Reading for Today: Luke 1:67-80 (vv.74-75)
“74That he would grant unto us, that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear; 75In holiness (being set apart), and righteousness (being upright) before Him, all the days of our life.” (vv. 74-75)
Three issues, representing the mind of God for Christians, stand out from our key verses (vv. 74-75) - i) we are to be delivered from Satan, and his cohorts - the enemies of man, self, our faulty foundation, and the power of sin; ii) we are to be able to serve Christ without fear; and iii) we are to be able to live in holiness and righteousness before God all the days of our lives, before we can please Him. God wants man to know him, have personal/cordial relationship with him and obey his commands. We can see here that God has made provision for our deliverance from devil and all powers of darkness. God desires us to serve Christ, our Redeemer and Saviour, without any fear (vv. 74-75). The Holy Spirit in us does not make us to be afraid, but to be powerful, be filled with the love of Christ, and be of a sound mind (2Tim. 1:7).
The enemy hates us with perfect, wicked hatred. He will do anything to make us disobey and fail God. Paul says that whenever he wants to do good evil comes (Rom. 7:19), he makes this clearer in Ephesians 6: 10-19 - that the enemies we have to contend with are: the devil and his fallen angels – demons and evil spirits (Eph. 6:12) Satan gained access into man’s life from the time of the fall at the Garden of Eden. Also, through sins of idolatry of our forefathers, who entered into covenant with Satan and his demons and worshiped them. The system of law of the earth realm requires that these powers need human vessels to inhabit in order to function among men. They therefore forcefully seek to dominate human lives, through deception, capturing the mind, and the soul. This is why in 2Corinthians 10:4, Paul admonished that “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. … and bringing into captivity every thoughts to the obedience of Christ”. These strongholds are mostly false belief system erroneously formed in the mind. They make the vessel they inhabit their house from where they go in and out at will, making such person to go against the commands of God, thereby doing things which are not pleasing to God, which leads to sin.
God has designed the human body as his temple, to house the Holy Spirit (1Corin 6:19); because the Holy Spirit also needs earthly vessels in which to express Herself so that the will and plan of God may be fulfilled. The Holy Spirit will never force Herself on us, we are to be willing vessels and tools. But because of our fallen human nature, and the curses (Gen. 3), we are weak vessels.
What do we do?
We must realise the fact that man is spiritual, and that the activities of our lives are first spiritual before they manifest in the physical. And that those who would worship God must do so in spirit and in truth (Jn. 4:23).
We must recognise the fact that, God sent Jesus Christ to the earth to destroy the works of the devil, to deliver those who believe, and would believe from every evil work, all the power of darkness, and that believers are no more subject to these wicked powers and forces (Col. 1:13; 2Tim. 4:18; Heb. 2:15). We are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us (Rom. 8:31-39).
Therefore, if you have not surrendered your life to the lordship of Jesus Christ, do so; or have backslidden, ask for mercy and repent of your sin.
We must know who our enemy is - the strength, tricks, and schemes (Eph. 6:10-19).
In order to enforce His supremacy over all his creation, especially forces of darkness; to bring us to Christlike maturity and to wholly depend and rely on Him God has designed spiritual warfare as an art of wrestling with forces of darkness on our knees and by the power of the Holy Ghost. And He trains us to battle our enemies in the art of spiritual warfare (Ps. 18:34-36; 144:1).
God has also designed spiritual whole armour to be worn by believers at all times, to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil, and after all, be able to stand firm in our faith (Eph. 6:11, 13-19).
We are to deliberately seek the face of God, his righteousness, live holy lifestyle pleasing unto God. Consciously seek for a healthy spiritual growth, with a genuine encounter with Jesus Christ. Life is too risky and dangerous to tread its path without the Good Shepherd.
We are to build spiritual altars to God, which is our point of contact and access to the throne of mercy. Consistently ask the Holy Spirit to repair and strengthen our prayer altar.
OLUFUNMILAYO TITILOLA ADEKUSIBE
Prayer:
Father, thank you for protection from all forms of bondage, in Jesus name.
Father in your mercy, forgive our sins and the sins of our ancestors, especially the sin of idolatry, in Jesus name.
Father, create in me a hunger, a thirst for you that will serve throughout my lifetime, in Jesus.
Father, give me what I can handle and still be able to keep you as No. 1 in my life, in Jesus name.
Lord, strengthen my spiritual connection, in Jesus name.
We challenge and pull-down strongholds of forces of disobedience in the lives of believers, in Jesus name.
Father, save our land from destruction and judgement; release your healing power and revive your work, in Jesus name.
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