Read Matthew 26:57
The Devil Is In Control, Or Rather He Thinks He Is.
Verse 57 says that those who had seized Jesus at the garden of Gethsemane, took him to see Ciaphas, the high priest, where the scribes and elders were gathered together.
The scribes and elders must have been feeling pretty good about seeing Jesus captured. Agreeing to pay Judas to betray Jesus worked! Finally, the scribes and elders and all the religious leaders were in control. They had Jesus right where they wanted him and they were going to ensure he would be killed. Yep, they were finally in control! Or weren’t they? From the outside looking in, all the evidence seemed to be pointing to the religious leaders as being in control.
It appears the devil’s schemes had worked and everything was falling together just fine. The Devil tempted Judas towards the Love of Money. He put a wedge between Judas and his relationship with Jesus. The devil’s scheme to put jealousy in the hearts of the religious leaders worked. Then he turned the jealousy into hatredness and the desire to kill Jesus. Yep, the devil was in control and the religious leaders were feeling very powerful.
Okay, this is the place where we laugh in the face of the devil because these people had no power at all. It’s just the opposite. Everything was coming together just as God planned it. It was prophesied that Jesus must die and raise from the dead for the forgiveness of sins – for the Salvation of souls. Jesus would willingly give up his life, no one would take it.
Let us learn from this. The Devil is always at work scheming something. He’s always at work to deceive us. Look at your life circumstances. I am confident that you will be able to look at your negative circumstances and conclude that the devil is in control. Once we come to that conclusion in our mind, that’s when we have to laugh in the face of the devil. That’s when we shake our finger at him and say, “You had me fooled there for a second. You had me convinced that you were in control. That you had the power, but you don’t. Things are actually falling together just as my God planned because he’s going to turn my circumstances into something good that will bring glory to his name. You took my faith away from me, but I’m back. I trust in God again. He is in control. I put my faith and trust in him.”
Speak boldly and confidently to the devil, not by your power but by the power of the Living God that lives within you. Then thank the Lord acknowledging that he is in control. “Thank you God that you are in control and that I can trust you. Thank you how you will turn the devil’s scheme in my life into a Blessing!”
