Ephesians 4:27a do not give the devil an opportunity [to lead you into sin by holding a grudge, or nurturing anger, or harboring resentment, or cultivating bitterness]. (AMP)
If we page through the scriptures we can understand the innate characteristics of satan and his demonic kingdom. He baffles, betrays and blasphemes, terrorizes, tempts and tortures, incites, insinuates, intimidates and incarcerates. Satan is the embodiment of evil and personification of all wickedness, cruelty, brutality, bitterness, violence, murder and bloodshed. He seethes with hatred, rage and revenge and when we entertain him, his nature will manifest through us. Our fight is not the envious in-laws, egoistic boss or eccentric neighbor; it is with the wicked powers, rulers of the dark world and with evil spirits. Our strife is not with the person but with the demonic spirit that is manifesting through the human.
Hence we must be extremely cautious not to harbour grudge, and greed. Nurturing rage, harboring resentment and cultivating bitterness allows the demonic influence to captivate our thoughts and control our actions. Judas the Iscariot who betrayed Jesus was the treasurer of the team. He carried the money bag and sometimes would steal from it (John 12:6). Pick-pocketing grew into full blown burglary when he connived to trade his Master, King Jesus, for 30 pieces of silver coins. Sin starts small but the moment we give the devil access into our life, the diabolical forces would start cultivating evil ideas and wicked ploys. Demons cannot read our thoughts but they watch our reaction, emotions and listen to our conversations. Their full time job is to tempt, trip and dump tripe into our thoughts.
Don’t open the door to the devil:
1. Incite: A moment of recklessness is more than enough for demons to goad us with temptations and stimulate our senses. In a moment of irritation we could spurt out a hurtful comment or a dreadful scorn. When incited and irritated to slander or slur, zip your lips. The battle is not with our spouse, siblings or seducing mates; our battle is with the hellish ruthless demonic ghetto. So break the vicious cycle of anger, arguments, bitterness and brokenness. We will never lose when we are the first to apologize, forgive, and accept.
2. Insinuate: The same demons that provoke us to brawl also clouds us with guilt. They are experts at stealing the joy out of our fellowships and peace from our homes. The demons would brand us as ‘failures’, ‘bad parents’ or ‘unproductive employees’. After striking the business deal and receiving the 30 silver coins for betraying Jesus, the same demons that tempted him to betray insinuated Judas with suicidal thoughts and condemnation.
3. Incarcerate: The ultimate goal is to intimidate and incarcerate us. The demons declare ‘mission accomplished’ once they imprison us in shame and chaining us with culpability and stigma. Jesus died on the cross to set us free from the stigma of sin. Apply the blood of Jesus and be set free from the incarceration of the dark demonic shack of shame.
The weapon to secure our homes, health and heritage is the ‘blood of Jesus’. The demonic thieves tremble at the name and the blood of Jesus.
Psalm 107:14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death. And broke their bands apart.
Prayer: Jesus my victorious King, thank you for setting me free from the prison of sin, shame and stigma. Amen.
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