It's Mine and the devil can't have it!

Is anyone out there tired of the devil?! I know I am! He has been running to and fro looking for who he can devour. And truth be told, he’s had a lot of success. I have been going through a season in my life and family where it seems that the devil has put a photo up of us and he looks at it every day for what he can stir up in our lives. Little attacks, big attacks, frustration, irritation, doubt, fear – they all come from the devil and they are designed to throw you off of your course. We all have a purpose and calling that God has put inside of us but the devil doesn’t want us to find out what that is and he certainly doesn’t want us to get to it! But guess what he doesn’t hold the power over your life! The devil only gets away with what you allow him to.

Remember Sampson?  He was anointed with supernatural strength from his mother’s womb to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines and the devil was determined to find out how to stop him. Sampson was a thorn in the Philistine’s side. He burned up their fields, killed their men, and kept them guessing. They wanted him gone and tried a number of times to take him down. They finally decided to send Delilah. You know the story…how she did all that she could to convince Samson to tell her where the secret source of his strength lay. She basically worried him to death, begging him to tell her but to no avail, every time he lied. Then one day, he finally had enough and he told her everything. She then got him all comfortable on her knee and rocked him to sleep. Delilah called for someone to come and shave him. That quickly his hair and his strength were….GONE.

So what is the story of Sampson telling us? The devil doesn’t know your strength until you tell him! He’s basically sitting there throwing darts hoping to hit the target because he doesn’t know exactly what will be your weakness. Our problem is that we usually tell everything we know. All the devil has to do is send someone or something that looks or sounds good and we are ready to give all of our secrets away. Instead of going to our secret place and telling God our concerns and issues, we tell Facebook or our coworkers or friends. We all need support but don’t give the source of your strength away! Think about it. If the devil had known how to defeat Samson, he would have done it from the beginning. The Spirit of the Lord was with Sampson even at times when he made mistakes, showing him mercy. But when he told his secret and his hair was cut, the Spirit of the Lord left Samson. He was out there on his own and the Philistines gouged his eyes out and captured him.

Have you let the devil capture you lately? Because when he does, he will torture and torment you and it’s unnecessary. The Philistines made Samson grind grain in prison and had him perform in front of them for entertainment. The devil wanted to make a mockery of God. He wanted to show that he had taken one of God’s most beloved and captured him. Read the story in Judges 16 of how the Philistines rejoiced that their god had delivered Samson to them. Have you given the devil the power to make you his showpiece? When we choose to go against what God has put inside of us to do, that’s what we are doing. We are saying, “Hey Devil! Take me and use me!”

But aren’t we grateful for a merciful God?! Even after all of that the Lord restored Samson. His hair grew again as a sign of God’s mercy. And when he asked God to allow him the strength to take vengeance on the Philistines one last time, God did it. Samson pushed over the temple and killed more people in that moment than he had killed in his life!

But we don’t have to go through all of that. Stop allowing the devil to have the power in your life! Determine in your mind today that you will walk in the power and gifts that the Lord has anointed you with. Determine that you won’t give those gifts away to things and people that don’t deserve them. You will not allow the enemy to make a mockery of God! When the devil comes trying to tempt you into doing something that you know is not of God, tell the devil NO!!! You are more than a conqueror and you are one of God’s beloved.  If you have fallen, get back up and ask God to restore you. He is faithful and just to forgive.

AMEN