Shut the Door to the Devil!

You can't be free indeed if you don't think that you can be in bondage.

John 8:36  (NIV)

36 So if the Son (Jesus) sets you free, you will be free indeed.

Satan is not creative.  He always attacks in the same way. 

2 Corinthians 2:10-11 (NIV)

10 Anyone you forgive, I also forgive. And what I have forgiven—if there was anything to forgive—I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

The Three Ways that Satan Attacks

1 John 2:15-17 (NIV)

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

1. The lust of the flesh is to give in to what your body wants.

2. The lust of the eyes is to give in to possessions.

3. The pride of life is to give into our position or status.

James 4:6. God opposes the pride, but give grace to the humble.   

How to lock the Devil out of your life.

1. Have integrity and be honest about your situation.

Proverbs 5:7-10 (NIV)

7 Now then, my sons, listen to me;
    do not turn aside from what I say.
8 Keep to a path far from her,
    do not go near the door of her house,
9 lest you lose your honor to others
    and your dignity to one who is cruel,
10 lest strangers feast on your wealth
    and your toil enrich the house of another.

Romans 6:12-14 The Message (MSG)

12-14 That means you must not give sin a vote in the way you conduct your lives. Don’t give it the time of day. Don’t even run little errands that are connected with that old way of life. Throw yourselves wholeheartedly and full-time—remember, you’ve been raised from the dead!—into God’s way of doing things. Sin can’t tell you how to live. After all, you’re not living under that old tyranny any longer. You’re living in the freedom of God.

Say yes to God everyday and not to the devil.

2.  Have generosity which is the antidote to possessions.

Genesis 4:2-7  (NIV)

2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord.4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering,5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”

Malachi 3:10-11  (NKJV)

10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,
That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,”
Says the Lord of hosts,
“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven
And pour out for you such blessing
That there will not be room enough to receive it.

11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes,
So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground,
Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,”

Says the Lord of hosts; 

Give God the first of everything.

3. Have humility which is the antidote for pride. 

Revelation 3:7-8 (NKJV)

7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,

‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”:8 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.

Develop a lifestyle of prayer and fasting (Check with Doctor first). 

Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands.

https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/shut-the-door