I came across an article written by Jesse Duplantis, called "Never Fight An Enemy That Is Already Defeated." It's a well written article, and I am taking the opportunity to use part of it as this week's commentary. The following was written by Jesse Duplantis.
Some people think living for God is boring, but I enjoy my Christianity. … When I meet people who (think that) … they just don’t know the God I know. They may be saved, but they just haven't gotten to know Jesus enough to see how good He really is. They're usually still holding on to old ways of doing things instead of letting their "new creature" develop and grow in Gods goodness.
Staying on the fence is miserable, but living for God is not. I tell people, "When you understand the God I know, then you'll understand the joy I have." It's just that simple. People ask me, "Do you get sad?" I say, "I tried sad. I didn't like it. … I've realized something: the Word of God can work! All it takes is faith in God and patience to resist the devil.
I'm no different than you. The devil tries to throw doubting thoughts and problems my way too, but I've made up my mind that I'm not going to assist him. I'm going to resist him (James 4:7)! He may fight me, but I will walk on him!
I refuse to allow myself to dwell on what he has to say about the situations that come up. I resist him by shifting my thinking to the Word. When I'm being attacked, I ask myself, "What does God's Word say?"
God never told us to fight the devil with our own strength. He gave us victory over all the works of the enemy when He sent Jesus to the cross. So, we don’t have to fight an enemy that has already been defeated. We just have to walk in our victory by continually enforcing Satan's defeat.
It's not time to fight the devil: it's time to walk on him! You see, the devil is under our feet! We don’t have to fight, beg or plead for him to go. Instead we can keep our self-respect and just do what James 4:7-8 says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners: and purify your hearts, ye double minded."
By George Konig
Christian Internet Forum
www.georgekonig.org
Aug. 17, 2003
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