|
 "The
Lie at Your Level, the Removing of Your Devil and What God Now Trusts You
With!"
-- A word through Steve Shultz
You may have heard it said several ways:
"New Levels. . . bigger Devils."
You must "Meet the Devil at your new level."
Or the way I'm putting it, (my
titles are always a bit long) "The Lie at Your Level, the
removal of your Devil and What God Now Trusts You With."
Jesus stated as fact, that Satan was
"a murderer and a liar from the beginning" and is "the father of Lies."
(John 8:44) He came only to "steal, kill and destroy." (John 10:10)
It's even interesting one of Satan's name, Beelzebub, means, "Lord of the
flies." It has fascinated me that in English it almost says, "Lord of the
lies." In Jesus' time Beelzebub or Baal-Zebub was considered the
"chief evil spirit" who Jesus later identified with Satan.
=================================
God Trusts You with Satan's New Lies
=================================
As you grow in Christ, He literally trusts you with
more. He even trusts you with bigger lies that he "allows" the enemy to
whisper to you. Neither you or I always pass the test, but we will
eventually pass them all, in Christ.
Certainly, Abraham must have been taunted by Satan that
God was not trustworthy, either to give him a son in his old age, or to
raise him from the dead, if he sacrificed him to God. Satan was alive and
well in Abraham's day. Don't think for a minute that he didn't send
thousands of lies Abraham's way. A few times, Abraham himself gave in to
those lies and lied himself, in an attempt to protect his life. (Genesis
20)
But Abraham later learned God could be trusted,
and giving into lies was not the solution.
A good Christian friend called me recently. He had a
most frightening dream where a dark form wrapped itself around him and a
voice told him he had only 17 months to live. Before we talked, both
he and I knew this was not God, but the Devil who was in control of this
lie. Still, he felt the dream had "undone him". God does not give evil
dreams, predicting dark, scary,
premature death. He knew it was a lie. That was not a question to him.
Nevertheless, it had "undone him," he told
me.
My friend had just encountered the Lie at his new level. God was
saying to him, "I trust you. You can handle this lie." It's in the
word:
1 Cor 10:13 No temptation has seized
you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you
be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also
provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
You see, when you get to a higher and higher place with God, Satan must
assign more powerful demons to you. He comes to rob you of all that God has
for you. And if God promotes you, Satan
uses more powerful demons to try to thwart God's plan.
Certainly Jesus knew what Peter's two reactions would
be after He asked the disciples, "Who do you say that I am?"
With fervor, Peter responds:
"Simon Peter answered and said, 'You
are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'"
Matt 16:16
At this point, Peter has reached a high level in Christ and Jesus passes out
one of the highest compliments He ever gives on earth. Jesus says to Peter:
"Jesus answered and said to him, 'Blessed
are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you,
but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter,
and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not
prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,
and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you
loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.'"
Matt 16:17-19
Wow! Now that's a compliment and a major prophecy. Peter is sailing in the
spirit.
Satan knows he must move in quickly.
Ever noticed how right, after you get a major
prophetic word of blessing, the exact opposite begins to happen? God
allows a certain level of testing and Satan takes advantage of "his
allowance" to try to throw you off track, usually through a bigger lie than
you've experienced before.
Just after the compliment and prophecy, Jesus begins to predict his awful
death by crucifixion:
Matt 16:21-23
"From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go
to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and
scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day."
But Peter, spurred on by a newly whispered lie, now at his new level, from
Peter's new devil (Satan himself),
Peter says this to Jesus:
Verse 22 "Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him,
saying, 'Far be it from You, Lord;
this shall not happen to You!'"
To which Jesus harshly responds:
Verse 23 "But He [Jesus]
turned and said to Peter, 'Get
behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the
things of God, but the things of men.'"
Talk about a sudden atmospheric change! Let's recap what must have
taken only a couple minutes at most to transpire:
a) Jesus asks His Disciples, "Who do YOU say that I am?"
b) Peter gives the perfect answer that Jesus is the "Christ,
the Son of the Living God"
c) Jesus gives out a high compliment that Peter has heard accurately from
the Father Himself and He begins to prophesy to Peter.
d) Then Jesus predicts his death
e) Peter, with his newfound confidence in his hearing ability believes a new
lie by Satan and rebukes Jesus for talking about dying
f) Suddenly Jesus turns toward Peter and says, "Get behind me Satan!"
Ouch!
The Father had allowed [not caused] this lie to be told, because Peter had
reached a new level and it had to be tested. I've always felt like, what
Jesus saw is not what the writers of this account saw. The writers and
observers saw Jesus look at Peter and say, "Get behind me Satan." And that
is Scriptural. That's what the account says.
But Jesus could see Satan himself, I believe.
And I believe he saw Satan standing right there with Peter,
whispering this new lie, targeting Peter's new level of accurate hearing. So
Jesus says, at least appearing to look at Peter, "Get behind
me Satan!"
Ever been extremely accurate in giving a prophetic
word and people were dumbfounded? Stay low! Duck. Satan will be gunning for
your hearing ears with new lies. Stay humble and it will resist his lies.
==================
Confronting New Devils
==================
I knew a good friend,
who recently, was likely
about to be asked to play with a well-known,
Christian musician. I felt somehow compelled to plead with her ahead of
time that if she was
asked, that she accept the invitation.
"I can't play at that level," she protested in so many words, "It's just
too intimidating." But later he did ask and she accepted. Everything
in her had to fight the new lie at her new level
-- all afternoon she
grappled with the lie that she was not good enough, either to be asked,
or to successfully play with this group. Most who knew her saw her
play her instrument at a higher level than we've seen before.
"I'm clearly dealing with the devil at my level," she
told me earlier, before she played. Later she rejoiced in how it had gone
and in the Lord's faithfulness to her.
======================================
Have You Been Given an Awesome Prophecy Lately?
======================================
Ever noticed how right after receiving a great prophecy over your life,
the opposite appears to happen?
Why?
A new devil steps in and begins to lie to you about that very prophecy,
and he causes strife, financial troubles, and more to go wrong to try to
convince you that what you heard was wrong.
God may well allow "the" devil, or "a" devil to lie to you, to test your
resolve . . . your faith in this prophetic word. God is trusting you. He
doesn't cause the lie to be told, but often neither does he stop the lie
from coming at you. He lets the test occur.
My friend, who was told he had only 17 months to live, who felt "undone"
by the dream, decided to go get checked out by a doctor. Only the Lord
knows what the correct response was. That was perhaps the right one. The
biggest test was of course, that he not BELIEVE this lie, and he of course
knew that. Perhaps getting checked out would help him not believe the lie.
================================
Ministries Misunderstanding One Another
================================
Recently, at a major prophetic event, I heard a prophecy that this year,
the Body of Christ would see a concerted attack on relationships.
This is not what I'd call a "blessing prophecy," but it was a warning
one. God sometimes wants to tell you ahead of time what is about to take
place so you can dig your heels in,
hold onto your hat, and resolve to resist the enemy's plan.
Through most of this year, not very much has gone wrong with relationships
. . . not like I had suspected anyway. I began to wonder if that prophecy
was "off," or had simply been
prayed away.
But then, only in the past few months, I've seen unprecedented (and I mean
UNPRECEDENTED) misunderstandings take place between churches and their
people, and between ministries and their employees. I've seen unparalleled
misunderstandings between large ministries and small ministries over large
and small issues. As people speak to one another, it's as if one person
says something, and the other hears something completely twisted that was
never said, and then responds to that---while the devil further
twists that response. What a mess!
Some call that a Leviathan spirit or a
Python spirit....a spirit whose purpose is to contort, wrap around,
twist, and change communication in
real time, as it occurs. It is a powerful thing when it happens and we, as
the Body, must come against it in
the opposite spirit.
Rather than taking offense, we must OFFER GRACE!
That word of warning is coming to pass before our eyes. Ministries and
their people are being attacked in relationships unlike I've seen in any
recent time.
This is the time to take special heed to the Lord's strategic plan of
counter attack against the enemy:
"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will
flee from you." James 4:7
How do you resist an entity, an
enemy--- whom you cannot see?
Here is how . . . .You refuse to believe his lies, for he is the FATHER OF
LIES!
======================================================
Responding in the Opposite Spirit . . . It Takes
Time, But It
Works
======================================================
I told someone recently, as I began to get hold of this word, "Every time
the devil tries to mess up a relationship, to the best of my ability, I'm
going to take that same relationship and make it stronger than it's ever
been, the Lord willing. I'm going to stick it back in the devil's
face. I'm going to do that until he tires of ruining my
relationships and he flees."
May I suggest you do the same? You resist the devil by not only refusing
his lies, but by doing that which is opposite of his intentions. If he
wants you to believe someone hates you, believe that they love you.
If he wants you to distrust another ministry, then trust them instead.
It's a choice, by the way. A raw, unadulterated, not-based-on-feelings
choice to trust.
If he wants you to cut ties with a friend, strengthen your ties instead.
If he wants you to say, "Enough is
enough," with another
relationship, where you want to walk away, remember that Jesus said, "Blessed
are the merciful for THEY will obtain mercy,"
and show yet MORE mercy to that relationship.
I'm telling you that it's time to make the enemy pay for his crimes.
Put him on the run by resisting him. According to James 4:7, this
also requires submitting to God and submitting to God requires that we act
in:
1) Grace
2) Mercy
3) Love
4) Forgiveness.
I've capitalized all four words because they are the "proper"
things to do, according to Scripture, to those of us who Believe.
Take care of the "lie at your level" for the "removing of your devil."
Stand firm. Accept that at times, God Himself allows the test to come your
way because God TRUSTS YOU with the lie that is being given. Affirm
to yourself and to God that, in Christ, you will pass this test you are
going through.
Covenant that every relationship that is being tested will be stronger
than it ever was ---- before this thing, this test, is over!
"Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves
another has fulfilled the law." Rom 13:8-9
Then, having resisted him, you will begin to "see" only Satan's backside
as he flees from you, depressed and in great frustration. And isn't that a
great picture, the fleeing backside of Satan?
Steve Shultz
THE ELIJAH LIST
www.elijahlist.com
Permission is granted (and
you are also encouraged) to reprint these articles in hard copy form, as
well as sending them to your own email lists and posting them on your own
websites. We ask only that you keep Elijah List website, email contact info,
and author contact information intact. Thank you and blessings, Steve
Shultz, Publish, The Elijah List
http://www.elijahlist.com
|
Jesus:
A Shocking Model for a Grace-Saturated Church
De-Bugging
the Prophetic
$6.00
$10.00
