Published by admin on 29 Mar 2008 at 10:49 pm
NEVER GIVE UP!
The devil wants more than anything for you to get tired of all the trials you are going through for the word of God in you. Just like a dripping faucet finally gets on your nerves, he is out to wear you down a day at a time, until you finally think it isn’t worth the trouble anymore. That’s what he wants. The devil is hoping you will take the path of least resistance, just like water does, or electricity. He’s hoping you will become battle weary and give up your eternal inheritance that God has offered you. He is counting on the fact that sooner or later, you’ll throw up your hands and give up. Why? Because so many have in the past. They got their eyes off the prize.
He has the advantage over you in the physical realm, in that you need food, drink, clothing, and sleep, while he needs none of that. While you are out working to earn the things you need, he is plotting against you. While you’re sleeping, he is making his move against you. The devil never takes a day off, never sleeps, never goes on vacation, and never calls in sick. At best, you can resist him maybe twenty hours a day, while he is working contrary to you twenty four hours a day. And he is counting on eventually wearing you to a frazzle.
You may be thinking about now, I don’t want to hear about the devil, I just want to hear about Jesus. But you’re in a battle, and in order to survive, you must learn about your enemy. If you join the armed forces, I promise you, they will teach you how to do battle. And the first thing you’ll learn is how to be fit, so you’re in condition for battle. Secondly, you will learn how to identify your enemy. After all, what good is it to be strong for battle, if you don’t know who or what you are fighting? They will teach you the enemy’s habits, what to look for, where to look for them, and most importantly, how the enemy behaves, so you will have some hope of anticipating his next move when you meet him.
Imagine what kind of hope you would have for survival if your drill sergeant only taught you about how wonderful it would be to live in a world without war, and that someday war would be ended forever. Well, that’s a real nice thought, and yes, one day that will be true, but for now, we’re in a war, and if you’re going to survive to the end, you’d better pay attention to how your enemy is going to try to destroy you. And you’d better learn everything you can about him while you still can, because he knows you better than you know yourself. He has been around for thousands of years perfecting his skills of destruction, while you are indeed a novice without a clue of how deadly and merciless he is, and how many have fallen slain at his feet.
A good many men and women of God have fallen and not risen again because they were totally unprepared for the fierceness of his attacks. They imagined that because they were fair and honest people, that Satan would play fair when battling them. Wrong. Dead wrong. Satan ignores the rules of engagement that the U.N. says should be observed. He fights to win, and doesn’t care how low and dirty he has to get to accomplish his means. He will use your own mother against you if he can. He says rules are meant to be broken. If you’re in a duel with him, and the judge says take three paces, then turn and fire, he will take one pace, and turn and fire. And you’re dead. He doesn’t care about rules. He is absolutely ruthless and he is out to destroy you, period, and he gives no mercy.
Now, do I have your attention yet? How about after he steals you blind, even though you are a faithful giver? How about after he kills your children with disease, or destroys your marriage through strife? Then will you get serious about knowing your enemy? I hope it never comes to that, but if you hide your head in the sand long enough, sooner or later, he will come and chop it off for you.
The only real weapon the devil has against us is his lies. He will lie to you to try to make you think you cannot be a child of God. He will try to make you think God does not love you. He will insist that he is unbeatable, no matter how much you love God. He will steal from you to try to make you believe that God is powerless to help you.
But there’s good news!
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”
A person without a relationship with God is helpless against the devil, yet there is one thing the devil does not have power to do. He cannot stop you from being saved. That is the one thing that God did to yank the slack out of the devil’s chain. You may be getting hit on every side by the devil, but the moment you cry out to Jesus, He will save you from destruction.
Does that mean the battle is over for you? No. Actually, that means the battle will usually just get fiercer. But now there’s a difference with Jesus on board, or rather, you being on board with Jesus. Imagine yourself in a Sherman Tank, and there’s this annoying jerk outside with a slingshot pelting you with rocks all day. He knows he can’t hurt you, but he can sure give you a substantial headache with all the racket he’s making bouncing rocks off your tank. At this point, you have two options: you can just sit in there, smug in the knowledge that you’re untouchable, or….., you can swing the big gun around and put the hurt on him. And while you may think that’s not fair to him because you’re in a tank now, and all he has is a slingshot, remember, before you came to Jesus, he had no mercy on you, no mercy at all. So why are you willing to be merciful to him?
Again, even though you’re untouchable in your tank with Jesus, that doesn’t mean his continual pelting your tank with rocks won’t eventually get on your nerves, maybe even to the point of you giving up, like I said in the beginning. We never want to underestimate his tenacity.
God never promised us roses without thorns, or victory without a battle. Storms are necessary in life. If we never faced trials, we would never know how wonderfully God protects us from destruction. If we never went through the valley, we would never know how high indeed the mountaintop is, once we get there. There is one thing we need very badly, and that is “staying power”.
If you ever played “King of the hill” as a child, you will know that in order to stay on the top of the hill and be “King”, you must keep everyone else from pushing you off. And as long as you have staying power to resist, you will stay on top. But when you weaken, there comes a time you will be pushed from your position.
God will give you that “staying power” that you do not have on your own, so you can continually resist the attacks of the devil. God doesn’t want you to just “survive the war”. He means for you to WIN! Remember, the devil never quits, and God did not say He would cause Satan to stop attacking you. But rather, God promised in James 4:7, “Submit yourselves therefore unto God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
That means exactly what it says. Number one, you must totally submit yourself unto God, being diligent to obey Him, giving Him first place in your life, not second or third. Then, number two, you must resist the devil. Resist his lies; resist his pressure, and resist him on every front. When you do, God says the devil will flee from you. Let me explain the term “flee”….imagine being out in a forest and finding this cute little grizzly bear cub. He doesn’t seem to be afraid of you, and you thought he was cute, so you go over and pick him up. You’re having a good time petting this bear cub, when you look up, and here comes Mama Bear running down the hill toward you. And you suddenly remember you have something very important to do ELSEWHERE! That’s “flee”. And that is what Satan will do if you do number one and number two on him. (PUN INTENDED)
The moral of the story is, when the devil is throwing rocks at you, instead of ducking behind your shield, waiting for his arm to get tired, (it won’t), and hoping he doesn’t knock holes in your shield, RISE UP and start throwing those rocks back at him, that have piled up all around you, so HE’S ducking rocks!
Quit wasting your time being on the DEFENSIVE. Go on the OFFENSIVE! Wars are not won by playing the defense. Wars are won by being on the offense. Beat him up with the Word of God continually. Hand him his own head on a platter, and put him in his own back pocket. Do you know what? You’ll wear HIM out! And he will flee, and go looking for someone easier to pick on. Never give up, never give in, and never back off. And God will call you “Overcomer”.
Revelation 21:7 says, “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” Now, that’s the reason to never give up!!