Scripture reading: Matthew 4:1-11
Have you ever thought about the fact that we are actually failing God? Yes, we are! And where is it that we are failing? We are failing in righteousness! Why are we failing in righteousness? It is because many things are blocking our hearing.
Let me tell you, if you are used to hearing, let us say, rock music, then it is very difficult for you to hear God’s music when God begins to speak. This is because in Romans 10:17 it says that salvation [faith] comes by hearing, and hearing comes by the Word of God. Salvation comes by hearing! Let us take the word “salvation” and put the word “deliverance” in its place. So, deliverance comes by hearing, but hearing comes by the Word of God. Therefore, I can be hearing and not hearing; and I can be hearing the word of deliverance and not being delivered, because I am not really hearing. My hearing has been blocked because I have been listening to something else!
Do you know that the devil uses one word against the other, like bullet against bullet? He fires a blow at you, and you turn back the blow by the power of God. Then he fires another one, for he is trying to break you down to a point where he can handle you. Don’t you understand? Any time you rise up in the Spirit, the devil says to God, “Yes, he is there now. I can attack him on that level.” Amen!
If you believe in dreams and visions, the devil is going to attack you by dreams and visions. Please do not believe that every dream and vision that you have is of God, because it is not true! If God can give you a dream and a vision, the devil can give you one too! He has the right to do it! You are up there, and so he can attack you on that level. Any level you get on, the devil can attack you on the same level in a greater way.
When the devil was attacking Jesus, how did he do it? Did he come and whisper a little suggestion into His head? No, he appeared before Him, man to man. Yes! He appeared before Him. He talked with Him right there, and he took Jesus up into the heights of His spirituality. It says that the devil took Him up into a high mountain. Is this speaking about a mountain in Jerusalem? No! No mountain! He took Him up into the height. The Bible says “mountain.” It means a high place. He took Him up into the height of His spirituality, and said, “Look with me. Look! Look at them.” There was darkness in Peter. There was darkness in James and John, and all the apostles. There were dark spots in them. He said, “I told you I would get them. Zion is mine!” (See Isaiah 14:13.)
You know, we sing songs about Zion, but do you actually know what you are saying while singing these songs? When God says that He will “roar out of Zion” (Joel 3:16), He is talking about you. God is going to roar out of mankind with power to bring this earth under God, but not until you get under God can you expect to bring the earth under you!
Now, the devil said to Jesus, “Look! Look with me.” When Jesus looked, He saw darkness in His chief apostles—men He had called by God’s power to take the gospel through the earth to destroy the power of Satan. These men had darkness in them! He said, “I will tell You what. If we make a deal right now, I will give You the whole of them.” Can you imagine the effrontery of a being that God made in the first place turning around and saying to Him, “I will give You these people?”
Of course, Jesus spoke a word to him and put him down with one word. But what I am saying to you is that Jesus was on a certain level, and because He was on that level, the devil could attack Him on that level. You are on your level, and every one of us is being attacked on our level! Amen! Nevertheless, no matter how hard the attacks are, we mustn’t fail God!
(Excerpt from The Omega Message, November 1999, pg. 8-9)
Thought for today: Let us get used to hearing the Word of God so that deliverance may come to our lives and we don’t fail God any longer.
Sonlight Devotional 
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