Archive for November, 2010

What Is the devil’s Authority?

The devil obviously had access to Adam and Eve in the garden of
Eden. Scripture does not tell us why God allowed this. One
theory that makes sense involves mankind being allowed to judge
the devil, possibly after the devil complained that God was not
just or fair in condemning him. First Corinthians 6:3 does say
that Christians will judge angels — and the devil is a fallen
angel. If this theory is correct, God would have to allow the
devil access to influence mankind, or be seen as unfair by all.

The devil gained a certain amount of control over mankind by
Adam’s disobedience, which plunged Adam and all his descendants
into spiritual death.

At the time of the temptation of Christ, recorded in Luke 4,
the devil obviously had a great amount of authority in the
world system.

LUKE 4:4-7 NKJ
4 But Jesus answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man shall
not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’ ”
5 Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him
all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give
You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I
give it to whomever I wish.
7 “Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be
Yours.”

Through His death and resurrection, Jesus defeated the devil
and stripped him of his authority (Colossians 2:15, Hebrews
2:14-15).

Because Jesus announced that He had all authority after His
resurrection (Matthew 28:18), the devil evidently retained no
authority.

However, in the Epistles, the devil is still called the god of
this world, or age (2 Corinthians 4:4). This does not mean that
the devil is the god of the earth, but of the ungodly world
system. He has this control through the yielding of ungodly
people to speak his words and do his deeds.

The devil gains a measure of authority through any human being
who will yield to his ideas and speak them, or act on them.
Even Christians can, like Peter in Matthew 16:23, fall into
this trap.

A perverted use of this authority is exercised when people
“curse” or “damn” things or people. We should use our authority
to bless — not curse.

All authority the devil may be using now is illegitimate. Only
through deception and ignorance is he able to carry out his
evil plans in the earth.

If the Church of Jesus Christ fails to exercise its God-given
authority against the devil, he will operate virtually
unhindered. This is because unsaved people are already under
his dominion, and find it hard to resist him (John 8:44, 1 John
5:19).

As members of the body of Christ, we have been delegated the
use of His authority on earth to see that God’s will is carried
out (Matthew 16:19, Luke 10:19, Philippians 2:10). We must
exercise that authority.

SAY THIS: My Lord Jesus defeated the devil, stripped him of his
authority, and gave authority to me over all the power of the
enemy as a member of the Body of Christ on earth.

Be A Giver

God is a giver and desires His children to be givers. Giving is
the opposite of selfishness. Giving is love in action. And God
blesses those who give.

LUKE 6:38 NIV
38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed
down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into
your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to
you.”

PROVERBS 3:9-10 NKJ
9 Honor the Lord with your possessions, and with the
firstfruits of all your increase;
10 So your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will
overflow with new wine.

MATTHEW 10:42 NIV
42 And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these
little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he
will certainly not lose his reward.”

2 CORINTHIANS 9:6-8 NIV
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap
sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap
generously.
7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to
give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a
cheerful giver.
8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in
all things at all times, having all that you need, you will
abound in every good work.

HEBREWS 6:10 NIV
10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love
you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue
to help them.

LUKE 12:33 NIV
33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses
for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven
that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no
moth destroys.

ACTS 20:35 NIV
35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard
work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord
Jesus himself said: `It is more blessed to give than to
receive.’”

God designed His system with incentives to encourage people to
give. He has promised to bless those who give, both now and in
the age to come.

SAY THIS: I will be a giver, like my Father in Heaven.

Be Who You Are

1 CORINTHIANS 15:10 NIV
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am….

ROMANS 12:2  WUEST
2 And stop assuming an outward expression that does not come
from within you and is not representative of what you are in
your inner being but is patterned after this age; but change
your outward expression to one that comes from within and is
representative of your inner being, by the renewing of your
mind, resulting in your putting to the test what is the will of
God, the good and well-pleasing and complete will, and having
found that it meets specifications, place your approval upon it.

God is a brilliant Creator. He only makes originals — not
copies. According to Ephesians 2:10, you are God’s work of
art.

God made you unique. So be all that God created you to be.

Don’t try to be someone else. Don’t try to be an ear in the
Body of Christ, if God made you a foot. Just be yourself.

This does not mean that you cannot improve, or grow. Growth is
part of God’s plan. And we can certainly learn from others, and
imitate excellent actions and attitudes.

But too many people are insecure and hope to gain acceptance
from others by conforming to what they think will make them
popular or successful — even though they hate it and know they
are not being real.

ROMANS 12:2 PHILLIPS
2 Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own
mould ….

Don’t let the world pressure you into conforming.

Express the originality that God put within you. God made you
the way you are for a purpose — His purpose.

This is not to encourage rebellion, of course. But it is not
God’s plan for us all to be identical and do everything in the
same way.

I am not saying you have to try to be different. Just be who
God made you — without fear.

Not everyone may like you, or what you do. But that is normal.
You can’t always please everyone. Make it your aim to please
God by expressing what He made you.

ROMANS 12:2 NLT
2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let
God transform you into a new person by changing the way you
think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you
will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.

The Bible reveals many truths about who we are once we receive
Jesus Christ. We actually receive new life, a new standing with
God, and new ability. As you feed the Word of God into your
thinking, that new life will be able to manifest more and
more.

SAY THIS: I am what I am by the grace of God. I will be what
God made me and fulfill His plan for me.

Lack Of Knowledge

HOSEA 4:6a NKJ
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

People wonder why many Christians experience so much trouble in
life, instead of victory. The reason, according to the Bible,
is a lack of knowledge.

The Bible tells us the devil is out to destroy us, but it also
makes clear that we can overcome his attacks. The real problem
lies with our ignorance.

Real knowledge produces faith. When we really know something,
we have faith in it. Then we will act on that knowledge.

The reason God’s people are destroyed by calamity is not
because God doesn’t love us, or because God is not able to help
us. It is simply that we don’t know the truth. If we really
knew the truth, we would act on that knowledge. Acting on true
knowledge makes you free — it does not destroy you or put you
into bondage.

JOHN 8:31-32 NKJ
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you
abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
32 “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you
free.”

God’s Word is our instruction book. When we act on it, things
will work for us. God allows us to make choices. When we make
the right choices, we will be blessed.

Don’t let the devil condemn you with this message. Instead, let
it give you hope. You can learn God’s Word and act on it more
accurately in the future — and be blessed!

SAY THIS: God gave me the knowledge in the Bible so I could
know the truth, act on it, and be blessed.

Honor Your Parents

EPHESIANS 6:2-3 NKJ
2 “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first
commandment with promise:
3 “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the
earth.”

Think about this: God himself promises that if you will honor
your parents you will have a long and blessed life.

What a promise!

So we need to learn from Scripture what God means by “honoring”
our parents, so we can do it and be blessed.

MATTHEW 15:4-6 NLT
4 For instance, God says, `Honor your father and mother,’ and
`Anyone who speaks evil of father or mother must be put to
death.’”
5 But you say, `You don’t need to honor your parents by caring
for their needs if you give the money to God instead.’
6 And so, by your own tradition, you nullify the direct
commandment of God.

Here we have Jesus telling one way that people are to honor
their parents: by caring for their needs.

So honoring your parents is not just speaking politely to them,
or telling others that they are great parents. If your parents
have needs, you should help them. In this way, according to
Jesus, you are showing them honor.

Here is Mark’s account of the same speech:

MARK 7:10-12 NLT
10 For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: `Honor your
father and mother,’ and `Anyone who speaks evil of father or
mother must be put to death.’
11 But you say it is all right for people to say to their
parents, `Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to
God what I could have given to you.’
12 You let them disregard their needy parents.

Obviously, letting your parents go with unmet needs, when you
could meet them, is the opposite of showing them honor.

Of course, the words we speak and the attitude we have toward
our parents, also indicates how we honor them.

The word translated honor means to value or prize. God is
telling us we should value our parents highly. When you
consider something valuable you take care of it, and speak well
of it. This is how you should treat your parents — if you
desire God’s blessing.

(This is not to say we should honor parents above God and His
will. Parents should not control the lives of grown sons or
daughters. But, no matter what, our parents deserve love and
respect — not necessarily obedience.)

SAY THIS: I will honor my parents and God will bless me.