OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL - SATURDAY - 31/08/2013 - YOU CAN OVERCOME! BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE

YOU CAN OVERCOME!

MEMORY VERSE

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

Romans 8:37

READ

Matthew 4:1-11

Matthew 4:1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

Matthew 4:2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.

Matthew 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Matthew 4:5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

Matthew 4:6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Matthew 4:7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Matthew 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

Matthew 4:9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

Matthew 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Matthew 4:11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.

MESSAGE

To bring down a believer, the devil focuses on his or her weak points. Everyone has at least one point of weakness. Yet to overcome the overtures of the devil, you must focus on what he focuses on. That is, if he is focusing on your weakness so that he can bring you down by it, you too should focus on how to use the word of God and prayer to work on it, until it becomes your strong point. Do you know that if your weakness is that you find it difficult to resist anything in skirt, God can help you to the extent that even when a lady is naked before you, you will not be under any pressure to sin with her? Such character does not evolve by itself. It takes a careful study of the word of God, prayer and discipline. Are you ready to turn your weakness into your strong point?

Satan is good at showing people things to tempt them. That he showed you something does not mean that you have already sinned. In Matthew 4, he took Jesus to a height and showed Him the glory of this world. Thereafter, he offered to give these to Him if only He could bow to him. Oh! How cheap you may say! Just one innocuous bow and you get all these? What a lie! A bow to Satan is more than an ordinary bow. That single bow will subordinate you to him and his evil government. That bow would make you his slave for a life time. That bow would separate you from the Lover of your soul and drown you in hell eternally. One way out is to refuse to see what the devil wants to show you. In your office as an accounts or finance officer, Satan can show you the loop hole in the organization's account and tell you to exploit it and make 'clean' money for yourself. Don't agree with him. Do you know that, Satan's agent of temptation, who is saddled with the task of making you sin, can be converted? Today, some ladies who came to lure some brothers to fornication have ended up giving their lives to Christ. This is why when the spiritual battle is getting too hot, Satan withdraws his agents out of fear of losing them. You can overcome the devil!

KEY POINT 

Just as Satan can set you up to fall into sin, you too can prayerfully set up Satan's agent to be saved. And Satan will be in sorrow.