Give Satan No Place - by Darryl Baker.

Eph. 4:27 Don’t give the devil any opportunity ‹to work›. 

Last week we began talking about what we need to do to give satan no place in our lives. His primary target in our life is our soul, which is made up of our mind, will, and emotions. If the devil can change our way of thinking, getting us to think like the world, he can change the course of our life. In fact, before getting born again most of us were already conditioned to do so. That is why we must renew our minds to think now like God thinks. What satan has been a work doing is in infiltrating every part of society for the purpose of conditioning our minds to think contrary to God. There are three primary ways he works to do so.

2 Cor. 2:11 lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. 

It is important as a believer to realize the ways in which satan tries to take control our lives. If you will look at the last part of verse 11 above you see that Paul states he was not ignorant of satan’s devices, for if we are, satan can then take advantage of us. That is why we need to understand how he works so that we can keep him from getting control over us through deception and seduction by taking control of our soul. As we began to discuss last week he comes in one of three ways. As a serpent, as an angel of light, or like a roaring lion. We already covered in part one of this series how he comes as an angel of light. This week we will take a look at how satan comes like a serpent.

2 Cor. 11:3 But [now] I am fearful, lest that even as the serpent beguiled Eve by his cunning, so your minds may be corrupted and seduced from wholehearted and sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

The work of satan as a serpent is very subtle and seducing. The purpose is to get the believer to no longer be wholeheartedly, sincere, and devoted to following after Christ. To follow after Christ is to live like Jesus lived. Talking like Him, acting like Him, walking in His very example. Jesus Himself said that He did nothing except what He saw the Father doing. If we are going to remain devoted in following Christ, that means we are going to do the things we see Him doing, and we are not going to willfully do the things Jesus would not do. We will live a pure and sincere life of following in His footsteps. This is what many believers today call “bondage” or being “old school”. Yet the very heart of Christianity is in fact to be Christ-like.

Notice in 2 Corinthians 11:3 that how satan achieves this is in deceiving people in their thinking so that he can corrupt their minds. This corruption is a slow process that takes place slowly over time. Because it is not immediate in its actions, many don’t even realize that it is happening. The word for corrupted here means to decay. If you have ever seen an old car that someone purchased to restore, one of the things you will find is rust. Rust is something that takes place over years and years of time, slowly eating away at the metal until it is gone.

This is how satan as a serpent works to corrupt our minds, slowly conditioning people to the ways of the world where little by little they begin to change the way they think and even what they believe. They begin to slowly change their view of scripture and what God says. Where the church clearly understood the importance of guarding their lives from things that God said we should have nothing to do with, they now accept such things through many forms of entertainment and social media, claiming that such things are neither harmful nor wrong, yet the Bible says otherwise. This corruptive work is all around us through television, radio, and just about every form of social media.

Eph. 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of lightEph. 5:9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth),Eph. 5:10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.Eph. 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.Eph. 5:12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.

These verses are quite clear and yet it seems that many ministers want to throw them out of the Bible. We are to have NO FELLOWSHIP WITH THE UNFRUITFUL WORKS OF DARKNESS. Too many believers don’t seem to understand that if you fellowship with darkness, then darkness is going to have a negative impact on your life. The reason satan wants to corrupt your mind is so that he can control your outcome. He wants to dictate how you live and what you do. If he can get you to fellowship with darkness he is on the way to achieving his goal.

To fellowship with darkness means to participate in such activity. How does satan get Christians minds corrupted to the point of accepting behavior and then participating in behavior that is damaging to one’s life? He does so through the mind. His subtle approach is getting us to watch programs and build friendships with others who are already living in such behavior. We think nothing of these things, especially many of the television shows and movies that people watch today because after all it is just entertainment.

The word “entertain” comes from a Latin word which means, “To hold inside”. Whatever you entertain your mind with begins to take hold of you on the inside. It begins to control the way you think, the way you feel, and it effects the decisions you make. If you are being entertained by the works of darkness then after a while what do you think will be the result? This again is seen by many as a form of bondage to actually live in line with the Word of God. But if we choose to allow satan to corrupt our minds through forms of entertainment that are filled with works of darkness, we will begin to be conditioned to think like the world instead of thinking like God.

For example many today who say they are a Christian see nothing wrong with having sex before marriage, or even living together before getting married. Yet this is called fornication and is still a sin in the eyes of God. Others see nothing wrong with using foul language or going out to nightclubs and partying with sinners. Where do Christians learn such behavior and think that it doesn’t matter? One such place is again through the different forms of media we have around us every day.

There is very little on television or in the movie industry today that is not influenced with satan’s deceptive works. You see people having sex outside of marriage, living in adultery, drinking, doing drugs, being disrespectful to parents, disrespectful to elders, and to God. This continual onslaught of entertainment slowly corrupts one’s mind to accept these things as an acceptable part of culture and therefore an acceptable part of their lifestyle. You even have ministers telling their congregations that the Word of God is not relevant for today. Yet God said His Word will never pass away.

Realize this is all a work of the devil to condition people’s minds to begin to accept such things as an acceptable behavior. This is what he did to Eve by convincing her that if she were to partake of the fruit of the tree God said they were not to eat, she would not die, and in fact she would become like God. Through his continual conversation with her, he was able to convince her it was okay to do something God said would be destructive to her life. The devil has not changed. He is still doing the same thing today. He is at work through our modern sinful culture convincing people that doing what God said not to do is really okay.

Prov. 22:5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; He who guards his soul will be far from them.

Those who choose to accept satan and his lies through his corrupting work by not guarding their soul will eventually experience thorns and snares in their life. The soul is referring here to your mind, will, and emotions. If you don’t guard against the works of darkness that subtly in the name of entertainment begin to effect the way you think, then you will become ensnared by sin or see thorns growing up in your soul which Jesus said will choke out the seed of God’s Word in our life

.

Snares are traps that are just waiting for their next victim to come along and get caught into it’s trap so that it can take hold of your life and begin to control how you live. Thorns Jesus described as the cares of this world, deceitfulness of riches, and the desire for other things, which will choke the very life out of God’s Word that is planted in our hearts. In doing so we won’t experience godly fruit in our life, but instead that of darkness.

If you want to keep this subtle serpent from taking control of your thoughts and in doing so then controlling your life, you must guard your soul. You must take time to consider what you are watching and listening too. You must also recognize who you are spending your time with, for other people will also have an impact on how you think as well. If you guard you soul from this subtle work of satan then he cannot corrupt your mind and get control of your life

Read more: http://blogs.christianpost.com/weekly-wisdom/2-13-18-give-satan-no-place-part-2-14684/#ixzz3Z3L2F6Gp

A Prisoner of The Lord by Ramona Tucker.

"For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles…" -Ephesians 3:1

It’s difficult to admit, but I’ve been a prisoner to many things. My own sinful tendencies, for one. Obsessive-compulsive behavior, for another. But all these things that keep me in bondage are really rooted in a love hunger for God. Every time I try to fill the void inside me with something other than God, I end up disillusioned, depressed, and dissatisfied. The God who longs to fill me up with His good grace woos me time and time again to His heart. At last, I surrender to His will and His way, and wonder why I ever strayed in the first place. The riches of His grace are indeed vast! As I place my case into His all-wise, all-loving hands, I realize that He is calling me to be joined to Him in such a way that I am willing to be captured by His heart. To be willing to never be the same. To be changed in a way that reaches out to those around me with the love of Christ. To die to self in order to truly live the life God intended for me.

I am captivated by the phrase, "the prisoner of Christ Jesus" in Ephesians 3:1. Paul writes his first prison epistle to the Ephesians from a cold, dark, dank jail cell in Rome. Why doesn't he tell them he is a prisoner of Rome? Seems more appropriate. I would think Paul would more likely lament, "Those dirty Romans seize me and throw me into prison for doing good, for telling others about Jesus? I'm going to tell everyone, shout it from the rooftops, or at least from this stinking little hole in the wall, that I'm a Roman prisoner! I'll get back at them. My friends will appeal this verdict. They may even come and bust me out of this joint. Maybe even with spears and lances. Yeah, I'll show those nasty Romans!"

But does Paul say that? No. He quietly affirms, "I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus." True, he was a prisoner because he refused to stop preaching Christ. That was the reason he was arrested. He had poured out his life for the sake of the Gentiles to whom God had called him to deliver the gospel message. But I detect undertones to this phrase that run deeper than the obvious meaning.

Other places in Scripture, Paul refers to himself as a bondslave of the Lord. Here in Ephesians, chapter three, he says I am the prisoner of Christ Jesus. A common theme runs throughout Paul's life, one I have been challenged by lately. Paul sees himself as a prisoner of Christ Jesus because he has already surrendered to Christ's lordship in his life. He is not bound by the Romans, any more than Jesus was nailed to the cross by the Romans. He is bound by loyalty to and love for the One He faithfully serves. He knows that to be a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ is the safest place He can be, because God will make no mistakes with his life. God will orchestrate every move. And if He has to use the Roman government and a dirty prison cell to accomplish what is best in Paul's life, then He will do that.

Paul has an impeccable trust in God. He knows that to be in His will, whether lying in soft green pastures on top of the mountain or sitting on a cold prison floor chained to the wall, is the best place he can be.

How I want that kind of faith, that kind of surrender that rejoices to be a prisoner of Christ Jesus! That shouts it from the rooftop, and writes it in letters, and proclaims it on the streets. Because to be satisfied as God's prisoner, to be captured by His heart, is to know true joy and contentment. Just like Paul.

Eileen Rife,
Read more: http://blogs.christianpost.com/bindings/a-prisoner-of-the-lord-13188/#ixzz3Z3IBqzpU

Destructive Doctrines, False Prophets, And False Teachers by Stan Arney

There are false prophets, among the People, even as there will be false teachers among YOU, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying The Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves, swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom The Way of Truth, will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit YOU, with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has NOT been idle, and their destruction does NOT slumber.

For if God did NOT spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to Hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for Judgment; and did NOT spare The Ancient World, but Saved Noah, One of Eight People, a Preacher of Righteousness, bringing in The Flood on the World of the ungodly; and turning The Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example, to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered Righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (for that Righteous Man, dwelling among them, tormented his Righteous Soul, from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds), then The Lord knows how to Deliver The Godly, out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for The Day of Judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh, in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are NOT afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, whereas Angels, who are Greater in Power and Might, do NOT bring a reviling accusation against them, before The Lord.

But these, like natural brute beasts made, to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do NOT understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure, to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions, while they feast with YOU, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. They have forsaken The Right Way, and gone astray, following the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice, restrained the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness, Forever.

For when they speak, great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped, from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the World, through The Knowledge of The Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them, than the beginning. For it would have been better for them, NOT to have known The Way of Righteousness, than having known it, to turn from The Holy Commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them, according to The True Proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

[2 Peter 2]

Read more: http://blogs.christianpost.com/simply-follow-me303/destructive-doctrines-false-prophets-and-false-teachers-25518/#ixzz3Z3FXIABi

Fantasia Barrino Will Fast From Instagram and Twitter for 40 Days After Crying Her Eyes Out at Church; Singer Hopes to Become a 'Stronger,' 'Wiser' Woman.

Fantasia Barrino is an avid social media user like many 30-year-old celebrities, but the singer has decided to go on a 40 day fast from Twitter and Instagram after a powerful church experience.

Barrino recently took to Instagram to share that she went to church for an emotional experience before deciding to take 40 days away from social media.

"Thank You my Sista @penniehamilton for inviting me to church. I cried my eyes OUT but the heaviness was lifted and tonight I can finally rest," Barrino wrote on Instagram. "Thank you Lord.. now I have to say sorry but NOT REALLY to all my IG, Twitter family because I'm about to go away for 40 days."

The singer has some expectations for the transformation that will occur during her time off.

"...The woman that returns will be a different wiser, stronger woman. I love you guys stay prayed up and know that life is too short to stress so always think and know that you are BLESSED…," she wrote. "..RCA will let you know on Facebook about SHOWS."

Earlier this year, Barrino took to Instagram to show fans that she was planning to fuse her faith and her music.

"I just wrote my first Gospel Song. All by Myself," Barrino captioned the image on her Instagram page. "Not sure what's happening but all I can say is the enemy has really been testing ME. Thanks @von_cocapt for this track."

In the video, Barrino makes it clear that she wrote the song which can be heard playing in the background. The singer appears somber, and shakes her head while introducing the snippet to fans.

"I was able to release everything I was carrying," Barrino said in the video. "I hope you like it."

Barrino has been vocal about her Christian faith for some time and previously spoke about God having a plan for her life.

"God put me here for a reason," Barrino told "Access Hollywood" in 2013. "When you look on TV or turn on the radio or all the newspapers and the magazines, it was always something negative, and no matter how many things I did that were positive that never came out, so that was the hardest for me at that time. Now I really don't care anymore."

 

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/fantasia-barrino-will-fast-from-instagram-and-twitter-for-40-days-after-crying-her-eyes-out-at-church-singer-hopes-to-become-a-stronger-wiser-woman-138150/#EbhvESMi4kKAPiq8.99