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By
Lowell Lundstrom Men
are under attack today like never before. The devil's after dads who are
giving up their God-given roles as leaders of their families. Jesus
said, "If the shepherd is smitten, all the sheep will be
scattered" (my paraphrase of Matthew 9:36). Dad,
the devil's after you. When the children of Israel were leaving Egypt,
Pharaoh said, "I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide... and
I will destroy" (Exodus 15:9). The
devil has you marked and he will pursue you and try to destroy your
family. When Jesus was nearing the time when he would go to the cross and
be crucified for our sins, he turned to Simon Peter and said, "Simon,
Simon, behold, Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as
wheat: But I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not" (Luke
22:31-32). The devil knew if he could sift out Peter, he would get all of
the other apostles. He is using this same divide and destroy tactic today.
Modern
men of today are still lured away from God with: 1.
Horses (horsepower of fast cars 2.
The lust for women 3.
The desire for wealth King
David loved God but he fell into the trap of multiplying wives and money.
Then Satan destroyed David's family by luring him to have sex with
Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. His lust brought the wrath of
God upon his household. The sword never departed from David's family. The
men of Malachi's day were seduced by Satan to divorce their wives. God
spoke through Malachi saying, "You have dealt treacherously
against the wife of your youth. The Lord says,' I hate divorce'" (a
paraphrase of Malachi 2:14-16). The
best thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother-and
honor the sanctity of marriage. When
God was going to establish the new nation of Israel, he chose Abraham to
lead. God said, "For I know him, that he will command his children
and household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD" (Genesis
18:19). Abraham
continued to follow God's directives even when he was called upon to offer
his son, Isaac, on the altar of sacrifice. Joshua
made it clear where he stood. He declared, "As for me and my
house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15). Joshua was 100%
committed to serving God. During the 45 years of this evangelistic
ministry, traveling from coast to coast, I have found that in most cases,
80 percent, if the husband decides to follow the Lord, his wife and
children will serve God too.
However,
there are a few heart-breaking cases where the devil has triumphed. Some
time ago I prayed with a man, who broke down and cried because the devil
had split up his marriage, taken away his wife and children, and
everything he had. He was also bound by alcohol. I remember this man
crying out his heart, pleading, "Pastor, can you help me?" Who
did this to this man? Of course the man was responsible for his actions,
but the destructive force behind his problems was Satan himself, seeking
to destroy.
Another
time I got a phone call from a minister telling me about his family. He
said, "My wife helped me in the ministry for the last 15 years.
However, she became depressed and went to see a psychoanalyst. As a
result, the psychiatrist began having sex with her and now she has a
fixation on men. She goes from one man to the next, having a different
partner every night." The devil truly got a hold of his wife. She
separated from him and filed for divorce. Then she came home and got one
of their two girls and beat her until she was almost dead. She took the
girl to the hospital and told authorities her husband, the pastor, had
beaten the child until she was almost unconscious.
I prayed with this heartbroken pastor. The devil was going all out to
destroy his family, his wife, his kids and his ministry. We bound Satan
because we're not powerless against him.
Jesus
said, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth"
(Matthew 28:18). Again Jesus said, "I give unto you
power... over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means
hurt you" (Luke 10:19). Another
promise of our Lord declares, "Whatsoever you shall bind on earth
shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be
loosed in heaven" (Matthew 16:19). A
husband has power to change his family. The Bible says, "An
unbelieving wife is sanctified by a believing husband" (1 Corinthians
7:14). The same is true of husbands. The scripture continues, "An
unbelieving husband is sanctified by a believing wife, else were the
children unclean, but now they are holy." Years
ago an artist created an unusual painting of a young man playing chess
with the devil. The young fellow's face was pale and his eyes had an ashen
gaze of terror. One look told everyone that he was defeated. His pieces
were hemmed in and, for all practical purposes, the game was over. The title of this painting was "Checkmate," the word used in the chess world to describe the final defeat of the loser. One
day an old grand chess master walked into the gallery and began to study
the painting of this chess match with the devil. He too was caught up in the conflict-for it showed the
great struggle for life and a young man held in bondage by the devil. However,
as the chess master studied the painting, he discovered something on the
chessboard no one
else had seen before--not even the painter. The chess master cried out,
"Young man, you've got one move left. I can save you yet. I can save
you yet!" The
experienced eye of the master had discovered one move that would free the young
man from losing to the devil. The
wonderful truth today is that Jesus Christ is the Grand Master of the
universe. He can and will save us from defeat. If your life is being
destroyed by the devil, cry out and the Lord will save your family from
ruin. God loves us and sent Jesus Christ to die for our sins and failures.
The Apostle John declares, "For this purpose the Son of God was
manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil" (1 John
3:8). Invite
Christ into your heart and life. Turn over your defeats and failures to
Him and He will destroy the works of the devil. Remember,
you have one move left- He
can save you yet! ©
2002 Lowell Lundstrom |
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