to a particular location that day.  I didn’t bring anything with me to drink or eat that day and it was one of those hot summer days and as I stood there on a busy highway flagging for those trucks I become thirstier and thirstier as the day went on.  My mouth just became parch and finally after I couldn’t stand it any longer I ask one the truck drivers if he would bring some water.  When I got that water it was like a refreshing renewal for my body, I just could stop drinking it, I wanted more and more.

 This is how I associate with what the Psalmist is saying here, he is so thirsty for God he couldn’t wait until he could meet with Him.  He knew he needed God and that he was dependent on God for his very existence.  The Psalmist did not just desire the hand of God, but he wanted to see His face; in other words he wanted to have a moment with God and just bask in who He was. 

Let me encourage on this Fourth of July to not only be thankful for this nation that we live in and we can freely worship in, but let us remember how much we need to be “dependent” on God and how our very existence depends on Him.  Give Him thanks for Him giving Himself to you everyday day.

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Incredible Promises

Saturday, July 4th, 2009

Hebrews 8:6 NIV But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.

2 Corinthians 1:20 NIV For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.

It is an incredible thing to know that we as Christians have been precious promises from God that are not just something God is saying, but they are promises that God will keep to his people; to those who will dare to believe them and receive them. There are so many promises in the Word of God that it would take hours to list them, but I just want to give you a few today that in one way just simple promises but yet they are so powerful to our lives.

Psalms 32:1-2 NIV Of David. A maskil. Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  2  Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. Just think about it, our sins are forgiven, they are not just put in the drawer to be brought out against again at some point, but they are forgiven.  One might think that when it says “our sins are covered” means that that are not forgotten, but remember our sins were cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ, so when God looks at us he doesn’t see a sinful person, but he sees a person who has been covered by the blood of Jesus Christ.  He sees Jesus.

If God doesn’t see our sins, then there is no reasons for us to keep bringing them up and living our life through them, they are forgiven and we have been made righteous through Jesus Christ.

 Psalms 32:7 NIV You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah  Here is another great promise, God is our hiding place, when we are facing opposition and battles we can be comforted to know that we can hide away in God, it doesn’t mean we are running in defeat but we are moving into the place where God can help us and shield us from all the onslaughts of the enemy.  It further says that God will protect us trouble and He will surround us with songs of deliverance, think about when trouble is all around and the enemy is coming against you; you can have a song of deliverance.  God will deliver us from our troubles. Here are some other promises that reinforce this, Psalms 34:15 NIV The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry; Psalms 34:17-20 NIV The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.  18  The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.  19  A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;  20  he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. Think about it, the eyes of the Lord are watching over you and me and His ears are paying close attention to our cries and pleas.  He emphatically hears us when we pray and He will definitely deliver us from “all” our troubles the Word says.  Even in your lowest moments when it seems there is no one there, God promises to be there and to protect us through it all.

 With these kinds of promises in the Bible, what are we to do, maybe David said it best in Psalms 34:1-4 I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.  2  My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.  3  Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.  4  I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.

 Rejoice today because you have promises from God and He will keep his Word to you and me!

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