I was talking to a sister who is struggling in many ways, and I admonished her to get mad with the devil who was seeking to kill, steal and to destroy in her life. She needed to get mad enough to see his traps for what they were, and to determine, with His help, not to fall into them.
We can fall into two equal and opposite traps in dealing with the devil. The first is to be overly preoccupied with him, constantly rebuking him, shouting him down and the like. The second is to ignore the fact that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but is a spiritual battle. We do need to close the doors we may have opened up to him, and like Jesus tell him to get behind us.
When I got off the phone, the Lord basically said to me “What about you, will you get mad with the devil?” And I did, “Not on my watch I told him. You don’t get to take her down on my watch!” And I realized I have her in my heart, and the principal I was being taught applies. In particular, Paul in verse 6 says that he is confident that He who began a good work in his hearers, would bring it to fullness and completion on the day of Jesus Christ. And he could do this precisely because he had them in his heart (verse 7).
The point of the teaching is that, as it is so often in the kingdom, it is a heart matter. When we hold someone in our heart before the Lord we are in fact putting a hedge of protection around them. It’s strong stuff, and praise the Lord it worked, there was relief!
Father, please give me the wherewithal to choose to allow my heart to be stretched to include all of those You put before me to hold in my heart. I need Your help for this, I cannot do it without You, I cannot bare the pain without You. But Lord I am thinking, that You intend this to be part of the fellowship of Your sufferings, sot that it draws me even closer to You. I need You grace, I need Your love, I need You! In Jesus Name Amen
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