This message is specially dedicated to those people who decided to come out of the bondages of Satan (the Devil) from being his slaves with addiction(s) – such as cigarettes, tobacco, drugs, alcohol or any other harmful habits.
Why Jesus said that both His disciples and Himself did not belong to this world (John 17:14, 16)?
The answer is very simple: This world has been contaminated and controlled by Satan (the Devil).
In the beginning, Satan used ambiguous idea and tempted Eve to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil which God told Adam that if Adam ate its fruit, he would surely die. Adam disobeyed God and accepted the offer from Eve and took the forbidden fruit as well. Since God does not change, He fulfilled His own words spoken to Adam (Genesis 2:17). Therefore, each and every descendant of Adam and Eve must die.
God created man and wanting man to depend on Him. God also told man to obey Him (Matthew 7:21, 12:50). While Adam and Eve disobeyed Him, they wanted to be independent and stay away from God. Man then became the slaves of Satan.
God is Love. Instead of letting Satan to use man as his slaves, God came down from heaven as a man (John 6:38). He called Himself Jesus, the Son of Man and the Son of God. Only as a man He could die. He was being tortured and died not for His own sins but the sins of all mankind. The most important issue is that He was resurrected by His own power on the Third Day of His death. By His death and His Resurrection, He defeated permanent death and the plot of Satan. Thus, HE CREATED THE WAY FOR MAN TO GO TO HEAVEN (John 14:6). However, only His ‘true followers’will also be resurrected to Eternal Life – even if they died (John 6:37-40, 11:25-26).
Jesus told His disciples that He was going to the Father’s House to prepare room for them. He also promised to come back and to get them so that they would always be with Him (John 14:2-4, Revelation 21, Isaiah 65:17-18, 66:22). In addition, He promised that He would bring His rewards with Him as He comes again (Isaiah 40:10, 62:11, Revelation 22:12). To be rewarded permanently is definitely more valuable than to be rewarded temporarily in this world.
God did not promise anyone that he/she would not suffer or die in this world. Although He healed the sick, the blind, crippled and raised the dead to live again (to live again temporarily), He did not promise any one not to get sick, suffer and die physically while living in this world. However, He did promise man “Eternal Life” so that man may join Him one day (John 3:13, 6:37-40).
The two most important weapons needed in order to defeat Satan (the Devil) are:
1) The Word of God – since the Word of God is Power (Hebrews 4:12, John 6:63). God created everything simply by His own Words (Genesis 1). Jesus defeated Satan as a man also by the use of the Words of God (Matthew 4:1-10).
2) Strong Faith – When the disciples of Jesus asked Him “Why couldn’t we cast out that demon?” Jesus replied: “You didn’t have enough faith.” (Matthew 17:19-20)
In order to defeat Satan (the Devil), man must have a sufficient knowledge of the Words of God. Man need to memorize the Words of God as contained in many important verses of the Bible so that they can put the Words of God in effective use as and when needed. A typical example is how Jesus used the Words of God in defeating Satan as a man under three different challenges from Satan (the Devil) (Matthew 4:1-10). Man must have Faith in his/her own creator. Trust Him and you will succeed.
I had been an extremely heavy smoker in my younger days (inhaled ten large cigars plus three packs of Marlboro every day). I always defended myself with many reasons when others persuaded me to quit smoking. About 20 years ago, when I saw the news that tobacco companies paid millions of dollars to the smokers who died, I then decided to quit smoking. To my big surprise, the Devil inside me called me by name and spoken to me clearly (in English): “John, you don’t have to quit smoking. The doctors said that you may not catch cancer if you smoke 10 cigarettes or less every day.” Instead of answering the Devil, I raised my hands and shouted: “Jesus, help me!” This happened on the third day I stopped smoking. There were two additional occasions I had strong desire to smoke again (at the end of one month and also three months). I repeated my shouting to Jesus each time – raising my both hands: “Jesus, Help Me!” Thereafter, I had no more desire in smoking.
The most powerful weapons of Satan (the Devil) are ambiguous ideas, spiritual challenges and temptations. Man must not leave any room for Satan, otherwise, he will not hesitate to enter into the hearts of man and become the Master of Man again.
In order for man to come out of Satan’s Bondage, he/she must be familiar with the Words of God, Humble himself/herself in front of God, Depend on God and to Obey God so that God (instead of Satan) will live inside the hearts of man.
If you have been slaved by Satan (the Devil – The Evil Spirit who lives in your own heart), Ask Jesus to Help You – NOW! Remember, You must memorize some important Words of God in the Bible as the ”two edge sword”.
If you do not have any plan as where to start the reading of the Bible, I suggest you to read Matthew Chapters 2 to 28 and John Chapters 1 to 21. Repeat reading these two books several times until you can memorize some of the important verses.
Both Matthew and John were hand picked disciples of Jesus. Unlike Mark who wrote the Book of Mark based on what Peter told him; and Luke wrote the Book of Luke based on what he collected from many others, Matthew and John documented what they actually saw and heard. Matthew tells how man may go to heaven and John tells who Jesus really is and why He came down from heaven.
May God’s Words and His Spirit be With You, Always.
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