Renounce Satan And His Kingdom

When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him. . . . Then Saul said to his servants, “Seek for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.”
–1 Samuel 28:6-7

As a Christian, you have the power and the responsibility to control Satan’s influence in your life. How do you keep Satan on the run? A third important step is to renounce Satan and his kingdom. What I mean by that is rejecting any previous agreements you may have made with Satan and his demons. You might say, “Who in the world today goes around making a pact with the devil? Surely no Christian would ever do that.” When I first started studying this principle, it seemed a little strange to me as well. But the more I studied this and the more I talked to other Christians, I found that there are some Christians who indeed have made some kind of an agreement with Satan in the past. It usually happens like this: A Christian is in desperate need. They need direction from God. They need a miracle. They need financial assistance. They plead with God to intervene, and God is silent. Out of bitterness, the Christian says, “God, if You cannot be counted on to help me in my time of need, then I will ask Satan to help me.”

We actually find this in the Bible in 1 Samuel 28. Verse 3 says, “Saul had removed from the land those who were mediums and spiritists.” King Saul knew God’s command was to have nothing to do with trying to contact the dead, so he removed those who practiced occult activities. But look at 1 Samuel 28:6-7: “When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by prophets. Then Saul said to his servants, ‘Seek for me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.’” Saul was upset about the Philistines’ impending invasion, so he went to God for some answers. But God did not answer him, so Saul went to a witch to get the answers he wanted. Disappointed and disillusioned with God, Saul sought miracles from another source.

Perhaps in the past you made some kind of agreement or bargain with Satan. Look at 1 Samuel 15:23: “For rebellion is as the sin of divination.” When you seek power apart from God, that is the ultimate sign of rebellion. You are saying, “God, I do not trust Your plan for my life. I am going to seek power from another source.” Witchcraft is as the sin of rebellion, but it also works the other way: rebellion, in God’s eyes, is the same thing as witchcraft. Whenever you refuse to submit your life to God or to those whom God has placed in authority over you, it is the same thing as witchcraft. If you have been guilty of seeking authority from someone other than God, let me just encourage you to say to God something like this: “God, I ask Your forgiveness for seeking power apart from you. Whatever agreement I may have made with Satan in the past, that agreement is null and void today. I am going to follow You and You alone.” Renounce Satan and his kingdom.

Today’s devotion is excerpted from “Using Your Divine Defense” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2011.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org