-Pst. Gavin Aleogho
He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.
Ecclesiastes 10:8
To understand the defence and security system that the Lord has given to the believers against the onslaught of the devil, it is important to look at God’s dealing with the Israelites right from when they left Egypt to the time of the Judges and the Kings.
God did all and gave all that is required for the protection of the Israelites. He ensured that they were immune to all the attacks from their enemies. But like you must have discovered as you read the book of Judges, 1 Kings and 2 Kings, that as long as the Israelites abide by God’s rules their defence system remains intact. But whenever they break God’s law, their defence system gets weakens, giving the enemies an advantage over them.
In the same vein, in this era of grace, God the Father has done all He ought to do concerning our protection from our archenemy the devil and his agents. The Lord didn’t just save us from our sins. The Lord went further to do the following for us, to put us in an advantageous position against the devil.
Among many things He did for us are:
1. He took us away from the domain of darkness to the Kingdom of His son (Colossians 1:13). It therefore means that nothing of darkness should have a grip over us.
2. He made us set together with Christ Jesus in the heavenly place far above all satanic hierarchy (Ephesians 1:20-23, 2:6). It therefore means that the devil and all his agents are under us.
3. The Lord assigned angels to encamp around us. (Psalms 34:7). Implying that at every moment, we are not alone.
4. He gave us the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. This is why the Apostle John wrote to us that we don’t need to be afraid. Why? Because “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4). The Greater One in us is the Holy Spirit.
Like the Israelites of old, the devil cannot do anything against you except you give him that opportunity. That is why the scripture admonishes us not to give the devil any opportunity.
“and give no opportunity to the devil.”
Ephesians 4:27 RSV
The truth is that the devil, our enemy, is always seeking for any opportunity to kill, steal or destroy us. (1 Peter 5:8, John 10:10a). He won’t hesitate to take advantage of any opportunity he finds even in the life of Christians. Thus, it is important for us to know the ways and avenues we are likely to give the devil a foothold in our lives, thereby breaking our spiritual hedge.
8 THINGS THAT CAN BREAK YOUR SPIRITUAL HEDGE
1. Ignorance Of Your Place In Christ
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
Hosea 4:6
The devil is a trickster who always takes advantage of every opportunity he finds to steal, kill and destroy. He doesn’t fail to take advantage when he finds a believer who is ignorant of his rights and privileges in Christ Jesus.
One of the best knowledge every believer in Christ should arm themselves with is the knowledge of their place rights and privileges in Christ Jesus. Knowing this truth will help you to put the devil where he belongs; which is under your feet.
2. Negative Attitude To Offences
A lot of believers are unaware of the catastrophically damage that the devil is aiming at doing to us when he brings offence our ways. Offence in and of itself is not the problem. However, our attitude to offence can bring us to the place of darkness which the devil intends, where he can effectively do his havoc in our lives.
Outside darkness the devil cannot operate. When we allow offence to make us begin to hate our fellow man, we automatically bring ourselves into the domain of darkness where the devil operates effortlessly. This is the truth that is exposed to us in 1 John 2:9-11.
He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
1 John 2:9-11.
3. Disobedience To Divine Instructions
1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:
Deuteronomy 28:1-2, 15
In our walk with God, our security is reinforced as we walk in obedience to the divine instructions that we’ve been given. Living in disobediences only makes us vulnerable to the wiles of the enemies.
Besides the general instructions of the Lord that are found in the Bible, you have to also take heed to the instructions of God that were given to you, personally. Going into a marriage or taking a job which the Lord has previously instructed you not to take will only make you vulnerable to the wiles of the devil. That was the case of the young prophets in 1 Kings 13 who walked contrary to the instructions that the Lord gave to Him and he paid dearly for it with his life.
4. Sin In General.
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 3:23
On a general note, every sin that we commit as believers weakens our spiritual defence system. It may not be obvious to us initially but as time goes by, the resultant effect will become obvious to all. This is one reason why we should never allow any sin to have dominion over us.
After rededicating his life to Christ, a man attested to the fact that when he was collecting bribes the problems that were coming to him were so much that the huge money he was getting from the bribe was not enough to solve the problems. However, after making a commitment to forsake these old ways, he observed that all the doors of these unexplainable problems were closed up. He said that with just his salary, he is able to achieve what he could not achieve with the huge money coming from bribing and illegal sources. This is just to show to you that sin makes us vulnerable to the devil.
5. The sin of immorality
We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did-and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.
1 Corinthians 10:8 NIV
Like I stated, every sin that a believer commits weakens their defence system. But one obvious sin that does great and immediate damage to the defence system of the believer is the sin of immorality.
Like the scripture says, the sin of immorality is not just a sin against God but it’s a sin against our own selves which includes a sin against our spiritual defence system. It is a quick way to bring down and break your spiritual hedge. This is why sickness, diseases and even demons are being transferred easily because the sin opens the door and gives the devil unhindered access to the individuals.
16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
1 Corinthians 6:16-20
6. Strongholds of the mind.
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2 Corinthians 10:3-5.
About 90% of spiritual warfare against the believers begins in the mind. This is what is known as the battle of the mind. When the devil succeeds in winning the battle in a man’s mind, he has defeated the man. But if you have not been defeated in your mind, you can’t be defeated in life. This is why our mind and heart needs to be guarded.
We are strongly admonished in 2 Corinthians 10:5 to cast down every thought that does not align to the will of God for our lives. It is your responsibility to cast-off guilt and condemnation consciousness that the devil is trying to instill in you. Get rid of wrong beliefs. Get rid of the sense of unworthiness and demon consciousness. And be conscious of your rights and privileges in Christ. Be conscious of your position in Christ Jesus which is a place far higher than every demonic hierarchy. Be conscious of the presence of the Lord and the host of heaven with you. By doing so, you are conditioning your mind to be victory conscious.
7. Wrong use of the tongue
Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
Proverbs 18:21
If death and life are in the power of the tongue, it therefore implies that the wrong use of the tongue will administer death to an individual. This is one way the devil causes us to break the spiritual hedge around us; through the wrong use of the tongue.
Many parents have strip-off the default spiritual hedge that their children have through the negative words they keep speaking against them. As a parent, you must understand that God has placed you in a place of authority over your children. Whatever you allow is what is allowed into their lives. So if out of ignorance or anger you choose to speak negative words to your home, marriage and children, be ready to accept the outcome of your tongue’s investment.
Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
James 3:10-12
8. Associating with the devil
Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.
John 14:30
A direct or indirect association with the devil or anything that belongs to him will give him a foothold in our lives. This is a major reason why we should have nothing to do with anything associated with darkness. This includes and it is not limited to the following:
-Receiving anything from the devil or his representatives.
-Listening or obeying instructions from the devil or his agents like native doctors, shrine Priest, False Prophets, False Religions etc
-Accepting any object that is from the dark world. This object can include an armlet, handkerchief, water, candles, oil etc.
Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
Ephesians 5:11 NIV
Doing otherwise will only give the devil a legal ground to operate in your lives which will always be against your progress.
Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?
Romans 6:16.
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