HAVING FAITH IN THE DEVIL
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4 NKJV
The line goes something like this, “I’m really serving God in this ( endeavor ), so I know the enemy is going to oppose me!” If people had such trust in God as they do in the devil, we would see miracle after miracle. I learned the fallacy of this almost thirty years ago. I too believed that the devil would harass me because I was serving the Lord.
I was teaching a class for new believers and, of course, expecting the devil to harass me. He didn’t disappoint! I was driving down the street one day when a flock of boys on bikes decided to see how close they could get to my car. Long story shortened…I ran over a bike but didn’t hurt the boy, thank You God!
Right then and there I decided, THIS will not happen again. Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world! To hell with the devil…I will believe God! Thirty years of serving Him and I’ve never rode over another bicycle!
UNFORGIVENESS
“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. Mark 11:25 NKJV
We had traveled all night from the west Tanzania town of Mwanza to the Kenya border town of Busia, arriving at our hotel at 2pm. At 4pm I was scheduled to preach at an open air service. As I cleaned up, I asked the Lord, “What do I preach on?” He said, “Preach on Me as the Healer of broken hearts from Luke 4:18.” Cool!
About three hundred dear ones attended the open air service. I preached forcefully, then decided to give an altar call for salvation. No one responds. I say, “Lord, what do I do?” He says, “What did you preach on, knucklehead?” Oh! “Who has a broken heart?” The whole crowd stands up!
I lead them through forgiveness, and the Spirit of God falls on the meeting. People are weeping, crying, pouring out their hearts to God! A few days later I get a visitor to my hotel, who invites me to his beautiful home. There, he and his wife share their testimony.
They owned a bread factory. Kenya had just begun a two party political system, and this man decided to run as an opposition candidate for governor over the province. The day before the election his factory was invaded by armed men who destroyed all of his equipment. Then, of course, the next day he lost the election. All of his equipment was insured, but the company in Nairobi would not pay for the damages. He tried in vain for months to get them to pay…
That night in the open air service the man and his wife forgave from their hearts everyone who had hurt them. The next day the company called from Nairobi and offered to pay in full for all the equipment they had lost!
Owe no one anything except to love one another…Rom 13:8 NKJV
Mercy is shown to those who show mercy. Forgiveness is releasing people from the debt of love that they owe you, and restoring them to the position of esteem that they had before the wrongdoing was done. You have to say, from your heart, “I forgive you…and I love you!”
Unforgiveness, a self-inflicted wound, keeps us from receiving the mercies of God.
NOT DWELLING RICHLY IN THE WORD
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly…Col 3:16 NKJV
I once was asked to speak to a group of bishops. They were long-faced, unsmiling, cold. I asked them how many of them read five chapters a day in the word of God. Not one hand went up! I then proceeded to tell them exactly what I thought God wanted me to say to them, in no uncertain terms. And, it wasn’t pleasant!
I once attended a conference of Assemblies of God pastors. I was sitting in the back, on the aisle, when I noticed a strange figure in a black cape on the second row. He stepped out into the row, turned, and I saw his face. With eyes like fire, and blood dripping down from the sides of his mouth, he walked towards me until he disappeared. Then I understood why things are the way they are. The enemy sends vampire spirits against men and women of God to try to suck the life out of them!
This is why pastors burn out, leave the ministry, have affairs and otherwise run from God.
It’s only one book. It’s so subtle! You’ve read it a hundred times. The words don’t change. So, you say, I know Romans. I know Ephesians. I know Genesis. Stop right there! Repent of that attitude. You are walking into a minefield of disaster if you go down that road. You will be a statistic before long!
If you love Me, keep My commandments. John 14:15 NKJV
Ask the Holy Spirit to open the Word to you every time you read it. Reading the Bible is an act of worship. Jesus equated love for Himself to our relationship to His Word. To keep is the word TEREO, meaning to guard, watch over and preserve by application. If you don’t guard, watch over and preserve God’s Word by applying it, you really don’t love Jesus. Self-inflicted wounds!
NOT PRAYING IN TONGUES
I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; 1 Cor 14:18 NKJV
What happens when you don’t pray much in tongues? Nothing. No miracles, no signs, no wonders. Dull days and long nights, wondering why I’m not successful. A self-inflicted wound. When I began to pray in tongues for hours, miracles began to multiply in my life. Being a believer became fun, like it is supposed to be!
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Rom 8:37 NKJV
Self inflicted wounds, dear ones! We can avoid all of them. God tells us to be sober, be vigilant. You don’t have to be a statistic. You can be a success. Love you!
Remember dear ones, we must be about our Father’s business…