Hi guys…

So today we’ll be digging into what power ‘he’ might have over us.

Don’t worry, your confusion will be cleared in a moment, but first let’s read John 14:30.

The Message Translation – “I’ll not be talking much more like this because the chief of this godless world is about to attack. But don’t worry–he has nothing on me, no claim on me.”

The Amplified Version ­­– “I will not talk with you much more, for the prince (evil genius, ruler) of the world is coming. And he has no claim on Me. [He has nothing in common with Me; there is nothing in Me that belongs to him, and he has no power over Me.]”

Alright, so this was Jesus speaking to His disciples before His death. The part of this Scripture that hit me most was when He said that the prince of this world ‘has no claim on Him.’ That was deep, gaan! Just imagine the confidence with which He spoke, how many of us can relate? I often find myself wondering how Jesus became man, went through all the temptations familiar to humanity and came through without a single blot on His perfectly white report sheet! Ah! How? The thing is that He didn’t even come as God lest we cry ‘wolf!’ No, He came as man; was even born as an infant and went through the human process of growth; still he survived this thing we all struggle with. No immoral, lustful thoughts or acts; no stealing; no bribery; no murder; no pride, no anger; no covetousness; no jealousy; no malice, no hatred, etc…NOTHING! Haba! How did He do it for crying out loud? Most of us are like Paul in Romans 7:18-22, we often see ourselves engaging in things we don’t wanna do; we truly wanna honor God and we even promise not to return to ‘that’ habit anymore only to find ourselves back to ‘square one.’ It’s important to note at this point that we are at the mercy of whatever or whomever has a claim over us. And so I am led to ask, ‘how many of us are free of this claim? How many of us have lost our voice over unrighteousness just because in a moment of weakness we gave in to our fleshy desires.’ James 1:13-14 says “God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else either. Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires.’’  

Our part of the equation is therefore, to vet our desires. What evils are lurking in there? I have discovered that we are a sum total of what we see, hear and believe; consciously, subconsciously or unconsciously. Bringing it down to the language our generation can understand; the kind of movies you watch, the kind of conversations you have, the kind of musical lyrics you take in, the kind of friends you keep, the kind of pictures you see, the kind of environment you expose yourself to will either make or mar you. Check it out; most times you’ve had those nasty dreams was because you either beheld nasty images/videos or engaged in nasty conversations during the course of the day. I gotta be downright real because being unreal doesn’t seem to be helping; matter of fact, it is wrecking havoc. It’s so unnerving that anywhere you look now, things you don’t look out for come looking for you. All sorts of immoralities hit you daily either through your phone, messages, people you come in contact with, the news, at work; all sorts… I don’t know if I have shared on here about my frustration in finding a decent movie to watch on the current most popular movie app. For each time I go on there to preview a movie worth watching, I often take at least 20-30minutes surfing through; no kidding!  Sometimes, I give up and log off when I can’t find anything safe. Now, on those days I really wanna watch something no matter what, I get ready to do a lot of fast-forwarding; and this is me practicing self-control. How about our young kids and even adults who don’t mind these contents at all? They are ignorant of the damages they’re exposing themselves to. Little wonder the number of confused people we have in our world today; misplaced identities have become the order of the day. Jesus categorically said of devil “….hath nothing in me.’’ (KJV)  “….has no hold on me.” (NIV)  “….has no power over me.” (NLT)

Some people have been so exposed that the devil has total hold on them. Reminds me of a Mount Zion film I recently saw on YouTube titled ‘’Abejoye.’’ (Yáll need to go see this one; trust me). One of the characters was afflicted by the evil one because he was guilty of the sin of adultery. The tricky thing was that the affliction was meant for his father who was formerly a top member of the dark underworld but was now saved unknown to his accusers. When the messenger came to deliver the message, he was rebuked in the matchless power of the Name of Jesus. Not wanting to go back empty-handed, he kept roaming round the house till he found a loop hole and mercilessly attacked the contaminated vessel. Guys, it’s so true that when the hedge is broken, the serpent will most definitely bite! The devil seems to be on a rampage for souls, we seem to be the ones joking around.

Let me share something personal for a bit; Sometime ago, I intentionally disobeyed God concerning a particular matter. He warned me on several occasions to desist but I was feeling like I had things under control until I crashed in a way and manner that I didn’t know I was ever gonna recover from. In those moments, I knew I was spiritually exposed and was so sensitive that I could feel doom looming so thick in the physical; as in, I had goose bumps and all. Went about my duties in a blur because I was so sure something bad was gonna happen to me (and this wasn’t in my head); what I didn’t know was when, i.e, I knew in my heart that I was in grave danger and that if I didn’t return to the covering of the Almighty, I would become a casualty in this race of life. I literally felt like a fish outside its normal habitat of water. Thank God for His mercies and Hand of Grace, that caught me when I ran back to The Savior. There was a reason Samson was never to cut his hair (Judges 13:5); Hannah spoke out of divine wisdom when she promised that Samuel’s hair will never be cut (1 Sam 1:11) and there definitely was a reason John was forbidden to drink wine (Luke 1:15). What have you been consecrated for? What have you been forbidden from? Let me remind you that God doesn’t withhold anything good from those who walk uprightly (Psalm 84:11); therefore if He has asked you to stay off, it’s to your benefit. What sin has tampered or is attempting to tamper with your consecration? That everyone is doing ‘it’ does not mean you are allowed to do ‘it.’ Have you ever seen a situation where a naïve person attempts to do what everyone else is doing and ends up paying dearly for it; sometimes with their life? Meanwhile, every other person seems to be getting away with it? Listen, this race is personal. It’s time to sit up and say NO (meaningfully) to those ‘little sins’ that are giving the god of this world a right over us. It’s time to clean house and return the properties of the evil one to him. It’s time to live in holiness and purity. It’s time to take back all we have lost due to filthiness, adulteration/contamination, and compromise. It’s time to stop mixing carnality with spirituality; truthfully, what encouraging result(s) have we gotten so far? Wouldn’t you love to boldly declare like Jesus, ‘there is nothing in Me that belongs to him….’

So, who is with me on this journey of Consecration? Grace is available; let’s take it.

One final word, “Don’t be so naïve and self-confident. You’re not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless. Cultivate God-confidence.” 1 Corinthians 10:12 (MSG)

If at the end of the day all you have is God, then you have more than enough.

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