'Unless Christians are keenly alert in resisting the devil, they shall encounter great defeat through their self life. That the Christian’s soul life could be deceived and could be used by the devil is indeed beyond common expectation.' The Spiritual Man- Watchman Nee.
Jas_4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Tell me something, why would we be told to RESIST the devil if we weren't really supposed to resist the devil?
Seriously. Can we resist something if we don't even believe it's real? Can we resist something that we don't believe has anything to do with us? Is the devil real to you? I'm not asking you to MAKE him real to you, he'll oblige anyone who desires to really want to be his. Then again, my asking you to make him real to you is something you can't do if you simply do not believe he exists in a REAL and active way, other than on tv shows meant to entertain you. Very few have any trouble believing the devil exists in a fictional, very abstract way.
We are told to RESIST the devil.
Watchman Nee talks about us being 'keenly ALERT in resisting the devil'. He says that we can be deceived and used by the devil. Our soul-self which loves to be in control will often give way to the devil, because the devil will tempt us with so much that our soul-self loathes to give up. We enjoy our self-righteousness. We enjoy our self-indignation. We pat ourselves on the back every opportunity we get. Or, we enjoy our self-depreciation in a very selfish way. It's not enough to loathe ourselves if we've made it something we inwardly enjoy. Do you see how many traps there are that the devil uses at every opportunity he gets. We have to fall to our knees in front of the cross of our Savior. We have to give our lives over to Him. We have to yield to Jesus Christ, all of ourselves and this must be a constant submission.
Resisting the devil means examining our actions, the heart of them. It is amazing what can be revealed to us if we yield to the Holy Spirit's leading. We will be allowed to recognize the devil working in our lives in so many ways. We will be shown his temptings and we NEED to remember the tempting is NOT the sin! It's the giving in to that temptation, letting that sin be conceived in us. There is a difference between indulging our thoughts with the temptations we face and having the thought there that can be given immediately to Christ as we RESIST.
May the LORD please bless us with all we need whatever it may be for us to resist the devil so he will flee from us! May we recognize the soul-self and it's constant temptation to give in to all that has its roots in selfishness whether it's seems good or is outright evil. Help us NOT to be deceived, Lord, please, help us!
All in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord now and forever!
Jas_4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Tell me something, why would we be told to RESIST the devil if we weren't really supposed to resist the devil?
Seriously. Can we resist something if we don't even believe it's real? Can we resist something that we don't believe has anything to do with us? Is the devil real to you? I'm not asking you to MAKE him real to you, he'll oblige anyone who desires to really want to be his. Then again, my asking you to make him real to you is something you can't do if you simply do not believe he exists in a REAL and active way, other than on tv shows meant to entertain you. Very few have any trouble believing the devil exists in a fictional, very abstract way.
We are told to RESIST the devil.
Watchman Nee talks about us being 'keenly ALERT in resisting the devil'. He says that we can be deceived and used by the devil. Our soul-self which loves to be in control will often give way to the devil, because the devil will tempt us with so much that our soul-self loathes to give up. We enjoy our self-righteousness. We enjoy our self-indignation. We pat ourselves on the back every opportunity we get. Or, we enjoy our self-depreciation in a very selfish way. It's not enough to loathe ourselves if we've made it something we inwardly enjoy. Do you see how many traps there are that the devil uses at every opportunity he gets. We have to fall to our knees in front of the cross of our Savior. We have to give our lives over to Him. We have to yield to Jesus Christ, all of ourselves and this must be a constant submission.
Resisting the devil means examining our actions, the heart of them. It is amazing what can be revealed to us if we yield to the Holy Spirit's leading. We will be allowed to recognize the devil working in our lives in so many ways. We will be shown his temptings and we NEED to remember the tempting is NOT the sin! It's the giving in to that temptation, letting that sin be conceived in us. There is a difference between indulging our thoughts with the temptations we face and having the thought there that can be given immediately to Christ as we RESIST.
May the LORD please bless us with all we need whatever it may be for us to resist the devil so he will flee from us! May we recognize the soul-self and it's constant temptation to give in to all that has its roots in selfishness whether it's seems good or is outright evil. Help us NOT to be deceived, Lord, please, help us!
All in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord now and forever!
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