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Victorious Life
: Authority Over
The Devil !
Victory
And Jesus
said to them,
...And I have given you authority over all of the power of the
enemy. You have power to crush underfoot scorpions and serpents
[demonic powers]. Nothing shall harm
you! ' (Luke 10: 17-19 smf).
"These signs
shall follow those who believe: They shall use the authority of my
name to cast out demons... " (Mark 16:17 smf).
"Submit
yourselves to God Resist the devil and he will flee from you " (Jas
4:7).
"Be watchful and
careful. Your enemy the devil prowls and roams around like a roaring
lion looking for someone to devour to tear apart and eat. Be firm in
the faith and resist him... " (1 Pet 5:8,9 smf).
A Phony Lion. Carefully note that the above scripture does
not say the devil is a roaring lion. It says he roams around like a
roaring lion. In other words, he is acting like something he is not.
Actually, he is only a fake or phony lion. Or, as the Chinese would
say, "a paper tiger."A Phony Lion. Carefully note that the above
scripture does not say the devil is a roaring lion. It says he roams
around like a roaring lion. In other words, he is acting like
something he is not. Actually, he is only a fake or phony lion. Or,
as the Chinese would say, "a paper tiger."
Who
is the real lion? Jesus is!
The Scriptures
refer to Him as "the Lion of the tribe of Judah" (Rev 5:5). Because
we abide in Him, and He in us, we also share in His "lion-nature":
We who believe on Jesus become "lion-like. "
"The wicked flee when
no one is chasing them. The righteous, however, are as bold as a
lion " (Prov 2 8:1 smf).
b.
Don't Give Him Power.
What are we trying to say? Simply this: The devil can have only as
much power over our lives as we allow him to take. He no longer has
the authority to control our attitudes and actions for his own
purposes.
No, the devil
is not a real lion. His roar, however, can be very loud and very
long. A roar cannot bite, but it can scare you.
If we retreat
every time the devil roars, we will never learn how to stand firm in
the faith and resist him. If we never resist the devil, we will
never see the tail-end of the devil heading over the nearest hill.
c. Run Toward The
Roar. When the
lions go hunting, they are very clever. All the younger, strong
lions gather down-wind from the herd of animals they are going to
attack. In this way, the animals do not pick up the scent of the
lion.
The old
worn-out lions, whose teeth are almost gone, and who cannot run fast
enough to catch prey, are put upwind where their scent and roar will
frighten the animals. Those who are frightened by the roar, run
toward the young lions.
The animals
who "run towards the roar" are safe and cannot be hurt by the old
lions. The animals who flee from the roar run into the trap and are
injured or killed by the strong younger lions.
The point is
obvious. Don't run from your adversary the devil and his roaring.
Run toward the roar. Resist him and he will flee from you.
d. Seeds Of Deception.
How does the
devil roar his way into our daily lives? He does so by way of our
thoughts and feelings. He sows seeds of doubt and fear into the
ground of our hearts and minds. If he can tempt us to cultivate or
nurture these seeds - they will grow into very large weeds. When
they do, our Christian life can be greatly weakened, or even
destroyed.
There are all
kinds of seeds which the devil sows: seeds of doubt, fear,
disobedience, greed, lust, jealousy, pride, anger, resentment,
self-pity and many more.
He will try to
sow the same seed over and over again until some take root and grow.
Once the roots grow deep, it's hard to pull the weed out.
The devil will
even deceive us into thinking it is a natural part of our life. We
then give in and put up with it, even though it may be painful to us
- and to others. When we do, the enemy has taken control over that
part of our lives, even though he has no authority to do so.
3. Resist The Devil !
a.
Stand Firm In
Faith.
How then can
the watchful Christian stand firm in the faith and resist the devil?
The same way Jesus did in His humanity while here on earth:
1) By the
authority of God's Word; 2) By the power of God's Spirit.
We now know that the
devil no longer has dominion or the right to rule over our lives.
The scepter is now in Jesus' hand, not that of the enemy. As we, by
the Spirit, speak out our confession of faith, "JESUS IS LORD!" -
Satan must bend his knee and bow his head. It is demon powers who
will tremble in torment when we face them in the mighty Name of
Jesus.
b.
Speak The Word In
Faith.
As we submit
and come under the authority of God's Word and God's Spirit, that
authority comes upon us. We then speak that word as follows:
1) To God
in prayer;
2) In the
confession of our mouth;
3) To the
devil in reproof
The Spirit
Himself then moves to energize the word, and the enemy flees along
with his lying thoughts and feelings.
We submit to
God by filling our minds with His Word and our hearts with prayer.
For every wrong, evil, negative thought the enemy would sow into our
minds, there is a right, good, positive thought from God's Word.
The Scripture
says we can "overcome evil with good" (ROM: 12:21). Every time the
devil seeks to give us a push in the wrong direction, we need to
push him back - twice as hard - with the truth and power of God's
Word.
c. The Laugh
Of Faith. It is true, we should not take our enemy lightly or
under-rate his ability. He is both smart and strong. Apart from
God's Spirit and His Word we will lose every battle. Satan can
outsmart us every time. The Scripture says that we are always to be
aware of his clever tricks and schemes (2Cor 2:1 1).
However, while
we are to respect the devil, we are not to fear him. In fact, we can
boldly oppose him in the strong Name of Jesus and be assured of
victory.
Our enemy has
a loud roar, but his is a big bluff. He will act like he is not
hurt, and even mock the Name of the Lord, hoping we will give up.
By
Ralph Mohoney
World MAP
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