Monday, January 29, 2024

DENY THE DEVIL his SINFUL RIGHTS

How Samson Gave The Enemy A Foothold

“I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming and he has no hold on me(John 14:30), “and do not give the devil a foothold” (Ephesians 4: 27).

These are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ when He spoke to his disciples in John chapter 14 when the Lord was giving comfort to them and making them aware of his soon departure to be with the father in heaven. 

In reference to the above scripture, we are reminded to look at the story of Samson and Delilah in the book of Judges 16, which is a well-known biblical story to many.  Samson was an anointed man as he had the spirit of God upon him and had unique strength that he could take down as many enemies as the Lord willed for his purpose at once on various occasions (1 Corinthians 15: 58).

Losing Focus And Slipping

While he continued moving in his service to the Lord, he met a woman in Gaza and fell in love with her. At this point, we noticed that his service and devotion to the Lord were affected and there was a shift and he wanted to serve the Lord and the world at the same time (Matthew 6:24). As we all know, in our walk with the Lord, especially when we are joyful to hear about the messages of His Second Coming for His Church and the excitement and anticipation for the day of the Lord; or when we experience the moments and seasons in our walk where everything is going well and we full of confidence and hope; or we have faith and know that we are eager to live in obedience to the word.

These are times when the joy of his salvation overflows as it was with Samson when he was taking down all men who came against him with the strength the Lord gave him. Meanwhile, the enemy was devising a way to have a hold over him so Satan could weaken him as Samson was full of the Spirit of God.

Furthermore, as we have learned from the story of Job Satan initially could not attack Job because there was a hedge of protection surrounding him and his household as well as his possessions (Job 1:10). From experience, we know that the road to Heaven has countless challenges and the challenges allows for our faith and obedience to be tested (Deuteronomy 8:2). As is common in human behavior, there comes a time of weakness, and in the case of Samson, when he met the woman and that distracted him and as a result, little did he know that everything was about to change in his life.

In some instances, it happens that there are doors that we tend to open in our lives that come with spiritual consequences in our walk with the Lord. Those open doors serve to distract us and move us away from the will of the Lord, and the enemy is using such to have a spiritual stronghold hold on us, which the Lord Jesus warned us against (John 14:30).

As it is, things like us falling in love with the world and its carnal things, such situations as Samson found himself involved in when he fell in love with a woman whom the enemy used to gain leverage and that opened the door for the enemy to have a hold on him (Galatians 5:13). When we allow the world to have a hold on us or where we can’t let go of the things that are contrary to the Will of God in our service to him, we enable and empower the enemy to have a hold on us (Mark 8:36). When Samson opened the door for the enemy to have a hold over him by telling his secret about the source of his strength, it allowed and enabled the enemy to strip everything the Lord had blessed him with. Not only did he lose strength, but his vision was impaired as a result of his losing his eyes (Judges 16-21, Romans 6:13).

Similarly, this is the intention of the enemy not only to make us cease serving the Lord or walking in obedience but to rob us of the vision of the church. Where will the body of Christ be heading when we lose the vision of soul-winning and obedience to the Lord if we pursue worldly things? Scripture reminds us that we need to fix our eyes on the heavenly things above (Colossians 3: 1-2).

Seeking The Lord's Favor

Therefore, the vision we may have lost could be our love for the Lord and for one another, our passion and devotion for spending time with the Lord in prayer and the studying of the word with zeal and not as a routine. In addition, our love for witnessing and being a living testimony draws people to Christ (Matthew 6:33).

Moreover, when the enemy succeeded in subduing Samson and stripped him of everything he held dearly in his service to the Lord, he came to the realization that the door he has opened had cost him in humility he looked to the Lord as his pillar (Judges 16: 26). He repented and prayed for restoration not only to regain his strength and gift but to give himself as a living sacrifice and to allow for the glory of God to shine through and by that he took out more Philistines than his time when he was alive and before he lost his position of power (Judges 16: 28-30). It is noteworthy, that no matter how great our walk with God is, He brings us down in humility to show us our dependence on Him (Proverbs 3:5-6).

In conclusion, we see that the Lord Jesus is teaching us that the way to overcome the ruler of this world is to ensure that we have nothing in common with Satan and that he should have no hold on us. (Romans 12:21). It is possible with the Holy Spirit to overcome our weaknesses and the devil’s schemes and the Lord is always willing and He is there to help us through (John 16:33). People have different things that they go through that may serve as weaknesses to the enemy to take advantage of, David stated something that when he kept silent about his sin and weaknesses his bones wasted away and the pressure never let up until he spoke up and let it all out about his failures to the Lord. (Psalm 32: 2-5).

Repentance Brings Restoration

Now, in the end, Samson returned to his position by repenting and praying to the Lord for restoration. The Lord answered his prayer as the motive of Samson’s heart was in the right place and sought not only to regain strength but to complete the mission to take out the enemies of the Lord as he was called for (Judges 16: 22; 30). Therefore, it is imperative that we acknowledge our weaknesses, fears, transgressions, and sin can afford us freedom from oppression, torment, and inflictions or calamity, this is not limited to confession but to a completely repented heart that seeks his love and perfect Will (Colossians 3:5-10 & Romans 12:2).

Blessed Peace

Sister Thandazo (reviewed by Brother Glenn)