Today's "Sparkling Gems From The Greek" Volume 2 by Rick Renner is a very powerful message for each one of us!
No Open Doors!
Neither give place to the devil. — Ephesians 4:27
Have you ever felt like you were under spiritual attack or
that the devil was trying to wage a vicious warfare against your very
existence? Today I want to talk to you about doing all you can to keep every
door shut to the enemy so he is unable to find easy access into your life.
I can personally testify to many attacks that have come
against our ministry and family as we have pressed forward to take new territory
for the Kingdom of God over the years. I have learned that the enemy is always
looking for ways to sabotage anything that is of significance to the overall
plan of God. Therefore, we have had to stand our ground and fight many times.
Part of a long-term protection plan against the enemy’s attacks has been making
sure that we left no open doors for the enemy to find easy access to us or our
ministry. Believe me when I tell you that the devil is trying find a way to
sabotage everything good — so we don’t need to help him by leaving a door open
for him!
Even as I write this, I am thinking of Denise and her habit
of locking the doors every night before we go to bed. Even when she is home
during the day, she keeps the doors locked. No one enters our home who isn’t
invited. When someone arrives, they must ring the doorbell to announce his or
her arrival. After we invite the visitor in, the door is locked again. Denise’s
safeguarding of our home once seemed over-protective to me, but then came the
time when a stranger tried to enter our home, which made me very thankful that
my wife was so careful about keeping the doors locked. I can assure you that it
would be very difficult for someone to enter our house without
permission.
The one time a stranger tried to find entry into our home,
an employee escorted him off the property. Even so, the intruder lingered a
long time behind our home, waiting for our attention to drop so he could try
once again to get back onto the property. But we stayed alert and didn’t relax
our guard until that intruder was long gone. Had we not been diligent to stay
alert on that occasion, I’m sure it would have been only a short time before
the person started trying to find entrance to our home again. But a locked door
and an alert attitude kept our home from being penetrated by an unwanted guest.
It may seem like a simplistic example, but an “open door” is
exactly what the devil is looking for in each of our lives. If we are diligent
to keep the doors to our lives locked, it makes it much more difficult for the
devil to find access to us. This is one reason the apostle Paul wrote, “Neither
give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:27). This verse is full of insight about
how the devil operates, and it explicitly tells us what our part is in keeping
the devil from finding a way into our lives. Let’s look at this verse and see
what it tells us.
First, when Paul wrote, “Neither give place to the devil,”
it was not a suggestion; it was a command. If you’ve ever come
under spiritual assault and found the devil in the middle of your affairs, you
know that it’s much easier to stop the enemy at the doorway than to try to find
a way to extract him once he has found an access point to worm his way into an
area of your life.
That’s why Paul so urgently warned you to give the devil no
“place.” In other words, keep on alert so the enemy can’t freely access your
life. Believe me, just like the stranger who lingered in the back of our
property, waiting for us to drop our guard and relax our level of alertness,
the devil will linger a long time to see if you are truly serious about keeping
him out of your life.
When Paul told us to give the devil no place, that word
“place” is the Greek word topos. It describes a specific, marked-off
location. But rather than a physical location that we use a map to identify,
this “place” may refer to a rough spot in our relationships, our finances, our
thoughts, or our personal habits or to lingering areas of disobedience.
Whatever it is, it’s an identifiable location that the devil seeks to find
and use as an open door into our lives.
If the door is closed, you’re already in good condition. If
it’s locked because you are living a life of holiness and obedience, you are
even in better condition. But if you are living loosely, you need to know that
the door is not only unlocked — it is likely standing wide open, literally
inviting the enemy to come in and wreak havoc in your life! This is why you
must be so circumspect in answering the question: Are there any open doors
I need to close that allow the enemy access to my life?
We need to be serious about our lives because the devil is
always looking for a door, a window, or a crack — an entry point —
through which he can access us. We must circumspectly look at our lives to see
if there is any area we have left open or unguarded that has allowed the devil
to find a way to attack us. These types of “places” are the open doors he seeks
in our lives.
The word “devil” in Ephesians 4:27 leaves no question about
the devil’s intention to attack us as believers. It is the Greek word diabolos,
which is a compound of dia and ballo. The word dia means through,
as in all the way through an object. This second part of the word “devil”
is from the word ballo, which means to throw, to hurl, to
inject, or even to beat. When these two words are compounded to form the
word diabolos, the new word categorically means that the devil is one
who strikes repetitiously — trying to find a way to break through
into our worlds and mess up our lives.
This word diabolos vividly reveals the devil’s
tenacity. He is so committed to our destruction that if he doesn’t easily find
his way into our lives, he will linger and wait for us to drop our guard so he
can try again, perhaps from another vantage point. The Greek emphatically means
he’ll even try to beat his way inside if that is what is required of
him.
The devil is more committed to attack than most of us are to
withstand him. That’s why he is often so successful in the warfare he
wages against us. And that is why the apostle Paul commands us
Since we know the devil is going to try to find a way to
gain entry into our lives, we must use the weapons of warfare God has given us
to resist him (see Ephesians 6:10-18). But it is likewise essential that
we diligently and continually keep watch over our lives on a
sustained and continual basis, looking for any open doors we may have left open
that would make it easier for the enemy to find entrance.
One thing is certain: Living a life of obedience shuts every
door and makes it very difficult for the devil to find entry into our lives. On
the other hand, we must also acknowledge that if we are living in disobedience
in any area of our lives, those areas may become the very entry points by which
the devil gains access to try to disturb our peace and stop our forward
momentum.
I realize that many attacks we experience can be attributed
to the devil acting in accordance with his own evil nature. But the truth is,
many times we have left a door open that allows the enemy to find his
way into our lives and launch his fiery darts from an inside position. It’s up
to us to do all we can to shut every door and to make sure they stay shut.
And during those times we are under attack, it would behoove us to ask: “Holy
Spirit, is there is any area in my life where I’ve left a door open and allowed
this intruder to find his way in?” Before we take authority over the devil in
the name of Jesus, let’s do all we can to find the access point and STOP
him at the door!
If you are under attack, you can stand strong in the Lord,
confident that the weapons of warfare given to you will enable you to
successfully repel the enemy in the name of Jesus Christ. But if you have
knowingly, negligently, or ignorantly left a door open that allows the enemy access,
there is always the possibility of a successful attack against your life. So I
urge you to follow Denise’s example. Spiritually close the door — and
then keep it locked so no demonic attack will find its way into your
affairs!
AMEN! It is completely OUR responsibility to guard are own hearts, which are made up of our recreated, Holy Spirit indwelt spirits and our soul, which includes our mind, emoitons and will. GOD has given us all the authority that we need to keep the enemy out and to keep the door of fellowship open to the One, True God through His Spirit Who lives in us!It IS a matter of CHOICE and DECISION for us! I hope that YOU will heed the warnings here and protect your life from the one who desires ONLY to steal, kill and destroy! AMEN! Here are Hillsong Kids with "As The World Shakes":
Shalom in Him!
