In the next few weeks we will study from the Word of God and determine how we can successfully resist the Devil in our lives through steps of faith and obedience and through choices of integrity as well as by fellowshipping with him by prayer and openness to His Holy Spirit.

Many times we just start speaking to the problem, or speaking about the problem, but without knowledge of what is going on. We do not have a true picture, because we don’t know what the problems really is. We know what the symptoms are, but not what the root of the problem is. We need to do the following:

A. Seek or abide in the Lord and His knowledge and wisdom first. Col. 2:3, “In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” James 1:5, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.” John 15:7

We can readily see that abiding in Christ, that is by having a constant fellowship with him, the Holy Spirit of God and the Father of Lights, that there is a real and genuine wisdom and knowledge that come from just 'staying close to him'. If we then ask, when we need to have certain knowledge revealed to us, that he is able and willing to give it to us in abundance.

B. By Acting on what we learn from the knowledge. James 1:22-25, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”

We can see by the above scriptures that we must do something with what we hear from the Lord. This is where most of us fail if we are not careful. We believe that knowing the Word of God and doing it are almost the same thing, but it is clearly pointed out here that those who hear or say they believe the Word of God and those who do it are in two different classes of people. One of them is blessed and the other one is deceived. I have been both at times, and I know that if you are honest, you will probably say the same thing. However, even being honest is not the answer here, but being a doer of the Word of God.

In every situation and circumstance stated below we are to take the Word of God seriously and do as God spoke to Joshua, so that we are doing what the Lord has instructed us to do (Joshua 1:8).

Joshua 1:2-9, “Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses, From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

Romans 6:16 says, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” ...When we obey our flesh or thoughts that are in contradiction to the Word of God then we are putting ourselves in a place that Satan can take advantage of us.

1st Peter 4:17, “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” ...Does the scripture give a hint that there are consequences to those who obey not the Word or Gospel of God? Yes, of course it does. It is very plain there that something can and will happen to those who ignore the truth of the Word of God.

Give no place to the Devil: Eph. 4:25-27, “Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither give place to the devil.” Galatians 5:6, “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” Romans 13:10, “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”

2nd Corinthians 2:10-11, “But to whom ye forgive anything, I forgive also: for what I also have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, for your sakes have I forgiven it in the presence of Christ; that no advantage may be gained over us by Satan: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” Mark 11:25, “and when you stand praying forgive”

We can see how that if we ignore the Word of God and do not give it first place in our lives that, especially in certain areas, the enemy will come in a gain advantage over us. We should give heed to the Word of God at every opportunity so we find ourselves standing with God and Against Satan.

We may be tempted at times to ignore or put the Word of God aside, but when we do, we will begin to respond out of our soul or fleshly realm. This always gives room or opens the door for the devil to get a foot hold in our lives.

Whether we get angry with our spouses or a neighbor or the boss, we must allow the word of God and the Holy Spirit first place to help us or judgment will befall us. It is ungodly wrath that we allow to come into our lives against one another that is the cause for these attacks. It is our unwillingness to forgive others instead of choosing forgiveness that puts us in the wrong place and also keeps God from answering our prayers. We need to ask ourselves; is this anger worth opening the door to the enemy? I can assure you first hand that it is not worth a minute's pleasure to release our anger and displeasure at the expense of others that we love or should love.

Let us be wise today and choose love, and leave no room for the enemy in our lives. It is a choice; we can and must choose life, and not death, which are in the power of the tongue.

Blessings, prosperity and success belong to you today,

Receive them in Jesus Name

One of the first places that we must look at is our minds: 2nd Cor. 10:3-5,“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh (for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds), casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God”.

The mind is a wonderful thing, but unless we measure what we think by what the Word of God says, we will find it an enemy at times. We get many thoughts through the day, and many of them need to be put beneath the authority of the Word of God because they are contrary to what the Word says is true and contrary to what the Lord tells us to do in a given situation.

Paul says in Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” We all must be completely changed by the written and spoken word of God.”

When our minds are transformed into believing the Word of God, then we have a mighty weapon against Satan. You remember that when Jesus was tempted of the Devil that he did not stand on his own righteousness, or even who he was, but stood on the Word of God!

Matthew 4:4, “But he answered and said, it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” The Word of God is God speaking to us and the sooner we realize that, the better off we will become.

When thoughts rise up against your husband or wife, sister or brother or neighbor, then we need to allow the Word of God to direct our actions as to what we will do with the thoughts that we are having against them. It is not easy, but it is the directive of the Lord, as the word above tells us. We may even choose to obey the flesh at first, but when our spirit man is strengthened, we will make the right choices and choose life instead of death.

We see from Philippians that what we are to think on should be the Word of God, not fleshly thoughts, or demonic thoughts that would bring harm or hurt to the one that we are dealing with.

Philip 4:8-9, “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. The things which ye both learned and received and heard and saw in me, these things do: and the God of peace shall be with you.”

Our minds are a link between what we believe and what we hear. The Word of God says that “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”

Though we are tested and tried of the devil, we should always continue in the Word of Faith and believe God rather than that which the enemy throws at us. 1st Peter 1:7, “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ”

May our thoughts continually be upon the Lord and his Word today, and may we resist and take captive the thoughts that are contrary to the Word of God so that we remain faithful and victorious in Christ.’

Probably one of the most difficult times that we have as Christians to resist the enemy is when we are hurting emotionally. There is a tendency to give in to how we are feeling and revert back to the way that we normally react. It is difficult because we are hurting from an altercation or abuse or even possibly rejection. No matter what the situation or injury, we must focus on the Word of God.

It is sometimes comparable to two fighters in a boxing match. When you have been hit with something in the deepest part of your soul, you just want to sit down and quit! However, every good boxer knows that if he is going to be the victor against his opponent then he is going to have to ‘endure hardness’ against the blow that has caused him to reel backwards emotionally. It is not very easy, but the fight that we fight is one that should not be fought alone. When we fight the fight alone, many times we do want to give up and just sit down and have a pity party, but that really does not help the situation that we are facing. In fact, it only tends to get worse.

We need to have brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers ‘spiritually speaking’ that can and will come to our aid and speak words of encouragement to us as well as Godly counsel. Many times, we will just need someone to talk to; not to hear someone preach at us, but to wrap their arms around us and let us know that they are there for us. This is especially true when it comes to losing a relative, love one or close friend. Some people respond differently and more emotionally than others. We can not and must not judge others by how we react to a loss, but rather support them in whatever way that we can.

Let’s look at some examples of emotional traumas from the Word of God, John 11:33 –43:

"Then Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, and said, where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.”

I want you to recognize that Jesus was emotional, he had feelings, he felt the loss of a close friend, but he did not allow his emotions to rule him for very long. He ‘put aside’ his emotions and spoke to the problem or ‘mountain’, if you will.

You remember when He was teaching the disciples in Mark 11:12-23, “And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”

Jesus told his disciples to speak to the mountain, or situation, and to have the God kind of faith! If he told us to have Faith in God, or have the God kind of faith, then it seems to me that we must be able to have it.

When Jesus was speaking to Lazarus, he commanded the body to come forth. This meant that Lazarus’s spirit had to return to his body which was in the tombs. Jesus had to get control of his emotions or he would have prayed according to how he felt instead of how he believed! He believed that the Father always heard him, he believed that even though it looked like it was over for his friend, it was not over because of the covenant relationship that he had with his Father and because he was not moved by his emotions only, but by His faith in God.

We can see another time that Jesus was in such great agony as he prayed in the garden about the cup that he was about to drink, that he sweated great drops of blood. Matthew 26:39, “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” Jesus was facing an extremely difficult decision in His life. He was torn between obedience and the pain and suffering as well as the separation that he was going to experience from the Father. Even though he had mentioned his death earlier, his emotions were giving him problems. He was asking the Father, is there another way? In fact, He asked the question three times, until He was completely satisfied that it was the will of the Father that he go to the cross for you and I.

Luke 22-42-44, “Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. Luke 2:43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. Luke 2:44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”

Even though Jesus was in great agony, he found the Word of God from the Father. He did not just do his own thing. If Jesus would have turned his back on the cross, we would have all be lost! I am so glad that he did not allow his emotions to rule him in a critical and stressful time as he was going through.

Some might say, but that was Jesus remember; He is and was the Son of God! Yes, but he had emotions, deep emotions, concerns and feelings. You remember what the Word says in Heb 4:15, “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Philip 2:7, “but did empty himself, the form of a servant having taken, in the likeness of men having been made.”

Php 2:8 also says, “and in fashion having been found as a man, he humbled himself, having become obedient unto death--death even of a cross.” Jesus allowed himself to become human, or to be as a man, though he was God in the flesh. H was tempted in all points as we are, yet he did not succumb to sin.

Paul was another great example of someone who suffered greatly at the expense of the gospel, and also for the love that he had for the Lord and for the Church. Acts 21:13, “Then Paul answered, what mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And when he would not be persuaded, he ceased, saying, the will of the Lord be done.”

It would have been easy for Paul to give in to their emotional request, but he was determined to please the Lord, and to do what the Lord had ask of him. Acts 23:11, “And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.”

It was a quality decision for Paul to make concerning his plans of comfort or a decision of the heart to follow the directions of the Lord Jesus Christ. So too, it will be a plan from your heart and mine to follow the pathways of the Lord.