Jesus said of Himself:
“I have come as a light to shine in this dark world so that all who trust in me will no longer wander in darkness.”
John 12:46 TPT
There is no apparent reason why any child of God should be wandering around in this dark world. As long as his faith is being built up daily through prayer and the word of God, it’s going to be difficult for the devil to entice, seduce and ultimately ensnare him.
The light of Christ shines through the pathway of the righteous, in brightening his steps through the darkness of this world. He puts his faith in the light and cannot therefore be lost in his ways.
As long as he is abiding in the light, he cannot stray into the deep darkness of this world. Even though the enemy may bring the darkness of this world as a shadow across his pathway, he still keeps his eyes on the light to show him the way out of it.
That’s why David could say:
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
Psalms 23:4 NKJV
The darkness of this world or its shadow cannot eliminate a child of God from the presence of the Father. No matter what he is going through in the dark, the Father has His hand on him.
And as long as that child of God is not allowing the fear of the darkness to get at him, he will come out of it stronger and smarter in dealing with the devil thereafter.
The devil can only use the fear of the dark to intimidate, so as to prevent the faith of that child of God from being functional. That’s why a Christian should be speaking truth and life to the darkness of this world.
If a Christian is not speaking the truth of God’s word to the darkness while still abiding in the light, the devil will throw all kinds of lies and deception in his pathway, so as to cripple his faith.
A Christian who is being overwhelmed by darkness needs to be speaking God’s truth, that makes us free to it. The hand of the Lord is not short at all that He cannot deliver him, for as long as his voice is heard speaking God’s truth from inside of it.
The Lord God said:
“I am the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.”
Psalms 81:10 NKJV
The opening of the mouth is our act of faith, for the Lord God to be putting His words in it for us to be declaring.
We should therefore be vigilant and aggressive in the spiritual warfare against the evil forces of this world, by opening the mouth to speak God’s word of truth, that He’s putting in our heart to declare. The end is getting closer for the evil ones, and they do know it.
A Christian who is holding his tongue back from speaking God’s promises, while engulfed in the darkness of this world, will remain in it for as long as his lips are sealed. The devil will make sure that he never opens his lips to be speaking the words of his deliverance.
This explains why there is an increase in the activities of evil spirits on the earth today. Many of God’s people are not proclaiming the truth of His word to the darkness of this world. Spiritual apathy on the part of a lot of God’s people, is emboldening the devil and his demonic spirits, as they are stepping up in their activities to destroy the earth.
The devil is seeking for companions with whom he will spend eternity in hell, from among the people of God. A Christian who is not being aggressive against him will become vulnerable to being ensnared by him.
However, the stronger and spiritually aggressive Christians do have the responsibility of stopping him on behalf of the weaker Christians. This can be done by being steadfast in praying for them to be healed and delivered.
That’s why Paul in his letter to the Romans advised us that:
“We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.”
Romans 15:1 NIV
We can bear with the failings and shortcomings of the weak in faith, by praying for them always. It’s those who are weak in faith that the devil often ensnares easily with his darkness. He sends them his lies and deception to confuse them, until they are caught in his snare.
It’s therefore important that those who are strong believers in Christ Jesus, become watchful and spiritually aggressive in helping those who are weak, to overcome the powers of darkness by steadfastly praying for them.
The intensity of what the devil is doing these days demands that we should be doing more for those who are weak in the Body of Christ.
We shouldn’t be like those who were described by Jude in his letter with these words:
“These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.”
Jude 1:16, 19 NKJV
These types of people don’t pray at all, because they can’t really pray. And it’s interesting to note that they in every local Church on the earth today. They are more consumed with grumbling and complaining with their mouths. And the lust of their own flesh is more important to them, than the expansion of the Kingdom of God on the earth.
We can see that Jude’s letter was addressed to Christians in general. But it’s often the unbelievers who do the things, which he had observed among these believers in Christ Jesus.
They go about creating divisions with their mouths, instead of unity within the Body of Christ. Watch out for them, because they are on an agenda from hell to make you just like them.
There’s always a pathway of escape for them
This is why those who are weak in faith needs those, who are strong to strengthen them. We are not to be like Job’s comforters in helping them. But we are to be building them up with our prayers and the proclamations of the living word of God.
We are to be:
“ .. speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
Ephesians 4:15-16 NKJV
Every joint and part of the Body of Christ brings their respective supplies to the Body as a whole through prayer. When the stronger parts of Christ’s Body are praying for the weaker parts, we are strengthening the entire Body of Christ.
Jesus does not want us to push those who are spiritually weak aside. He wants us to be able to stoop down to their level, in saving them from the fire of hell.
This was the example that He gave to the disciples by washing their feet, during the last supper with them (John 13:1-17).
By stooping down to the spiritual level of those who are weak in faith, we are identifying with them in their afflictions. Our identification with them opens the door of opportunity for us to lift them up, and position them back into their rightful places within the Body of Christ.
This is what Bible Vision International Ministries does around the world to the Body of Christ. We are lifting those who are spiritually weak up, so that they can be spiritually empowered, to do what God has called them to do by faith in Him.
We are a faith-based organization. We use our faith to help those who are spiritually weak, to start living by faith in God. And we are seeing the beautiful things that God is doing worldwide every day.
In most cases what the spiritually weak needs is for someone to encourage them, not to give up in fighting the good fight of faith. And when the Pastors, Evangelists and others in the ministry are being encouraged to use their faith, greater things begin to take place within the Body of Christ. What had been impossible to them becomes possible, with the application of their faith to do all things in God’s Kingdom.
Isn’t it surprising that Judas Iscariot could not even figure out that, Jesus was preparing a pathway for him to be restored back into the Body of believers, after his betrayal of Jesus?
Evidently the washing of the disciples’ feet was meant for them to be prepared to do the same thing, in restoring Judas back into the Body of Christ. If he had understood what Jesus was doing at the time, he wouldn’t had committed suicide. He would have been restored.
There is always a pathway open for those who has been ensnared by the devil, to be restored back into fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. That pathway is through the prayers and the love of God flowing from the Body of Christ to those who had been ensnared by the enemy.
We can’t afford to give up on them as believers in Christ Jesus. The love of God compels us to prevent and stop the devil from snatching them away from the Body of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:14).
We do have a Christian duty to be pleading their cases before the Father in Heaven at all times. We cannot allow the enemy to have the last word concerning them. Christ Jesus shed His blood for them, just as He did for us also.
It’s impossible for anyone who had been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, to close the eyes on these weaker vessels, for whom Christ died and rose from the dead also.
There should be no part of the Body of Christ that has to be missing; because:
“ .. God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.”
I Corinthians 12:24-26 NKJV
The Body of Christ is one and indivisible. God sees every single one of us as one and whole, with nothing missing in the Body. He doesn’t see us as being different from one another.
When a part of the Body is being messed around with by the devil, the other parts of the Body are responsible for stopping it and bringing the strayed away part of the Body, back into fellowship with the whole Body. This is possible today through our prayers for the weaker vessels within the Body of Christ that the enemy is afflicting.
Church doctrines may be different, but that’s just what the devil is using to create divisions within the Body of Christ. There may be different kinds of Churches or denominations on the earth today, but they are all parts of Christ’s Body.
How we are treating one part of Christ’s Body affects the totality of His Body as a whole. It affects our ability and effectiveness in putting the devil under our feet, in preparation for the return of the Lord:
“And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.”
Romans 16:20 NKJV
Satan had been permanently placed under the feet of Jesus. But we have a part to play in putting him under our own feet also.
Their feet are Beautiful
If Satan is under our feet, just as he is under the feet of Jesus; then we do know that the Kingdom of God is forcefully advancing. The feet of the believers in Christ that had crushed Satan are beautiful with the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Prophet Isaiah said:
“How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!”
Isaiah 52:7 NKJV
The smeared feet of those who were once ensnared by the devil, are beautiful in the sight of the Father. Irrespective of what the devil had done to alienate that part of the Body, the Father sees them as His chosen ones who had been prepared for His glory, through the fire of afflictions of the devil.
They are precious in His sight. In most cases they are more dangerous to the devil than ever before as they had seen and experienced his worst afflictions on the earth. They are better equipped and experienced in dealing with the devil, than the other parts of the Body that are not bothering the devil at all.
Being tested in the fire of trials and troubles by the devil, brings the best out of the lives of those who are suffering in his hands. God is always seeking to be glorified in the lives of such Christians.
They are no pushovers, and the devil knows better not to mess around with them anymore. As they are coming out of his fire of affliction, they are receiving the seal of approval from God, the Father on the works of their hands for miracles, signs and wonders.
As the Apostle Paul said:
“Each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.”
I Corinthians 3:13 NKJV
Their feet become beautiful and stronger with the declaration of the gospel of Jesus Christ as they come out of the fire of affliction. And of course, God’s grace is evident all over them.
This swiftness and preparedness of their feet in the declaration of the gospel of Jesus Christ was of course evident in the ministry of Philip, who was primarily a Deacon in the early Church. When persecution arose against the Church at Jerusalem; the fire of the affliction from the persecution made him very swift in his obedience to the Holy Ghost.
The scriptures say:
“Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.” So, Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
Acts 8:29-30 NKJV
Philip ran with the speed of a reindeer, so as to catch up with the chariot of the Ethiopian Eunuch. He was completely yielded to the Holy Ghost in winning souls into God’s Kingdom.
Instead of the fire of persecution stopping him, he was instead forcefully advancing God’s Kingdom everywhere he went. He lived a fulfilled life and was blessed with a beautiful family of Prophetesses in the Church at Caesarea.
Luke wrote about his family that:
“On the next day we who were Paul’s companions departed and came to Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. Now this man had four virgin daughters who prophesied.”
Acts 21:8-9 NKJV
We are living now in a time when the return of the Lord is imminent. He will return at any time.
That’s why the enemy is dishing out his best shots at the Body of Christ these days. And it’s only those who are triumphant through the trials and tests of our time, that will receive the commendation of the Lord, with the end time anointing for the end time harvest with miracles, signs and wonders.
How prepared are you to pray for those who are being ensnared by the devil, as the Lord restores them back into His Body? Your ability to pray for them now makes you a partaker of God’s glory together with them.
So therefore:
“Be unceasing and persistent in prayer;”
1 Thessalonians 5:17 AMP
