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KEEP SATAN OUT BY DOING THIS

by Dr. Henderson Ward  
10/26/2012 / Christian Living


Fools rush in where angels fear to tread is a proverb used to indicate foolhardiness and a lack of awareness and as a result dreadful consequences can occur, even annihilation. The Devil is no fool and it could be argued that with his years of existence, he may have considerably more smarts than any of us. The caption at the top of this chapter is a command to be Gods bully and create a Satan-exclusion zone by using the authority that God has given us to mark out a zone, defined by boundaries which asserts, Satan Keep Out and Beware you are entering Holy Ground and This zone is ferociously guarded by the Holy Spirit and Sinners will be arrested and may be converted and Enter at your Peril; Gods work is being done. An exclusion zone is personal, its the one you create for yourself within the parameters set by you and ferociously guarded and maintained with absolute authority and conviction.

Exclusion zones are not uncommon and if you go down to your local hospital you, in all likelihood, will find that certain parts of the building have exclusion zones, like the Surgery Operating Theatre when surgery is taking place. To be admitted during surgery one has to be authorized, dressed appropriately, thoroughly sanitized and be part of the exercise otherwise you are not admitted. The same applies to a spiritual, exclusion zone, which is highly comparable to the ones in hospitals. Other exclusion zones relate to security where intruders may be shot or to no fly zones where unauthorized aircraft may be brought down. Exclusion zones work and that is the reason when you are trying to put up a defence against the Devil and his demons, it become absolutely necessary.

All believers have a God-given exclusion zone, maintained by Holy Angels, which imposes limits on the Devil as to how far he is allowed to go in pursuing his evil agenda. Although the Devil is the ruler of the fallen world and is correctly described as the power of darkness nevertheless Almighty God is in overall charge and allows no one to do what he likes without limits, hence the zone. The Devil knows this, remember the aforementioned quotation Fools rush in where angels fear to tread and scrupulously observes these limits and as we see in the case when he wanted to afflict Job and he had to ask for permission: Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. (Job 1:9-12) That this exclusion is maintained by angels is not in any doubt for the Scripture clearly asserts, The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. (Psalm 34:7)

The exclusion zone you create is larger and more comprehensive than the one God has established for you and is based on a clear and definitive understanding of what each zone is for. Gods zone is to protect your life because if the Devil had life in his hands and can willy-nilly slaughter whomsoever he wants, then no Christian would be alive for the Devil would delight in killing us off; that would be a sure way of wiping out Christianity which is his objective. But whereas Gods zone is to protect your life, your exclusion zone is to facilitate service and effective ministry in the fullest sense. When looked at from this perspective, it becomes clear that your exclusion zone is compatible and complementary to Gods and the two, working together, provide the confidence and facilitation to make good things happen. Gods power to restrain the Devil is reflected in the Devils inability to form weapons capable of penetrating Gods defensive shield, No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper (Isaiah 54:17a) and this gives you the confidence to proceed boldly with your own dedicated zone which is constructed on the basis of Divine blessing.

BLESSINGS AND CURSES: AN EXPLANATION

It was asserted earlier that your exclusion zone was to be constructed on the basis of divine blessing which means that its strength and effectiveness was proportional to the efficaciousness of the blessing upon which it was founded. If the blessing was superficial and transitory well then so too would be the exclusion zone. There are a great number of blessings (prayers, incantations, etc) believers can use for different occasions, but I want to define the word blessing in a way that is clear and consistent with its use throughout the Bible and how we are to regard it in context here. A divine blessing is the product by which, through prayer and supplication and the grace of God, an object is made sacred and holy and entrusted to Gods ownership. All blessings in the Bible, with few exceptions, relate to and flow from this definition. In creating a Satan-exclusion zone, we are bullying the Devil out of our space and making it difficult for him to operate with ease and we do so with the use of divine blessing.

We need to understand and appreciate blessings, for they have a major part to play in the creation of our Satan exclusion zone. It is important to remember that divine blessing is not just passive and gentle but capable of great dynamism, it can dispel contrary forces, it can create an atmosphere conducive to spiritual achievements, it can accomplish things, The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. (Proverbs 10:22). Remember this, for it is important, the blessing of God enriches; spiritually, materially, emotionally, mentally and physically. When viewed in its proper light divine blessing is multi-faceted and holistic and capable of affecting people and things in a number of different ways, some of which are beyond our understanding but the forces of darkness fully comprehend and fear. When blessings abound then the Devil, his demons and all the workers of iniquity are diminished, and their work made of little effect, for they know that HE WHOM GOD BLESSES NO MAN CURSE.

HOW TO CONFER A BLESSING

Should you ask the professional priesthood what is a blessing and how is it conferred you may very well get a lot of confusing and conflicting information, for these people have franchised religious themes and answers according to strict denominational discipline and codes. The true believer cares little about denominational strictures because when he was converted he joined not a denomination, but The Church of God, which is led by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ on whom it is founded. Denominations are merely the man-made grouping, often haphazard and transient, with which you may have an association for worship purposes. Each of these denominations has prayer books, disciplines, doctrinal guides, catechisms and such like which deal with an array of theological and doctrinal themes from their theological, dogmatic perspective. The true believer seeks answers from and takes his guidance at all times from the inspired word of God, the Bible, and constantly subjects himself to the care and control of the Holy Spirit with this assurance, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts (Zechariah 4:6b)

Some people are deluded into thinking that the professional clergy have a special and different anointing from God but that is not true, all believers have the same anointing and this is made clear in the Bible, These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. (1 John 2:26-27). I came across a website which made this very perceptive comment, Many religious leaders have fallen in love with status and honor of man and because of their own pride, have had their hearts depart from the Lord. Because of the love of status, they are now teaching their congregations to look upon them and be dependent upon them rather than looking to Christ alone. Eddie Snipes, Exchanged Life Outreach (www.exchangedlife.com). You, the believer is capable and authorized to confer blessings in your right as a Christian and a member of the priesthood of believers and the Apostle Peter confirmed this, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:5). All Christians are part of Gods holy priesthood of which blessings are but part of that blessed ministry.

So what does the Bible tell us about conferring a blessing? If we are to confer a blessing there are three things that must be in order:

FIRST WE MUST BE A BLESSING, OR BE BLESSED.

You cannot confer blessing if you have not received it from God or if you are not blessed. Anyone can repeat the words of blessing (I shall give you examples later) as an invocation but it will be without effect unless God honours it. All believers are blessed and have received blessings directly from God. Paul asserts, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), and to the church at Rome, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquity are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. (Romans 4:7-8). Abraham is the quintessential example of being blessed and being a blessing, for it was Abraham who gave us Jesus Christ, And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. (Genesis 12:2).

SECOND WE MUST KNOW WHAT GOD WANTS TO BLESS.

God blesses only that which is in compliance with his will, And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. (Genesis 14: 18-20). This blessing was conferred after Abraham returned from an approved mission of rescuing his nephew Lot. Gods blessing is not restricted to approved persons but to material objects as well, And it was told King David, saying, The Lord hath blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God. (2 Samuel 6:12a). God blessed Obed-edom and all his household and belongings because he had given shelter to the ark for three months after Uzzah touched the ark and was instantly killed and David decided to temporally abandon the ark.

THIRD WE MUST BE THE CONDUIT FOR BLESSINGS.

All blessings come from Almighty God and often they are communicated through the blessed of God, believers who have received them from God and are able to confer them as God gives guidance. Take for example the great blessing God taught Moses to teach Aaron and used for blessing Israel, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. (Numbers 6:24-26). The very next verse, 27, concludes the instruction, but is not part of the benediction, and says, And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them. This role of being a conduit to transfer blessings are recognized throughout the Bible as seen here when Isaac blessed Jacob after Jacob deceived him by impersonating Esau his brother, And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? Where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? Yea, and he shall be blessed. (Genesis 27:33). What is very instructive here is that Isaac the father wanted the blessing to be transferred to Esau his eldest son, but Gods will was for the blessing to be upon Jacob, and that is what transpired.

BLESS ALL THAT IS YOURS

Now that we have examined what blessings are and how they can be conferred, we now come to a vital part of creating a zone around us that is hostile to the Devil and one that is congenial to godliness, peace, spirituality and wholesomeness. We want to create a zone that exudes Christ-likeness everywhere, a zone that declares God is in this place, a zone that says Come let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand, a zone that says You are standing on holy ground, a zone that has the spiritual aura of the invisible God blended with the joyous sacrifices of praise and we create this zone by BLESSING, DEDICATING, CONSECRATING AND MAKING HOLY EVERYTHING THAT IS OURS.

WE BEGIN BY BLESSING OUR HOME.

It makes no difference where you live, whether you own your home or you are renting, whether you have an apartment, flat, house, room or timeshare all that is important here is that you show determination to create a zone around you that is pleasing to God. Many people complain that their home has funny noises, especially at night, and many complain of strange happenings even to the extent that they see strange things and have weird feelings and their sleep is disturbed and nightmares abound and such like. We should be conscious that not all strange happenings have a sinister or supernatural connotation, for it is known that things like Sick Building Syndrome, the presence of some cleaning and laundry chemicals, an intrusion of subterranean gases, the impact of gusting winds and draughts, the weird combination of light and shadows and all such like can produce weird feelings, disorientation, dread and a sense of menace.

Over and above these however are demonic activities and sinister things happening which might have been going on before you occupy your home. It has been established that some properties have had demonic activities going on for decades. As you will see later, some Devil worshippers might have made their home a coven for satanic activities and some satanic emblems might still be around to which demons cling for comfort and accommodation. You might therefore be unfortunate to have bought and or occupy a property which demons have long regarded as their home.

It is therefore necessary to purge your home of demonic activity or spirits of evil and institute the abiding and protective presence of God with the concomitant benefits required for your peaceful, undisturbed and blessed occupation. And where no previous demonic or cursed activity was possible, as in the case when your home is new-built, then the blessing serves to prevent all such undesirable activities from ever starting.

Many believers engage a priest/minister of the gospel/pastor to bless their home and if you are not up to it, do not feel you are capable of doing so then by all means let the professional clergy do it. And if you are convinced that the property is haunted and you want the demons exorcised then priests specializing in exorcism, especially Roman Catholic priests, are available and competent to deal with the situation. However, you are blessed and capable of dealing with all these situations yourself and do not need the involvement of professional clergy, but you must know what you are doing and you must do it with assertive authority. Here is how you bless your home.

Invite a few believers to be present with your family at the blessing to help create atmosphere and give support (but feel free to do it alone since it makes no difference to the outcome).
Open proceedings by asking all to stand and join in a hymn. (Many suitable hymns abound relating to the home. Choose one.)
Pray extemporaneously (out of your head without planning) giving God thanks for the occasion, family, friends and your home.
Pronounce the blessing (which you would have written down beforehand, see examples below).
All join in the benediction to bring proceedings to a close.

Here are examples of blessings, feel free to use them as they are, or adapt them as you wish or create your own along similar lines.

Dear God our Father, Creator of all things and Giver of good gifts we ask, in the name of Jesus, your blessing on this home and all who dwell herein. Hallow we beseech thee this home by your Divine presence and protect us from all evil. Grant that in sickness or in health, in prosperity or adversity we might fearlessly worship and faithfully serve you all our lives through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O God, by whose word all things are sustained and sanctified, we beseech thee to pour forth thy blessing upon this home and grant according to thy mercies that all who dwell herein and use this home find favour and grace with thee. We pray that you be merciful, and give good health in body, soul and spirit to these occupants and the peace of soul which comes from thee only, as we serve you faithfully, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Lord, you who are merciful and kind, and willing to grant us our desires, we pray for the gift of your blessing on this our home and for your abiding presence, that all of our activities and all who dwell herein will be blessed by you and protected by your hallowed presence as we commit ourselves to serving you in spirit and in truth according to thy will in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear God and Father of all mercies, we give you thanks and praise your holy name that you have blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ. And so we beseech you to bless this home and all those who dwell herein that your love and grace and presence may abound within these walls and throughout these grounds. Grant, Dear God, that good health, security, peace and prosperity according to thy will accompany us and that all who live or visit here will be inspired by your compassion and care and blessing. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

The benediction follows and can be a verse or two of Scripture which all can say together. Here is a suitable, and common, benediction.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

And here is another. The blessings of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us all, now and forevermore. Amen.

WE CONTINUE BY BLESSING OUR CAR, OFFICE, ETC.

The first and most important thing to bless, as we create a zone hostile to the Devil, is our home because it is central to our happy existence, but we must not stop there since we need to purge the influences of evil out of and bring divine protection to everything that we own. This would also include our boat, our push bikes and motorcycles and anything else we own since we are determined to cover everything with Gods blessing.

The way you would bless all these things would bear no resemblance to the way you would bless your home. If you wanted to follow the same process, then that would be in order, especially if you had new offices built and was about to occupy them for the first time. Other than your home you should bless all that you own, and proceed on your own without any ceremony or hymns or benediction. The way to proceed is as follows:

In the case of blessing your new car (or whatever) stand next to it and rest your hand on it.
Repeat the blessing which you have prepared beforehand. And that is it.

The blessing you use for blessing your car will be the same blessing you use for blessing your boat or your office or anything else you want to bless and all you have to do is fill in the blanks appropriately.

A blessing for your car (and anything else)

O God, by whose word all things are sustained and sanctified, pour forth thy blessing upon this.and grant according to thy mercies that whosoever shall usewith thanksgiving in accordance with thy will and pleasure may receive from you through the abundance of your mercies protection from harm and accident, health of body and peace of soul and mind in and through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

WE CONSOLIDATE BY RIDDING OURSELVES OF SATANIC EMBLEMS.

Amazing as it may seem, many believers are not aware that certain objects have satanic association and by having them on your person or in your home, you unwittingly create open doors for evil to enter, pegs for the Devil to hang his hat, cots for him to take a rest and give aid and comfort to the workers of iniquity. Imagine bringing someone into your home who is demon possessed and wishing to exorcise his demons and when he looks up, he sees a gargoyle on your wall staring down at him. Or he sits in a chair and feels something to the back of his head and when he turns round he comes face to face with the satanic symbol the Goat Head and when he meets a member of the household, she is wearing a necklace with an Upside Down Cross. All these symbols have satanic associations and are part of the occult, witchcraft, devil worshipping fraternity and their associates like secret lodges and new age groups. Get rid of them all.

(This is a condensed version of keeping Satan out. The full version is found in my book, STAND UP TO THE DEVIL listed below)

Enough said.

Books by this author you may wish to read.

THINGS EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD KNOW (e-book)
Volume 1 Five tough facts to be faced
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YX5NSI

STAND UP TO THE DEVIL (e-book)
Volume 1 You must first identify him
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005BQVLSS

BASTARD: A STORY OF REDEMPTION(e-book fiction)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006OF3SD6

ONE MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT ON GODS CLOCK (Hard copy)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002X78D16

ONE MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT ON GODS CLOCK (e-book)
http://tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-60799-630-9

Dr. Henderson Ward received his Doctor of Divinity in theology, with distinction, from Masters International School of Divinity, USA, where he is currently a post-doctoral fellow. Dr. Ward's career involved pastoring, evangelism, and teaching. Copyright 2017

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

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