Why the devil hates you...

I was praying this morning about the provisions of God. I have two friends and myself who know the Lord wants to prosper them in abundance so they can become major heavy investors in the expansion of God’s kingdom in the earth. But a funny thing keeps happening to each of us as we exercise our faith in that direction.

We each come to the edge of what seems like the promise, only to have the rug pulled out from beneath us. I personally have watched entire industries change almost overnight prohibiting the fulfillment of the promise just when I thought it was about to break. And this is similar to what my two friends have also been through more than once.

When something flies in the face of the word and purposes of God, eventually you have to conclude that the situation has more spiritual involvement than you may be recognizing. In spiritual warfare, the intent of the enemy is to discourage you and cause you to fall into unbelief. By discouragement in the purposes of God in the lives of Jesus followers, they (devils) prolong their days on earth. Why wouldn’t they attack the servant of God?

Now I bet you want the theology behind the last couple of statements, right? I’ll give you the short version. Even though no man knows the day or the hour of Jesus return, I think the scriptures are clear that He will not return physically until all His enemies are actually (not theoretically) brought under His authority. Hebrews 10:12-13 says, “But this man (Jesus) after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God; From that time onward waiting in excited anticipation UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE HIS FOOTSTOOL.”

So Jesus is waiting in excited anticipation. And what is He waiting for? He is waiting until that point in time when all His enemies are made His footstool. Then, SHAZZAAM! He returns in His physical person along with his holy angels and the dead in Christ to rejoin with us still here on earth. Those who are here on earth will fly like superman and superwoman to meet Him and His entourage in the air (1st Thessalonians 4:13-17). I’ve always wanted to do that. I hope I get to.

1st Corinthians 15:21-26 describes His triumphant return like this, “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ will all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits, afterward those who are Christ’s AT HIS COMING. Then the end comes, when He will have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; WHEN HE WILL HAVE PUT DOWN ALL RULE AND AUTHORITY AND POWER. For He must reign till He has put ALL ENEMIES under His feet. The (very) last enemy that will be destroyed is death itself.”

You see the enemies of Jesus Christ are not men or machines or computer nerds creating malicious evil code in some back room somewhere. The enemies of Christ and the enemies of man are spiritual principalities and powers and this battle began when satan thought that he as a creature could overthrow the supremacy of God. He was cast out of heaven to the earth, where he remains to this day along with the host of those spirits, now defiled, that followed with him. The war has always been in the invisible, spiritual realm.

The sooner we realize the spirit realm is where the real action is, the more effective we become. This is one reason why signs and wonders seem to flow much more easily in non-industrialized countries or areas. It is because the people understand the power of the spirit realm. The problem is, most of them have only been exposed to one side of the equation through their shaman’s, witch doctors, warlocks and sorcerers. When Jesus invades they understand the difference between the Spirit of Life and the spirits of death and bondage. Under the power of the Holy Spirit, life as it is in heaven flows forth. Life giving signs and wonders appear due to the alteration in the spirit world.

I venture to say when the curtain gets pulled back on the spirits of the industrialized nations, we will be shocked to realize the evil parasites and leaches that have attached themselves to people. All you have to do to understand what is going on is look at the fruit that is being produced in people. Is it evidence of heaven or is it evidence of hell? Is good the ultimate end result or is evil? Answer those questions and you will understand the spiritual force at work.

Without going too deeply into it, it is imperative we understand God’s purpose in man. If you understand God’s purpose in Adam then you will begin to understand God’s purpose in you. You will also understand why the darkness hates mankind and is intent on destroying him and destroying or incapacitating your relationship of confidence and power with God.

Please follow me on this little tour into the mysteries of God. God created Adam and put him into the Garden of Eden as if Adam were a warrior a beachhead from which he was to subdue the evil that was present in earth. We must understand, man is and always has been the chosen instrument of God in the earth.

Man in harmony with God is a weapon the dark angels fear, and that is why the dark, evil spirits hate man. Man in submission to the limitless power of God signals their demise, because a man filled with God and acting under His power will confront evil with the power to subjugate it beneath the feet of Jesus Christ and under the feet of the followers of Jesus as well who are in powerful union with Him.

Here’s some food for thought. In Genesis as God is restoring the earth after satan has been cast down and on the second day God makes/restores the “firmament” separating the waters below from the waters above.

If you follow carefully along in the process you see everything God does, with the exception of the firmament, He looks on and declares it, “That's good!” But then, have you ever noticed and wondered why He does not declare the work of the firmament good when He creates it?

Check it out in Genesis 1:6-8 and compare that to everything else God did in that chapter. Did you notice that God did not declare the work of the firmament good? Was this lack of declaring the firmament good some oversight by God? Not likely. Or, did Moses who wrote Genesis under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost forget to write it down? Again, not likely. Have you ever wondered about things like that?

Well, as you might have guessed, I wondered about it. Then one day while reading in Ephesians I came to chapter 2 verse 2, and the Holy Spirit said, “There is your answer.” As I sat there in stunned amazement I read these words, “Wherein you walked in times past according to the course of this world, ACCORDING TO THE PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR, the spirit that now energizes the children of disobedience.”

The Spirit said, “The firmament was not declared good because there was something in it that was not good.” Then the Lord showed me that AFTER GOD CREATED MAN and gave him dominion over the natural creation, He then commissioned him to SUBDUE the earth and refill it. It was after God created man that He looked back over all He had done and it says, “And God saw EVERYTHING that He had made, and behold, it was VERY GOOD” (Genesis 1:31), and then God was able to rest.

And why was God able to rest? God rested because He had brought forth man, His warrior representative whose mission was to live in union with God and SUBDUE the evil. You see, from the opening of Genesis the Holy Spirit is teaching us, “This is war.”

So at the creation of man. the serpent realized God’s weapon for his destruction had just arrived on planet earth. And as we watch the story unfold we see that Adam sells his birthright (much like Esau) for reasons inconsistent with God’s purpose for him in creation. It appears he did it for Eve, who was supposed to be his warrior princess and be the support for the purpose of God in her husband, Adam.

That wasn’t a good idea on Adams part. But God is merciful and did two things:

• God drove them from the Garden, because the tree of life was still there. Had they eaten of it too they would have been locked forever in an eternally un-redeemable condition.
• God promised a DELIVERER/SAVIOR would be sent to redeem mankind from the power of satan AND TO CRUSH THE VERY HEAD OF THE SERPENT under His feet.

Please listen to Hebrews 2:5-11 where it says regarding man and Jesus, “For unto the angels has He not put in subjection the world to come, of which we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, ‘WHAT IS MAN THAT YOU ARE MINDFUL OF HIM? Or, THE SON OF MAN, that You visit him? You made him a little lower than the angels: You have crowned him with glory and honor, and did set him over the works of your hands: YOU HAVE PUT ALL THINGS UNDER HIS FEET’. For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left NOTHING that is not put under him. BUT NOW WE SEE NOT YET ALL THINGS PUT UNDER HIM. But we see JESUS who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, CROWNED WITH GLORY AND HONOR; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became Him, FOR WHOM ARE ALL THINGS AND BY WHOM ARE ALL THINGS, in brining MANY SONS UNTO GLORY, to make the Captain of their salvation fulfill His part of the mission by means of sufferings. For both He that MAKES THEM READY TO BE USEFUL and those WHO HAVE BECOME USEFUL ARE ALL OF ONE: for which cause He is not ashame to call them HIS BRETHREN.”

Slow way down and take this in, because if you’re not getting the power of this, you're not understaning the message of the gospel. MAN BECOMES USEFUL IN OVERTHROWING THE EVIL AND RECONNECTING WITH HIS DIVINE ETERNAL PURPOSE BY MEANS OF THE GOSPEL. Under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, even the smallest human child becomes a powerhouse for the glory of God and a devastating force against the darkness of this world.

Listen to Psalm 8:1-6 tells us, “O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth! You, Who has set Your glory above even the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and even the suckling child YOU HAVE ORDAINED STRENGTH, BECAUSE OF YOUR ENEMIES, that YOU MIGHT STILL THE ENEMY AND THE AVENGER. When I consider the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; WHAT IS MAN THAT YOU ARE MINDFUL OF HIM OR THE SON OF MAN THAT YOU WOULD VISIT HIM? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and have crowned him with glory and honor. You made him to have dominion over the works of your hands; You have PUT ALL THINGS UNDER HIS FEET."

And as long as we’re having this much fun let me throw in Paul the apostle’s statement from Romans 16:19-20 about thier submission to the Holy Spirit, “YOUR OBEDIENCE has been voiced abroad to all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise concerning that which is good and harmless concerning evil. And the GOD OF PEACE WILL TREAD UPON SATAN UNDER YOUR FEET shortly.”

Now let's listen to the words of Jesus on this topic, “Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, AND OVER ALL THE POWER OF THE ENEMY: and nothing by any means will hurt you. Notwithstanding, this is not the biggest reason to rejoice, that THE SPIRITS ARE SUBJECT TO YOU; but more importantly rejoice, BECAUSE YOUR NAMES HAVE BEEN WRITTEN INTO THE RECORD BOOKS OF HEAVEN” (Luke 10:19-20).

O.K., do you see why all of the forces of hell might want to discourage you and the persistence in the purposes of God? Do you see why they might want to beat you down and destroy your faith and resilience? Do you see why so many who have launched themselves into the cutting edge of God’s purposes are so severely attacked by the darkness? Do you see why the devil wants them out of the race or dead? Do you see why the enemy might be satisfied for you to be just a happy little church attender just so long as you don’t get too enflamed with the power of the Holy Spirit?

You see, it’s O.K. if you go to church and just get a little blessed by the Holy Spirit, maybe get a few goose bumps and a few personal quirky manifestations, but the minute you decide to spread the glory around in the deliverance and healing of others, you have just become a dangerous person. So by discouragement of the purposes of God in the lives of the followers of Jesus, the evil powers prolong their days on earth, because annointed men and women under the leadership of Jesus are the power of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirits eternal plan to overthrow the darkness.

The Spirit enflamed believer under the power of Jesus is the greatest threat to darkness that exists in the earth today. There is no secondary plan! This is why there is a lot of, “Don’t give up and quit”, language in the New Testament. In fact the word is constantly saying, “It’s a pressure cooker out there, BUT THE REWARDS ARE WORTH IT!” And, “Hang together. You’re going to need one another.”

Jesus basically said, “If you’re not coming under some kind of attack, then it might just be that you’re not really walking in the power of the kingdom, your not really being very much of a threat. Get with the program buddy!” In Matthew 5:10-12, Jesus said it this way, “Blessed are they which are persecuted (meaning to be pursued with an evil intent in mind) for living their lives from the viewpoint of God: for THEIR PORTION IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. Blessed are you when men will revile you, and persecute you, and will say all manner of evil against you falsely, FOR MY SAKE. Rejoice and be excessively glad: FOR GREAT IS THE REWARD YOU WILL BE RECEIVING FROM HEAVEN: For in the same way were the prophets persecuted who were before you.”

Let me try and come in for a landing here with a few thoughts from Ephesians regarding the purpose of Jesus even having a people called out from the world and separated to Him. It’s this thing we call “the church”, which unfortunately has come to mean something far from what it was ever intended to mean. The people called the church were meant to be Jesus “brothers and sisters in war”. The church is to exist, and in some believers does exist, as His co-warriors in the epic battle of the ages. I can’t say it’s true for everyone. And I hope every day that I can be among the valiant warriors of Christ. There is no greater cause to which we can give our lives, our gifts, our honor and our fortunes.

Man is and always has been the chosen instrument of God in the earth, and the war isn’t over yet. I feel confident saying that because at this point we don’t see all things in earth brought under His feet. Evil is still screwing up people’s lives. And if you haven’t noticed, Jesus hasn’t returned yet which means He’s still waiting for something. And I don’t have my new immortal body yet and I’m guessing you don’t have yours either.

About church people, Paul said this in Ephesians 1:18-23, “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened: that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the excessive greatness of His power toward us who believe, in accord with the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world , but also in that which is to come: and has put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things TO THE CHURCH (those separated to God), WHICH IS HIS BODY, the fullness of Him that fills all in all.”

Then in Ephesians 3:8-12 & 20-21 the apostle says, “Unto me, who is less than the very least of all saints, has this grace been given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the un-searchable riches of Christ; And to make all men see what is the FELLOWSHIP OF THE MYSTERY, which FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that NOW unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known (revealed and made manifest) by means of THE CHURCH (those separated to God) the many faceted wisdom of God, ACCORDING TO THE ETERNAL PURPOSE WHICH HE PURPOSED IN CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD: In whom we have BOLDNESS and ACCESS WITH CONFIDENCE by the faith of Him…Now to Him that is able to do excessively abundantly above all that we can ever ask or even think, according to the power that is energizing within us, to Him be glory IN THE CHURCH (those separated to God) by Jesus Christ throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”

Men and women, who have separated themselves out to the service of Jesus, being willing vessels for the power of His Holy Spirit, are the greatest weapons in God’s arsenal. The Father knows it, Jesus knows it, the Holy Spirit knows it and the dark spirits know it and wish to prevent the power being unleashed in us. It is as these separated ones go forward proclaiming by word and deed the glory of the kingdom of heaven that Jesus enemies are brought down under His feet. Man is and always has been the chosen instrument of God in the earth.

If your NOT feeling any heat, then maybe you’re not in the fire. If you ARE feeling the heat then keep on pressing ahead. If you need support to stay in the fight then by all means get support. I didn’t at one point when I should have and got my ass kicked from here to approximately 1,144 Sundays. Not a good choice on my part. Or, as the saying goes in the movie ‘Hook’, “Bad form, Jack!”

Solid companies of warriors watch each other’s backs. Remember Moses needed support from others to help him keep up his work in the heat of battle and because of that support the victory was won. Without it, the victory would have been lost (Exodus 17:8-15). It was there that God revealed Himself as Jehovah-Nissi, meaning “The Almighty God, Your Banner of Victory”.

“Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, (and confirm the feeble knees [Isaiah 35:3]) and make straight paths for your feet, so that the lame (wounded) do not get turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed” (Hebrews 12:12-13). And when Isaiah speaks this same word he adds, “Say to them that are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, fear not: behold YOUR GOD WILL COME WITH VENGEANCE UPON HIS ENEMIES, even God will repay their acts upon them; He WILL come and save you”, (Isaiah 35:3-10).

And finally, remember the word the Lord kept speaking to Joshua over and over as he was about to lead the people into war and possess the promise of God, “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, neither be afraid of them: for the LORD your God, He it is that goes with you; HE WILL NOT FAIL YOU, NOR FORSAKE YOU.” (Deuteronomy 31:1-8, Joshua 1:5-7, 9, 10:25).

Man is and always has been the chosen instrument of God in the earth. And you are that instrument. Go forth with a company of fellow warriors of like mind to watch your back and fight with you and you with them. Be strong and of a good courage, because if you engage in the fight, you’re going to need that. If you’re feeling the heat you’re in the fight and God will appear and bring His vengeance upon the spiritual wickedness you fight against.

Now wasn’t this fun?

Randy