#WHOM HE MAY #DEVOUR #When you yield yourself to sin, you’re serving Satan, who is the author of that sin. But when you yield yourself to obedience, you serve God, who is the author of that righteousness. 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? ROMANS 6:16 In this spiritual battle, your actions are very important. Most people recognize that actions are important in the physical realm. You know that there are consequences for what you do. If you’re speeding while driving, you could get a ticket or cause a wreck. The ticket could cost money and put points on your license. The wreck could damage cars or even cost someone their life. When we talk negatively about someone, we can hurt their feelings or even loose demonic powers against them. There’s much more to life than just this physical, natural, surface level. Spiritual dynamics are constantly taking place. Whether or not the person you’re speaking evil about ever knows it, you’ll be affected. Venting anger, frustration, resentment, or unforgiveness affects you whether it affects anyone else or not. I’ve actually ridden with people who are very vocal in traffic when someone cuts them off. They’ve told me, “That person doesn’t know what I said. They didn’t hear me.”It doesn’t matter whether they ever hear you or not. If you get angry and bitter, you’ve just yielded yourself to Satan. Whether you recognize it or not, the devil is the one who influences us to respond in the wrong way. The Wrath of Man James 1:20 says, “The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.”In other words, giving place to anger and bitterness doesn’t accomplish the righteousness of God. You aren’t going to accomplish God’s purposes by getting in the flesh, giving in to anger, and losing your temper. That’s not the way God’s kingdom works. So whether anyone else ever hears you or not—what you say is having an effect on you. A fellow I led to the Lord some time ago was genuinely converted and had come quite a ways in his discipleship. He upholstered cars and was trying to restore a certain old one. One day, I went over to his house and knocked on the door but there was no answer. I knew he was home, so I walked around to the backyard. As I came around the corner of his house, I heard this awful profanity, screaming, and yelling. This brother had a fence post and was beating the fire out of that car! He was cussing this car up and down as I—his pastor—came around the corner. When he saw me, he stopped for a moment (conviction, I presume) and said, “Well, it’s just a car. It’s doesn’t matter what I say to it. I didn’t hurt anybody.”I had to explain to him that it didn’t matter what it was. When you give place to anger and vent like that, Satan jumps on it like a chicken on a June bug. The enemy will take full advantage of an open door like that to come and steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10.) Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. JAMES 3:16 Notice how this didn’t say, “some” evil works. It didn’t say envying and strife “could” allow the devil to come against “certain types of people.”No, when you get into envy and strife, you’re flinging the door wide open and saying, “Come on in Satan and do your worst in my life.”You’re drawing a great big target on your back and saying, “Shoot your best shot!”When you give in to envy and strife, you make yourself a target for the devil.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 22:08:28 +0000
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