Beloved: grace, mercy and peace be yours from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am pleased to welcome you to another week of the month of December 2024. My prayer is that Satan will not succeed at all in using you to harm yourself or others in the remaining days of the year. Amen.
One of the instructions we are given in the Scriptures is to give no place to the devil (Eph 4:27). In other words, we are not to provide him any opportunity to work in our lives or to use us to work in other people’s lives. But if we do not guard our hearts against every form of evil, Satan may succeed in using us to hurt ourselves or others in ways beyond our imagination.
For instance, because Judas Iscariot will not guard his heart against greed, Satan succeeded in capturing him and using him to betray the Lord Jesus Christ. And when he eventually came back to his senses, realising that Satan had used him, he could not bear the shame. So, once again, Satan filed him with so much regrets and sorrow that he went on to hang himself. If we too, then, will not shut the doors of our hearts against greed, Satan may succeed in using us to destroy the people that we love and even ourselves. (Cf. Matt 27:3-5; John 13:2&27)
What about King Saul? Because he would not guard his heart against bitterness and jealousy, Satan captured him and turned him into a murderer. Then he abandoned his duties as king and began to run from place to place to capture and kill David, an innocent young man that had done him no wrong. And he did not stop wasting his life in this manner until he died.
In the same vein, if we allow jealousy or bitterness in our hearts, Satan may just possess us and begin to use us to pursue the destruction of innocent people, instead of pursuing the fulfilment of God’s plans for our lives. And where this is the case, we are bound to waste our lives.
Also, through pride, Satan can capture our hearts and begin to use us to do things that we may later regret, things that will expose us to God’s judgment. For example, because of David’s pride, because he wanted to boast about the population of Israel, Satan succeeded in using him to take a census of the people. And by doing so, he exposed himself and the people to God’s judgment. If God, then, had not shown the land mercy, maybe it was only few people that would have been left alive. (Cf. 1Chro 21)
You can see, then, that even if we love God very much like David, if we allow pride in our hearts, Satan may just borrow us to use. And who knows what kind of damage he may cause through us? So, as we come to the last days of this year, make sure you allow the word of God to rid you of all forms of evil desires, especially pride, bitterness, jealousy, greed, discontentment and lust. That way, Satan will not be able to use you to ruin your own joy and peace of mind or to destroy others. And may the Spirit of God strengthen you to do so, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Have a great week.
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