Presented by Yewande Sofolahan
Adapted from Hillsong London’s podcast
Text: Eph. 4: 26-27
What does it mean to give the devil a foothold?
It means not to give the devil an opportunity to latch onto a situation/ circumstance that will cause our joy to be stolen. When the devil gains a foothold, all he has to do is keep gaining ground a little at a time. Eventually, he will accomplish what he set out to do, which is to destroy, kill and steal your joy (John 10:10).
Some people have “ANTS” (automatic negative thinking syndrome). When something happens that doesn’t go according to plan, you immediately think of the negative, instead of thinking about what God’s going to do next & how he’s going to take this negative situation to turn into a testimony for his glory
There are people that always find negative out of every situation to focus on, by taking on a pessimistic, hopeless attitude that can cause the enemy to have a place in our lives whereby he can get a foothold and enter in to cause depression & hopelessness to people’s lives.
Evil spirits look for a foothold through which they can slip into people’s lives.
How can you avoid giving the devil a foothold?
By being filled up with the word of God, through constant fellowship, praise and worship.
Jesus is the most positive thing in the universe- the only one that can give hope. When you have Jesus, it will be difficult for the devil to come into your life to cause hopelessness.
A run through the book of Isaiah shows in Chapter 1: threatenings, Chapter 2: tragedy, judgment, wickedness, but when we get to Chapter 6: 1 “his train fills the temple.” His train needs to fill our temple. 1Cor. 16:19 says our body is the temple of God
When you fill yourself up with Christ, with his word, with praise & worship, you’re sealing yourself off from giving Satan a foothold. An African proverb that says if the wall does not crack open, the gecko cannot enter applies here.
Having an encounter with God fills you up, that you begin to be joyful, hopeful, and all you see is victory all around, despite the situation you may face. Despite, all of these bad things happen even to Christians (rain falls on the just and unjust in Matthew 5:45), you are not to dwell just on the bad, but to think victoriously.
In Is 6:1 when his robe fills our temple all we think of is victory. We need to be careful of those we surround ourselves with when we’re going through our valley times, so that they don’t pull us further down into the valley. Careful not to let your circumstance get to you. Just like David we have to make the conscious effort to encourage ourselves in the Lord always.
As a leader, you’re responsible for the atmosphere in that place. If you as a wife, a daughter, a boss gets encouraged in the Lord, the family & atmosphere changes. Don’t join in with the negative voices. When David encouraged himself in the Lord, his family experienced joy.
Maybe you received a bad doctor’s report, maybe you’re not where you thought you would be at this point in your life, encourage yourself in the Lord, not in the circumstance you’re going through.
Remember that:
Whatever God has promised, he is able to perform
God’s word is alive & true and will never return to him void until it has accomplished its purpose in your life.
His word is still as powerful today as it was 2000 years ago
3 Opinions/Comments:
amen! thanks for sharing..very encouraging at this point in my life.
God bless
God bless you, Diamond.
Amen! Indeed, I haven't realised that I have been giving the devil a foothold to ruin my joy because I've been so depressed over my failures over the past entire year!
Thanks for the really eyeopening and encouraging post and God bless! (:
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