NOT PULLED DOWN BUT LIFTED UP

NOT PULLED DOWN BY EVIL BUT LIFTED UP BY GOD

Yesterday I walked into a small phone store, and a man waiting to get served was staring at me. I looked away and stood on the opposite side of the store, also waiting to be served. When I looked over at the man, he was staring at me more intently, and his face changed shape, with his neck jutting out and oddly connected to the bottom of his chin. He looked kind of like a chameleon. I could see the evil in his expression. I looked at the demon directly and told it (in a whisper because the whole store didn’t need to know what was going on), but I told it: “Keep away from me in the name of Jesus Christ, and shut up.” His face changed back to something more normal and non-threatening, and then he got called up to the service desk, and when I looked at him again, he seemed normal, and I knew he was no longer a threat to me.

 

God tells us in Second Corinthians 2:11: “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.” In other words, Satan will take advantage of us if we choose to stay ignorant of his devices. In the spiritual realm, ignorance is NOT bliss! So I’ve decided to increase my study of the dark side. The devil is not happy with that, but too bad; it’s God’s will for me right now, and I know that I belong to Him. Because Jesus paid for me, I am his and have the victory. The authority and the power belong to us, not the devil! Don’t worry about me or anyone researching the enemy, his kingdom, or his devices. We know that magnifying God and keeping our eyes on Him is primary and priority in this kind of study.

God can fully deliver us from the evil around us. Jesus gave his original disciples and us a prayer and a promise in Matthew 6:13: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” Knowing God delivers us from all evil, we can then look at what He says about it.

 

In that scripture, “evil” is the Greek word “poneros.” It means “the active form of evil, in thoughts, speech, and actions. It is used when the Bible talks about the deeds of devil spirits and is used when talking about Satan as being “the malignant one.” We know what a malignant cell is. It is a normal cell that has been perverted into something else, something that grows, migrates, and destroys. Poneros is evil actions that are “harmful, lewd, and malicious.” But we pray like Jesus said: “Pray to thy Father. . .deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6: 6,13), and He does it.

 

Two other words used in the New Testament for bad or evil are “kakos” and “sapros.” Kakos means that a person or thing is “bad in character, morally, by way of thinking, bad company, bad desires, and all kinds of evil just for the sake of evil itself.” It is used in Titus 1:12, talking about when people take on demons having the nature of wild, vicious, biting beasts or venomous snakes, reptiles or other predatory animal spirits. It’s also used in James 3:8, talking about a person’s tongue being a restless evil wanting to harm and injure.

 

Sapros, another word for bad, means corrupt or rotten, like rotting vegetables or dead carcasses. It expresses something of very bad quality and unfit for use, putrid, also like rotten fruit, old, cooked chicken that’s been left out too long, or rotten fish. In Ephesians 4:29, the word “sapros” is used talking about “corrupt” speech, which eats away at a person rather than lifting them up, as the rest of the verse tells us we should be doing.

 

God delivers us from these rotten and evil people and things and brings us around to believing in what we have and are in Christ.

 

Here are some important verses that point out our authority and power in Christ. Let’s take the time to look some of them up this week.

 

I am a new creature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).

I triumph in Christ ((2 Cor. 2:14).

I am an heir of God through Christ (Gal. 4:7).

I have boldness and access in Christ (Eph. 3:12).

Christ hath redeemed us (Gal. 3:13).

I have liberty in Christ (Gal. 2:4).

I have victory through Christ (1 Cor. 15:57).

I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2 Cor. 12:9).

I am called in Christ (Rom. 1:6).

I have redemption in Christ (Rom. 3:24).

I reign in life by Christ (Rom. 5:17).

Jesus said: I give unto you power [authority] to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power [dunamis-dynamite] of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you (Luke 10:19).

Jesus said: But ye shall receive power [dunamis-dynamite], after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you (Acts 1:8).

Jesus called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power [dunamis] and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases (Luke 9:1).

I am the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21).

I have been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, that I should be holy and without blame before Him (Eph. 1:4).

I am complete in Christ (Col. 2:10).

I have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16).

Christ is my life (Col. 3:4).

 

Love, Carolyn

 

Read other stories of victories when applying the BIBLE LESSONS FROM NATURE to our everyday lives: https://www.amazon.com/BIBLE-LESSONS-NATURE-Carolyn-Molica/dp/B0BV4GC859/ref=sr_1_1?crid=QACB0S8NH0BF&keywords=bible+lessons+from+nature&qid=1676485121&sprefix=%2Caps%2C222&sr=8-1