Editor’s Note: Pastor Tom Tompkins is a friend of mine and an anointed preacher  an  teacher of the Word of God. He is the Senior Pastor of Winlight Ministries in  Shreveport, Louisiana. This teaching, when received, will completely change the way  you think the devil can react to God’s favor, anointing, and blessing on your life!

THIS TEACHING IS AVAILABLE IN MP3 FORMAT. TO LISTEN JUST CLICK ON THE  LINK:http://mtcsla.com/wlm/audio_teaching/New_Level_Same_Devil.mp3

There are many catch phrases used by Christians. We have all heard several of them from “God is awesome” to “the best is yet to come”. Some of these phrases are great but some are very misleading and will open the door to Satan in our lives without our realizing it. You may have heard somebody utter the phrase,.” new level new devil.” This is exactly what I am talking about when I say we may open the door to Satan without realizing it. Satan is full of crafty tricks and if we don’t have an accurate understanding of God’s word we are in for a battle that is going to leave us beaten and bruised.

Do we all deal with different threats from the devil?

I feel certain that all Christians have pondered questions concerning whether they are dealing with something that Satan came up with just for them. I used to believe that Satan had a plan exclusively for my life. I was completely wrong.

Believe it or not nothing we do as a result of sin is from something Satan just decided to attack us with. Satan must have an open door to come in and successfully attack our lives. I Peter 5:8 – Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Satan is not devouring whomever he wishes. He is looking for somebody who has opened the door to him and may not even realize it. I know this all too well from my own experience.

There was once a time when I believed that Satan would attack with twice the force any time God moved in my life. This was at a time in my life when powerful moves of God were far and few between unlike today when I am seeing God move powerfully on a regular basis. I had no clue at the time how widely I had opened the door to Satan with my belief system.

Each and every time I saw a powerful move of God in my life I would experience something terrible shortly after. Some examples are a serious car accident, physical sickness and even rejection from those who I believed to be my friends. While most of these experiences took place based on my own mistakes, it was ultimately the fact that I was expecting bad things to take place that opened the door for my beliefs to manifest.

Eventually a day came when the Lord revealed the truth to me about what was really happening in this area. Proverbs 23:7 – As a man thinks in his heart so will he become. I saw myself being attacked by Satan so this gave him an open door because I was thinking of it in my heart just as the Bible says. When I realized that I needed to change the way I thought if I was going to see any changes I did so. The results were immediate! I stopped expecting Satan to attack me when I experienced a powerful move of God and the attacks stopped.

Even though Satan was to blame in some of those situations it was ultimately my decisions and beliefs that gave him an open door. In short it was my fault and nobody else’s.

Don’t get me wrong. Satan is constantly trying to attack us but he cannot even begin to succeed without our permission. This may come as a shock but it is true. You cannot be tempted to do anything you do not first think about.

Have you ever been tempted to rob a bank or commit murder? If your answer is no it is due to the fact that you never gave thought to doing so. Yet there are many people who rob banks. Is this because Satan is tempting them from a different file other than what he tries with you? Not at all. I Corinthians 10:13 will seal it up for us. It says, “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. ”
In other words Satan doesn’t have a new bag of tricks for every believer.

SATAN’S ONLY TRUE WEAPON
Satan does not have an arsenal of weapons to fight against us with. In fact he only has one, deceit. If Satan can deceive us he knows he has us. Satan may tell us we are going to die when God’s word tells us we are going to live.

Satan’s main goal is to get us to deny God and curse his name. If he cannot do so his next line of defense is to come at us with well meaning people who have been mislead by a mixture of God’s word and carnal knowledge (religion). The two don’t mix just as oil and water do not mix. The less pure of the oil and water will float to the top. The same applies in our lives. When we are taking in wrong teaching it will float to the top. This is just what Satan wants.

He wants us to believe that his attacks are more powerful if we grow in the Lord. Yes, Satan will attack more often if we are more of a threat to him but once again, he cannot succeed if he does not have an open door to come through. It is the same way with God as evidenced in Revelation 3:20 – Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

The Holy Spirit will not invade our lives. In the same way Satan cannot do so either. Both God and Satan must have an open door to operate in our lives. Satan knows if he can cause us to look at God in a worldly way he (Satan) can basically have his way with us.

Most Christians believe in trials and tribulation. Yes, the Bible mentions this but they are not car wrecks, lost loved ones, losing a business we once owned or getting a divorce. Each one of these things is contradictory to the word of God.

If somebody you love asks you for help do you push them away and call it love? No! None of us hurt people out of love. If you just blessed your spouse with a gift are you planning to hide it from them or sell it and say, “I was just testing your faith”? No way! But Satan wants us to believe that God works this way however God is nothing like this at all. With Satan it’s all about deceit. If he can get us to believe that God wants us to suffer he knows he can attack us on a regular basis and have no resistance.

If Satan can get us to believe the opposite of what the Bible really says he knows he can have a field day in our lives. I personally live a nearly 100 percent problem free life. Sure I have some small struggles here and there but nothing like I used to. This doesn’t happen in my life because I am blessed in a way that nobody else is. God is no respecter of persons according to Acts 10:34. If I can live a nearly problem free life why can’t anybody else? Back when I believed that Satan would attack me twice as hard when I saw a powerful move of God in my life was when I had so many problems. Unlike today when I really have no problems and you can be in this position too!
Let the truth be known.

The Bible doesn’t tell us in any place that Satan can openly attack us at any time. As I have already mentioned, he must have an open door to do so. God wants us to be happy and have a great time getting through our earthly lives. Below are some scriptures that back this up.

Ephesians 1:3 – Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

John 10:10 – The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (Satan is the thief, not God.)

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

And the list goes on.

I challenge you to try it for a week. For a mere seven days. Don’t expect to suffer and see what happens. Expect things to work out without trouble and watch how it turns out. This is my challenge to you.

© 2010 – Tom Tompkins (http://www.wlmi.org)

satan, Let Me Refresh Your Memory

The following is an excerpt from the book, “satan, Let Me Refresh Your Memory,” by Derrick and Angela Day. If you haven’t already downloaded your free copy, you should do so today! This book will equip you to operate in your God-Given authority and put the devil where he belongs, under your feet!

Who’s backing you?

Before we get puffed up and wise in our own conceits to think we can take on satan on our own power, we have to remember that true warfare require fighting forces. Every standing army is backed by the government it is sworn to defend. And every standing army has a commander-in-chief; in the Kingdom of God, the Commander-in-Chief is our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Citizens of the Kingdom of God serve two roles, ambassador and soldier.

First and foremost, we are ambassadors of the Kingdom of God:

Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20)

It is our duty to represent our King. As part of the new birth, we are commissioned to spread the good news of our God and His glorious Kingdom. When our citizenship changes, we remain in the world but we are not of the world. Therefore, we are ambassadors in a foreign land and, as such have the responsibility to speak the words of his home government, lest we be subject to recall!

Next we are called to be soldiers. This is why the Apostle Paul gave the illustration of combat apparel:

Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God…(Ephesians 6:13-17)

We have to understand that, in our capacity as soldiers, we are to be an occupying force of a victorious power. We are to be peacemakers (Matthew 5:9), not aggressors. We are to fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12).

In our charge as ambassador and soldier, we are backed by the power and glory of Almighty God, creator of all things, the King of kings, Lord of lords, and the savior of mankind, Jesus Christ, and the Governor of all Creation, the Holy Spirit.

Just like U.S. dollars are backed by “the full faith and credit of the United States Government,” we must be fully persuaded we have the backing of the Lord of Hosts when resisting the devil. What is the guarantee we have this backing? The Word of God! It is the believer’s assurance that God will do what he says.

The devil is not the opposite of God. If this were true, satan would be God’s equal and would possess God’s creative ability. The fact is God has no equal! Evil is not the opposite of Good, it is merely the absence of it. Just like darkness is not the opposite of light, it is simply the absence of it!

© 2009 – Derrick Day (www.derrickday.com) and Angela day (www.angeladay.com)

Righteousness Consciouness – this lesson will help believers become conscious of their righteousness in Christ, versus being “sin conscious.”

According to Romans 8:37, we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus. In this audio podcast, Derrick illustrates what it means to overcome both an enemy and a set of circumstances.

More Than Conquerors [ 20:45 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Possess The Land is a sermon preached by Bishop Derrick Day at Apostle J.C. Francis’ Solid Rock Fellowship Church in Del Rio, TX.

Possess The Land [ 46:06 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I recently posted on Facebook that God WILL NOT make you sick to chasten you and that anyone who teaches that is repeating a lie straight from the pit of hell.

Yep, I said it!

Indeed, I am rather surprised that this statement did not get more traction than it did. I believe this is a revelation that will cause religious shackles to fall of the hearts and minds of all who receive it!

Strong words, for sure, but words of necessity. You see the church has been bound by a doctrine that suggests that God is the architect of illness and that He afflicts His children to chasten them. There are many scriptures proffered in support of that theory, chief of which is the following:

⁷And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.  ⁸For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.  ⁹And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  ¹⁰Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-1)

Now, we must first understand that Paul referred to himself as a Pharisee (Acts 26:5, Philippians 3:5). He was well schooled in the law, having studied at the feet of Gamaliel. Before his encounter with the risen Jesus, I posit that the former Saul of Tarsus was quite proud of his educational accomplishments. Perhaps God dealt with Paul to keep him from being puffed-up in the knowledge of the Kingdom of God as He was in his knowledge of the law.

Now, I’ll admit, that’s speculation and can be considered Eisegesis. However, we can glean something concrete from the text – that Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was a “messenger of satan to buffet” him. A disease or an infirmity is not a messenger. This passage is referring to a sprit being that satan unleashed to impede Paul’s progress in spreading the Gospel. Furthermore, when Paul spoke of infirmities in verse 10, he was simply saying that whatever he had to endure for the Gospel’s sake, he was willing to take.

This is Paul’s testimony, saint, not yours! But I digress.

John 10:10 states that, “the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy.” Who is the thief? Why, the devil, of course; that is his job. When something comes about that steals from you or tries to kill you or tries to destroy your life, you can be sure that this is the devil and that God is far from it. Indeed, Jesus identifies his role in the life of the believer in the same passage of scripture, stating that, “I am come that they may have life more abundantly.”

Now, my first question to the reader is, “Is there anything abundant about sickness or bodily affliction?”

I’ll help you out: NO!

If you are a born again, washed in the Blood believer, you are an heir to the promises of Abraham and have an earnest expectation of long, healthy life.

⁷And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years. ⁸Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people. (Genesis 25:7-8)

Let’s face it, pain and suffering is stressful and certainly not conducive to long life. Further, it is not the will of God that His children, the saints, go through life this way. I’ve posed this question many times but it begs to be asked again in this context, would you, a parent, afflict your child with so much as a tummy-ache to get them to behave properly? I believe the answer to that is “NO!” And if God is a better parent than any of us could aspire to be, why would He do such a thing? The answer is, He will not!

Psalm 103:3 Puts it thusly:

Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases.

What part of ALL is unclear, here? God heals…period!

For the icing on the cake, let’s take a look at Jesus. Matthew 4:24 and 8:15, and Luke 6:19, all clearly state that Jesus healed all who come to them. It is interesting to note that these people whom He healed were Old Covenant saints – they had neither the risen Christ nor the Holy Spirit! BUT YOU DO!

Another good question is, how many people did Jesus make sick during His earthly ministry? Again, the answer is clearly “NONE!” According to John 5:19,

Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

Then, If Jesus only healed folks and made none sick (and certainly didn’t kill anyone), and He only did what He saw the Father do, this means God makes no one sick! But let’s take it a step further, If God did, indeed, make some sick and Jesus healed them, that would make Jesus’ actions contrary to the will of God, right?

When will the Body of Christ acknowledge that bodily healing is available for all believers? I’m tired of this weak-kneed, so-called “Christianity” that teaches that sickness somehow emanates from God. What part of “Jesus healed them all” (Matthew 12:15) are we missing?

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, “ALL means ALL, y’all!”

I like how God revealed this to Isaiah:

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)

Note two things:

First, God said the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, that is, Jesus. This means the punishment we deserved was laid squarely on Jesus. Once we are saved and in Christ, the affliction we deserved is no longer reserved for us. Glory to God! Now this chastisement actually extends beyond the believer in that God is no longer making corporate judgments as He did with Sodom and Gomorrah. The plagues, weather phenomena, and acts of terrorism emanate from satan – not God! Yes, God did these sorts of things in the Old Testament, but they are conspicuously absent from the New Testament!

Second, the stripes (the beating, scourging, and scorning) laid upon Jesus were the payment for the health and healing of the believer! Again, those who are in Christ have the earnest expectation that the God who saved them from eternal death can save them from earthy disease, plague, and disability!

God chastens His children with His Word. This is explained in 2 Timothy 3:16:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

And again in 2 Timothy 4:2

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.

Correction for the believer is from the Word of God, not sickness! Man, this is a revelation!

The difference between capability and manifestation is potential. God has given us awesome capability but we have to get a revelation from Him for our potential to be revealed. The Body of Christ frequently operates beneath privilege because purpose is unknown to most of us.

I stand firmly behind my original premise. Any teaching that discounts healing or, worse, supposes that God is the architect of sickness is a perverted Gospel. I will teach this faithfully until the Holy Spirit releases me from it. Be healed. Be set free. In Jesus’ name!

© 2010 – Derrick Day (www.derrickday.com)

Contrary to popular belief, the “Big Bang” and the Creation Account are in complete harmony. God stepped out of eternity into nothing, opened His mouth and, BANG, created everything (Genesis 1)!

© 2010 – Derrick Day (www.derrickday.com)

And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet, And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live. (Mark 5:22-23)

Jairus was a ruler or priest of a synagogue. And he was a priest with a problem; his daughter lie at home, sick to the point of death. But he heard of a man, a man called Jesus, who had the power to heal the sick. And he heard this Jesus was passing through town and was compelled to seek Him on behalf of his daughter.

Notice here that Jairus was a ruler. He had responsibilities in the house of worship. But he understood his first ministry was to his household. Now, being a priest was a full-time responsibility, but he dropped what he was doing to get what his daughter needed.

Jairus knew that he could not get his daughter to come to Jesus, so he besought Jesus to come to his daughter! Praise God! Catch the revelation here: he invited Jesus to enter into his daughter’s presence. He knew that if he could just get Jesus to enter the room, to touch his daughter, her situation would change.

How many parents today experience difficulty in getting their children to come to Christ? Jairus understood CLEARLY that if he couldn’t get Jesus to come to his daughter, she would DIE! How many children are at risk of spiritual death because they lack a simple touch from God?

But the story gets more interesting, Jesus gets detoured by the woman with the issue of blood (Mark 5:25-34). This consumed precious minutes — minutes that Jesus could have been using to heal Jairus’ daughter.

Mind you, a miracle occurred here — the woman who interrupted Jesus was healed of her sickness! Glory to God! But it’s hard to see past someone else’s miracle when you are in dire need, yourself. How many times have you thought God was simply too busy with other things to pay attention to your little problem?

What happened next was someone came from Jairus’ household and informed him that his daughter was dead (Mark 5:35). At this point, Jairus could have given up and Jesus could have gone about His merry way, but watch what Jesus said:

As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue,Be not afraid, only believe. (Mark 5:36)

In the face of a bad report, we must maintain — no, increase — our trust in God. Without saying so, the Scripture implies that Jesus and Jairus continued on their way to his daughter.

And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James. (Mark 5:37)

Jesus had twelve anointed disciples in His inner circle. Yet he only permitted three, Peter, James, and John to go with Him. In other words, you cannot take everyone with you into a faith fight! Even some of the most anointed folks may falter or faint when confronted with real spiritual adversity. To be blunt about it, not everyone in your inner circle can go into the fight with you. God will reveal who you can take. And this is absolutely critical when it comes to your children!

When Jesus, Jairus, and the three Apostles went into Jairus’ home, they found the trappings of death — mourners and wailers. A pall was cast over the household. The child was dead and the relatives were grieving. Listen, without Jesus, the trappings of death are all about you. You grieve because your child is spirirtually unresponsive to you.

Your child is dead apart from God!

Jesus told everyone that the child was not dead but sleeping (Mark 5:39). I stand in awe at how God can look at a dead thing yet speak life to it. And the funny thing is that folks standing around can only see the death in the situation and grieve — that is, throw up their hands and accept the “obvious.” In the natural, many parents are prepared to give up, give in, throw in the towel!

But along comes Jesus…

Jesus put the scorners out of the room (Mark 5:40). Notice that when you are going into a faith fight, you cannot take everyone with you BUT when you’re IN a faith fight, you may have to separate yourself from some folks! If there are negative people and naysayers in your midst whose words don’t line up with the Word of God, get rid of them!

Finally, Jesus comes in with a touch and a Word. We all need a touch from God; indeed, we need a proceeding Word from Him. When He speaks His Word over us and touches the stony flesh we call the heart, He simply says, “Arise,” (Mark 5:41) and it comes to pass. His Word will not go forth and return void (Isaiah 55:11)!

Just like Jairus’ daughter, your children will spring to life once the Word of God is spoken over them in love. It may not happen immediately. It may even seem the situation is worse than the original state. But only believe — be steadfast in the confidence that God wants to breath new life into your child that they may be able to walk in the fullness of life!

Religious folks say take your kids to Jesus. God sent me here to tell you to bring Jesus to your children. When you take the initiative to do this, you will see your children arise out of the sleep of spiritual death into the full consciousness and alertness only found in Jesus!

© 2010 – Derrick Day (www.derrickday.com)

Faith is the currency of the Kingdom of God (Hebrews 11:1); the more of it you have, the more of God’s promises you are able to appropriate. Fear, on the other hand, is the currency of the principality of darkness (Job 3:25); the more of it you have, the more room satan has to operate in your life. My question to you is, WHAT’S IN YOUR SPIRITUAL WALLET?

© 2010 – Derrick Day (www.derrickday.com)