Most Christians go through life hoping they can just live out their lives in peace without too many problems.  They don’t want to make waves.  To me, living life on the defense is no better than spending life ducking behind a shield, peeping out from behind it from time to time to see what’s out there.  Remember, as a Christian you have been given a sword also, and no, it wasn’t given to you to prop up your shield, or to stick in the ground to mark where you gave up and died.  By the way, did you know a shield can be used as an offensive weapon as well?
   The Lord Jesus said in John 16:33; These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.  He didn’t we would escape trouble because we are His disciples.  In fact, He tells us we WILL have trouble.  But did you notice the “BE OF GOOD CHEER”?  You don’t have to be afraid of trouble!  Why not? because He has overcome the world.  When trouble comes, and it does, we have two options: one is, we can call everyone we know and tell them of our troubles.  We can moan and groan about how bad it is and come into agreement with the devil, which is the same as sending an engraved invitation to him inviting him to send you more troubles.  God wants us to have a testimony.  But when many get the test, all they have is the “moanies”.  You know, the Lord Jesus didn’t tell us to talk ABOUT our problems, but rather, to talk TO our problems.  Many people think problems and trouble come from God, but if you look at Luke 4:18, you will quickly see God is not the source of trouble, and that Jesus came to help those in trouble.
   Nobody likes trouble, but most people don’t do anything about staying out of it.  Oh, they think they can just spend their lives behind their shield of faith and hope to escape most of it.  I’ve heard people say, If the devil hits me with one more fiery dart, I just don’t think my shield can take anymore.  My reply to them is, Why don’t you yank all those fiery darts out of your shield and start shooting them back at the devil, plus a multitude more?  Uh….can I do that?
   Sure you can!  Nobody has ever won a war with a good defense.  You win wars with a strong offense, not by ducking behind a shield.  If you are shooting more darts at the devil than he is shooting at you, then pretty soon it will be him ducking behind the shield, looking for a way of escape.  God didn’t send His Son to redeem us from our sins so He could raise up a family of cowardly shield-duckers, He redeemed us to train us up to become OVERCOMERS!  He gave us His Holy Spirit in order to make us dangerous to the devil!  How do we do that?  Glad you asked!
   It is written in James 4:7, Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  So here is option number two.  What are YOU doing when trouble comes?  It’s not enough just to submit yourself unto God when trouble comes, hoping He will just automatically make it all go away.  He instructs YOU to RESIST THE DEVIL.  Now, resisting the devil does NOT mean to hide behind your shield.  It means to come out swinging that sword (the Word of God) to slice, dice, chop and otherwise render the devil’s attack against you null and void.  Carefully note the third portion of James 4:7…and he will flee from you.  Why would the devil flee from you?  Because, armed with the Word of God, he knows he is absolutely no match for you.  But as long as you live your life behind your shield, you’re no threat to him whatsoever.  You’re small change, chickenfeed, easy pickings, get the picture?

   1 Peter 5:8 says, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:  Note the wording of this verse: He isn’t telling God to be sober and vigilant, but for YOU to be.  Don’t allow yourselves to be deceived, for your adversary the devil, AS a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he MAY devour.  That means he isn’t really a lion at all, but all roar and no bite.  Upon His resurrection, Jesus took his claws and teeth, what’s the devil going to do, GUM YOU TO DEATH?  Besides all that, the devil is seeking your permission to devour you.  The word MAY is permissive. The word CAN means he’s able, but that’s not the word used here.  The devil needs YOUR permission to devour you.  May he have you for lunch, pretty please?  Can you say ….NO WAY!!! ?  If you’re smart you will.

   Really, he hopes you will just continue hiding behind your shield, because you make his work a lot easier.  For when other Christians see you hide from him, they will think it’s ok for them to do likewise, and he can have free reign to harass and intimidate and afflict whosoever he wills, for there is no opposition whatsoever.  Most people even help him along with their words.  You may think your words don’t have anything to do with it, but think again.  The devil’s words have no authority whatsoever on Earth, but YOURS do.  So he is hoping to use your words against you to work evil in your life.  Have you ever said “I hope I’ll get over my cold soon.”?  By your words you’ve made it yours. Even though the Lord Jesus took all your diseases upon Himself in your place, you’ve taken them back by your words.  Your arthritis?  Your cancer?  Your diabetes?  Your pain?  Take ownership of them with your words and they’re yours. 
   I speak of MY healing, MY blessings of Abraham, MY peace, My joy.  Others speak of how everything is going wrong, and they actually try to tell me speaking to the problem doesn’t work.  Well, let me put like this:  the Lord Jesus said in Mark 11:23; For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.   Did He lie?  No way!  He told us the easy way and we choose the hard way, saying, “Oh wow, look at that mountain. It just gets higher every day, I’ll never find a way over it or around it.  OK, I’ll try it…Be thou cast into the sea.  See? it’s still there, I knew it wasn’t going anywhere….”  That verse DID work, because you believed in your heart it wouldn’t work, even though you said it, and you got EXACTLY what you believed in your heart.
   Tell me, how do you ever expect your life to be different if you don’t believe the Word of God?  You’ll never be dangerous to the devil as long as you’re in agreement with him.  In fact, you’ll actually be helping him destroy you.  How long must you stand and speak the Word of God over your life?  You do it until you win.  But don’t stop speaking the Word of God after you win, because the devil is always plotting his next attack against you. Is your attitude “win a few, lose a few”?  Then you need a new attitude, that of an overcomer.  That means NEVER losing.  Jesus never said you have to lose a few, that’s the world talking. 
   The Word of God will change you from pitiful to powerful for as long as you stay right with God and continue to use it.  Personally, I love submitting myself unto God, resisting the devil, and watching him flee from me.  I intend to be the devil’s worst nightmare for the rest of my life.  He destroyed my life for forty five years, and now…PAYBACK!!!
    Are YOU dangerous to the devil?  You are if the Word of God abides in you and continually comes out of your mouth.  And if not, why wait any longer?