Scripture
“I shall not talk to you much longer with you, for the prince of this world approaches. He has no rights {power} over Me.”
~John 14:30
Quote
The only way Satan can gain power over a believer is to get them to disobey Christ.
~Timothy Ray Keenum
Tim stirred my mind the other night: he said something I have never thought about. Satan has the power to tempt a believer but all he can do is tempt us to disobey Christ. Once we revert to the old self and become disobedient, we put ourselves under his control. No obedient follower of Christ can be his slave. Jesus often referred to the devil as the prince of this world or the ruler of darkness. Jesus knew that the hour had come for Satan to have a moment of glory but Jesus said, “He has nothing on Me. He has no rights or power over me.” Actually, we can claim this same independence if we obey Jesus.
When Jesus was at Jacob’s well; His disciples went into town to buy some lunch. While they were gone Jesus engaged the Samaritan woman in a conversation about salvation. When the disciples returned to give Jesus His lunch, Jesus declined by saying, “I have food to eat which you know nothing about.” They thought someone else had brought Him lunch but Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” Jesus greatest passion was to obey the Father. Make obedience your passion and the devil will lose his power over you.
I’ve had a running feud with the WORSHIP FIRST group over the years. This movement is prevalent among the reforms and John Piper is the leading proponent. The worship first crowd says, “Get your worship right and everything else will be right.” Luke 5 teaches something different: Peter obeyed before he worshiped. No question, Peter had an awesome worship experience in the hull of his boat but he came after he had obeyed Jesus. Disobedient people will never get worship right. This explains the poor level of our worship today: we disobey all week and then come to the worship center on Sunday and expect God to give us an awesome experience. Man can create smoke and mirrors but true and awesome worship happens after we obey.
Another beautiful fall day but according to Big Mama, it is coming to an end. We have a cold weekend coming up. I think I might watch the game Saturday but mainly because President Trump is going to be there. If it gets ugly and it might, I’m coming home.
Last night of REVIVAL. We have been challenged and blessed. Pray that the Spirit will fall tonight. All is vain unless the Spirit of the Holy One comes down.