"To Destroy the Works of the Devil" 8-25-05

Good morning, Lord Jesus. You must increase and I must decrease. I surrender all again to You this day. ... "The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3.8). C.S. Lewis said the devil's most effect strategy is to convince us that he does not exist. In human pride and worldly naiveté, Your own church is often confused and deceived into believing we are wiser than Your Word and we have advanced beyond the truths of Scripture to understand how the world really works. We think we have learned that there really is no devil, but only psychosis, imagination, and chemical imbalance. Yet the Word of God says this is the very purpose for which the Son of God was revealed, "to destroy the works of the devil." This is not a marginal or an ancillary part of Your ministry, this is the very heart of Your ministry. You commissioned us to continue Your ministry in the power of Your Spirit: "Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so I send you.' When He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit' " (John 20.21-22). This was why the Father sent You, the is why You have sent us. "And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using My name they will cast out demons...." (Mark 16.15-17). One of Your children is suffering under the works of the devil. He's grown weary of listening to the lies from the voices in his head. These are not Your thoughts and these are not his thoughts that try to get him to lose his hope, renounce his faith, and end his life. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy" (John 10.10). As Paul warned the Christian believers at Corinth, we can be "deceived" by "the serpent" so that our "thoughts will be led astray from a pure and sincere devotion to Christ" to the point that we even "receive a different spirit than the One we received" (2 Corinthians 11.3-4). Help us set aside our pride and the world's wisdom to remember in humility it is Your church that You taught to pray, "Deliver us from evil" (Matthew 6.13, KJV). It is Your church that Your word warns, "Like a roaring lion, your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5.8). But today, the true Lion -- the Lion of the Tribe of Judah -- will roar! The enemy of this young man's soul will be scattered by the power of Your Spirit to the glory of Your name. We overcome our enemy "by the blood of the Lamb" (Revelation 12.11). As his mother and his pastor and those who love him enough to fight for him come with him to call upon Your name in the power of Your Spirit, the Son of God will be revealed and the Son of God will destroy the works of the devil. You came to "proclaim release to the captives" and "to let the oppressed go free" (Luke 4.18). You have not changed and Your mission has not changed. Neither has ours. As the Father sent the Son, so You have sent us, in the power of Your Spirit. We thank You now for the victory of the cross You will enforce in his life and in ours, all for Your glory. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Be encouraged this day! In the Love of Jesus, Tommy Hays Friends, this family and this church is asking for prayer. Please join us in prayer for Johnathon today and each day as he walks out the victory Jesus has already won for him at the cross. Let us pray for one another, that we would be delivered from evil as the Lord Jesus Christ continues to destory the works of the devil, enforcing the victory of His cross by the power of His blood through His Spirit in His church for His glory. To subscribe/unsubscribe, please send a note to me at Messiah Ministries MessiahMin@aol.com -- "Preparing the Way of the Lord." Our address for ministry and contributions: 2800 Tates Creek Rd.; Lexington, Kentucky 40502. Come to The Fountain the 3rd Saturday night of every month. Daily archives: www.morningbymorning.blogspot.com andwww.morningbymorning.injesus.com