Scripture reading: John 1:12
By Mavis duCille
We have to remember that the enemy has taken us captive and he says that we belong to him. The only reason he says we belong to him is because we are doing his bidding. So we are his captives, until we begin to eject him from our being. We have to give him marching orders! And we have to do it by force! We have to declare our position and say to him, “You have no place in me!”
There is a battle to get rid of him that we have to be involved in from day to day! He has taken up residence in us from before we were born, and he says that he has a right! But when Jesus came into our lives, He said, “I have given them power to become Sons of God.” (John 1:12) If we, through the knowledge of the Word, do not use the power to become Sons of God, then we lose our inheritance in Him!
It is a daily battle and a daily warfare that we enter into every time we realize this situation that we are in. And the Spirit of the Lord is very diligent in showing us our weaknesses. As a matter of fact, if you are walking with the Lord, as soon as a contrary thing comes to your mind, the Spirit of the Lord is there like a good washerwoman, and He will bring forth deliverance for you. But sometimes the weaknesses that are in us, to carry out whatever the enemy says to us, are so great that we bow to it instead of bowing to what the Spirit of the Lord is saying and wanting us to do. So we fail in that conflict. But God has not called us to be weaklings. He has given strength. In John 1:12, He says He has given us power to become Sons of God! If we are not walking as Sons of God, it is because we are failing to use the power that He has given us. It is as simple as that. It is simple, but it is great.
The Lord said to me, “Man is self-destruct,” but because of this, He has given us life on the other side to destroy the power of the destroyer. The anointing of the Spirit will destroy the power of the destroyer, so that, although the destroyer is within us and has taken such a foothold in us, if we give way to the anointing of the Spirit He will destroy the power of the destroyer. Praise God!
This operation should be effective daily in our lives, so that as we awaken each morning we should say, “Lord, anoint me with that power, that today I will destroy the power of the destroyer.” Nobody knows the extent of the power of the destroyer that is within us, but we ourselves (and, of course, God). Each individual has an awareness of that which works in his or her soul, and so we are aware of the principal areas of our battle. We know what we have to do, for it is something that will work and work until we are in the place where we become totally destroyed.
Now, the repentance and forgiveness that the Lord has given to us through His blood does not automatically destroy the power of the Adamic nature. Hear the words in John 1:12 again. He said, “… to as many as received him, to them gave He power to become Sons of God.” If we do not use the power we cannot become Sons of God. So, to say, “Well, I repented one day … and I am saved … and I am coming to church,” and so on, is only fooling ourselves! It is not until we begin to overcome the things that possess us and the things that set us back, the inherent nature of the soul, that we become the Sons of God.
(Excerpt from The Omega Message, December 1998)
Thought for today: The anointing of the Spirit will destroy the power of the destroyer, so that, although the destroyer is within us and has taken such a foothold in us, if we give way to the anointing of the Spirit He will destroy the power of the destroyer.
Sonlight Devotional 