Food for Teens: Don't Negotiate With Terrorist

One of the devil's most effective tools against believers today is the flesh, he collaborates with the flesh.  Many a time believers find themselves falling prey to things that otherwise they wouldn't have yielded to. How does he achieve this? By gradually sucking you into a place where it begins to look desirable. Genesis 3:1a, "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made." Observe how the Bible described the serpent? As more subtle; it means to be cunning and crafty, it means to make thin or fine; to make less gross or coarse. What the devil does it to blur the lines between good and evil, to make sin look less unattractive by appealing to the weakness of our flesh, he makes it seems like the pleasure of sin far outweighs the consequences of sin. That exactly what he did to Eve. Genesis 3:5-6, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”

Eve allowed herself to be sucked in by allowing the devil convince her that the pleasure of sin outweighed the consequences. Hebrews 3:13, "But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." Be very aware that sin is deceitful, it doesn't guarantee what it promised on the long run. It always leads to death. James 1:15, "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." Some areas of your life that you must REFUSE to negotiate with the devil are:

1. Don't Negotiate with sickness: Have you observed that sometimes when you feel symptoms of sickness and you rebuke the sickness, instead of doing things contrary to that sickness like moving around and giving God thanks, there's this desire to just lie down and cover your self up? Sometimes you even feel like yielding yourself to the sickness before you think that's your body telling you that you have over laboured it, once you do this, you are negotiating with the devil and he's just going to suck you in until that sickness overwhelms you.

2. Don't Negotiate with self-pity: The reason why this is so deadly is because it looks harmless, the desire to play the victim, like everything and everyone is against you, this might be true that sometimes everything just seems not to be working out and everyone seem to have forsaken you but always remember Jesus said He is with you even to the end. Remember the Holy Ghost is within you, remember that all things are working together for your good, remember that you have to a company of innumerable numbers of angels all around you. Once you yield to self pity, that's where bitterness, anger, hatred, rebellion, poverty and failure comes in. Avoid it.

3. Don't Negotiate with the desire to backslide: There are times when you feel like taking a break from spiritual things because you have persisted in the word but it seems like you are not getting any result and there's a desire to give it up, Galatians 6:9, "And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." Hold on, don't give up you will see the reward of the righteous.

4. Do not negotiate with sexual immorality: There are times when the desire to hang out with the opposite sex in secluded areas and the devil tells you nothing will happen, you can resist him/her, just remember that scripture tell us to flee because that's how you get sucked in until it's too late.

Learn to always hold on to God's word and never negotiate with the devil because he's a terrorist whose only desire is to steal, kill and destroy but resist him and he will flee because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world, God bless and see you next year.