But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8b.
In Acts 28, the apostle Paul was bitten by a very poisonous snake on an Island called Malta. Paul didn’t panic. He simply shook the snake off into a fire and went about his business.
The people around waited to see whether he was going to swell and die because of the venom from the snake bite. But waiting in vain, they abandon their hopes of seeing Paul dead, describing him probably as a god. But truly, Paul was a child of God.
In our quoted scripture for the week, the word “DESTROY” in its original language meant “to ensure something does not have its intended purpose.” Beloved, in this wicked and imperfect world, we have not been promised trouble-free.
We would always be bitten by snakes in the form of curses, whether justified or unjustified, sicknesses, failures, diseases, divorces, disappointments, demotions, disgrace, shame, losses etc.
But like Paul, the venom and poison of these unfortunate circumstances can’t have their intended effects on us in the name of Jesus.
People may watch us from afar and hope to see us dead or perpetually knocked down because of the poison from what may have happened to us.
But, the poison can’t have it’s intended purpose on us because the son of God has already destroyed the works of the devil against us. That’s how come the Bible says they kill us all the time, yet we don’t die.
So, let people including those close to us wish us dead. Let them hope that something bad may happen to us. Let them hope that we won’t rise again after a heavy fall.
But let them also know that our God who has the final say, has already destroyed the works of the devil.
The devil may strike but the effect of the poison would not have its intended purpose on us because the most High continue to push back the forces of darkness against us all the time.
This week and beyond, may this grace be our source of hope and confidence, and may it move us to the point in our relationship with God where we would always trust, obey and serve God with great reverence.
Amen.
Source: newsthemegh.com