Influencers Weekly Devotional

July 6, 2010

Go With ME

Embracing Our Sacred Responsibility

Shut the door in the Devil's face

Lately I've heard several men speak about "waves" of assault from evil that comes at them. These assaults seem to follow a period of peace or great spiritual joy. It is not a constant barrage, but rather a cycle. These assaults attack work, health, relationships and various random places, like computers. As I thought on this occurrence, I also thought of my experiences with spiritual warfare. I have come to realize I have dealt with these cycles much of my life. However, since making the commitment to leave my insurance practice to follow my King's leading in a full-time commitment with Influencers, the barrage has not let up. But the effects of this barrage have not been as dynamic, except in certain occasions. I want to speak to the "effect" issue, for I think I know what is happening. As with many of my devotionals, I tend to be processing some sort of life issue that, then, connects with a devotional I am led to write. I am reminded of the passage in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, and I understand the connection. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." I believe God allows me to process though many troubles, including spiritual warfare, so that I can learn to conquer and help others also learn to conquer. But I don't think this is only limited to me, for it is a consistent pattern for all God's men. There is a rhyme and reason for everything that goes on in the lives of God's children, for He is sovereign and on constant watch over us. This doesn't mean life will be a piece of cake because He is on watch. On the contrary, we are oftentimes challenged more deeply as we grow in our faith and intimacy with Him. However, it does mean there is a purpose for trials, something to be learned, which connects a recent spiritual battle of mine with this devotional. I shared some time ago about a man who has offended me many times in the past and the struggle I have had with him. I haven't seen him for 2 years, so the obvious question is, "Why the struggle?" If it were a normal relationship between men, there would be no struggle, for being "out of sight, out of mind" tends to make a lot of relationship problems go away. But this is not a normal relationship. I don't think it is even a relationship, but rather a "door." What do I mean by calling it a "door?" I have come to understand it is a door, that when opened, will allow evil to invade my life. It is a door, when given even a slight opening, allows a place for old Slewfoot to wedge his foot in it and pour evil thoughts into my life. If I want to stop this disruption of my peace and joy and maintain a safe condition, I must shut the door in his face. But how? I will get to that, but first a little foundation building. Consider if you will, when a man becomes a child of God, he is then embraced into God's family. He is given a new life in Christ, with new purpose. This man is placed in a soul-safe condition at this point, and no power can remove him from God's love and his ultimate destiny, which is to, one day, be with God in heaven. His life on earth is, metaphorically speaking, lived in this soul-safe condition, but he still lives in the world and is subject to the evil in the world that would attempt to invade this sacred place. There are many doors in his soul-safe place that can lead him astray. Examples could be doors of lust, envy, anger, jealousy, fear and pride. The enemy of his soul invites him to open one of these doors. Once the door is opened, even just cracked, evil is allowed to come in and expose the man’s weaknesses. This is where the effect of an evil barrage can be felt. We have the barrage all the time, for we live in a battle zone. We cannot escape this fact. But there can be no effect, unless we open a door for evil to come in. A man of God must discern the voice from the enemy by taking captive every thought he receives, determining whether it is evil or good (see 2 Corinthians 10:4-5). When he does this, he keeps a door shut, where evil can have no access to his mind, or to the rest of his life. But he must stay on alert to make sure a door has not been breached. Some time ago, I responded to an evil voice to open a door and think about many of the wrongs a man had done to me. It seemed innocent enough, for the guy "deserved my indignation," or so I thought. These thoughts continued on until there was anger and a determination that he was absolutely no good. Of course, I was conveniently forgetting that I am also absolutely no good as I processed thoughts about him, but old Slewfoot wasn’t the accuser in this situation. He tried to make someone else carry out this role, and I fell into his trap. Before long, he had me thinking that this man was the incarnation of evil and that I was justified in my thinking. Evil was now in my sacred place, and his work was about to begin in other areas. It was at this point I began to realize what was happening and took action. I began by asking for God's forgiveness and His help to shut the door I had opened. I was surprised by what I heard. God spoke to my heart and told me I had not forgiven the man his wrongs, and that is why I opened the door so quickly when evil came knocking. Furthermore, I was asked to visualize each act of insult and injury the man had done, and then, grant forgiveness to him for each act, at the same time, asking forgiveness for my own unforgiveness. Little by little, I felt the door closing and evil being cut off. Since being taught this exercise and understanding it, I have carried it to other doors that might need to be shored up. I have also learned a valuable lesson in spiritual warfare. Men, if we are growing closer to Christ, I will promise you the opposition to this will grow as well. However, we are more than conquerors through Christ Who loves us, Who is creating around us a fortress of righteousness. When evil invades this sacred place, do not open the door to it. If you have done so, you have the God-given ability to show evil the exit door and to shut the door in his face. I once heard a man say that when evil comes knockin' on his door, he asks Jesus if He will answer it. I think this is a great idea. Let's you and me and Jesus shut the door in the devil's face, and keep it shut. To our King's glory, Rocky TO DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THIS DEVOTIONAL, CLICK HERE