Revival Today Devotional Saturday, September 21st 2013 THE POWER OF BEING GOD-CONSCIOUS “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” (Isaiah 26:3 NKJV) Satan is not a figment of the imagination; he is a real evil personality. The Scripture clearly attests to the existence of a real devil who is a sworn or avowed enemy of God’s people (Matt. 13:39, John 8:44, 1 John 3:8, 10, Rev. 12:17). Therefore, the believers are admonished to: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Pet. 5:8-9 NKJV). “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Eph. 6:11 NKJV). While it is true that there is an evil and unrepentant devil who is going to and fro on the earth and who is unrelenting in his mission to steal, kill and destroy, yet God’s children are not expected to be overly devil- conscious or preoccupied with the devil. One of the major symptoms of today’s Church spiritual illness and immaturity is “devil- consciou sness.” Many believers today are too preoccupied with the devil. They are always speaking of what the devil is doing, constantly seeking for the devil, and always seeing the devil in every person, thing or situation. They are always pondering on the devil’s next plans, targets and attacks, and steadfastly fixing their minds on the devil. Being overly devil-conscious will do you no good. It will only magnify the work, the power and presence of the devil. It will breed fear, worry, anxiety or restlessness in your mind. It will also diminish or belittle God’s work, power and presence in your life and situation. It is so sad but true that many believers today are dealing with the devil as though Christ has not disarmed and defeated him through His death on the cross (Col. 1:15, Eph. 4:8). When you are devil-conscious , you are obviously not conscious of Christ’s victory over the devil through the cross. The only infallible antidote to being Satan- conscious is to be God-conscious. This requires a radical and conscious change in your perspective, your way of thinking, your mindset or mentality. You can never experience perfect peace and joy, or experience constant victory over the devil by fixing your mind on the devil, but only by staying your mind on God. The Scripture states that God is only committed to keeping you in prefect peace when you are God- conscious: “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” (Isa. 26:3 NKJV). When your mind is preoccupied with God or your thoughts revolve around God, God will keep you in perfect peace notwithstanding the devil and his activities. When you are consciously and consistently meditating on what Christ has done for you through His death on the cross and what He is doing for you and in you; Christ’s awesome presence and power will pervade your life and situation. If the devil cannot get you to think or meditate on him constantly and continuously, he cannot beset or torment you with fear constantly and continuously. Regrettably, many of the special prayer and deliverance services in our churches today are borne out of the fear of the devil. They are simply borne out of undue preoccupation and meditation on the devil and his activities. Many “false prophets and deliverance ministers” are flourishing today by simply making the undiscerning people to be more devil-conscious . All that they perceive, receive, reveal or prophesy to the gullible souls patronizing them is what the devil has done, or what the devil is doing, or what the devil wants to do in their lives, families, finances, careers or businesses. They are a bunch of liars and exploiters! Satan is a disarmed and defeated foe. Christ’s victory over the devil and his cohorts through the cross is absolute, undeniable and incontestable. The Scripture attests to Christ’s triumph: “Principalities and powers he disarmed, and openly displayed them as his trophies, when he triumphed over them in the cross.” (Col. 2:15 MNT). “Therefore it says: "When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men." (Eph. 4:8 NASB). If you are truly born again, the victory Christ won over the devil is now your own victory. You have triumphed over the devil through the cross. That is why Jesus said: "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. "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.” (Luke 10:18-19 NKJV). Being Satan- conscious is nothing but an expression of unbelief in God’s Word! How then should a born again believer deal with the devil? First, the Scripture admonishes you not to give any place, room, or opportunity to the devil (Eph. 4:27). Sin always gives the devil an inroad or foothold in your life. So, don’t toy with sin or cover any sin in your life. The Scripture warns: “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” (Prov. 28:13 NKJV). If you sin, promptly repent and confess your sin to God and receive by faith the forgiveness and cleansing in the blood of Jesus. The Scripture assures: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness .” (1 John 1:9 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.” (1 John 2:1-2 NKJV) Second, the Scripture admonishes you to always put on the whole armour of God. The Scripture says: “Therefore, put on 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 the utility belt of truth buckled around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having fitted your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Eph. 6:13-17 WEB). Lastly, anytime the devil shows up, you must resist him, standing firm in the victory that Christ has won for you and exercising the authority Christ has given you. The Scripture says: “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (Jam. 4:7 NKJV). When you resist or stand up against the devil, he will flee from you. But when you are preoccupied with the devil, he will draw near to you and put you to flight. This is why many believers today who should put devil to flight are the one fleeing from one prophet to another and from one church to another because of the fear of the devil. Beloved, you cannot enjoy constant, consistent and continuous victory over the devil unless you consciously and consistently fix your mind on God. Always look out for God and His doing, His power and His presence in your life and situation. When you are obsessed or preoccupied with God, you will see and deal with the devil as a defeated foe. Therefore, begin today to fix your mind on God and God will keep you in perfect peace in spite of the devil and his activities in this evil and troubled world. Prayer: My Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for showing me today how to see and deal with the devil regardless of his roaring. Dear Holy Spirit, help me to continually fix my mind on God and what He is doing in my life and situation, in Jesus’ name. Amen
Posted on: Sat, 21 Sep 2013 12:26:41 +0000