The Devil Is Not After You - Devotional

Bible passages for sermon: 2Kings 7: 1-8, Luke 17: 11-18
2Kings 7 - ¹ Then Elisha said, “Hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the LORD: ‘Tomorrow about this time a seah of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.’” ² So an officer on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, “Look, if the LORD would make windows in heaven, could this thing be?” And he said, “In fact, you shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”

The Syrians Flee

³ Now there were four leprous men at the entrance of the gate; and they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? ⁴ If we say, ‘We will enter the city,’ the famine is in the city, and we shall die there. And if we sit here, we die also. Now therefore, come, let us surrender to the army of the Syrians. If they keep us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall only die.” ⁵ And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there. ⁶ For the Lord had caused the army of the Syrians to hear the noise of chariots and the noise of horses—the noise of a great army; so they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has hired against us the kings of the Hittites and the kings of the Egyptians to attack us!” ⁷ Therefore they arose and fled at twilight, and left the camp intact—their tents, their horses, and their donkeys—and they fled for their lives. ⁸ And when these lepers came to the outskirts of the camp, they went into one tent and ate and drank, and carried from it silver and gold and clothing, and went and hid them; then they came back and entered another tent, and carried some from there also, and went and hid it.

The devil always looks for ways to hamper your relationship with God. The devil didn't like the fellowship Adam had with God and he did all he could to ensure the relationship was broken. After Adam fell, mankind resorted to the shedding of animal blood to reconnect man to God temporarily. Hebrews 9: 21.

From the passage above, the leaprous men had totally lost all their faith due to the famine in the land. Everyday they sit at the entrance of the gate and go through the motions, the devil probably keeps reminding them that they will eventually die and pretty soon too. The devil made them lose their faith and strong will. But suddenly, they realized that their sitting there at the gate entrance was not doing them any good. They finally tapped back into their faith, they reconnected with God once again. They made a conscious effort to go into the land of the syrians throwing all caution to the wind and hoping they might get some respite from the famine. And we read that God made a way for the men when they went into syria, God made the syrian army disperse leaving behind lots of food and loot. Their faith and reconnection to God caused God himself to bring the things their hearts desired to them.

We can see from the scriptures that our faith is what God desires and it makes much things availeth much. Romans 1: 17 talks about living by faith in connecting with God.
Hebrews 11: 6 - There is no pleasing God without faith.
Ephesians 2: 8 - We are not saved only by Grace, but by Faith also.
Romans 10: 9 - We confess by faith to accept the Lord Jesus Christ.

In conclusion: Grace is made available by Christ but you need to activate your faith to receive all you are trusting for. The devil understands how powerful your faith is, and the principles behind having faith. The devil is not after you afterall, he is after your Faith!