THE DEVIL’S MINISTRY

TEXT: JOHN 10:10

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

From the time that the Lord disqualified Lucifer from His kingdom (from being one of the angels of God) till present day, Lucifer the devil has not rested on his oars to destroy the children of God in order to vent his anger and revenge.

The devil is in a big battle with the children of God because he has been disgraced and banished from the presence of God as a result of pride. In his quest to retaliate he established a destructive “ministry” to kill, to steal and to destroy the children of God.

Many great and mighty destinies have been stolen by the devil. Many great men and women with promising future have met their untimely death as a result of the scheme of the devil to kill them before they could fulfil their purpose.

Countless seed of greatness that were meant to be used to do great exploit for God were destroyed from ignorant owner of the seeds before these seed could become mighty and fruitful seed, and as a result of this, the owner of the seed could not fulfil his or her God given purpose.

The disposition and purpose of God for our lives is that we would become great, fruitful, replenish and dominate the earth and be fulfilled. God did not create us for the earth to dominate us. It is the devil that brings evil, bad occurrence, set back and non-achievement into the life of the children of God. God didn’t create anybody to be a failure.

Many people are not careful or vigilant enough as the scripture has advised us in 1 Peter 5:8 “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” They are careless and carefree about their destiny- They allowed the thief (devil) to craftily come into their lives unannounced to steal, kill and destroy their destinies!

Some of the strategies that the devil uses to destroy great destiny is DECEIT! The devil deceives people to see “poisonous package” as “marvellous breakthrough” and in this wise; they trade their promising destiny for something that is unreal or genuine- it could be by enticing them with treasure that will not last or blessing that will bring sorrow to them later in life.- Like engaging in fraudulent activities, sexual immoralities and so on.

The devil tried to destroy the ministry of Jesus Christ by asking him to turn stones to bread so that he (the devil) can give Jesus the whole world as his own. Jesus was able to defeat the devil because he was always vigilant and always in tune with God. In fact, he just came down from the mountain where he went to pray when the accuser and the thief came to tempt him. Only by prayer and vigilance can you defeat the devil the destroyer.

Do not help the devil to fulfil his ministry in your life, resist him by being careful of any offer or favour that looks very “enticing”- it could be a bait to catch you into his trap- be vigilant and PRAY without ceasing. Shalom!

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JESUS FOLLOWED THE RULES

 TEXT: ACTS 10:38, MATTHEW 3: 13-17

“ How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil because God was with him.

(Act: 10: 38).

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.” Then John consented.

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him.  And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him, I am well pleased.”

The scripture advised all followers of Jesus to be Christ like. What does this mean? It means the mind and character of our Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus came to this world as the son of man, he had the power to do as he pleased- because nobody living on earth was greater than him both in power and in wisdom.

Being the son of man in human form, he could have used his power to intimidate and oppress people. However, Jesus the Son of God that has been given ALL power was humble and submissive to authority. (Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me- Matthew 28:18).

Jesus was humble, caring, selfless, non-partial, nonjudgemental, and approachable. He led without favouritism or pride.

In the anchor scripture, we can see how Jesus started his earthly ministry- he waited to be anointed with Holy Ghost and power, before going around to fulfil his purpose.

In the second scripture (Matthew 3: 13-17) Jesus Christ humbled himself to be baptised by John the Baptist, this is the height of humility. Jesus followed the rules to the letter. During that time, John the Baptist was the only one God appointed to baptise people into His kingdom. Hence, John was not comfortable to baptise the saviour of the world, because he knew who Jesus Christ was. Therefore, as a sign of honour, John felt he was not in the position to baptise Jesus. Jesus insisted that all protocol must be followed- things should be done according to the rules. Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.” Then John consented.” (Matthew 3:15).

However, in Christendom these days, people are so impatient and eager to start their ministry without waiting for the leading and the direction of God. Many go into ministry without waiting to be equipped with Holy Ghost and power, and they end up struggling in ministry.

Pride had eroded many children of God of their breakthrough. They have allowed pride to limit them from getting to the height that the Lord wanted to take them to.

Many church leaders are partial and they show favouritism in their relationship with their members. If they don’t like you or they “find” anything wrong with you, your “growth” will be retarded!

These are not attributes of our Lord Jesus, Jesus is our role model, we are called to be like him in ALL our ways. Do not break or bend the rules because Jesus never did. Let us examine ourselves and amend our ways. Shalom!

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