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John 10:10, 2Cor 2:11 AUGUST, 2010
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:
I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.
THE DEVICES OF THE DEVIL[4]
When I left off last month, I was started explaining the single biggest weapon that the Devil has, that puts all of us at risk of falling in line with him, and going against God. That weapon, is fear.
No matter how strong you may think you are, fear, can still work its way in to your life, and cause you to go against what God says is right. And as a result, you fall in disfavor with God, and end up suffering for it.
Fear, is from the Devil. The bible tells us, 2Tim 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Therefore we can deduce two things. First, and foremost, it is a spirit, and secondly, if it didn't come from God, then it has to be from the Devil, and, as a result, is designed to destroy you.
1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. As the scripture says, in the underlined part, fear brings with it, torment. And what does torment do?? It makes, any sane person, seek relief, no matter how they have to act, to get it.
If we look at a drug addict, facing withdrawal symptoms, we know, that these people will do just about anything, including possibly killing someone, just to get some money, to purchase their next fix, just to avoid/relieve the torment of withdrawal.
Using this as a backdrop, spiritually speaking, people [including Christians] essentially face the same sort of torment, when the Devil, chooses to target them, for attack.
Now, just exactly why would he choose to target them?? Very simple. He either wants to keep people from coming to Christ, or, to destroy their faith in Christ.
This is one of the reasons, that we are told to not be ignorant of the devices that he will use, to accomplish that goal. And whose job is it to alert you to his schemes??
Well, it is those that He[Christ], has put in the offices of pastor, evangelist, and teacher.
Notice, I said, 'those that He put in office.' Any one in these offices, not put there by Christ, is not a messenger of God, but, of the Devil. It is that simple. They may think they are doing God's work, but, they are really doing things that benefit the Devil.
Why would I say this??
Because everything they say and do, is based on the flesh, and its wants/needs, versus what God wants, because they aren't hearing from Him.
Example. In our everyday world, we have all sorts of ways to communicate. Mail, telephone, telegraph, radio, TV, and internet.
The only way one can, receive a message from another, using any of these sources, is if the sender, addresses the receiver's correct address. The other way, is if the receiver, tunes in to the sender's frequency, or address.
If a person is broadcasting on 1234AM, and that signal is going all over the world, the only ones that can receive the message, are those that have a receiver, that is tuned to that frequency. All others, will not receive it, no matter how close they are to the broadcast signal.
Well, Christ is the broadcaster, and the only ones that can receive Christ's message, are those that are tuned in to Him, by way of the Holy Spirit. Christ speaks to the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit, in turn, speaks to the individual.
Christ, will only speak to those, that He chooses to speak to. And He chooses to speak only to His anointed. Not only that, but He will only listen to those that follow the correct procedure, to contact Him.
Remember, Jesus set the procedure for asking things of Him in these scriptures, John 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
John 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
Notice, Jesus didn't say, He would think about it, before He will do it. He says He will do it. Remember these scriptures, Mat 7:7-8 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
So, Jesus made statements, guaranteeing positive results, if the correct procedure is followed.
What many fail to understand, and what the devil plays on, is the notion that anyone can ask anything of God, without respect of being in His will. They feel they can live any type of way, and still ask God for something, and receive it. The problem is, they don't understand that, 'you have to be in right standing with Him[righteous, tuned in to Him], for these promises to be fulfilled.'
Those of us that have kids, if you are a good parent, would hardly give them anything they wanted, if they have been disobedient, and have not sought forgiveness. Well, what makes you think God, who tells parents how to raise their kids, would do any different??
So, the devil comes in, and brings circumstances to bear in a person's life, that they can't deal with, so they start standing on God's word. After a while, nothing gets any better, and they begin to think maybe God doesn't do that stuff, anymore. Well, what do you suppose the problem is?? Right off the bat, it is not with God. That leaves only one other element to the situation, and that is the person. Either they are ignorant of God's word concerning their particular situation, or there is unrepentant sin in their lives.
As far as being ignorant of God's Word, remember, Hos. 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
Lack of knowledge encompasses the entire spectrum of human existence. Either you don't know what God has to say about the situation, or, someone has told you what you need to do, and you rejected it. One, or the other. And, most of the time, it is the latter, that really gets God displeased with us.
Look at the first part of the scripture. What it is saying, is, ignorance will destroy, [kill] you. The best example to give is, a person messing around with electricity, and not knowing what they are doing. If you don't know the result of mishandling electricity, you could experience injury, or death. Well, with God, it is the same way. You can be doing things that God disapproves of [sin] and be reaping the consequences of it, while at the time, not knowing why you are suffering. You don't
have a clue.
However, what is worse, is when someone tells you that you are doing something wrong, and for whatever reason, you refuse to accept it, then, you have really raised the anger of God, because essentially, you are saying, 'I don't care what God has to say, I am going to keep on doing what I am doing!!!'
An attitude like that, will bring His wrath, quicker, and with more dire consequences for you and your family [ie. children and the like], than if you didn't know any better, because you have openly defied God.
This is what the devil wants. He wants Christians, to defy God, so that His wrath will fall on them. While at the same time, making an example of them, before the world.
There is no limit, as I mentioned earlier, that the devil will go to, to get people to reject Christ, or fall in disfavor with Him.
This world in which we live, is chock full of temptations, that cater to our flesh, which God has said, should be rejected. Yet, when certain situations present themselves, that is when the greatest stumbling block to your faith, is at hand.
You are a single female, and you need someone to satisfy that longing for companionship, and, the devil will send a, Billy Dee Williams, Denzel Washington to you. Or you are a single male, he will send a Beyonce, or Halle Berry to you. Why is he doing this?? To get you to take a bite of sin.
You've just lost your job. The bills are due, you are about to lose your house, your family is hungry, and the devil presents you with the opportunity to make some quick cash by selling drugs, robbing a person, or bank, gambling, or whatever, that God frowns on, and you, in desperation, fall for. It may have been the devil, that caused you to lose your job.
The possibilities, are endless.
A rule of thumb, is this. If it violates what God says, it is of the devil, and nothing good will come of it, period. Prv 14:12,16:25 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
The devil wants to make everything seem to be so innocent, just like he did with Eve, fully knowing what the results will be. He plays to our pride, and ignorance, to set us up for destruction.
You want to know why we are in the mess we are in today?? Ignorance[lack of knowledge]. And who is responsible for our ignorance?? Preachers, who care more about being popular, and well spoken of, than warning us, what God has to say about things.
The devices of the devil are many, and, we need to know what they are, and how to identify them, so we can steer clear of them. The best place to start, is the bible, God's Word.
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