Ephesians 4:25-28 DRA
Wherefore putting away lying, speak ;ye the truth every man with his neighbour; for we are members one of another. Be angry, and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your anger. Give not place to the devil. He that stole, let him now steal no more; but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have something to give to him that suffereth need.
I have been seeing a lot of posts by people who say, "The devil is attacking me." "The devil is doing... to me."
I just want to remind everyone that number 1: the devil has been defeated by Jesus. He knows that he lost. He knows the end of the book.
Number 2: he does not have the power that God does. God is Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Etc., the devil is not.
The devil is a created being so, that means he is not God nor does he have the same power that God does. This may be one of the reasons Paul told the Ephesian church not to give him power.
Remember that in the Book of Job, the devil approached God and challenged that Job only follows God because of what God does for him. God gave permission to the devil to prove a point. In other words, the devil could not bring affliction on Job unless he had permission.
Job 1:6-12 NKJV
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord , and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person. ” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord .
Now with that said, is it possible that a Christian could have a spiritual attack? Yes, the fact that we follow God makes us a target. In fact, Paul told the same church to be sure to put on "The Armor of God". This is a reminder that we will deal with attacks from the spiritual world even through others attacking our beliefs.
Ephesians 6:10-18 NKJV
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
I do want to point out that all the struggles we deal with is not necessarily a spiritual attack or affliction caused by the devil. To paraphrase what John was talking about in his first epistle, he said, "When and if you sin, you need to repent and not stay in your sin. You need to seek forgiveness from God and who you sinned against. That means that a lot of times the afflictions we deal with is because of decisions we may have made that led us to poor results. If I jumped off a roof and broke my leg, is it because the devil was attacking me or is it because I made a bad choice?
I John 1:5-10 NKJV
This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
I John 2:1-11 NKJV
My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
We also need to be reminded that Jesus sent a Helper to us who are believers.
John 14:15-18 NKJV
“If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
So this means that not only does He help us to remember Scripture when we are being questioned about our Faith, but it also means that He is our Comforter and He will help us not to sin among other things.
Because He is our Helper, that also means that Christians cannot be demon possessed. When Christ comes into our lives, He fills is with His Spirit. When The Spirit fills us that means demons cannot enter into us, it's impossible for God to be near evil, The Spirit is part of The God Head so therfore, demons, who are evil, cannot be where He is too.
Habakkuk 1:13 NKJV
You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, And cannot look on wickedness. Why do You look on those who deal treacherously, And hold Your tongue when the wicked devours A person more righteous than he?
I Corinthians 12:3-6 NKJV
Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all.
We also need to remember that even though God will allow trials in our lives, He will not tempt us. He doesn't want for harm to happen to us but allows the trials for us to grow.
James 1:12-15 NKJV
Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
Let me sum all of this up:
1. Don't pass blame to something or someone else when you're probably the reason for the trial that you may be going through. Take ownership of your wrong doings.
2. Don't think your important enough that all the trials you go through come from the devil.
3. If you are a Believer, remember that Christ will protect and help you through, especially if you ask Him to.
4. If you're not a Believer and struggle with problems, now may be the time for you to ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior.
5. Without trials, we do not have challenges that we need to grow. If you're experiencing one or more now, see what you need to learn during this time and remember, it's only temporary.
Love you guys! Good Bless!
