From Eliyahu
Consider this:
Have you been saved by grace
through faith in the Son of God? Great. Since you're saved now, you can go
spend your life on whatever you want; or so a lot of people think. However,
that's not what the Scriptures say. For example, Paul wrote this:
" By
grace you have been saved through faith,
and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of Elohim, not of works, that
no one would boast. For
we are his workmanship, created in Messiah Yeshua for good works, which
Elohim prepared in advance that we would walk in them."
(Ephesians 2:8-10)
The point here is, you were
saved to fulfill a unique pre-ordained purpose, good works, for you to walk
in. Salvation is not a gift to be wasted, but is an opportunity to produce
fruit for the Kingdom. This is true for every believer. (Matt 14:23)
So what happens when you step
forward to do that ministry He has ordained for you? In a word, the
devil happens, and he wants to make a deal.
This may involve sometimes
called a "Faustian bargain", a deal whereby a person trades something of
spiritual importance, for some worldly or material benefit. The term refers
to the legend of Faust, a character in German folklore, who agrees to
surrender his soul to an evil spirit in exchange for other-worldly powers
that give him access to the worldly position and pleasures he desires.
You might be thinking, "I would
recognize that if that were happening, and I would never make that deal with
the devil!" Ah, but the devil is seldom so obvious as the Faustian bargain
might suggest. Remember, the devil is represented by a serpent, and serpents
are very stealthy. |
 
Actually, the devil seldom makes
a straight-up bargain for the believer's soul. It is far easier for him to
simply neutralize the effectiveness of the believer, to make the believer
unfruitful, and if possible, outright disobedient. Further, the devil has a
full toolbox he can use for that purpose. Besides that, the devil doesn't
even need to carry the toolbox around with him, since his target is often
carrying exactly the tool needed to bring about his own undoing. What do I
mean? This:
"Now the works of the
flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness,
lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of
anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies, envying, murders, drunkenness,
orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also
forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the
Kingdom of Elohim!" Galatians 5:19-21
Within our fallen human nature we all have inclinations the devil can use to
bring us down. When this happens, the target seldom even knows the devil had
anything to do with it. On the contrary, due to the defect in his character
used as a tool of his own demise, the target often feels justified in the
very behavior that has neutralized him from bringing forth good fruit for
the Kingdom, side-lining him into evil.
Do not minimize the lethality of
the devil. He is very dangerous to the believer, and is very poor company
indeed.
I have often heard people say things like "the devil can't hurt me because I
am a child of God!" Be aware, that IS NOT what the Bible says about the
devil. It says this:
"Be sober and
self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around
like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Withstand him steadfast
in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are
undergoing the same sufferings." 1 Peter 5:8-9
We are at war with the devil and his hordes. If you are not seeing that then
you are already in a lot of trouble. In Matthew 4 we find Yeshua beginning
his ministry by doing warfare with the devil. We can all learn a lot about
how to win that battle by observing how our Messiah got the victory in that
situation. We can win too, if we take the war seriously, and do what Messiah
did.
Tonight The Adventure Begins
As Yeshua starts His ministry by defeating the devil! Join us for this live-stream broadcast tonight,
July 2, at Tsiyon.Net
at 8 PM, Central. Are you in it to win it? Then don't miss this!
In His Name,
Eliyahu
Tsiyon.Org
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