Willing or Defiant?

Defiance(def) - disposition to resist : willingness to contend or fight. There are some people who will resist any suggestion in order to just resist. That is defiance, even when we try to explain away doing it. There is a good definition, like what James said in James 4:7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Resisting the devil is exercising a really good defiance, and God's Word warns us again and again about resisting the enemy. The opposite would be giving in to the devil and being defiant against God's leading. When we are resistant to what God wants, a precedent is established that causes us to be defiant against anything we don't agree with because, in our opinion, we know better. No matter what.

That causes us to take huge steps in the wrong direction, and we will find excuses for our defiant heart and then make some very bad moves. We see that Eve had a defiant heart because she did the very thing God told her not to do, and that was to eat the forbidden fruit. Here is the scene as written in Genesis 3:1: The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day, he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” 2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” 4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” 6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it

One of Eve's mistakes was arguing and reasoning with satan, because the devil won that argument, as seen above. Another mistake was that Eve gave in to her desire to see what it tasted like and what wisdom that fruit could give her. She thought she was right in going ahead and eating, and she let her defiant heart lead her to a place God did not want. Then she led Adam to eat it as well, and He fell for the trick just like Eve. Genesis 3: 4b Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.

Never, ever try to reason with satan because you will lose every time, unless you pray for the Holy Spirit to fill you and guide you, and you FLEE him immediately. You know Satan. He is that voice inside of you, hoping to get you to listen to him and be led down the wrong path, the wrong way. The first thing he will try to get you to do is question what God's Word says, and then he will give you a false hope to get you desiring a way that is borderline bad, and then he has you trapped. Praise God for His grace and the way to maintain our communication with God as current and flawless as possible.

The original sin was committed by Eve, and then she led Adam down the same path, which is Adam's fault, and the result was chaos and all the wrong things we deal with every day. All of this began with Eve arguing her point with Satan, and the devil made Adam and Eve pay the price. But Jesus paid the ultimate price on the cross to defeat what happened when Adam and Eve sinned, and the devil is defeated. Keep in mind, defiance is always on the menu at Satan's fruit stand. We need to resist HIM at all times. If we are going to be defiant, then be defiant against the wiles of the devil and be willing to follow ALL of God's instructions, and you will see victory in all circumstances.

Today's Message,

David Warren