The Bible is clear. God’s plans are for you to have abundant life even in the face of the “thief” who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. What is my part in the interaction between God’s design of abundant life and the thief’s hope for destruction? John 10:10, 1 John 3:8
Jesus’ blood, for those who place their trust in Him, is God’s restriction and limitation upon the devil.
God’s restriction and limitation of the devil is summarized by the devil himself, “Have you not put a hedge around him and his house…?” Job 1:10
The blood of Jesus functions as Job’s hedge of protection in our lives today. Pastor Jack Hayford writes (http://www.jackhayford.org/teaching/articles/single-entry/print/pleading-the-blood/)
- The blood provides protection
- The blood provides a means of deliverance
- The blood provides the promise of a new day
- The blood provides a witness
The Bible reveals that God’s restriction and limitation of the devil is impacted by various things and choices we make as free moral agents. Four Categories of Factors Known to cooperate with the intentions of Satan.
- The influence of ancestry.
- The influence of geography.
- The influence of certain types of sin.
- The influence of certain types of attitudes and actions.
Next week we continue… :0)