Tag Archives: Satan’s plan for your life

Beyond the curse in your life

 

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10

 

Are you enjoying a rich abundant life, full of passion and purpose, blessing in each day, a cup overflowing with goodness? Or do you feel lately that too much joy and prosperity have been stolen from your life and see life as a glass less than half full? If we find our days abundantly filled with goodness, it seems that it doesn’t take long for something to come along and threaten to steal that away from us. It’s the nature of the life we live in a world that has been cursed since the fall of man. In Genesis 3:14-17, God cursed the devil for deceiving the woman and because man did not listen to God, he cursed the ground as punishment, making life one of toil. You might wonder, “Will it always be that way?” Thankfully, the answer is NO.

While it seems Satan foiled God’s good plan for you, nothing could be further from the truth. From the very beginning, God promised he would send a rescuer, a redeemer, the very one we desperately need to restore and renew our lives, to recover and return us to how he designed us to live.

God’s plan is to save you for an eternal life of joy with him and to give you an abundant life on earth, invincible to the circumstances that come upon you. Satan’s plan is to snatch the souls of men and women before they accept Jesus, or to destroy their joy and make them live miserable lives as defeated Christians, never feeling good enough. He wants us to give up on God, or at the very least to become so busy that we easily forget him in our daily lives.

God’s plan is “to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, Jesus.” (Ephesians 1:10)  ALL things, not some. All joy and strength, love and grace, truth and hope. While God lives in heaven and we live on earth, his plan is that there be no separation between the two. Randy Alcorn states, “There will be no more divided loyalties or divided realms. There will be one cosmos, one universe united under one Lord – forever. This is the unstoppable plan of God. This is where history is headed.”

The question is not only who will reign on earth forever but who reigns in your heart right now? Does God have full dominions and authority in your life? Does he fuel your ambitions and goals? Or does he just have a tiny slice of your morning prayer and Sunday worship? Do you know anything that is able to reclaim, rebuild, restore, and redeem the woes of your life like God? Before sending his disciples out to spread the good news, baptize, and teach those they met, Jesus said, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Do you know why he said that? It’s because his same all powerful authority was available to them through the power of his indwelling Spirit in them.

That same authority is available to you and me – today. His authority, if we accept it, has authority over our pain, our disappointment, our sorrows, and our despair. While the day is yet to come in heaven when there will “no longer be any curse” (Revelation 22:3), we have victory over the power of the curse now, through themthe indwelling Spirit of Jesus.  It’s realizing the paradox that God’s answer to our prayers is “already and yet to come.” We pray confidently because we know he has already won the battle and his good outcome is secure.

My very best days are those I remember to begin by asking the Holy Spirit to take over my agenda, to interrupt my “precious” plans, and to heighten my senses so I will be aware of those around me so I can see them through his eyes.

Observes Alcorn, “Under the curse human culture has not been eliminated, but it has been severely hampered by sin, death and decay. But have hope. One day, sin and sorrow will be forever thwarted and his goodness displayed as far as the curse is found. The curse is real but it is temporary,”

 

While we wait with eager anticipation, let’s live with the resurrection power of Jesus in our lives now.