DECEPTION

READ: EPHESIANS 5:18-21

Another scripture Satan has used in deceiving and luring many into hell is the fact that Jesus turn water into wine in John 2. He will say, ‘If Jesus does not want us to drink wine, why did he turn water to wine?’ Satan is simply playing on the ignorance of people. He knows that not everyone understands Greek. What was translated in this passage as wine was grape juice, which does not intoxicate. No alcoholic beverage was served by the disciples at the wedding Jesus attended.
In Leviticus 10:8-9, God warns strictly against drinking strong drink. This goes beyond avoiding it when going to church, because as a child of God, your body is the temple of God. In Judges 13:4-5 and Luke 1:13-15 God warned Samson’s mother and Zacharias against drinking wine. This is simply saying that anyone whom God has set apart for himself should not drink alcohol. They are to become pillars of God’s house. They should be filled with the wine of God – the Holy Spirit, not the satanic anointing.
“And do not drunk with the wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18). Some believers will say, since we are allowed to drink intoxicating liquor, let us therefore drink beverages in excess as compensation. Does this sound familiar to you? You are free to take soft drinks and fruit juices, but if you do not restrict your intake, the y will begin to purge you. For things that are acceptable, let your watchword be moderation. “It is not good to eat much honey; so to seek one’s glory is not glory.” (Proverbs 25:27)
When someone is drunk with wine, he will be propelled and directed by evil spirits. That is why alcoholic drinks are rightly called spirits. The spirit that pushes a man into the gutter and makes him sleep on the main road and beat his wife is not of God. If you are filled with liquor, the Holy Spirit cannot fill at the same time, because there will be no space. If the Holy Spirit fills you, then what is written in today’s reading will be your portion. Ask to be constantly filled by the Holy Ghost.

MEMORIZE: EPHESIANS 5:18 – And do not drunk with the wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.    

LITTLE FOXES

READ: HEBREWS 12:1-2

Everyone has certain weaknesses or character flaws in his or her life. If you do not deal with them early enough, they may end up dealing with you and causing you regret. Esau was a great eater. He liked food very much. He became a hunter so he could eat his choice of meat any time he was hungry. Unknown to him, Satan knew his weakness and was plotting against him.
One day Satan made Jacob, Esau’s younger brother, prepare some pottage to coincide with Esau coming home hungry. When Esau requested a plate of food, Satan pushed Jacob to ask his brother pay dearly. Jacob asked for Esau’s birthright, which he should jealously have guarded. If Esau had been in his right mind, he would have seen the devil’s plan to ruin his future for a plate of pottage. But he was so enslaved to food that he could not deny himself a meal.
Noah is another example. He and his family survived the flood. Noah was a preacher of righteousness, yet he could not stay without a little wine once in a while. Some believers have fallen into the same trap. They condemn drunkenness but approve low-level drinking. When you start taking a little, before you know it, Satan will have pulled out his joker and wrecked your life. He did it to Noah. One day, he got drunk and slept naked. Ham saw his father’s nakedness and when Noah regained consciousness, he cursed him, and that curse is still operating in the life of his descendants till this day.
Lot has two weaknesses. He was covetous and he loved wine. When his uncle Abraham asked him to chose where to go, he could have insisted that Abraham choose first, but his covetous spirit jumped at the offer and chose Sodom. He prospered there until one day he lost everything, including his wife. Are you nursing your weaknesses? Are you rationalising them? Deal with those little foxes that destroy the vine, before they wreck your life!

MEMORIZE: SONG OF SOLOMON 2:15 –Catch up the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines, for our vines have tender grapes. 

GOD’S ANOINTED

READ: HEBREWS 1:6-9

After choosing David, God instructed Samuel to anoint him. To anoint someone is to separate him solely for God and to empower such an individual to represent the Most High. In Acts 13:1-4, God asked specifically that Paul and Barnabas be separated for the work he had for them. When God sets you apart through his anointing, it means you are declared untouchable. As long as you are at your place of assignment, no evil can overpower you, because he is with you to protect you.
“And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?” (1 Peter 3:13). God defends his anointing upon his servants. And this is why we must be very careful how we talk about anointed men of God, even when they have deviated.
“He permitted no one to do them wrong; yes he reproved kings for their sakes, saying, ‘Do not touch My anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm’” (Psalm 105:14-15).
David understood this fact very well. King Saul had been after his life. David kept running, from place to place. One day, he met Saul and his servants sleeping. He could have killed him, but he refused to lay hands on God’s anointed (1 Samuel 24:2-6). He left God to judge his anointed.
God’s representatives are always empowered by God. When God has chosen you, it behoves you to wait on him for empowerment. Whatever assignment God has given you will best performed through his power. That is why Jesus had to wait for the Holy Spirit to anoint him before he began his ministry (Acts 10:38). However, as one anointed of God, to sustain your privileges, you have to remain holy. Refrain from judging men of God. Rather pray for them and leave them to be judged by the One who appointed them.

MEMORIZE: 1 PETER 3:13 – And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?   

ANGER

READ: EPHESIANS 4:29-32

When Satan tells a lie, he backs it up with Scripture to make it appealing and receivable to Christians. This is why we should be sure of what Scripture really says: “‘Be angry, and not sin’, do not let the sun go down on your wrath…” (Ephesians 4:26).
The devil has used this passage several times to deceive many. He will tell you that God approves of anger only if you are not angry for too long. When you have accepted that, he will provoke you one day to cause havoc within five minutes of your anger. At a prison fellowship one day, I met a brother who had been sentenced to life imprisonment just because he slapped someone in anger and the man died. His anger did not last for five minutes. It did not even last a second day. Yet he had become a murderer.
“He who is quick-tempered acts foolishly, and a man of wicked intentions is hated.”
 (Proverbs 14:17).
Anger is momentary insanity. It spoils many things. Angry man becomes unstable, like a fool. At the point of anger, he is operating in a satanic anointing that makes him look down on people he would normally respect; he begins to act irrationally. Also, anger propels unsavoury words out of him, which Satan will further hold and use against him. “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment.” (Matthew 12:26).
While you ask the Lord to work on you and deal with the root of anger in your life, never take any important decision when you are angry. You are bound to say things you will regret. Avoid the scene, go and lock yourself up in god’s presence and begin to worship, or pray in the Spirit for 30 minutes. After that, revisit the issue of the scene of your anger and see if you can control yourself now and handle it the way Jesus would have. If you have not cooled off, then take another 30 minutes in God’s presence. In the end, Satan will be put to shame.

MEMORIZE: PROVERBS 14:17 –He who is quick-tempered acts foolishly, and a man of wicked intentions is hated.   

SATANIC WEAPON: FEAR

READ: LUKE 12:4-9

After the creation of man, there no place for fear until Adam and Eve sinned against God. Since then man has been on the run, like Adam (Genesis 3:9-10). As long as your relationship with God is cordial and blossoming, you will have nobody and nothing to fear; rather you will be bold as a lion. But if sin is in your life, you have good reason to fear. Let sin drive you back to the cross to rewash in the blood of the lamb. Let sin not drive you away from God, like Adam.
A child of God, in right standing with God, who allows fear in his life, is insulting to God. By so doing, such a person is propagating the lie of Satan’s superiority over God. I know that all power belongs to my Father. Why then should I fear anyone or any situation in life? “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)
Some people cannot take a step of faith to obey God in a decision, because of fear. You are afraid to marry that sister, even though you are both convinced it is in God’s perfect will, just because you fear that having had a riotous past, she may never conceive again. Are you afraid to leave that job of several years for the uncertain business or ministry God is leading you to? Bring your fears to the cross and deal with them there.
In life, what counts is not your fear but what God has spoken concerning the matter. There are different types of fear. One is physical fear. This includes the fear of death. Are afraid to die? Christ has set you free from that (Hebrews 2:15). In some passages of Scripture, we understand that the decision concerning when you will die as God’s child will be jointly taken between Jesus and you. Nobody can kill you before your time.
Besides, some who walked with God knew when they were going to die. Hezekiah pleaded for more than 15 years and God granted this to him. You can actually prolong your life by obeying and respecting your parents (Ephesians 6:1-3); obeying God completely and staying away from sin; taking care of your body, eating a balanced diet and resting when you should.

MEMORIZE: PSALM 118:17 –I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.