PARTING WAYS WITH THE DEVIL

Today’s culture has misidentified the good life as possessing everything you want and doing anything that makes you happy. To many, what matters most is their own personal well-being and the individual freedom to do whatever they feel like doing. Does a shiny new hybrid car make you happy? Then, according to the world, you should spare no expense or effort to get it, no matter the impact it might have on your financial state or relationships. Does your work make you happy? Then many would advise you to put your job first and let everything else fade into the background. According to this logic, your life should revolve around you, your feelings, your happiness, and caring for your own wants over the needs around you.

In eternal terms, anyone seeking and having all these things without a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ would simply be existing. As Proverbs 14:12 says: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”

Many people today think that following Jesus is a boring substitute for a life of fun, but in reality, God has a plan that goes beyond what we could ever think or imagine in our own capabilities (Ephesians 3:20).

God Has A Plan

God wants you to do much more than just exist for your own desires and ambitions. He has “the good life” all laid out and ready for you to live. The Amplified Bible puts it this way in Ephesians 2:10: “We are God’s (own) handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, (born anew) that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us (taking paths which He prepared ahead of time), that we should walk in them (living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live.)”

God’s version of the good life includes blessing after blessing, fulfillment, peace that passes understanding and joy unspeakable! There is no place where you will have more of what you really desire than when you are in God’s plan for your life. It’s not only the good life, it’s the abundant life.

The Devil Has a Plan

God is not the only one who has a plan for your life. Satan also has a plan, and his plan is not for good. In John 10:10, the devil is likened to a thief who comes to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. How many people do you think would even consider choosing the devil’s plan if they believed he actually exists and that he has nothing but the worst in store for them? Sadly, the devil is the “father of lies”(John 8:44), and he is deceiving many into following his plan without them even realizing it.

Think about this: when the word “devil” is mentioned, what picture comes into your mind? Some people imagine a figure dressed in red with horns, a pointed tail, and a pitchfork. In the mind’s eye, he looks almost cute and innocent. The real devil doesn’t look anything like that, and he is anything but cute and innocent. The devil is cruel and heartless and treats even those who serve him best with hatred and wickedness.

Satan wants you to be fearful; he wants you to be oppressed; he wants there to be sickness, disease and bondage in your life. He wants you to have problems in your relationships and dissatisfaction with your marriage. The devil wants your family destroyed and your children on their way to hell. He wants you to be so deep in debt that you think you will never get out. But more than anything, he just wants you to be influenced by his lies so you miss God’s purpose for your life.

How to Break Up

Sometimes, it appears that Christians deliberately try to see how many worldly ways they can continue in and still be saved. Instead of being motivated to walk closely with God and encourage others to know Him, they walk as close to the edge of sin as they can and then wonder why they aren’t experiencing His blessings. They are unwisely putting themselves in peril. You see, anytime you participate – even just a little bit – with the devil, he thinks you belong to him. You might think you are just having fun, but you are dabbling with sin. In the devil’s eyes, it is as though you have walked down the aisle, said the vows and went on the honeymoon. You need to break up with him immediately!

Picture this scenario: a guy and a girl meet. They like each other and begin dating. Pretty soon, she is texting him 24/7, wearing his sweatshirts, spending more time at his house than hers and is even taking on some of his mannerisms. Everything goes along fine until she catches him in a lie and she suddenly realizes he is not the kind of man she was led to believe. Immediately, I mean IMMEDIATELY, she blocks his number and removes him from all her social media accounts. Then she goes home to get rid of all his “stuff” and every trace of him from her life. She wants to be free from anything and everything that reminds her of him.

That is exactly how you need to be with the devil. If you find that you have allowed yourself to be fooled by his deceptive ways or lulled into complacency, then you have some of his “stuff.” The devil has given it to you whether you wanted it or not, and you need to break up with him! It is time to throw his “stuff” back in his face, block him completely from your life, burn all of the paraphernalia, and get rid of everything that ties you to him!

God’s Way Or No Way

Experiencing the abundant life and the purpose God has for you only comes one way: His way.
Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.”(Mark 12:30) Life is best when He has your whole heart!
So don’t be content to live according to the current worldly culture. Break up with the devil today and find out how good God’s version of the good life really is!

Here are some powerful action steps you can take:

Renounce any connection with the devil: James 4:7 states, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” This important step enables you to stand firm in your relationship with God.

Repent of any known sin: “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19

Return to God: Remind yourself of Galatians 2:20 which says, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Read the Bible daily: Psalm 119:105 declares, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Filling yourself with God’s Word is a powerful way to strengthen your faith, receive direction and empowerment from Him.

Run to God and away from temptation: 1 Corinthians 10:13 assures us that “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

May you find freedom and a renewed sense of purpose as you break up with the devil. Living as close as you can to the Lord is not only the good life, it is the best life – and it is the one God desires for you!

(All scriptures are from the New King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.)