by James G. Owen
The bible tells us we all have sinned and come short. We have lost the perfection we were created in while our parents Adam and Eve lived in the garden of Eden, and the relationship between God and man was lost. Sin had caused a veil to come between us. So, God put in place his plan of salvation to bring back the perfection, and to remove the veil of those who want and choose a relationship with him. That relationship is one between a child and a father because that is who we are, his creation and his children.
Adam and Eve held the keys to their mind and heart that God gave them, and they would forever keep the keys if they obeyed him, but scripture tells us Eve was beguiled and deceived by the serpent who told her they would become like gods if they ate of the tree of Good and Evil. The serpent lie was told to them and Satan wanted to destroy God’s creation because he is angry at God for dispelling him from heaven because of the sin of pride and causing an insurrection in heaven with one-third of the angels behind his lead. There was a coup de tat in heaven. He was thrown from heaven along with his rebellious angels, and that is how we find his presence in the garden. He took their innocence by theft, and death came sweeping into creation. The presence of death because of a deception now defiled earth and all that is in creation. That is the reason for physical death and spiritual death.
At the confession of our sins and becoming a new creation, a Christian, and truly following Jesus and God’s word, our responsibility of deciding to live for Jesus does not stop here. It is our responsibility to continue living a righteous life, reading our bibles, and spending time in prayer. We are to find our “prayer closet” and spend time with God. My prayer closet has composed of my treks to work, and returning home, and my home is my closet. The responsibility is to keep our “houses” clean, for we are the temple of God, and we are to provide security at the “door” of our souls, meaning we are to be watchful what we see and hear, and are to filter the input. We are to control our thoughts, action, and our eyes, for it is the eyes that are the windows to the soul.
It is natural to dream, and to fantasize, but the dreaming and fantasizing needs to be in holiness as well. It is here, our thoughts that the keys of our mind and heart are given over to the devil. When our thoughts are sinful, we give the house keys to the devil and these thoughts become more frequent. The thoughts may come through temptations, or by intention. Since we have given Satan the house keys, we may have given him keys to other areas in our lives and these sins are acted out physically.
Once he gains entry, other thoughts come into the mind, and if not taken care of by speaking our authority in Jesus’s name then these will take hold and will be hard to repress. A person who thinks on the past, and entertain temptations is double minded. We should get our minds on God and his purpose and destiny for us. For us to think in righteousness. There are times we will have carnal thoughts in our lives, but we are to control them.
“A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
James 1:8
What is happening to us in the spiritual realm is that our physical bodies are warring with the spiritual. The trials, tribulations, sin, and temptations are the result of the old man trying to come back up and bring the new man down. If we give the keys of the house to Satan, the spiritual battle will become more intense, and what we need to do is call for help from Jesus! There are things we cannot do by ourselves, and we should learn to take authority over all negative matters by telling the devil to flee from us in Jesus’s name. We have the right to command him to leave us alone.
“But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”
Romans 7:23
The key to the entry doors of your house need to be kept in a safe place. When we give the devil entry he will go through the house and learning every sin that your brain has recorded of your past. It can be more than the sin of your past. Your past may include addictions to alcohol, drugs, smoking, or any other substance. Giving him the run of your house, you may discover yourself back into the position you were freed from, and now you will need deliverance by the Holy Spirit to escape.
In conclusion, be strong and blunt telling Satan to flee from you. You have that authority as a disciple of Jesus to use his name to make the demons flee. Tell them you are not a puppet and will not let them pull your strings. It is up to you and your decision. Do not bargain with Satan, nor have a conversation with him. Resist the devil, make him flee! James, the brother of Jesus gives us his thoughts in the manner in what we must do in his letter.
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded
James 4:7-8
Notes:
All scripture used is taken from the King James Version, Public Domain, BibleGateway.
James G. Owen, Author 