“The devil made me do it!” Those words were made famous by the comedian Flip Wilson and he spoke them often in the character he portrayed as Geraldine. It was funny and entertaining. I remember trying to use that line a time or two when I did something stupid as a kid but it never seemed to work out well for me.
What can the devil make you do? The answer is nothing, to a Christian. He can deceive, distract and tempt but he cannot make you fall for the deception, cannot make sure you get distracted or make you give in to the temptation. Man has authority over the influence of the devil.
“Be fruitful and increase in number, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion … over all the earth.” – Genesis 1:28. To subdue is to conquer and bring into subjection. This is God handing off authority over the earth. “…sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” – Genesis 4:7b. Cain, in his anger over God’s preference for Abel’s offering, failed to master it and succumbed to sin. The devil could not make Cain sin but Cain entertained the devil’s deception and distraction to the point of anger. And in his anger, he sinned. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. – Matthew 4:1. The devil had no authority, only the ability to tempt. Jesus used the authority of the word of God to rebuke the devil’s temptations. When Jesus had called the twelve together, He gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases. – Luke 9:1. As demons are the devil’s minions, this is a New Covenant record of the Lord giving man authority over the devil and disease. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour But resist him, firm in your faith, – 1Peter 5:8-9. The devil is deceitful, cunning, titillating, distracting, noisy, discouraging and a liar. He is always tempting you to take the bait so he can devour you. Stand firm in your faith. Demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. – 2Corithians 10:5. Demolish is a similar to the word translated to subdue back in Genesis 1! Arguments and pretensions are not to be tolerated. Man has authority over the influence of the devil. The devil has no power over the Christian unless the Christian opens the door to the devil’s schemes as Cain did.
Tips to live into and practice the Authority believers have been given:
- Read Scripture, know Scripture and apply Scripture;
- Stay sensitive to temptations of many sorts, note them and rebuke them;
- Boldly and verbally rebuke distractions and deceptions using Scripture;
- Stand in the authority of the Lord;
- Have the sword drawn, the word of God, wielded wisely to cut through the devil’s schemes.
Prayer guide: Lord, thank You for Your word and the authority You have given mankind. I confess I have not practiced the authority You grant me in my day-to-day life. Too often I entertain the devil’s schemes. Forgive me. Grant me discernment to identify schemes for what they are. Give me the strength needed to rebuke the devil and take effective action against the schemes in short order. That is the dad You call me to be and that’s the dad my kids need to see. Amen.
A faithful father exercises his authority to rebuke the devil’s schemes.
