Leave No Room
I have been considering a verse in Ephesians 4 for some days now. Verse 27 tells us to leave no room or foothold for the devil and to give no opportunity to him. We know we must take this verse in the context of the chapter in which it is written and look at the verses before and after it and realize that it is talking about being angry and sinning not with that anger. We are not to let the sun go down before we let go of that anger.
Today I want to look at the idea of giving the devil no room in our lives. What gives him room in our lives and what gives him the opportunity to mess with us? What gives him the right to even touch us because 1 John 5:18 tells us that the wicked one touches us not? What opens the door for him? What triggers his operations in our lives?
We as human beings are designed with a “believer” called our spirits. God placed in us the ability to believe and the right to choose what we believe. He gave us a soul to help us make choices. That soul is made up of our mind, our will, and our emotions. Each part of our soul can contribute to our choices many times. Ideally, our spirits direct our choices and our souls agree with those choices. But here is what happens many times. We may get emotionally involved with fears and concerns and worries. We may think and ponder the wrong things, such as: What are we going to do? It looks like it is not working. Oh, my, I’m afraid I’ll not make it. That is the wrong thinking. Then our wills get involved and we make decisions out of fear.
What is the solution to overcome the emotional distress, the wrong thinking and the fear-driven choices? The Word of God! It’s that simple, huh. Really, it’s that simple. But that is too simple. Isn’t there more? No! God created us with the Word. He is the Word. All of creation responds to Him Who is the Word. What He speaks, it becomes. We are like Him. We are His children. We have His attributes. When we speak, it should become. So why doesn’t it become when we speak?
God has no fear in Him. He has no doubt or unbelief that what He says will not work. He is all faith. We, too, are designed to have faith. The problem is that we have a mixture sometimes of fear and faith, and we get exactly that----a mixture. The solution to that mixture is the purity of the Word of God. Every day we make choices based on what we believe. If we make the wrong choices, we need to fix our believer system. In Deuteronomy 30:19,20 we are told that God has set before us life and death, blessing and cursing. We are to choose life, that both we and our children may live. We are to choose God’s life, God’s way of living, God’s way of doing things. That choosing goes contrary to everything in the world’s way of doing things. It is an uphill battle sometimes to choose God’s way.
Every one of us is designed with a built-in believer. We will believe something. There is no such thing as a human being who does not believe. Even atheists believe something. They believe there is no God. That is a form of believing. What we believe is what we choose to accept as true for us in our personal lives. Let’s look at some natural examples: We choose to believe that the chair will hold us when we sit down. We choose to believe that our car will start and take us to our destination. We believe that when we pick up the telephone it will work. We believe that when we turn on our computer or our television or our ipod, it will work. We believe that the water will come out of the shower when we turn it on.
What if one of these natural things do not work one day? Do we then say that it is no good and turn away from it? NO, we get it fixed. Well, the same thing is true where God and His Word is concerned. If it does not seem to be working for you, get it fixed. What is keeping it from working in your life? Find out and fix it. Is there fear in your life? Are you doubting God’s ability to perform His Word in your life? What is the problem? Ask the Holy Spirit to show you and then obey what He says, not questioning how long it will take or “throwing in the towel” and saying it does not work for you. It will work for whosoever will put it to work.
Today, make a quality decision that you will choose to believe God and His Word will work for you personally in your life. Give the devil no place in your life or opportunity to come in!
Today I want to look at the idea of giving the devil no room in our lives. What gives him room in our lives and what gives him the opportunity to mess with us? What gives him the right to even touch us because 1 John 5:18 tells us that the wicked one touches us not? What opens the door for him? What triggers his operations in our lives?
We as human beings are designed with a “believer” called our spirits. God placed in us the ability to believe and the right to choose what we believe. He gave us a soul to help us make choices. That soul is made up of our mind, our will, and our emotions. Each part of our soul can contribute to our choices many times. Ideally, our spirits direct our choices and our souls agree with those choices. But here is what happens many times. We may get emotionally involved with fears and concerns and worries. We may think and ponder the wrong things, such as: What are we going to do? It looks like it is not working. Oh, my, I’m afraid I’ll not make it. That is the wrong thinking. Then our wills get involved and we make decisions out of fear.
What is the solution to overcome the emotional distress, the wrong thinking and the fear-driven choices? The Word of God! It’s that simple, huh. Really, it’s that simple. But that is too simple. Isn’t there more? No! God created us with the Word. He is the Word. All of creation responds to Him Who is the Word. What He speaks, it becomes. We are like Him. We are His children. We have His attributes. When we speak, it should become. So why doesn’t it become when we speak?
God has no fear in Him. He has no doubt or unbelief that what He says will not work. He is all faith. We, too, are designed to have faith. The problem is that we have a mixture sometimes of fear and faith, and we get exactly that----a mixture. The solution to that mixture is the purity of the Word of God. Every day we make choices based on what we believe. If we make the wrong choices, we need to fix our believer system. In Deuteronomy 30:19,20 we are told that God has set before us life and death, blessing and cursing. We are to choose life, that both we and our children may live. We are to choose God’s life, God’s way of living, God’s way of doing things. That choosing goes contrary to everything in the world’s way of doing things. It is an uphill battle sometimes to choose God’s way.
Every one of us is designed with a built-in believer. We will believe something. There is no such thing as a human being who does not believe. Even atheists believe something. They believe there is no God. That is a form of believing. What we believe is what we choose to accept as true for us in our personal lives. Let’s look at some natural examples: We choose to believe that the chair will hold us when we sit down. We choose to believe that our car will start and take us to our destination. We believe that when we pick up the telephone it will work. We believe that when we turn on our computer or our television or our ipod, it will work. We believe that the water will come out of the shower when we turn it on.
What if one of these natural things do not work one day? Do we then say that it is no good and turn away from it? NO, we get it fixed. Well, the same thing is true where God and His Word is concerned. If it does not seem to be working for you, get it fixed. What is keeping it from working in your life? Find out and fix it. Is there fear in your life? Are you doubting God’s ability to perform His Word in your life? What is the problem? Ask the Holy Spirit to show you and then obey what He says, not questioning how long it will take or “throwing in the towel” and saying it does not work for you. It will work for whosoever will put it to work.
Today, make a quality decision that you will choose to believe God and His Word will work for you personally in your life. Give the devil no place in your life or opportunity to come in!
posted by Rev. Kialeen Potterton @ 5:36 AM
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