"The Day God Kicked The Devil's Butt"

Isa 14:16-17
16 "Those who see you will gaze at you,And consider you, saying:'Is this the man who made the earth tremble,Who shook kingdoms, 17 Who made the world as a wilderness And destroyed its cities,Who did not open the house of his prisoners?' NKJV



There is a misconception in the Church today of Dualism. This thought teaches us that God and the devil are getting up each day and they are battling it out to see who is going to win and we are caught in the middle. Some Christians believe that we have a good God and a co equal bad devil.

The fact is there is no co equal with God. Jesus said I saw satan fall out of heaven like lightening (Luke 10:18). Now that was a short match. Jesus told the disciples this when they came back with the report that even the demons are subject are subject to us in your name. In other words when we take the power He has given us and enforce it in the workplace, neighborhood, marketplace, there satan falls like lightenting.

There was a movie out years ago called "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia." The day Jesus went into Hades and took the keys of death, hell and the grave, and punched the devil's teeth in, was the night the lights went out in hell. In fact after this point the devil lost two things, 1) the keys to his own house, and 2) all authority. If Jesus said all authority on heaven and earth is mine, how much authority does the devil have? Nada, zilch, zero...

The devil has been thoroughly and completely defeated and there is nothing we can do to improve upon the victory. Your job is not to get up in the morning to beat the devil, or to try to not sin, your job is to enforce what Christ already forced. It is finished! Your battle is not to win, Jesus won! He said now occupy till I return. In other words Jesus purchased the right for you to overcome everything that would be a obstacle to your future, and to possess everything He has promised you. The major part of your battle is to change your perception of it. The devil is beat when you get up and when you go to bed, in fact he is beat all day long. Your perception of him either magnifies him (enlarges)(fear is steroids to the devil), or to minimize him by understanding what Christ accomplished at the cross. Perception is 75% of the battle. If you can view your God properly, you will view your enemy according to what He really is, defeated.

Here are some thoughts to meditate on:

* The life that wins is not attained but obtained.
* Victory should be our normal experience and defeat should be abnormal.
* Victory has nothing to do with you and everything to do with Christ.
* Victory is a reward of faith (1 Cor. 15:57).
* The law requires man to work for God, Grace is God working for man.
* Victory is I no longer living (subtraction) and Christ living in me (addiction)(Gal. 2:20)
* The first step to victory is to let go.
* A mountain and faith can't co exist, either the mountain is removed or faith is removed.
* True faith is believing in God even when our feelings, our experiences, and our environment around us tell us otherwise. If we hold fast to faith, our feelings, experience, and the environment around us will catch up to where our faith is. You are assigned to change your environment with your faith. That's why after Jesus spoke to the winds and waves and commanded them to cease, He rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith. He was saying what I did, you can do.

Do you fight your battles from victory or for victory? If you fight to victory, you will never succeed but if you fight from victory, you can never be defeated.

True victory is released out of rest (ceasing from straining, struggling, and striving). We see in 2 Samuel 7:1; 8:1, that is was while David rested (kept his focus on God), that he defeated the Philistines, Moab... The enemies job is to create scenerios in your life that will take your focus off God (Praise) and put it on the problem. It is while you focus on God (Praise) that God focuses on your problem. The hills melt like wax in the presence of the Lord. Praise also puts the chokehold on the enemy (Genesis 49:9). Praise is the hand that chokes the enemy and the hand that grabs hold of your promise. God says, I will even make a road in your wilderness (same word for tongue). In other words your miracle is in your mouth, and when you praise God for what He is about to do, God begins to make a way where there is no way!

Blessings,
Craig