Many Believers these days are disregarding/ignoring/overlooking/forgetting that according to our Bibles an important part of Christian life is supposed to be about RESISTING an enemy that's determined to cause us to be weak and defeated in as many areas of life as possible (John 10:10). Indeed, the Word of God clearly tells us to be on the ALERT about this so that when he does come around we can be quick to RESIST him (1 Peter 5:8-9) and make him FLEE (James 4:7). If this instruction is there in our Bibles shouldn't we TRUST that it's in there for a really good reason?

Now I'm aware that in today's Body of Christ there're all kinds of teachings and theologies on this subject. Frankly, that's part of the problem and what I like to do in the face of a bunch of contradiction on a biblical subject is find out for myself what the Bible actually says about it and then go by that instead of what people are saying about it. Yes, Jesus DID defeat Satan when he finished stripping him of his authority by resurrecting on the third day (Colossians 2:15). And yes all authority was given to Jesus in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). But it doesn't say anywhere that Satan was removed from the earth. On the contrary, years after the Resurrection we have the Apostle Paul writing that the "god of this world" is still on the earth and that he's "blinding the minds of the unbelieving" (2 Corinthians 4:4). And we have the Apostles James (the brother of Jesus) and Peter writing that we should RESIST this Adversary whenever he comes around. Has anything changed for the Body of Christ since those instructions were written? No, the devil still hasn't been removed and we know from the Word that his removal is still to happen in the future (Revelation 20:2, 10).

You might ask: if Jesus DEFEATED this enemy, why is he still allowed to operate on the earth all these years later? The reason he's still on the earth is so that ALL people will have an opportunity to choose Christ and receive eternal life. The Lord isn't willing that any should perish but that all should (have an opportunity to) come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Their sins have ALREADY been paid for (John 3:16, Hebrews 10:12, 17, 18, and 1 John 2:2) so now we're waiting for ALL people to finally either accept or reject Christ. In the meantime, the devil is still on the earth and we who believe are supposed to exercise our FAITH in the Word and RESIST him when he comes around trying to influence our lives. Yes he's been stripped of his authority but now we have to RESIST him with the higher authority we have in Christ.   

It's amazing but there're whole groups in the Body of Christ teaching that Satan no longer exists or that he's no longer a factor we have to seriously contend with. Others say he's still around but that it's wrong to acknowledge he's causing any problems because in doing that we somehow glorify him too much or give him too much credit or that it diminishes the victory of Christ. But friend, that's NOT what my Bible says. Are we going to go by what the Word of God says or by men's traditions and theologies? The Bible clearly says to confront the enemy when he comes around and RESIST him. Why do you think the Apostle Paul so eloquently taught us about all the armor we've been provided? The answer is so we can engage in the related battles of RESISTING the enemy and come out victorious (Ephesians 6:10-18). The TRUTH is we glorify Christ when we use our FAITH (part of the armor) to RESIST the devil FEARLESSLY with the authority and the Name we've been given for that purpose. We're not glorifying the devil by agreeing with the Word of God; that's frankly just absurd! No, it's our FAITH that pleases God (Hebrews 11:6); and if the Word says we need to RESIST the devil, then we need to TRUST that, be obedient to it and go on about doing what it says.

The Work of the Devil

Now, most Christians have problems in their lives. The Bible promises that we WILL have trials to deal with (John 16:33) so we should expect them to show up; we should also expect to overcome them because God ALWAYS causes us TO triumph (2 Corinthians 2:14). How do our problems develop? MOST of them are the result of our own poor choices and decisions. Others occur because our sin opens doors to the enemy and we fail to deal with those situations correctly. And then for some folks problems come for the Word's sake meaning that when we decide to release our FAITH and stand on (trust in) the Word in some area, the devil sends persecution against us to try and shake us off our stand (Mark 4:17).

Now the devil's work is to convince us that God is the cause of all our tribulations. Indeed, another part of that work is to also make us believe that he's of no consequence in all of this even though the Word of God instructs us to be on the alert for his attacks. As a result most Christians wind up blaming God for their problems and instead of taking authority over them, instead of speaking directly to them and commanding them to depart, they grumble and complain and pout about them and eventually wind up begging God for His mercy and deliverance. The problem with that way of trying to handle things is that Jesus already died on the Cross and rose from the grave so that in part we could obtain authority over the devil and over all our problems. It's already been done for us. So when we're begging God for special mercy, He's probably trying to get back to us with the information that His GRACE is sufficient to overcome the devil and everything he can send against us. The truth is Satan can't do anything to Believers we don't permit him to do but our error is that so many of us just don't know enough of the Word to understand what to do.

In short, the devil's work is directed against our minds. We are what we think (Proverbs 23:7) and his objective is to get us thinking and speaking in disagreement with the Word of God. It's our responsibility now by the authority of Christ to RESIST him, overcome his lies and cause him to FLEE. Otherwise, he'll steal and kill and destroy everything we have (John 10:10). Don't waste your time asking God to do it; He already did it by sending Jesus. Now it's our job in the Name of Jesus to RESIST Satan and not just let him have his way against us.

How to RESIST the Devil

You RESIST the devil with FAITH in the Name of Jesus and with the Word of God. When Jesus was confronted by Satan in the wilderness He successfully overcame him by quoting the Word (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10). You can do the same thing but you need to have knowledge of the Word in order to use it. If you have opened a door to the enemy, how do you close it? According to the Word one way to do that is to start THANKING God for every good thing you can think of that He's caused to happen in your life. If grumbling and complaining can open the door to the Destroyer (1 Corinthians 10:10) then THANKSGIVING will close it and shut Him out. God is bound by His own Word to HONOR you if you honor Him with the sacrifice of THANKSGIVING and here again are the scriptures we looked at last week:

Psalm 50:23 - He who offers a sacrifice of THANKSGIVING, honors Me.

1 Samuel 2:30 - Those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me will be lightly esteemed.

God HONORS people under the New Covenant with His GRACE. The Greek word behind the English word GRACE means God's favor and empowerment. When you have a problem you need GRACE, and one of the main ways to connect to God's GRACE is through sincere THANKSGIVING. Instead of blaming God as the devil is trying to convince us to do we need to be THANKING God for what His GRACE is ALREADY doing to help us get out of our difficulties. Receive His GRACE and defeat the enemy: that's the way it works. The GRACE is already available to any Believer who will receive it by FAITH. So offer up your sacrifices of THANKSGIVING, release your FAITH and receive the GRACE of God to empower you to get the VICTORY. THANKSGIVING works! It produces VICTORY. It changes lives and turns lack into prosperity sickness into healing. There's power in the act of sincere THANKSGIVING not because I say so but because the Word of God says so. If you find something better let me know!

Thanks for dropping by tonight. We'll be looking for you again next Sunday evening, May 20 and we hope you'll continue to join us each week as we continue to study the subject of THANKSGIVING. Until then may God bless you and your family with every spiritual blessing in the Name of Jesus (Ephesians 1:3).

Sinners' Prayer

If you've never invited Jesus to be the Lord of your life, you need to and you can do it today just by saying out loud the following simple prayer:

Jesus I declare today with all my heart that I believe in you and that God raised you from the dead. I acknowledge that my sins have been forgiven and I ask you to come into my life today and be my Lord and Savior. Thank you for salvation and eternal life.

If you were sincere as you prayed this prayer, God has already come into your life and you are a new creation, a totally new species recreated in His image. Now ask the Lord to lead you to a good faith-based, bible-teaching church where you can be equipped to fulfill your potential in the Kingdom of God.

And, when you get a chance have someone help you look up the following scriptures because they confirm what you've done by saying this prayer today and believing what you said:

Romans 10:9

2 Corinthians 5:17

Ephesians 2:8

Prayer Requests

If you have a Prayer Request, please connect to the Link below and follow the promptings. The PLN staff members pray over Prayer Requests every Tuesday morning at 10:00 AM eastern time. Agree with us for God to answer your petition.

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Donations

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