I SHOT THE DEVIL, BUT HE SMILED AT ME.

 

"The head pastor is not his usual self today," I thought as he walked into the hall, looking like the last surviving troop member sent on a deadly mission. One of the young pastors was leading a prayer session. Still, the atmosphere wasn't jubilant enough because he was stressing the Believer's authority in Christ and the need to know who they are in Christ before embarking on the journey of warfare. Seeing the man of God approach his seat in such a mood, I thought he would walk away for us to have real warfare, knowing that the "spiritual bulldozer" was in the building, but this young man continued. Before he could raise the prayer point, the spiritual bulldozer had already climbed the altar with a microphone. To make the young Pastor aware, we stood on our feet to acknowledge the presence of absolute authority. I wondered why we didn't stand while the young Pastor was leading the prayers, but who was I to ask the older woman by me who was hissing and looking at the entrance since the young man took the microphone for his prayer session?

 

The prayer bulldozer tested his microphone with a strong statement: "The devil made a mistake when he attempted to attack me this evening, knowing very well that tonight is war night." To that statement, the older woman jumped to her feet like a fetish priestess that has been intoxicated with some chants. "Turn to your neighbour and tell him or her that we are not here to joke," the head pastor said. The minute I turned to that older woman, I knew the devil would be buried that night. I couldn't pinpoint whatever it was she was there to battle, but I knew the devil and his cohorts had touched the wrong daughter of Eve. For the young lady to my left, I knew she was there to find a husband because she had a white sheet with the names of four gentlemen. I could easily give her an answer to the prayer request because I realised that one of the names had a love symbol drawn with a red pen. "She is just here to cause useless heavenly traffic," I said.

 

"Take out your best weapon tonight because we will start by shooting the devil," he added after we turned to each other to make the previous comment. "Wait, did he say shoot the devil? How can we shoot the devil? I don't even know the types of weapons to think of the best. Why didn't they give this memo on their pamphlets when they planned this program? I only know AK47. My God! I can't win the battle I brought to the Lord," I said to myself as I began to look around, hoping to get some suggestions of the types of guns. My panic took a different turn when I saw the older woman take the poster stance of Rambo with a machine gun. It was then the image of a machine gun came to mind. Immediately, I took a similar stance, waiting for the commander-general to give the instruction. "Fire!!," he commanded. The auditorium echoed with all kinds of gun sounds. My goodness, for a second thought, I was at a playground. "Wait!" he said, and the church went quiet. "You are not taking this exercise seriously. Everybody should close their eyes. I want you to clear your mind and begin to imagine the devil in front of you. Now begin to fire all your bullets, and don't stop reloading," he added with an angry face.

 

With my eyes closed, I could see a disfigured face looking at me and smiling. I opened my eyes immediately, and it was as if the image was stuck in my mind. The annoying part was that the image was before me each time I looked either to my left or right. "This Pastor has put me in trouble. Asem b3n nie" was my immediate thought. Well, I either looked tough and got to work, or I knew this creature would make a mockery of me here. I began to spit out all kinds of gun sounds. I immediately saw the bullets bouncing off the beast as it kept smiling. I knew this was the end for me. But then, the young man's message rang in my spirit. I remember that he emphasised the importance of the blood of Jesus, our identity in Christ and where we are seated in Christ. The scripture he read, Colossians 2:15, began replaying in my mind.

 

Colossians 2:15 (NKJV)

Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

Colossians 2:15 (NLT)

In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.

 

Like a man drunk in the spirit, I smiled at it and boldly stated, "You are not worth my time. My Lord and Master made a mockery of you and your master years ago. I am in Christ and Christ in God. I am seated far above your realm. You are no one in my realm. You have no place in my realm. I rebuke you in the name of Jesus. I sit and swim in the blood of Jesus. Before I count one, get out of here." The smile on its face faded, and I immediately sat down to ignore it. "Eeeeiii! Where from this strength? Wow!" I said to myself. I have never felt much peace during an all-night like I felt that night. I felt satisfied for the first time in years before church service ended.

I came back from that imaginative thinking only to find out that the head Pastor was the grown version of an ignorant me, and the younger Pastor was me and what I needed to know currently to be a better version than that grown version I saw.

 

My brother and sister in the Lord, IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO KNOW THE STORY OF JESUS CHRIST. You must understand what His life and living on this earth and after means to your Christian walk.

If Jesus healed the sick, it should mean something to your Christian walk.

If the presence of Jesus made demons uncomfortable, it should mean something to you, who now carries Him wherever you go. How are demons comfortable in your presence, and you are not questioning it?

If Jesus brought the dead to life, how are you comfortable with things dying in and around you?

If Jesus taught all to bring them out of darkness, why are you comfortable with the people around you being in darkness with all the knowledge and insight you have in the Word of God?

If Jesus died to bring salvation to all, including you, why are you refusing to go to the very place He is asking you to go and spread His word to the lost?

 

Why have you abandoned your authority in Christ so that the devil and his cohorts can make a mockery of your Lord and Master? We are to perpetually mock the kingdom of darkness and keep them in that state until we go home. Don't be deceived; that isn't the definition of humility.

You are not doing the Kingdom of Light a favour by being silent when you need to speak to cast out demons and frustrate the enemy's operations. What light is in you if it tolerates darkness? Our Father sent us on earth to frustrate the works of the kingdom of darkness. Don't be silent now when your spirit makes you uncomfortable with what is happening.

 

DAILY CONFESSION: In the name of Jesus, I frustrate the works of the enemy in and around me today. I am soaked in the blood of Jesus. I carry the Holy Spirit of God. I am a terror to the kingdom of darkness wherever I find myself. I cannot and will not be a specimen for demonic arrows. My organs are responding perfectly because I carry the life of Christ. My body cannot carry sickness because there is no sickness in Christ. I live and walk according to the dictates of the Holy Spirit. I have the wisdom of God, and I cherish and uphold that above the carnal ways of men. I am forgiven and free. I will not be imprisoned by my guilts. I am favoured. I am blessed. I carry God, so wherever I find myself, I have introduced God. No man can bring me down. I cannot be cursed. I am the definition of every good thing the Lord want to make available in a territory. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Holy Spirit.

 

Remain in the blessings of God as you remain in Christ.

MD.

WHY HAVE YOU ABANDONED YOUR POST?

While on campus during my days in Bible school, I asked a question in class about a sensitive topic in the body of Christ. Without hesitation, the reverend began his answer by saying, 'You are not thinking right.' Although we trashed that opening statement out after the lecture, it has always stuck with me because it made me aware of the need to find the source of every thought process each time I communicate or discuss a topic with anybody or listen to anybody on a matter. I have come to understand that everything we think, say or do is based on an understanding gathered from the few or many years one has lived on earth, whether being a Christian or not. It is, therefore, imperative for the Christian to choose to live based on the daily instructions of the Holy Spirit. A Christian who fails to commit to a life locked in a secret place with their maker will indeed follow the guidance provided by family spirits, eventually leading them into generational paths that have nothing to do with their destiny in Christ. Their lack of attention to the secret place has made that available in their life. The absence of one authority automatically makes the other available. It is like an automatic plant that takes over when the lights go out. Until Christians consciously choose to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit daily, they are prone to all demonic influences, no matter the abundance of knowledge about their heritage in Christ. (Anyway, I have veered off the main reason for this article.)

 

The Holy Spirit has drawn my attention to a dangerous thought pattern currently running in the kingdom of God – the belief that the success of every individual is solely dependent on the actions or influence of another individual. This belief, which is not in line with the teachings of the Bible, is a form of pride. It is wrong for such a thought to run in the kingdom of Light, where we know that the source and ability to do all things is from God, not mere men. It is a demonic thought that has infiltrated our camp, and yet we have meditated on it for too long that it has caused a viral infection that is slowly killing the kingdom army. I know what I am saying because I have thought about and acted on this for several years, and it took several teachings by the Holy Spirit to snap out of it.

It is sad to see commanders in the kingdom of God put down their armour and leave their post because the men they claimed to have made 'somebodies' have disappointed or betrayed them, and so they are no longer going to be a help to any other person the Lord brings on their path. Men have buried their gifts and operations of the spirit because another man failed to show gratitude to them for the effects of the gifts or operations that had nothing to do with them but God.

I am not encouraging ungratefulness towards men; I am only fighting the viral infection. Suppose the so-called men we have made 'somebodies' are still connected to God and are always eternally grateful to God for what God has done for them.

 

Why are we offended that they never said thank you or are refusing or forgetting to acknowledge our efforts in public as they interact with great men or women? The fact that 'we' helped a fellow human to find or open the books concerning their lives should instead be held as a privilege in the sight of God, not a badge of honour we hope to carry on our heads wherever we find ourselves in the space of men. When did honour before men become more valuable than honour before God in the kingdom of Light? The Holy Spirit clearly stated in the first three chapters of the book of Luke that John and Jesus found favour in the sight of God before men. In other words, they were first honoured by God before men. They were more concerned with God's words than men's. They were appreciative of the blessings of God before the blessings of men. Isn't John the Baptist, the man who would later say that 'no man can receive a thing in the realm of men unless it has been given freely from God?' How, then, is a man or woman who came to this world naked and will eventually return naked, thinking that he or she has the power to make and unmake a fellow human without thinking there is a greater power in play in his or her life?

 

Every person comes into this world with a complete book already written about their life. Many die without opening a page of that book because they failed to interact with their genuine Maker and Master. In contrast, some are fortunate to meet others who lead them to the King of Light, such as pastors, mentors, or friends who guide them along a path obscured by the darkness in the world. Some of these men or women who have helped others by leading them to the King of Light have failed to understand that it is an honour to be selected by God to be the man or woman through whom another encounters the kingdom of Light. We only help that person by leading them to the King of Light so they can get the Light needed to manoeuvre the darkness in this world while carefully opening the pages of their eternal book. If Christ is our Light, why do we take credit for His actions through us? Why do we think we need to share in the glory of God if the work was entirely orchestrated and performed by God?

 

It is a divine honour to help others recognize what God has destined them to be.

It is a divine honour to lead others to that ever-flowing river that is sustaining us.

So, why have you allowed the offence to take you away from your post?

Why does a sense of self-entitlement lead us to underestimate the immense responsibility we have received from God?

Why have we become so gratitude-thirsty that we have hindered a gift we have freely received from the Lord to help others boldly come before the throne of Grace to encounter the Grace of God from freely operating?

Why are you offended that all the people God has enabled you to raise in His kingdom by His Grace and guidance are ungrateful to you and not to God?

Weren't we ungrateful when we ignored the blood of Jesus and went about doing as the enemy led us?

Weren't we ungrateful when we refused to thank God for the numerous things He had done and was doing for us?

 

Man of God, Woman of God, Boy of God, Girl of God, Spiritual father/mother, Senior Usher/Protocol Officer, Sunday School Teacher, let go of that self-entitlement and return to your post immediately. How you feel has nothing to do with the will of God concerning a generation. Your ego is killing millions in the kingdom of Light. Your ego is making your gift a dangerous weapon against the kingdom of Light instead of darkness. Offense because of the lack of gratitude is burying many in the kingdom of God. We are losing a great army to the kingdom of darkness because of the offence you have buried in your heart. Your Light has become darkness because of that offence, which we can notice in your so-called 'spiritual nuggets/quotes.' You have been teaching us with your pain, not the words of Christ.

 

Cleanse your heart, and let us move on with the Kingdom assignment!

Remain in the blessings of God as you remain in Christ.