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Thursday, April 10, 2008

After the Dove
"The thief's purpose is to steal and destroy and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness." (John 10:10)
Often after great victories, the greatest challenges and temptations of the Christian life will come. I have found that after great blessings in my life, after God works in a powerful way, the devil will be there to challenge it.
Think about it. After God had powerfully worked through Elijah on Mount Carmel, the prophet became so discouraged that he wanted to die. After Jesus was transfigured, He came down from the mountain to find a demon-possessed person waiting for them.

After Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River and the Holy Spirit came upon Him in the form of a dove and God said, "This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with him" (Matthew 3:17). Then He was led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After the dove came the devil.
The devil will always be there to challenge whatever God has done. It may come after church, after God has blessed you and spoken to you. You leave the parking lot and get hit with a heavy-duty temptation.

You wonder how that could happen. But that is just the devil's way. He wants to make your life miserable. Most importantly, he wants to steal anything that God has done in your life.
The devil is watching us and he's looking for vulnerabilities. That is why we need to pray for any person whom we know that God is using. And that is why we need to brace ourselves. The more you step out to be used by the Lord, the more you can expect opposition from the devil.
Copyright © 2008 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org.

"I will hold you always in the palm of my hand"

-Isaiah 41:13