Don’t give any opportunity to the Devil!

Fact: the Devil has been around longer than any of us! Fact: The Devil is a defeated foe! Fact: Though defeated, The Devil is still a bad Devil and can outsmart us if we give him room! Fact: For the Devil not to outwit or outsmart us, we must be aware of his devices and evil schemes!!!

Ephesians 4:27 (NASB)

And do not give the devil an opportunity

The word “opportunity” or “place” is the word topos in the original Greek texts. It is the root from which we derive the English word topography. Topography has to do with the contour and the surface or shape of the land. Dictionary.com defines it as “The surface features of a place or region.”

Essentially, the Bible is telling us the following:

• Don’t give the devil a rock to stand on.
• Don’t give the devil an inlet, a peninsula,
• Don’t give the devil a cape, an island, a mountain peak, a valley
• Don’t give the devil any place
• Don’t give the devil any room or opportunity to operate.

The Devil is an active, destructive, and intelligent enemy. In the journey of life, the Devil will do his utmost to derail us, to stop us from realizing our full potential and accomplishing our purposes. To make it easy for us to fail and fall, he adapts his temptations and tricks to suit our natural inclinations and desires. He modifies his lure to match our lifestyle.

You must realise that although a defeated foe the Devil can bite if you give him an opportunity. And that’s why we are enjoined in 1 Peter 5:8 (KJV) to be “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour”

The Devil is always looking for an opportunity to attack. The Bible tells us in Matthew 4:13 that after tempting Jesus the Devil left Jesus until an “opportune time” (NIV). The Free Dictionary defines “Opportune” as follows: “Suited or right for a particular purpose” and “Occurring at a fitting or advantageous time”. In other words, the Devil is always seeking an appropriate, fitting or advantageous time to strike! So don’t make it any easier for him. Don’t give him any room!!!

The easiest way to give the Devil room or opportunity is to live in sin! When we live in sin, we break the hedge of God's protection around us and give room to the Devil!!

(C) Pedro Okoro, Blogger, Author, Pastor. You can follow Pedro on Twitter: http://twitter.com/pedrookoro