“Overcome Evil With Good”

By Pastor Tim Burt

Psalm 97:10 (NLT) “You who love the Lord, hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked.

The Bible says in Psa 34:19, “A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all.” Jesus said in Mat 19:26, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” What is the mountain that you are facing in your life today? Is it marriage problems?

In just the last two days I have heard of 8 marriages that are on the skids and these are Christian marriages! Is it health problems? I just got off of the phone with my older friend of mine. He had a heart attack and then his gall bladder was so bad they needed to take it out but couldn’t because his heart wasn’t strong enough. Is it calamity? My daughter told me tonight of a friend whose best friend was just killed in a car accident. A friend of mine just told me of one of their friends whose young daughter was killed by their neighbor who accidentally ran her over. A close friend of mine is fighting a disease that is trying to cause his body to deteriorate. Are you depressed reading this yet? This is how some Christians talk all the time. About every last thing the devil has done to everyone they know. It would be enough to depress anyone. Then you hear Christians teach that God is doing these things to teach, mature and build patience in us so that we develop and mature as Christians. With God doing those kinds of things, who needs a devil? Honestly, the people that blame God for these needs to seriously examine their mental health.

Do you know how God feels about these kinds of things? He hates them! How do I know? Read the gospels. This is what Jesus went around undoing! He came to destroy the works of the devil. Jesus said, “If you have seen me you have seen the Father.” This is how we know God doesn’t author these kinds of things. If God was doing this to people, and then Jesus was undoing these things, He and His Father would be in division! Trust me – they aren’t. These kinds of things made Jesus angry. These kinds of things made Jesus go away to solitary places to fast and pray. HE CAME TO DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL! 1 John 3:8 says, “… But the Son of God came to destroy these works of the Devil.” He came to teach us that the impossible becomes possible with God. He came to teach us to speak to circumstances, to situations, to mountains in our lives and demand they be removed in His name.

When I hear of stories like those I told you above, it makes me hate the devil. This what God gave the emotion of hate for. To hate the devil and to hate evil. This is what todayS Fresh Manna says, “You who love the Lord, hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked.

Hate rightly understood in purpose creates energy and impetus to focus against evil and generate compassion for good. It drives me to pray, to reach out to those around me, to offer actions of love and support, to hate the devil. Hate was not meant for two people to engage in. Hate is not so we can fly off the handle and say and do things that we regret. That only leads us to relational division, bitterness and unforgiveness ultimately opening ourselves to the attack of the enemy. Hate and anger is not so we can rage at cars, children, spouses, employers and co-laborers and people we just don’t like. Anger is to stir us up against those demonic forces that are coming against us – to be mad at the devil and resist him.

Love and kindness is for family. Love and kindness is for people. The emotional stirrings from negative things we feel are to be used to take what the devil meant for evil and turn them for good.

The man with the gall bladder problem lives out of state. I called him to pray for him. He was in tremendous pain at the time. The doctors told them there was nothing they could do. I told him there was something we could do. With God all things are possible I asked him to put his hand on his heart while I prayed and took authority over these demonic attacks. I then prayed for wisdom for he doctors and his healing. He cried like a baby with thanksgiving when we were done. He was encouraged to talk to the doctor tomorrow and insist they take out that gall bladder. He said he knew he’d make it though the operation. He did and he was fine.

I went to the hospital to visit an elderly gentleman who was nervous about having a quadruple by-pass. I prayed for his peace and healing. His family wept with thanks. We sang a song together worshipping the Lord. They were lifted up. He came through the operation perfectly and is doing awesome.

Don’t be passive when it comes to the devil stealing anything from you. Speak to him to get out! Proclaim the promises of God over the situation! Like Abraham, stand strong in faith despite impossibilities being fully persuaded that God turns them into possibilities. Romans 4:19-21 “Without weakening in his faith, Abraham faced the fact that his body was as good as dead–since he was about a hundred years old–and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”

If you don’t know promises of God, go to a Christian Bookstore and by a little book called “God’s Promises” and learn them. You are a child of God and are to be an imitator of Jesus Christ. Don’t be a reporter for the devil. Be a praying life-changer for God!

In His Love,

Pastor Tim Burt

http://readfreshmanna.blogspot.com

Published by Pastor Tim Burt