26 Apr Shut the Front Door! (Learning to shut the door to the enemy in your life) PART 13

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In this unique hour let’s make sure we shut the front door!

Over the last few months we have shared with you the key verses for this series:

  • John 5:14 “Afterward Jesus finds him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold you are made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come on you.”
  • I Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour.”
  • John 14:30 “Hereafter I will not talk much with you; for the prince of this world comes and has nothing in me.”
  • I John 5:18 “We know that whosoever is born of God sins not; but he that is begotten of God keeps himself, and the wicked one touches him not.”

I then gave you “Four Biblical Balances to Opposition”:

  1. If you’ve never had a head-on collision with the devil…chances are you’re walking with him!
  2. With divine opportunity comes demonic opposition.  
  3. When you experience opposition, don’t just assume you are doing something wrong…it may be you are doing something right!
  4. Many times the tallest trees experience the harshest winds.

We then began to share “Six Entry Exhibits”:

  1. Worry (I Pet. 5:5-8)
  2. Internalized anger (Eph. 4:26-27)
  3. Strife (James 3:14-16)
  4. Pride (James 4:5-7)
  5. Offense (John 13:27)

I remember over three decades ago, when I was just a novice in ministry.  I was working at a local church and volunteering in the youth ministry.  At the time I did a number of live characters and I would act in live skits as part of the message to the teens.  I would do a Hulk Hogan character (I was much bigger then ☺) and would create a wrestling ring from which to do the skit.  

We got permission from the youth coordinator to do all of this.  In order to construct the ring, we had to move the podium a few feet in order to do the skit.  The youth coordinator entered the youth hall and saw her podium had been moved.  She yelled at me in front of the teens with words to this effect, “I’ve always had my podium in one place…never move my podium!”  She then turned around and stormed out of the room leaving flabbergasted teens behind her!

Now, I had a right to be offended.  This youth coordinator was acting like a child.  It was truly bothering me.  The associate pastor in the church noticed this and took me out to dinner.  After we sat down, he pulled out a pen and grabbed a little napkin from the table.  He then wrote a little dot on the napkin and said, ‘Jim, you see this little dot?  This little dot represents this situation that happened to you that got you offended.”  He then drew a big circle around that dot and said, “The big circle represents all God has for you in ministry.  If you can’t let go of the little dot, you’ll never get to the big circle.”

That was some of the best advice I ever received as a young man just starting in ministry!  I am convinced I would not have the large ministry scope God has entrusted us with had I not gotten over that little offense!  It was the enemy’s bait stick to steal my future ministry calling!

Many times we borrow another’s offense via social media or gossip.  We allow ourselves to become entangled in someone else’s fight without even knowing the other side of the story (see Prov. 18:17).  The Bible tells us in Proverbs 26:17, “He that passes by, and meddles with strife belonging not to him, is like one that takes a dog by the ears.”

While we don’t ever want to be like the priest and the Levite who callously walk by the wounded man…we also don’t need to pick up a battle that does not belong to us.  Like the person in Proverbs…you pick up a dog by the ears, you will get bit!

Remember this:  If you pick up a battle you are not anointed to fight, you will pick up a burden you are not anointed to bear!

The Bible tells us, “Moreover if your brother shall trespass against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone; if he shall hear you, you have gained your brother.”  If you are offended, go directly TO the source.  Not to social media, not to your prayer partner…directly to the source!

Psalms 119:165 tells us, “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.”  Here at World Changers Bible Institute and Joy Church we have a little saying, “I am unoffendable!”

Let’s shut the door to worry, internalized anger, strife, pride and offense!  Let’s shut the door to the enemy in our lives!

Next month we will continue our series!