Tag: Ephesians 4:27

Ephesians 4:27

Published on by amylinneaLeave a comment

And give no opportunity to the devil. Ephesians 4:27

How many opportunities do you hand the devil?

During the day, how many times do you seek yourself over others?

Your selfish whims over the needs of your family?

How many times do you listen to the lies the devil whispers into your ear?

He’s there, literally all the time, wanting to influence you.

Wanting to fill you with his poison.

Whenever you listen to his lies, you give the devil an opportunity in your life.

Whenever you agree with him, you give the devil an opportunity to influence you.

When you submit to fear, you hand the devil a foothold.

The Bible, God’s precious word to us, asks us to give the devil no opportunity in our life.

And yet we regularly do.

Why?

Because our flesh agrees with the devil.

We agree we are unworthy.

We agree we are unlovable.

We agree we should be number one.

As humans, we are vulnerable to lies from the pit of hell.

But with God, we can withstand the evil onslaught catered specifically for our fears.

God declares we should not give any opportunities to the devil.

Yet we do.

Stop.

Stop agreeing with lies.

Stop agreeing we are weak.

And stop agreeing we are less than.

God has won the war.

God is and was and will be the ultimate victor.

Choose to agree with God.

And choose to give no opportunity to the devil.

Photos by Giulia Bertelli, Tim Mossholder, Nadine Shaabana, Anwaar Ali, & Patrick Fore on Unsplash

Zero Opportunity

Published on by amylinnea1 Comment

And give no opportunity to the devil. Ephesians 4:27

That seems like a no brainer, doesn’t it?

Why would we ever want to give the devil an opportunity to reign in our lives?

To take anything over?

Why would we grant the devil a foothold into our lives?

If refusing the devil an opportunity is common sense, why would the Bible need to remind us?

Because we need it.

Constantly.

We are always inviting the devil back into our lives when we sin.

Through our thoughts.

Our actions.

Our words.

Sometimes all three.

Do we consciously invite him?

Like offering him a physical invite?

No.

But we do when we fight with our loved ones.

We do when we cause others to sin.

We give the devil opportunity when we listen to his lies planted into our mind.

Fights with your spouse come to mind.

Ever think the other person acted a certain way when they didn’t intend to?

Calm the heck down and lovingly talk with them.

Or, you can react within yourself, recoiling in anger.

That allows the devil his opportunity.

How about your child’s selfish retort towards your careful cooking?

Into your head pops a lie from the pit.

If you allow that sudden untruth to cement into true reality, you’ve given the devil his opportunity.

Cheating at work?

Or on your taxes?

There are millions of ways we can provide the devil an opportunity to step into our lives.

He’s literally standing right there, simply waiting to jump back.

He can’t wait.

Let’s make him wait.

Purpose in your mind to close the door on his schemes.

It takes God’s strength in you to fight off the earned selfish retorts you could honestly repay others.

When others hurt you, that’s when Satan comes full force as we seem weak.

And we are when we are hurt.

We start believing his lies about our loved ones.

Stop.

Stop giving the devil any opportunity in your life or your relationships.

Praise the name of the Lord instead.

That will send the devil and your self-pity ways screaming down the road.

And oh ya: don’t let the door hit you on the way out 🙂

Photos by Brina Blum, Van Tay Media, Jan Tinneberg, Maick Maciel, & Wolfgang Rottmann on Unsplash

Controlled by Anger

Published on by amylinneaLeave a comment

And do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4:27

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Is it ok to be mad?

Super angry at an uncontrollable situation?

Yes.

It’s ok to be mad.

Just don’t let it control you.

There’s a difference.

A difference between anger and a life dictated by it.

The anger.

Sometimes situations in life have justifiable angry responses.

Literally justified.

But if you hold onto that anger, it controls you every time.

Every time you are reminded of the situation, your body will respond as trained.

In anger.

Blood will boil.

Tempers will flair.

You will lash out at people for no apparent reason.

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It’s sin.

Why?

Because the anger controls you.

You have trained your body in that way.

And don’t sin by letting anger control you.  Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.  Ephesians 4:26-7

When God talks about letting go of anger, He means just that.

Let it go.

Guess He coined that phrase long before the Norwegian ice princess movie we have all watched way too many times.

Doesn’t mean to forget or allow yourself to be hurt again in the same way.

It simply means to keep your peace.

To surrender the anger, knowing God is in control.

To  choose peace over anger, learning instead from the pain.

Giving a foothold to the devil is keeping your anger.

Choosing to wallow in it.

Probably deservedly, yes, but that’s not the point.

Living in freedom with God sometimes defies all logic.

Logically, you should be mad as you know what.

But God wants you to live in freedom.

And you cannot dwell in His freedom if you are shackled by anger’s prison.

Break free and allow God to heal your wounds.

How?

Ask God.

Remember, forgiving is not forgetting.

But it’s freedom.

Ask God to forgive through you.

Then whenever it pops back into your brain (you know the devil will insist on reminding you often!), throw it back to God.

Forgive again and again.

Your body will begin to retrain itself, reacting instead with peace.

The absence of anger will release you from the prison of pain.

Learn from situations, yes.

But don’t keep the anger.

It’s simply not worth your time.

Or your peace.

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Photos by Clem Onojeghuo, Kenni Fil , &  Lauren McConachie on Unsplash