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Leap For Joy
Discourage the
Devil
Gloria Copeland
“Blessed are
ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their
company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of
man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward
is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.”
Luke 6:22-23
Do you
want to know how to depress the devil? Just follow the instructions in that
last verse.
When
persecution comes, when friends or family criticize you because you lay hands
on the sick and believe in healing, and when co-workers call you a fanatic because
you love Jesus and aren't afraid to say so, rejoice!
Shout
hallelujah and leap for joy!
I tell
you that will discourage the devil to no end.
He's
expecting that persecution to hurt you. He's expecting it to damage your faith,
to wipe you out and to leave you in dismay.
I'm not
saying you should enjoy the persecution itself.
But you
can learn to overlook the discomfort of those things by focusing your attention
on the reward that's coming and the fact that Jesus said you are
blessed.
The
Apostle Paul certainly knew how to do that. He was an expert on rejoicing in
the midst of persecution.
Satan was
constantly stirring up trouble for him.
But do
you know what he said about all that persecution? He said it was not even worth
considering compared to the glory that was about to be revealed.
If Paul
could rejoice in the midst of beatings, stonings, shipwrecks, imprisonment and
almost every other kind of persecution, you can too!
Just do
what he did.
When he was told by the Holy Ghost that bonds and afflictions awaited
him, he said, "But none of these things move me, neither count I my
life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the
ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the
grace of God" (Acts 20:24).
Don't get
all caught up in what people think and what people say down here on earth. Get
caught up in pleasing the Lord.
Get
caught up in finishing your course with joy.
Get
caught up in the glorious hope that's ahead. For that hope is enough to make
anyone — under any circumstance — leap for joy!
Scripture
Reading:
Acts
16:16-35
Kenneth Copeland Ministries' mission is to
minister the Word of Faith, by teaching believers who they are in Christ Jesus;
taking them from the milk of the Word to the meat, and from religion to
reality.
Acts 16:16-35 English Standard Version (ESV)
Paul and Silas in
Prison
16 As we were going
to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit
of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.
17 She followed Paul
and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High
God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”
18 And this she kept
doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to
the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of
her.” And it came out that very hour.
19 But when her
owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas
and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.
20 And when they had
brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are
disturbing our city. 21 They advocate
customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.”
22 The crowd joined
in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave
orders to beat them with rods.
23 And when they had
inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the
jailer to keep them safely. 24 Having received
this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet
in the stocks.
The Philippian Jailer Converted
25 About midnight
Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were
listening to them, 26 and
suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the
prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened,
and everyone's bonds were unfastened.
27 When the jailer
woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was
about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
28 But Paul cried
with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” 29 And the jailer[a]called for lights and rushed in, and
trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas.
30 Then he brought
them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they
said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your
household.”
32 And they spoke
the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took
them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was
baptized at once, he and all his family.
34 Then he brought
them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along
with his entire household that he had believed in God.
35 But when it was
day, the magistrates sent the police, saying, “Let those men go.”
Footnotes:
a.
Acts 16:29 Greek he
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