Evil spirits and curses (4)

 In the this article we shall talk about Envy: is there envy? If so is it mentioned in the bible? How does it come to pass? Does it affect everyone? Or it does only affect people who do not keep the commandments of the bible in their lives. It is an exiting subject when you know the answers to all  these questions through the word of God. As it is the convention, I always find the reference to my  answers in the bible.

 ·       Is there envy?

Yes there is envy and it is mentioned in the Bible nineteen times. Nine times in the old testament and ten times in the new testament. The Bible mentions that envy is one of the works of the flesh in the epistle to Galatians “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,   idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” {Ga5:19-21} whoever envy others will not inherit the kingdom of God for the thoughts of such person will agree with the thoughts of Satan that the other person does not deserves such blessings in his life. So the person that envies someone else  wrongs himself for envy is one of the works of the flesh. Also the person that envies wishes that the blessings in the lives of others be in his life forgetting that our God is just in all His ways “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!  "For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?"   "Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?"   For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen” {Ro11:33-36} our God is just when He distributes the blessings to His children. He knows what is best for you, If God gave you more money than what you need it may corrupt you. Jesus said “"For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”  {Mt16:26} God knows what is in the depth of your soul , He knows whether  these extra things be a blessing or a curse for you? The person who envy is wrong concerning the other person for he agrees with Satan that the other person does not deserve his blessing.

 ·       What is envy?  

“Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?” {Pr27:4} [AV] the book of proverbs says who is able to stand before envy? We will explain what is envy so you can understand how it works. The person who envies is actually saying this person does not deserves his blessings, whatever this blessing is. We all know that Satan accuses the human race, specially if this person says he is a Christian but does not obey the word of God, nor have intimacy with our Lord Jesus Christ. If he reads the Bible he only honor some of the commandments, and think that others are hard to obey.

 ·       The envy of Satan and his accusations

We mentioned in past issue that Satan is very jealous from the human race because when he fell the Lord our God commanded him to leave heavens, but when Adam and Eve fell God sent to them His prophets and the law so they will know His ways. This is why Satan envies the human race. Satan rejoice when he sees some person envy another because this person agrees with Satan in his envy. When a person envies another he is indeed envious of the blessing of the other person and he proclaims that this person does not deserve to have such blessing. Thus he opens the door for Satan to accuse that person as he agrees with Satan that the other person does not deserve such blessing. He joins with Satan in his accusation against that person, and Satan finds a reason to accuse one of God’s children. From the following verses we understand that Satan accuses the brethren day and night before the throne of God. (I would like to clarify that the word “brethren in the original Greek language means brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus or siblings). “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.“ {Re 12:10-11} One of Satan’s name is the accusers for he accuses everyone of us before the Lord day and night. Every Christian must know this fact, every time we stand to pray to the Lord, Satan will accuse us before the Lord and list all our sins. How much more if Satan finds someone to agree with him in his accusation against someone else. Satan works seriously in this world, remember what the Lord Jesus said about Satan that he is the prince of this world {Joh12:32}. Jesus mentioned this three times in the gospel of John, also the first epistle of John mentions that the whole world lies under the ways of the wicked one. Satan accuses the children of God before the throne day and night, he never ceases his accusation. But the Bible continue to say that they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. Please note that all these condition must be fulfilled to overcome Satan. The verse did not say that they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb or the word of their testimony or they did not love their lives to the death. Through counselling I hear a lot of problems that take place in the lives of many because they do not live their lives completely for the Lord Jesus. They live on the edge of the spiritual life. Believe me when I tell you there is no solution to any problem but by living for the Lord Jesus. We see many people in continuous desperation because Satan wants to put them in the mud, but Jesus came and was reincarnated from the virgin Mary and died the death of shame on the cross to save every person that comes to ask of Him liberty form the bondage of Satan. Even those who do not know the Lord Jesus as saviour, they can come now and confess Him as Lord and saviour, repent of their sins and live their lives according to the word of God in the bible.

 ·       The blood of Jesus Christ

 To live your life with Jesus Christ your redeemer in strength and in victory you have to benefit from the redeeming work that Jesus accomplished on the cross. There are many blessings in the cross, if you apply them in your life you shall live a life of victory with Jesus Christ. Any Christian must be baptized because this is one of the condition to become Christian, and there are many verses to support that. I mentioned these just in case someone has not been baptized yet.

The previous verse said: And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death

1.    The  blood of the Lamb is the precious blood of Jesus Christ that was shed  on the cross. In the old testimony before the exoduses of God’s people and before the angel of the death killed the first  born of the Egyptians, the Lord commanded His people to slotter a lamb and take from the blood and sprinkle it on the frame of the front door so that the angel sees the blood and passes {Ex 12}. Thus when you ask for the help of the blood of Jesus, Satan comes and sees the blood and passes you. “For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” {Heb 9:13-14} The blood of Jesus will cleans the conscious of each of us so we may live in holiness for Jesus Christ. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ {Eph 2:13}. By the blood of Jesus we became closer to the Father because He sees us covered by the blood of His beloved son. He will see the blood of His son that redeems all of our sins, He will see us righteous in the blood of His beloved. “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus” {Heb 10:19} Enter the Holies of Holy by the blood of Jesus. For the blood of Jesus is able to forgive all sins, from the first sin Adam committed to the last sin the last sin a human being may commit. The blood of Jesus is enough to forgive the sins of all the Adamic race and there is no sin the blood of Jesus can not atone for. It is the blood of the precious God, and you receive this blood in the communion. I hope when you take communion you comprehend that you are taking the blood of Jesus that is given for the remission of sins. For the blood of Jesus obtained eternal redemption “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” {Heb 9:12}

2- And the word of  their testimony: the word here in the Greek language means Logos which means the written word of God and the incarnate word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. This means that our lives should testifies for the Bible and for Jesus Christ. Some may think this is hard to do. You can testify for Jesus when something good happens to you, you can say: thank you Jesus. It is impossible that I would have conversation with someone more than ten minutes without mentioning Jesus name. That is why my husband and I see God magnified in our lives “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.” {Mat 10:32}. "Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God {Lu 12:8}. This is one of the mistakes we make, we do not confess that Jesus is Lord before men, and unfortunately some of us may confess Him but their lives do not conform to the word of God.

In next article we will discuss in details the “word of their testimony” and if our words are in line with the bible or not. If the word of our testimony is not in line with the bible, how can we make it in line so we can break loose from the effect of witchcraft in our lives.