Pastor's Pen
You Are the Devil’s
Match
James 4:7
When Mohammed Ali and George Foreman came for the Rumble in the Jungle in
Zaire in 1974 for the World Heavyweight boxing championship, the two boxers were required to mount a scale to determine their weight whether they were a match.
After determining the weight of both boxers, the commission allowed them to
face each other to determine who will rule the world of boxing. Mohammed Ali won that match.
The world we live in is a world of battles, troubles, and challenges.
Everyone will face these three things in life.
Job says during his travails: “Man that is born of a woman is of
few days, and full of trouble.” (Job 14:1).
Let me just digress a little bit here. It was not God’s original plan to
create His image for troubles. The sin of disobedience caused by the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life brought troubles to humanity.
Pride did not enter man until Eve and Adam ate the forbidden fruit. The
forbidden fruit was for the knowledge of good and evil. This fruit brought self-discovery: “And the eyes of both of them were opened (Genesis 3:7)”. The moment you
discover yourself (more than you really are), pride enters your heart.
Be careful of what the devil promises you. His promises are just to set you
against your maker just as he rebelled in heaven, and he was casted out. The devil is eager to get you out from the presence of God.
Watch what he said to Eve in Genesis 3:4 - 5
“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely
die:”
“Foe God doth know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes
shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”
The devil created unattainable expectations of their becoming God. He
introduced them to what made him fall.
Just as Lucifer was driven out from the presence of God, Adam and Eve were
also driven out. When you step ahead of God, you step into pain and frustration.
Please don’t go ahead of God. Be content with where He has placed you and
wait to the next lifting which He has prepared for you.
Watch this, as God’s image and likeness, we have the propensity to overcome
any and every trouble.
The root behind any trouble is none other than the devil himself. The devil
is opposed to everything that God created. So, whatever you are going through is just because you are God’s creation.
As a matter of fact, the devil intensifies the problem when you become born
again.
Now, the stakes are higher for you have an eternal destiny with God which
the devil lost through covetousness and pride.
Remember that this audacity and boldness from James was written to the
Jewish believers scattered all over the world due to the persecution of the church in the first century. Therefore, it is also written for any Christian who will face any kind of vicious attacks from
the devil.
One thing that should gladden the heart of any believer is the comfort from
the scriptures that we are The Devil’s Match. We are not lower than the devil. We can easily contend with the devil without losing the fight.
The dictionary meaning of resist according to
Merriam Webster are:
- To exert force in opposition.
- To exert oneself so as to counteract or defeat.
- To withstand the force or effect of.
So, when you are resisting, you are opposing, withstanding,
counteracting, and combating.
These are methodologies of engagement for victory. To counterbalance the
devil, we have to resist him.
Whatever you don’t resist persists.
If you want to shake the kingdom of darkness, you must resist its head –
The Devil himself.
Anything or anyone you resist loses its
confidence.
When you resist anything or anyone with equal or greater force, it is
certain that you will either overcome if your force is greater, or you weaken the opposing force is you are of equal force.
If you are of equal force, you either need greater help or strength to wear
out your opposition.
Resistance presents a picture of either equilibrium or
subjugation.
For the believers in Christ Jesus, we are equipped to subdue any and every
opposition. Through the new birth, the fivefold blessings of Genesis 1:28 (fruitfulness, multiplication, Filling the earth, subjugation, and dominion) were restored on those who dare to believe Jesus
as the Son of God and their savior, as they also become sons of God.
At the second birth, the gene of God is restored.
Look at the great possibility and audacity given to the followers of
Jesus.
The ability to be a match the devil in any warfare!
Through our redemption, the blessing to subdue and have dominion is
restored.
The renderings from these three translations will help us to coalesce the
ways in which resisting the devil comes easy.
KJV - “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from
you.”
MSG - “So let God work His will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him make himself scarce.”
AMP - So, submit to [the authority of God]. Resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you.”
So, we
can resist devil, yell at the devil, and stand firm against the devil.
As a matter of fact, you can do what Jesus did to the devil at the
beginning of His earthly ministry when He yelled at the devil to “get you behind me.” (Matthew 4:10). And he left Jesus alone.
The Bible is saying that as it was possible for Jesus to be a match to the
devil, so are you equally empowered to be a match to the devil.
1 Samuel 17 is the story of how the Philistines army under the leadership
of Goliath (nearly 10ft tall, 120 pounds of bronze armor vv5 - 7) terrorized the children of Israel for 40 days without anyone able to square up with him from the camp of Israel. This man’s
appearance was so terrifying that King Saul pee in his pants (“when Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid” v11) until David came
on the scene.
The Bible says in verse 32, “David said to Saul, “Your Majesty, no
one should be afraid of this Philistine! I will go and fight him.” In essence David was saying: “I am his match.”
The resumé of the devil is equally intimidating to anyone: Made the earth
tremble, shake kingdoms, made the world a wilderness, destroyed cities, and kept his captives securely (Isaiah 12: 16 – 17). If you are in doubt, ask Job. He will tell you how ferocious the devil is.
He destroys whatever is in his path. Yet, the Bible is saying you have the power to resist him.
Saul, a warrior king with all his soldiers and commanders who had won many
battles quaked before Goliath. But the inexperienced David saw what others did not see. He saw how he could redirect the battle. He turned the battle to the battle of the Lord.
Every born-again person has been designated as the devil’s
match: “you shall resist the devil and he will flee.”
Continued on devotion
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