"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world" (1 Peter 5:8-9).

Satan is like a salesman. He makes you a presentation and tries to sell you a bill of goods. He tells you God doesn't really love you. He tells you the Word won't work this time. He tells you that you don't have the strength to go on. He'll even try to sell you on the idea that it would be easier for you just to curl up and die than to see this trial through in faith.

All he does is talk...talk...talk! And lie...lie...lie, and we don't have to listen.

Now that talk can get very annoying, but remember, that's all he can do! He doesn't have any real power or authority over you.

According to 1 Peter, he walks around as a roaring lion, "seeking whom he may devour." It doesn't say he is a lion. He just acts like one. Therefore, he can't devour you, unless you let him.

First Peter 5:9 says we are to resist the devil steadfastly! That means you have to use patience to resist him. He is, after all, a persistent fellow. He may pester you a thousand times a day, but if you'll resist him every time, he will flee from you every time (James 4:7).

He and all the low-level demons he sends to aggravate you have already "come to nought" (1 Cor. 2:6). Jesus has stripped them of all their power and authority and left them with nothing (see Col. 2:15).

So the next time Satan starts his sales pitch, talk back. Say, "I am a new creature in Christ Jesus. I am born of God. I am filled with the Holy Spirit Who proceeds from the Father. I am endowed with the Name of Jesus, which is 'far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come!'" (Eph. 1:21). "Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world" (1 John 4:4). "Leave my presence in Jesus' Name!" (James 4:7).

If you're short of time, just say, "Get out of here, devil, in the Name of Jesus." He has to bow his knee at the Name of Jesus uttered in faith!

Speak the Word: I resist the devil steadfastly. He will not devour me, because greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world! (1 Pet. 5:8-9; 1 John 4:4)

For Further Study: Psalm 112

Daily Scripture Reading: Leviticus 23-24; Luke 17

Excerpt permission granted by
Eagle Mountain International Church, Inc.
aka:  Kenneth Copeland Ministries