I pray you know that and don’t take it lightly. Some of us are a little too nonchalant about the unsaved in our family. We don’t pray for their salvation as often as we should. The Lord told me years ago when I asked what else I could do to share Him with my family to let them see the importance of giving their lives to Jesus. His answer shocked me. Nothing! Then He quoted Titus 2:11-12. But I’ve never stopped praying for them. I may not have anything new to share, but I can still pray.
John 10:10 quoted by Jesus, is an eye opener as to how Satan operates. He’s not trying to make us sick, he’s a mass murderer. He’s not trying to take a piece of furniture, he wants to destroy the whole house. He’s not trying to take a little bit of your money, he wants the entire paycheck and your bank accounts. He doesn’t want just you to be without life in Christ, he wants your entire family to go to hell. Are you grasping the magnitude of this situation? Satan, the killer, thief and destroyer is after your family! What are you doing about it?
This didn’t just start. This has been his agenda since the day he got kicked out of heaven and landed on earth. He wants his position back, Adam replaced him and now he’s not satisfied with deceiving them, he went after the entire human race. Our only escape is in the finished work of Jesus. The cross was his defeat. We overcome him by confessing what Romans 10:8-10 says. Until our entire family lives this fact, don’t stop praying.
What happened after he deceived Adam and Eve? He didn’t stop there. He went after Cain, the firstborn of the first family. What happened after he got Cain on his side? The first murder. Even though they were no longer in the safety of the garden of Eden, God never stopped caring for them. He showed up to warn Cain, but sin was already conceived in his heart by being envious of his brother’s offering. The devil incited Cain over something that was an easy fix- Offering to the Lord what He required. We’ve been jealous of each other, and murdering each other ever since. Those of us who have received Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of our lives must never stop interceding for our families and especially those who live in our homes. Our prayers are the only covering they have. Let’s read this familiar story.
“Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”Genesis 4:1-9 NKJV
The Lord warned him, telling him he had the ability to master the temptation to do evil. But James wrote these words in Chapter 1:15
“Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”
James 1:15 NKJV
Whenever we allow a thought to permeate or control our minds we most likely will follow through with a corresponding action. That is why we’re told to not only resist the devil but to first submit to God, the only One who provides the way of escape. James 4:7; 1 Corinthians 10:13. The only thing Satan can tempt us with is what is common to us. He has no new tricks. He was able to use Cain because he had envy in his heart. Remember what we just read. The Lord said sin was lurking, it hadn’t taken control yet, it was just a thought. But he said “master it” take authority over that thought.
Even in a sinful fallen state, we have been given authority over our actions. The devil doesn’t make us do anything, he makes suggestions. But the Lord says master it!
We cannot be passive about something we know about. We must continue to pray for our families. We can never just say well, they’re grown, they must decide. Dead people can’t think logically. The Bible says they’re blinded. We have to pray for their eyes to be opened to the Truth. We may not be the ones they’ll listen to, but we can pray for laborers to be sent in their path. I don’t want to see another family member die lost. So I keep praying. I don’t compromise my message, I don’t play the game, I pray and I live the message. Jesus says we’re to let our light shine. Let them see what living for Jesus looks like. We have the proof. But if we compromise and excuse bad behavior instead of speaking up when we have the opportunity, then the Bible says their blood is on us.
“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. “Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; also you will have delivered your soul.”Ezekiel 3:17-21 NKJV
We are the watchmen over our families just as Ezekiel was over the house of Israel. We know the Truth. We have been given an assignment to speak and warn them. If they don’t listen, we’re in the clear. But if we remain silent, well, You just read it. Satan is after the head of households, the men. He wants them sissified. He wants the women to shut them down and out. That was never God’s plan. Adam was blamed for the entire fall out in the Garden. Why? Because God gave him the authority to protect and defend his wife, not play along with the deception. Godly fathers are not only missing, they're muted. It’s time for the men to rise up and take their rightful place in defending their homes from satanic influences. Women are stepping into roles never intended by their Creator because men have not. Satan is using the absence of fathers to destroy families. It’s not only affecting boys, it's devastating for girls as well. That’s why they don’t know a good man from a bad one. And boys don’t know they’re boys.
Hello!!! Satan is not just going after you, he’s after your family! What do you intend to do about it? As a single mother and a Christian, I was determined to not raise a statistic. I protected my home through godly living. I tried with the help of the Holy Spirit to keep the devil out of our home and lives. It’s a war worth fighting. We will do what the Lord told Cain-Master sin and it’s leader? Satan is under our feet, stop letting him up! Keep your foot on his neck until you have the victory over him. Follow the advice the Lord gave Moses in Deuteronomy 6 And Solomon in Proverbs 22:6. We have the tools to win, we just don’t use them. So are you going to sit back and allow the murderer to destroy your family? What’s your plan of action? You’d better have one, Satan sure does.
Written by permission of the Holy Spirit
W. Tennant
Feb 11, 2022