We don't have to live in the devil's garbage!

Father, please use this Charlotte in the morning for your voice to be heard. I give this time and this space to You for Your use only. Give me your words to write to minister to hearts this day. In Jesus Name.

Good morning! My name is Charlotte and I am writing to help us give our first thoughts to the Lord.

We have been studying Luke and beginning with Luke 4:31 the Bible says (this is the New American Standard version) And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath; and they were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority.

In the synagogue there was a man possessed by the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice, "Let us alone! What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are - the Holy One of God!" Note here that the demons were afraid that Jesus would destroy them.

But (there's the but) Jesus rebuked him, saying "Be quiet and come out of him!" And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst of the people, he came out of him without doing him any harm.

And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another saying, "What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out."

The devil is having a field day in this world today! Because of our ignorance of God and His Word, the devil can just come and go as he pleases. I used to think when I was first saved that I would like to be able to go into the sanitariums and lay hands on those people and free them.

How much in our lives today is caused by the devil?

I read a book one time by Gloria Copeland called "God's will for you." I believe that was the name of it. I remember it made such a difference in my life that for Christmas I gave about 10 copies away as a present. I was hoping that it would reveal to my friends what it had revealed to me. They probably never even read it because I never heard them talking about what a difference it made in their life.

One of the things that she said in this book was that the devil will give your grief. The Word says to 'resist the devil, and he will flee from you' so to say out loud 'I resist you devil, in the name of Jesus, flee from me.' I did and I felt a presence leave me.

Same thing with cigarette smoking. I used to be a heavy smoker. A week after I got saved, I was talking to the Lord about my cigarette smoking. The Lord said to me, "Do you believe?" I said yes, Lord, I believe, and instantly I felt something leave my body and I was delivered instantly from smoking cigarettes.

How many negative things in our lives are backed by the devil and we have become complacent to it. Actually, another way of saying it - we have given place to the devil by our spiritual ignorance and inability to say "I resist you devil, in the name of Jesus, get out of here and leave me alone. Go back to hell where you came from. You have no place in my life. I am a child of God, bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ who put you under His feet and mine."

Try it! You will be surprised. So many times in my life I have had things happen and said where is this coming from and would not say out loud - this is coming from the enemy of my soul - when if I would just say - get out of here and leave me alone - go back to hell where you came from - I would be free!!!!!!!

A lady called in at my work Saturday. She had made a payment on our automated system on 12/4 for $100.00 to go through on 12/30 and she cancelled the payment. Then on 12/30 she made another payment for $50.00 to go through on 12/31 and the payment showed cancelled. She was very upset because she said she didn't cancel that payment. Well, we didn't cancel it. There had been no activity on her account on our end during that time. When it all came out, she was a minister of the Lord, and she was supposed to speak on Sunday from Ephesians and she said that everything in the world had happened to her to distract her from what she was supposed to be doing. That's the way the devil works.

We have got to keep before us, AND IT CAME TO PASS. We are going through because we are more than conquerors because of Jesus. No matter what happens to us in this life, we are going through.

Matthew 11:12 says From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.

In other words 'resist the devil and he will flee from you.' Don't resist the devil and he will take it from you gladly. Resist - victory!!!!!! Don't resist - no victory!!!!!!

This scripture is in James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

I have learned over the years this - if I am doing something in the kingdom of God that is what God wants me to do, I can expect static from the devil.

If someone pursues you that you are not interested in - you just ignore them - you say get of here and leave me alone - I'm not going out with you - you might as well get lost.

Well, resisting the devil is much the same. If the devil gives you static, just ignore him - don't let him steal your victory - just say get out of here and leave me alone- I'm not going to go your way, you might as well get lost.

Same thing! To resist!!!!!! But we don't resist!!!!!! We simply go with the flow and let him have his hayday. But his day is coming. Jesus took care of that when he died on the cross and rose victorious over death and hell. Because of Jesus we have victory. Because of Jesus we can resist the devil and he has to flee from us.

Thank you, Jesus, for providing this victory for us. Remind us always of who we are in You, Lord, and remind us that we don't have to live in the devil's garbage. In Jesus name. Amen (it is done)

Have a great day!

Charlotte