Turn the Table on the Devil!

“and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭27‬-‭29‬ ‭ESV‬‬

So the message the Lord put on my heart for us is to turn the table on the devil.

How do we do that?

Well, first off, we do our best to follow God.

But the thing is, none of us are perfect & we’re going to mess up here & there.

The key is, how do we handle that mess up & turn the table on the devil?

We be accountable for our mess up & repent quickly so God can use our mess up as a ministry opportunity instead of giving the devil a foot hold & using it to condemn us & wrongfully influence others toward him.

I’m going to share an example that may sound silly but it was something God convicted me about.

When I worked for a certain place years ago & finally gave my notice to resign, I found many pens & paper clips at home that were from that office. I wasn't intentionally stealing. I just didn't take the time to make sure I was clear of any work pens or paper clips when I went home daily & they stacked up.

I replaced the pens & paper clips I took home (what I found plus purchasing even more) & I apologized to my supervisor. She responded "ah it's ok, everyone does it."

The thing is, the fact of the matter is that they weren't mine & as a ChristIan, our gauge for living a Godly life is NOT "ah it's ok, everyone does it."

While I was grateful for her easy understanding & forgiveness, my personal conviction from God still stood.

In me handling it by following the leading of the Holy Spirit, the devil couldn’t condemn me about stealing because I repented to God, replaced even more than I took, & in my supervisor seeing that, I was able to be a Godly influence.

Another example is if you say something to or in front of someone that you shouldn’t have, quickly apologize to them, tell God you’re sorry & try & do better next time & so on & so forth.

In this way, we’re being accountable, we’re not giving the devil a foot hold on us, & even better, it’s a ministry opportunity because we’re being a Godly influence.

Message summary:

Let God use your mess up as a step up by repenting quickly!

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭28‬ ‭ESV‬‬

If you enjoyed this message, please share the link & if you haven't already, please subscribe from the home page. Thank you & God bless!