Daily Devotional

THE TRICKS OF THE DEVIL THWARTED

April 23

eloved, let me talk to you about some of the tricks of the Devil. One of the tricks of the Devil is to feed you the lie that you must earn your salvation with God, and also that you must strive (struggle) to keep your salvation. He wants you always to be insecure and uncomfortable about your relationship to God your Father. Every time that you begin to feel safe and peaceful in being at home with your Lord, he seeks to sow discontent, or he seeks to keep you thinking that you really are not good enough in God's presence to be truly happy in your salvation. Well, this is certainly a lie in its largest form! He works against you based on the appearance and reappearance of sin and fleshly attitudes and actions in your life. Through these weaknesses and sinful actions, he says to you, "See, if you were really saved in the first place, you would avoid and be strong enough never to do these things." Child of God, there is no one on the face of the earth that does not sin! The flesh of the best person is susceptible to sin, and will do so from time to time. You must remember that your Father has abundantly provided a remedy for this sin. It is a remedy upon which you must act quickly and thoroughly in the occurrence of any sinful actions. In (1 John 1:9) you read, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Isn't this a blessed and powerful promise from heaven? You say, "But you don't know me that well, I sin constantly and repeatedly throughout my day to the point that I do not believe sometimes that I have truly ever been saved in the first place!" Now listen carefully to me beloved of God: You are in a war for your life! The flesh is extremely powerful for everybody to overcome. If you ask others around you who are truly saved, if they are honest, they will tell you that it is a daily struggle for many of them all day long to be able to walk out their lives in cleanliness and holiness. Welcome to the family of believers! If you sin, then confess it before God. Confess that you hate what is going on inside you (your brother Paul did this in the seventh chapter of Romans). Read that chapter! He seemed like the worst sinner imaginable, but at the end of the chapter he found real deliverance from the bondages of the Devil. Remember, you are always in a life and death war to obtain the prize for the final victory in Christ. This will come in time. Also, remember this, after a while your battles will be stronger and stronger. You will grow in such love for your Heavenly Father that you will win more and more through the strength that your love for Him gives you. Be encouraged Child of the King! You will win!

Prayer

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Father, I grow weary sometimes, and accept the lies of the Enemy against me. I know that my life is a mess sometimes. But thank God, I am your mess. I belong to you, and I know that you will help me to get beyond the struggle to win the victory in Jesus my Lord. In Jesus' name I praise you, amen!