Friday, June 5, 2015
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Hunting season has always been a pretty big deal for my friend, Stan. Actually, he was a young man the day that he and his cousin were on a trip that turned out to be one of their more memorable trips - all because of the rattlesnake. Yeah, they were deep in the woods turkey hunting when they heard that telltale rattle behind them. Stan turned, fired his gun, and I don't mean to be crude, but he actually shot the head off the rattlesnake.
Stan said to his cousin, "Hey, why don't you pick it up?" "No, I don't want to pick it up; it's a rattlesnake." "Oh, are you chicken? (That will do it every time.) It can't hurt you any more." So, of course, his cousin had to pick it up. Suddenly he heard that rattle going again. He screamed and he threw the snake in the air. Of course the rattle was just a reflex. Obviously that rattlesnake couldn't do any more damage. Stan laughed at his cousin who said, "You pick it up, Stan." Well, finally Stan started to pick it up, and of course, the rattle started clicking again. At which point Stan did exactly what his cousin had done: scream and throw the snake in the air.
The scene was repeated all the way home, even though that rattler couldn't possibly bite them.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Stomping On the Devil."
Satan's first appearance to man comes in the form of (a what)? Right, serpent. Well, Adam and Eve fell for his lies and brought sin into the world. Satan had won. But right there at the dawn of time, God told the Devil what his fate would ultimately be in Genesis 3:15. He said, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers." And then referring to the seed who would ultimately come, God said, "He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."
God sent His Son in human form and Satan would be able to wound him. But the Savior would crush Satan's head forever. Sounds a little like what happened to that rattlesnake that day in the woods.
In our word for today from the Word of God, God describes when Satan struck the Savior's heel and the Savior crushed Satan's head. Colossians 2:15, "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, Jesus made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." Until Jesus' death on the cross, sin was man's unchallenged slave master. But when Jesus paid all the death penalties for all the sins of all of us, He smashed the power of sin and Satan.
When you put all your trust in Jesus to be your Savior, a rescue takes place. Colossians 1:13 says, "He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loved." The bottom line is this: If you belong to Jesus Christ and you stay close to Him, the Devil cannot hurt you. To put it bluntly, the head of the snake was blown off at the cross of Jesus.
You say, "I don't know, it seems like the Devil has a powerful pull on me." Sure, he wants to intimidate you; wants to make you live in fear, worry, and make you retreat spiritually. He seems to have quite a bite. Wrong! According to God's Word, if you are a disciple of Jesus, the worst the Devil can do is rattle - make some scary noise. But he cannot bite one who belongs to Jesus Christ; someone who's been bought and paid for with the blood of God's Son. The only reason you have to fear this snake is if you're away from Jesus.
In John's vision of heaven in Revelation, he sees believers who "overcame the Devil by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony." If you've been hearing the rattle of the serpent, keep praying in the name of Jesus, the blood of Jesus. The forces of darkness cannot stay where a person is standing on the authority of Jesus' blood; His crushing of Satan's head.
It may be that you've never moved out of the kingdom of darkness. You have never taken for you the sacrifice Jesus made and the victory He won on the cross which was for you. He walked out of His grave so He could walk into your life. So you would now have the power to prevail over the darkness that has prevailed over you for too long. If you want that, would you tell Jesus today, "Jesus, I'm yours." Would you go to our website and would you let me know you've prayed that? Or there find out how to begin a relationship with Jesus. I want you to know more about how to serve Him. Go to ANewStory.com.
You don't have to be afraid of the snake. It's just a rattle. His head is crushed. He has no bite. "Resist the Devil and he will flee from you."