Eat my dust!
Are you putting Satan where he belongs?
The expression is deeply engraved in the memory of many Christians – "Get behind me, Satan!" But do they know what it means and what prompted the Lord Jesus to say those words to Peter?The context in which Jesus spoke those words was as follows: "From that time on Jesus began to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 'Never, Lord!' he said. 'This shall never happen to You!' Jesus turned and said to Peter, 'Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to Me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.'"
We know that Satan wanted Jesus dead from the moment He was born. He repeatedly tried to kill Jesus throughout His life, but never succeeded. Yet even though the devil wanted Him dead, he really did not want Him to willingly die on the cross. Why? What was the difference?
Among many reasons, here are two that are extremely important for you to know:
• "Self-sacrifice – not selfishness – is the way to get anything you want."
• What happened on the cross changed our position forever – If, and that's a big if, you wholeheartedly believe in what Jesus did on the cross for you, and live by that faith – then your position before Satan changes radically. No longer can he inflict fear, disease, condemnation, guilt, misery, addiction, or any other curse upon you. You now have authority over him. With God you are in charge because you let Him be in charge. You don't need to be saddled with a religion to get to God. Your eyes are open. You are free. Satan cannot blind you as he does the people of this world. You can see him, and you can fight him. You have the advantage over him because the Lord you serve has triumphed over him on the cross.
• What happened on the cross changed our position forever – If, and that's a big if, you wholeheartedly believe in what Jesus did on the cross for you, and live by that faith – then your position before Satan changes radically. No longer can he inflict fear, disease, condemnation, guilt, misery, addiction, or any other curse upon you. You now have authority over him. With God you are in charge because you let Him be in charge. You don't need to be saddled with a religion to get to God. Your eyes are open. You are free. Satan cannot blind you as he does the people of this world. You can see him, and you can fight him. You have the advantage over him because the Lord you serve has triumphed over him on the cross.
Whenever you are about to make an important decision, to make a critical move towards improving your life, Satan is likely to stand in your way. He will set up a stumbling block for you there. His goal is that you change your mind, go back on your decision, listen to the voice of your emotions, feel sorry for yourself and think that all the effort is not worth it.
Don't you listen to him. Don't let him stop you. When he appears in your way, just use it as a motivator to keep going forward. In other words, if he is getting in the way, it's because you must be on the right track, right? So put him behind you and keep going. Make him eat your dust!
And remember these two things about the cross:
Self-sacrifice is the way to get whatever you want.
Now you know. Just go and do it.
Pr. Renato Cardoso
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