Devices Of The Devil!

Evil devices of the devil!

Mark 8:33”But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, "Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men."

Just after a great party with the Lord, would come a dirty trick from the devil to spoil the joy and pull you away from Him. Beware! When you are in the highest peak of spiritual revelation and joy, that’s when the attack becomes severe and aggressive from the devil. Watch out dear friends! He does not spare anyone, even a spiritual giant has to watch his steps for landmines. Did not Jesus warn us all the time to be careful, cautious and diligent? The devil may not come with two horns with his front teeth jutting out to harass you; he may come in the form of a pretty girl or a well groomed boy. We need to be sensitive to the presence of God and His voice!

Let me expound the above scripture for you; the disciples had a great time of close fellowship with the Lord, it was absolute fun time when Jesus questioned His disciples as to what the world thought of Him. There were many answers but the right one came from Peter: ‘You are the Son of the Living God!” Peter thrilled Jesus! Thereafter, Jesus began teaching them of the forthcoming arrest, His suffering and also spoke about Him being killed. Peter impulsively gave room for flesh and spoke to Jesus about avoiding the pain and sufferings. The immediate harsh response of Jesus is: ‘Get behind me, Satan.’ Jesus clearly identified the subtle plan of the devil. He did not tell Peter, ‘do not behave like satan’ but gives a straight warning to the devil. Peter let his guard down and allowed his mind to wander towards human reasoning. Peter failed to look beyond with faith at His resurrection and rejoice. Unbelief is departing from the Lord. Friend, it is not that Peter did not believe Jesus but he made a grave mistake of being ‘practical’ in his thinking. Have you heard this phrase, ‘be practical?’ I have heard it million times in my life.

When I decided to resign my job with a multinational bank to join the mission field and serve the Lord as a full-time servant of God, the people at the HR department in the bank said,’Bala, you are a mother of two small children, you would not get a plum job like this again, be practical.’ My folks at home said, “be practical, how do you plan to run the show?’ My friends said, ‘Bala, don’t be emotional, be practical.’ When I shut myself inside the prayer room and looked up at Him, He said, “Bala, trust me!” That was enough, I walked out. Though ministry is not a cake-walk, yet, through the rough terrains of life, He has revealed that He is sufficient. Even during the most crucial period of my life, I had never borrowed, nor used the credit card for cash or called a friend; I had received all my answers on my knees.

Friend, there are huge lessons for us from the above scripture, however, I just want to drive home one point clearly to you today, never give in to human reasoning. Luce says, “You must have a backbone about your faith because if you don’t, you will be blown over.”