Rodney Howard Browne

The way to Survive a Satanic Attack Matthew 4:1-11 As infantrymen in God’s military, we are engaged in religious warfare. To hold our ground, we have to be arrayed in battle gear each day. Be certain your feet are shod with the gospel of peace. Roman army boots had metal cleats to help infantrymen stand firm in battle. In a similar way , our non secular “shoes” give the solid footing of guarantee - we are certain we have peace with God and are safe in Him. ( John 10:28 ) Carry the shield of religion.

The strongest asset we have as followers is our religion. It helps us to withstand the Enemy’s enticements by thinking, I’m aware that I have this need, but I’ll wait for God to meet it His way and in His time. I trust God. We are well protected behind the shield of religion. Wear the helmet of deliverance. The mind is Devil’s battleground and must be morally and effectively guarded. In a non secular battle, our guarantee that we are saved will help repel the Enemy’s lies that would cause us to query God or to think in contrast to Scripture. With it, our minds can remain steady.

Carry the sword of the Spirit. God’s Word is both an offensive and defensive weapon. It makes inroads for the Gospel ( Hebrews 4:12 ), and it also defends us. As Jesus proved in the desert temptation, the Demon can’t stand against it. The non secular battle raging around us is real and fierce. ( Ephesians 6:12 ) we aren’t in the reserves, waiting to be called up. We are in the war. Infantryman of God, are you absolutely dressed for battle?

Not one of us wants to miss the blessings God has planned for us. If asked, we might say we wish to receive each one of the gifts He needs to give us. However, due to the decisions we make, we regularly give up blessings.

Israel rambled in the desert for forty years because they selected not to go into the Promised Land. Though the Israelites were on the threshold of tremendous blessing, the leaders forfeited the outpouring of God’s goodness, not only for themselves but for the whole country (Numbers 13-14).

The Christian life is an example of surrender and obedience, not autonomy and rebellion. To live such a life means bringing our decisions to God and being prepared to accept His answers.

Remember, His way is always best as it comes out of the goodness of His personality. To select God’s best also needs learning a way to hear Him. Too many times we present our requests and leave before giving God time to answer us. Part of listening is expecting God to communicate from His Spirit to ours. Though not audible, His communication can appear even louder than a voice.

It appears plain that we should do not forget to do what he is saying; however, if we don’t scribble it down, many of us will forget. Keeping our target on the Lord is also critical - it takes practice to keep our eyes on His plan when circumstances clamor for our attention. Having God’s best starts with looking for God’s way.

 

MY TREASURE
Foundation Scriptures: Matthew 6:19-24

Do not gather and heap up and store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust and worm consume and destroy, and where thieves break through and steal. 20 But gather and heap up and store for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust nor worm consume and destroy, and where thieves do not break through and steal; 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is sound, your entire body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is unsound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the very light in you [your conscience] is darkened, how dense is that darkness! 24 No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will stand by and be devoted to the one and despise and be against the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (deceitful riches, money, possessions, or whatever is trusted in).  Matthew 6:19-24 AMP

1. Jesus speaks about the believer’s proper conduct in relationship to money and possessions.

Martin Luther said: I have held many things in my hand and I have lost them all. But whatever I placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.
A. W. Tozer posed four questions we should all ask ourselves:
What do we value most?
What would we most hate to lose?
What do our thoughts turn to most frequently when we are free to think of what we will?
What affords us the greatest pleasure?
Earthly or Heavenly treasure:
When spent on earthly treasure, money is only of temporary value.
When spent on heavenly treasure, money takes on eternal value.

2. Jesus wants us to choose our treasury – where we make our deposits.

If it is an earthly treasury, it will be lost when we die.
If it is a heavenly treasury, it will be ours for eternity.

3. Jesus is saying that amassing wealth isn’t morally wrong – it’s just a poor investment.

Moths, rust and thieves imperil your earthly treasure and in the end, everything will be consumed by fire anyway. (2 Peter 3:7)
John Wesley said: I value all things only by the price they shall gain in eternity.
David Livingstone said: I place no value on anything I possess, except in relation to the Kingdom of God.   

4. Discovering true wealth.

Matthew 13:44 AMP - The kingdom of heaven is like something precious buried in a field, which a man found and hid again; then in his joy he goes and sells all he has and buys that field.
What we keep, we lose. What we give up and share and do, in Christ’s Name, will ultimately come back to us in heaven.
If we store up heavenly treasures, they will never stop paying dividends!
Ecclesiastes 5:15 AMP - As [the man] came forth from his mother’s womb, so he will go again, naked as he came; and he will take away nothing for all his labor which he can carry in his hand.
Psalms 49:16-20 NAS - Do not be afraid when a man becomes rich, When the glory of his house is increased; 17 For when he dies he will carry nothing away; His glory will not descend after him. 18 Though while he lives he congratulates himself–And though men praise you when you do well for yourself–19 He shall go to the generation of his fathers; They shall never see the light. 20 Man in his pomp, yet without understanding, Is like the beasts that perish.

5. What is your treasure?

House; car; boat; library; gun collection; art; coins; gold; jewels?
Savings; retirement program; insurance policies; annuities; real estate; commodities; shares?  
1 Timothy 6:18-19 AMP - [Charge them] to do good, to be rich in good works, to be liberal and generous of heart, ready to share [with others], 19 In this way laying up for themselves [the riches that endure forever as] a good foundation for the future, so that they may grasp that which is life indeed.
Philippians 4:17 AMP - Not that I seek or am eager for [your] gift, but I do seek and am eager for the fruit which increases to your credit [the harvest of blessing that is accumulating to your account].

6. Where is your heart?

Show me your check book, your credit card statements, your cash receipts and I will show you where your heart is!
You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve both God AND mammon. It is impossible. Loving and being devoted to one means that you automatically hate and despise the other.   

NB. Will you choose a life wasted in pursuit of wealth on earth, or a life invested in the pursuit of wealth in heaven?

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost

and with power: who went about doing good, and healing

all that were oppressed of the devil for God was with him.

ACTS 10:38

 

I have good news for you: God is good; Jesus is good. God

wants to bless you! Jesus wants to bless you! People ask me,

“What’s all this joy in your meetings? Why joy? What is the purpose?

Don’t you know it’s the Holy Spirit, not the joy spirit?”

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit, although it is not the only fruit

of the Spirit.

 

When the Holy Spirit does His work in your life,

you will have all nine fruits of the Spirit: love, joy; peace,

patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control

(see Galatians 5:22-23 NIV). Joy is noticeable, however,

because it is very much an outward expression others can see.

Jesus brings joy. When Jesus shows up, He says to you,

“Be of good cheer.”

 

When Jesus shows up, He says, “Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!” When Jesus

shows up, He says, “Be strong.” In the book of Acts, chapter 8, we see

that when Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Jesus Christ

to them, there was great joy in the city. What happens when Jesus shows up?

There is great joy! A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance.

PROVERBS 15:13 AMP

 

Someone wrote, “But Rodney; Jesus didn’t jump up and

down, do cartwheels, and run around the place.” Maybe Jesus

didn’t, but people He touched did. They went around walking and

leaping and praising God! Oh, hallelujah!

 

Another person said, “You don’t have to get so emotional.”

I’m telling you right now, when Jesus touches you, you want

to shout it from the rooftops! If you say you had an encounter

with the Living God and are not stirred in your heart all the way

through your emotions — then I question whether you had a real

touch.

 

Only people who have not had a personal encounter with

the power and presence of God tell us that we should not have an

emotional response to the reality of the touch of God in and on

our lives. God is real, Jesus is real, the Holy Spirit is real, and if

I meet them face-to-face — I am going to know about it and so is

everybody else!

 

If you can have an emotional response to something other

than the Lord, such as a spouse, a child, a sporting event, a great

triumph, or a great tragedy — then it’s only logical that your

emotions would respond to the love and power of God in your

life. Emotions are not all bad.

 

Emotions which come out of your carnal nature, such as

bitterness and lust, should be controlled and eliminated by the

power of God. Our emotions, like the other areas of our life,

should be controlled by our spirit and the Holy Spirit — not

by our flesh and our sin. But to express good emotions is

normal and healthy.

 

And my language and my message were not set forth in

persuasive (enticing and plausible) words of wisdom, but

they were in demonstration of the [Holy] Spirit and power

[a proof by the Spirit and power of God, operating on me

and stirring in the minds of my hearers the most holy emotions

and thus persuading them].

1 CORINTHIANS 2:4 AMP (EMPHASIS MINE)

 

According to the Gospel, when Jesus walks in the door,

He meets your every need. As the Holy Spirit moves on people in

our meetings, many times they are filled with joy. Critics have

said, “Well, it doesn’t really seem there’s any purpose in what’s

happening in your meetings, because nobody’s life depends upon

receiving joy.”

 

The problem is that people are always looking for some

great significance and reading other things into everything Jesus

did. But the desire of Jesus’ heart was simply to meet people’s

needs, whatever they might be; to show us that God has provided

for us in every situation.

Why did God have to do it that way? Ever since Adam

sinned in the Garden of Eden, man had been separated from God

by his sin. So God needed a sinless man to pay the price for sinful

mankind. Only a man who was without sin could pay the

penalty for sinful man. God and man came together in one person

—Jesus Christ — in order to cut an unbreakable covenant

between God and man.

 

Jesus said that He would give Himself. “I’m the one. I

will become a man and pay the price for man’s sin so man can

have the choice to come back to the Father.” So the Word came

into the womb of a virgin, and nine months later Jesus came

forth just like a regular baby. Now, the baby Jesus didn’t fly

around the crib, you know! He had diapers. He had to cut His

baby teeth. He did all this and everything any other child would

do.

 

Just think about Jesus’ boyhood. What was it like for

Him growing up in an ordinary family with brothers and sisters

and a mother and father? What was it like for them and for Him,

knowing that He had a supernatural mission, that He came from

heaven to the earth to die for the sin of mankind?

 

When Jesus was a young man, twelve years of age, He

and His family went to the temple in Jerusalem to pay their

taxes. Joseph and Mary were already heading home when they

realized He was missing. So, they went back to Jerusalem. They

found Him in the temple, discussing the things of God with the

priests. When they discovered Him they were angry, asking Him

where He had been. He said, “Did you not know that I must be

about My Father’s business?” (See Luke 2:49.)

 

Jesus knew what His mission was. Even as a young boy,

he knew He had to be about His heavenly Father’s business.

Somebody would say, “But Your father’s business is working in

the carpentry shop. What do You mean, You’re about Your

Father’s business?” The young Jesus had to live like a regular

human among regular people — all the while knowing He was

different — VERY— different!

 

What was it like for Him as a teenager? Imagine all the

pressures of growing up and coming to adulthood that teenagers

have. There must have been pressure that He faced when the

young girls showed interest in Him. The Bible tells us that Jesus

was tempted in all the ways that we are, yet He was without sin.

(See Hebrews 4:15.) If you look at history you will find that the

 

Jews during this time period would get married young. Many of

the young boys were trained in the family business by the age of

thirteen, and some of them had their wives chosen for them by

their parents years in advance.

 

You wonder what other people were thinking about Jesus.

“Maybe there is something wrong with Him. He shows no interest

in women.” When He was twentynine years old and not married, you can

understand why people might have thought there was something wrong

with Him!

 

On top of that, Jesus kept talking about the fact that His kingdom

was not on this earth. Where did He come from? Was He from another planet?

 

He was not interested in political things and didn’t really care who was

in power. He had no hatred for anyone, including the government of the day.

 

He could have grown up with a chip on his shoulder because, when he

was just a toddler, all the little Hebrew boys in Bethlehem, twoyears-

old and younger, had been slaughtered by Herod — who

was trying to kill the “King of the Jews.” Yet Jesus never said,

“I’ll overthrow these Jewish traitors and Roman dogs. We’ll raise

up an army and take them out.” Not once did He ever mention it.

 

He must have seemed odd, different in many ways from His

brothers and sisters, and He was not interested in following His

earthly father’s footsteps either.

 

But all these pressures were forming Him and shaping

Him, preparing Him for the greatest mission ever known to man.

Jesus’ eternal purpose was greater than just what was happening