House of Hope Online

September 28, 2025

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I was reminded of a spiritual principle this week, a very simple principle, but one that is easy to forget.  When the Lord gives you a word in the Spirit realm, not everyone you share it with will receive it.  And if you have been soaking in His presence, the rejection of the word may come as quite a shock.

But the truth is, not everyone will receive the word of the Lord because we have an adversary that the Bible tells us will prowl around seeking to devour us and our faith.  If you try to give a word of the Lord, or try to witness to someone you hope to help, the devil will resist you and try to get into your head, and / or make you angry, all in an attempt to defeat your faith and the effectiveness of your witness to God’s word.

Your Prowling Adversary

1^st Peter 5:

 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,

 7 casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.

 8 ¶ Be of sober [spirit,] be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

 9 But resist him, firm in [your] faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.

 10 ¶ And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen [and] establish you.

 11 To Him [be] dominion forever and ever. Amen.

In verse 6, Peter begins with the advice that we should humble ourselves under the hand of God, and we should cast all anxiety on Him.  After all, it is not our word, it’s God’s word.  And we should not be anxious about giving the word or defending the hope that is in us.

Notice the importance of verse 9: we are to resist the devil, firm in our faith.  When the devil opposes us, his purpose is to shake our faith.  He wants us to question if God really said that.  In fact, that was the question the serpent asked Eve in the Garden at the time of the original sin.  “Indeed, has God said you shall not eat…?”  And we saw in Genesis 3, if we entertain the devil’s thoughts, he will eventually flat out lie about the word of God.

So, 1^st Peter 5:9 instructs us to resist the adversary, firm in our faith, and to understand that many other Christians are being challenged by the devil.  Verse 10 gives us the amazing promise: after we suffer through what the devil tries to put on us, the God of all grace will Himself perfect us, confirm us, and strengthen and establish us.

Thus, the word of the Lord for today is called: “Post-Suffering Perfection.”  And we start in Luke 10 where Jesus appointed seventy others to witness for Him as lambs among wolves.

The Chosen Seventy

Luke 10:

 1 ¶ Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them two and two ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.

 2 And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.

 3 “Go your ways; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.

If you are wondering if you should speak for the Lord, remember the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  You may be the last chance for someone to hear the word of the Lord and the hope of His calling. 

But Jesus said in verse 3 that we will go as lambs in the midst of wolves.  Jesus continues in Luke 10 to say we should go in peace, but He also tells us what to do when we encounter resistance to His word.

Luke 10:

 5 “And whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace [be] to this house.’

 6 “And if a man of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him; but if not, it will return to you.

Luke 10:

 8 “And whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat what is set before you;

 9 and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’

 10 “But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say,

 11 ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet, we wipe off [in protest] against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’

 12 “I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city.

These are powerful words from our Lord.  If we go in peace and they do not receive the word of the Lord, we are to knock the dust of that city off our feet.  In other words, if they do not receive it, just move on.  You gave them a chance to receive the word.  Do not stay and engage the devil in debate. 

Notice in verse 11 the confidence we are to have:  “…yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’”  In other words, resist the adversary, firm in your faith.

Jesus continues in Luke 10 to inform us that He has granted us authority over all the power of the enemy.

Receive the Authority Granted

Luke 10:

 17 ¶ And the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”

 18 And He said to them, “I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning.

 19 “Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall injure you.

 20 “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

 21 At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from [the] wise and intelligent and didst reveal them to babes. Yes, Father, for thus it was well-pleasing in Thy sight.

 22 “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal [Him.]”

We have authority over the power of the enemy.  Get that into your spirit.  The adversary has the power to harm us but not the authority.  The only authority he has is whatever we grant Him.  We grant him authority when we succumb to the spirit of fear, and when we yield to the spirit of unbelief.

Jesus gave us authority to trample upon serpents and scorpions, as well as upon the power of the enemy.  Use your authority when the devil tries to attack.  Speak that authority to the devil.  But note Jesus also said, do not rejoice over this authority, but instead rejoice that you are saved.

Notice in the praise that Jesus offers in verses 21-22 that the mysteries of God will not be revealed to the wise and intelligent, but to the babes.  In other words, Jesus will reveal Himself to the humble, to those who depend on Him the way a baby depends on its mother.  Not everyone will know the Father.  Not everyone will know Jesus.  God will hide His word from those who pride themselves in their intelligence, those who worship their own minds. God is opposed to the proud.

The Apostle Paul emphasized this very point in 1^st Corinthians 1.

Do Not Debate

1^st Corinthians 1:

 17 ¶ For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void.

 18 For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

 19 For it is written, “I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE, AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE.”

 20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not [come to] know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

 22 For indeed Jews ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom;

 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness,

 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

 26 For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;

 27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,

 28 and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are,

 29 that no man should boast before God.

 30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,

 31 that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.” (NASB)

There is no need to debate and win the argument.  God will destroy the wisdom of the wise and set aside the cleverness of the clever.  Jesus is the power of God and the wisdom of God, and therefore, no man should boast.

Let us pray.

Father God, thank You for the knowledge that the devil is prowling around seeking to devour us, and thank You for the promise that You, the God of all grace, will perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish us.  Help us to resist the devil, firm in our faith.  Send us in peace as lambs among wolves and quicken us to wipe from our feet the dust of those who will not receive the word of the Lord.  Thank You for the authority over Satan’s power, that nothing will injure us.  Guard our minds against pride and the desire to debate our adversary.  Let us instead seek only Jesus, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God, that no man should boast.  To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.