Monday, March 8, 2010

1 Peter 5:9

"Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world." 1 Peter 5:9

I cannot accept someone saying, "The devil made me do it." No, he didn't make you do it; you did it. Somewhere along the line, you chose to give the devil a foothold. He merely took advantage of the opportunity you gave him. You have all the resources and protection you need to live a victorious life in Christ every day. If you're not living it, it's your choice. When you leave a door open for the devil by not resisting temptation, accusation or deception, you are vulnerable. And if you continue to allow him access to your life, he can gain a measure of control over you. You won't lose your salvation, but you will lose your daily victory.

Many Christians today who cannot control their lives in some area wallow in self-blame instead of acting responsibly to solve the problem. They berate themselves and punish themselves for not having the will power to break a bad habit, when instead they should be resisting Satan in an area where he had obviously robbed them of control. Anything bad which you seemingly cannot stop doing, or anything good which you cannot make yourself do, could be an area of demonic control.

God's protection from demonic attack is not something you can take for granted irrespective of how you behave. This protection is conditional on your willingness to respond to God's provision. We are told to put on Christ and make no provision for the flesh (Romans 13:14), to put on the armor of God and to stand firm (Ephesians 6:11), to submit to God and resist the devil (James 4:7). If we irresponsibly ignore God's resources by failing to obey these commands, how can we expect Him to protect us? Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.

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