MATTHEW 4:10 NLT
10 "Get out of here, Satan," Jesus told him. "For the Scriptures say, 'You must worship the Lord your God; serve only him.' "
Jesus spoke directly to the devil -- and so must you.
Many Christians think they should pray about the devil and ask God to deliver them from his attacks. But the Bible is clear -- God has given the authority to believers to resist the devil.
You must control the devil, or he will control you!
Unless you exercise the authority delegated to you by Jesus Christ, the devil will wreak havoc in your life, and everywhere he is allowed to.
LUKE 10:19 NKJ
19 "Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Praying to God to stop the devil's operations is no different than my son asking me to take out the trash, after I have told him to do it.
God told us to resist the devil and he would flee. We must believe and act on God's Word.
EPHESIANS 4:27 NKJ
27 nor give place to the devil.
Would God tell us not to let the devil have any place, if we had no say about it? If the devil does have a place in our affairs, it's because we allowed it.
JAMES 4:7 NKJ
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
We must first submit to God, because we are not greater in power than the devil. But submitted to God in Christ Jesus, the devil must back off when we resist him and his works.
John 10:10 NIV
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
There is a stark contrast between the Lord Jesus Christ and the devil.
Jesus is for you. He loves you and desires the best for you. He loves you even more than He loves Himself. He proved it by dying in your place. His desire is for you to have life in its fullness -- life as God planned it to be -- both now and for all eternity.
The devil is the opposite of Jesus. The devil is against you and is always trying to steal from you, kill you, and destroy everything that is good. The devil is selfish and does not care about you or anyone else but himself.
Can you trust the devil? Yes . . . to be the devil. You can depend on him lying and trying to always deceive you. The purpose of this deception is always to draw you away from God and His Word because that is your only source of help and deliverance from the devil's strategies -- which are stealing, killing, and destroying.
Can you trust Jesus? The answer should be obvious. Anyone who cares for you enough to die in your place, suffering for you, so you won't have to suffer, is trustworthy. Jesus promised to never forsake you. He will never quit loving you and trying to help you.
The trouble is, too many people hinder Jesus from helping them. They believe and follow what the devil says, and turn away from Jesus and the Word of God.
You need to invite and welcome Jesus Christ into your life -- in every area. He wants to help you, but will not force His help on you. If you don't -- the devil may get into those areas of your life and wreak havoc.
COLOSSIANS 1:13 NKJ
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.
Many people are afraid of the devil. As believers we have no need to be afraid of the devil, although we should be aware and on guard against his schemes.
The only true power the devil holds over a believer now is the power of deception. If you do not know the truth the devil will take advantage of you. The only way to know the truth is to read, understand, and act on the Scriptures.
To illustrate, imagine entering the hospital room of patient paralyzed from their neck down. All they can do is talk. They pose no threat to you, unless they convince you to take the gun from beside the bed and shoot yourself with it.
(How could they do that? One way would be to convince you that the gun was not real or not loaded, so it wouldn't harm you.)
You may think this is ridiculous, but it happens constantly with people who do not realize that the words they speak are powerful, and that the ideas they speak originate with the devil. Every day the devil convinces millions of people to take a spiritual "weapon" -- their words -- and use it against themselves.
The devil operates against you through fear and ignorance. God's Word gives you the information that will set you free from both fear and ignorance.
HEBREWS 2:14-15 NASB
14 Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil;
15 and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.
MARK 16:17 NKJ
17 "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; for believers to cast out demons, it means they must have authority over the devil and his forces. However, unused authority conveys no benefit.
SAY THIS: Jesus is my lord, and the devil has no owner over me.
I have been delivered from the devil's authority. I am free, so leave me alone, devil!
