The devil has a roar that sounds fearsome, but he has no more bite – why?
Colossians 2:15 victoriously declares Having disarmed principalities and powers, He [Jesus]made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
Through the Cross and the resurrection, Jesus “The” Christ, The Anointed One stripped these demonic powers bare of the authority they once possessed. Jesus’ victory over them was so thorough that He even “made a show of them openly”. Triumphing over them in “it”, what is it, the Cross, the ultimate victory over the power that the devil “had”, not “has” anymore. We all need to continually be aware of his deceptive tactics.
Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. YOU ARE FREE FROM SIN AND DEATH, AND NOT ONLY THAT, MORE IMPORTANTLY, YOU ARE FREE, FREE, FREE TO LIVE IN THE SPIRIT OF LIFE THAT IS IN CHRIST JESUS, WHO LIVES IN YOU!
1 Corinthians 6:17 He that is joined unto the Lord is ONE spirit with Him. So Powerful.
But here’s the deal, this has not stopped the devil from trying to sound dreadful and fearsome. Through his continuous hassling of our thoughts, his insinuations about failure, his concoction of unrealistic fears in our souls and his constant onslaught against our minds, Satan tries to beat us down into defeat. This constant “roaring” in our souls is just another attempt of the adversary to wear us down, wear us out, and then swallow us up in self-pity.
Here’s the caveat; he is looking, seeking “those he may devour”. 1 Peter 5:8 –
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
The word “seeking” implies that not everyone will fall prey to these tactics. The word “may” implies almost a permission to devour. I don’t know about you, but that makes me angry to think that I could give permission to him to harass me! The answer is NO, NO, NO and NO!
Andrew Wommack always states, “the devil can’t do anything to you without your cooperation.”
We stop cooperating with the devil as we become more aware of his lies, or anything that lessens your authority in Christ. He is the father of lies, he will keep telling you all the hindrances to your healing as long as you will believe it!
I heard a statement from Pastor Jim Baker who said “do you want to know what the hinderance to healing is? It’s believing that there is a hinderance to healing. Jesus removed every hindrance to healing at the cross. It is up to us as to what are we going to believe.
Let’s look at 2 Corinthians 10:4-6 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
A stronghold is defined as a: a castle, fortress, something that is hard to take down or remove. The weapons that God has given us are mighty and powerful to pull (or tear) down these arguments or reasonings against God’s words (thoughts). Through His word we can pull down the lies of the enemy. A stronghold can be strengthened or pulled down. This verse here is talking about tearing down wrong strongholds we have which are thoughts contrary to God’s thoughts and ways of living.
What lies is the devil telling you that doesn’t line up with the Word of God? You can “cast the, down” (use force, pull down, demolish these reasonings of your opponent and destroy “high imaginations” of those lies.
When these lies try to exalt themselves, we take the Word, meditate on it, speak it, pray over that word and allow the word it to put them down. You see it’s His Truth (the weapons of our warfare) that does the work, we are just cooperating with it.
The fruit (victory) is in the seed of the word and will produce if we cooperate. Today meditate on this and ask the Holy Spirit “how do I cooperate with what you are showing me?” and listen for His direction. He will show you.
Remember, you are Loved, you are Righteous, and you are His!