Why Always BLAME The Devil For Your Woes? Take Responsibility Of Your Sins

Why Always BLAME The Devil For Your Woes?

Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:18 “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

James 1:13-14

13 “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”

I once heard a testimony and thus it goes:

One day, a brother was confessing his sins in a church during an evening service. So he accused the devil of being the brain behind all the wicked things he'd done. Suddenly, God opened the eyes of the church pastor in the spirit. He looked through the window and saw Satan crying and weeping profusely outside saying “why are you lying against me? I wasn't the one that asked you to do it? Why are you lying against me?” Satan queried in total rejection of the lies the person was making against him.

What moral lesson did you learn from the above scenario, between the lying Christian brother and the truthful wicked Satan? What I learn as a person is that, you should be be enough to TAKE RESPONSIBILITY OF ALL YOUR ACTIONS, be it positive or negative. God bless.

I give God all the GLORY as I dedicate this Message to His Glory alone in Jesus name.

For the avoidance of doubt:

I don’t care what you may want to call me after reading through this post here, but remember, if you called yourself a born again true Christian, you be bold enough to confront your fears and be set free from the impending doom as a result of your unconfessed sins. God bless you.

Please, read carefully this confession of mine and ensure you read it to the end, what I am about to share with you to the Glory of Jesus, about MY PERSONAL SINFUL PRACTICES some years ago, which ordinarily I would have blamed on the devil but, I took FULL RESPONSIBILITY as a result of the fact that, even if the devil tempted me to do the WICKEDNESS in sinning against God and against His own child, the devil never FORCED ME into doing it at all. You must understand therefore the foundation I am building in order for you to get the full message in this write up.

I went into committing the SIN with my two eyes WIDE OPEN, knowing and understanding what I was doing consciously. So, why should I blame the devil for the sin I committed against God knowingly, without him (devil) forcing me to committing the sin?

Now, this is not like the case of Joseph, who in spite of the fact that, he was daily asked (physically approached, pressured and requested) by a woman to commit the SIN OF ADULTERY with her, but rather than doing it with ALL PLEASURES and even get promoted in the process, he instead chooses to FLEE FROM COMMITTING THE SIN and that lands him (Joseph) up in the prison for a crime he NEVER COMMITTED.

Ordinarily, humans with their sinful and corrupt mind will condemn Joseph for denying himself a once-and-for-a-lifetime opportunity, not minding the grave consequences that SUCH WICKED OPPORTUNITIES carries. Imagine a so called opportunity to sin against God and ultimately land you in hell fire being celebrated by men today! Brother, sister, you are calling sin a lifetime opportunity? May Jesus forgive you all your sins and have mercy on your soul in Jesus name. Amen.

THE CASE WITH ME

First, let me quickly say to you all here that, my wife is a Nurse (JCHEW qualifications) by the grace of God, and she presently work with a Private Hospital in Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria. In fact, here is her personal phone number +2348053161110. The essence of providing my wife's phone number for public consumption, is primarily to let you know that, though what you are about to read is not a news to cheer about, but as a true practicing Christian, she is in the know of the whole scenario because I told her myself. Again, this is a restitution I am making publicly here which is one of the pillars of true repentance. Therefore, if you are still holding on to one sin or the other against your wife, husband and children, you better confess it now because your sin will surely find you out Number 32:23.

To the glory of God, we are blessed with 2 lovely children for now, with the senior one being 6 years and 5 months old, and the junior one is was 3 years old on the 21st of October, 2013.

Now, one of my wife's junior sister lives with us. She is still with us till this very second.

One night, after my wife had gone for her Night Shift duty, I (not the devil) wanted to take advantage of her junior sister, to commit immortality. Therefore, when I approached this girl with my wicked intentions, at first, she was surprised. Remember, I am the one tempting her now, not she tempting me.

She paused and then asked me: Is it what you brought me to come and be doing as I am now staying with you people?

At this point, I felt some remorse but I couldn't just stop there. See how wicked the heart of man could be!

So, I started to pet this in-law of mine telling her that, ‘it doesn’t matter’, while promising her I will never attempt to have sexual affairs with her (which was actually the truth anyway). All I was planning to do with her was not to have sex but, to caressed her and satisfy my wicked flesh with wicked pleasures. Please LORD God, have mercy on me, though I have earlier confessed it to you and the people involved! Amen. I thank God today that all is now history but, the record still need to be set straight so that other people still trapped under this condemnation, will be set free in Jesus name.

Wait a minute. Did I tell you I was a Christian so to say at the time? Yessss! In fact, I was a Parish Pastor in the Redeemed Christian of God (RCCG) at the time. Bro, are you sure of what you are saying? Do I need to lie about it? Just ask my wife to be sure! In fact, I told her that she may be receiving strange calls now as a result of the fact that some of you may want to confirm what I am saying here. Okay!

The poor innocent girl knew that I was off track but, I silenced every question she put to me with soft tone and sweet words of assurance, telling her that, there's was no harm in what I was doing, after all I am not going to take her to bed. Don't forget I was married with one child by then. Oh man! I was truly wicked.

So far, did you see anywhere the devil was involved? I don't think so because, I WAS FULLY CONSCIOUS of the wicked act I was carrying out.

To be very honest, this girl preached to me that night. Did I listen to her? No. Why? Haba! It was FLESH that was in control of me and I wanted to make sure I satisfied it by all means possible that terrible night, not minding the dare consequences of sin attached.

So, I played on this girl's innocence and finally satisfied my fleshy desires. Please, don't misunderstand me here. I NEVER HAD SEX WITH HER BUT, I SATISFIED MY FLESH ANYWAY.

Therefore, after satisfying my flesh with the wicked pleasures, I then asked her to please forgive me. At this point, she started crying. I tried comforting her but she wouldn't accept.

Thereafter, I now decided to shame myself, by EXPOSING MY WICKED ACT, as this was the only way to bring about TRUE REPENTANCE. Guest what I did?

HOW FORGIVENESS CAME MY WAY

I then took my phone and sent a text message to my wife, who was on her night shift duty that night. The text was short and somehow left a room for skepticism in the process.

I wrote on the SMS to my wife asking her to please, help me beg her junior sister to forgive me on her return from work the next morning, but I didn't state what happened. This I did as my wife will not be meeting with me in the morning as I would have left for my work before her returns. Again, I never stated on my SMS to her what actually happened between me and her junior sister that ugly night.

After receiving my text message and considering that her junior sister was left with a man in the house, I am very sure my wife thought about so many things that may have likely happened. She immediately called me asking what I did with her sister. I asked her not to worry about it that, we will talk over it in the evening when I would have returned home from work the next day.

From her tone, I could sense anger, displeasure, displeased and what not from my wife's voice. She was right please and I thank God for her life. After all, if you were in her shoes at the time, you could have done worse. I then asked her to calm down. After all, I was the one that told her something, not her junior sister that I sinned against.

Finally, when I returned home from work the next day, I told her what sin I committed against her junior sister. She was very bitter and very angry at me. I accepted all the verbal humiliations she spoke against me in good faith as I literally deserved it 100%.

She queried and asked: If I as a supposed pastor can descend to that unholy practice, what message do I still have to preach to my congregation? I pleaded with her to forgive me and to the glory of God she did by God’s grace.

She then reached out to her sister asking her to forgive me that, she should consider that it was I that exposed the sin, even though I was not under any pressure or obligation of doing so. To the glory of God, my in-law forgave me too.

This is her 6 years plus with us now and to the glory of Jesus, my flesh had been taught a bitter lesson to always expose the dirty works of the flesh in order to deal with it and be victorious at the end. Don’t you ever think that I am making this up or that I using to score cheap point, no! no!!! no!!! I am rather using this to let you know that, until you start to take responsibility of your own wicked actions, you may never truly understand what true repentance means. By the way, God is aware of your wicked actions you committed in the secrets whether you confessed it or not.

I seal this confession (though not a secret anyway) with the blood of Jesus Christ. Amen.

SHOULD THE DEVIL BE BLAMED FOR MY ACTIONS?

After reading through this wicked and sinful practice of mine in the past, do you think the devil should be held responsible for my WILLFUL SINS? Never! I should be the one to be held responsible as I knowingly went into committing the sin with all my human senses and consciousness in 100% alive.

Don't you also think that, I could have easily lied against the young woman to her sister? There were rooms to have done that, which ultimately would have sent her packing from my house as her sister would have sides with me, while stupidly telling her innocent sister that, 'I don't know you came to drag my husband with me.' This is the likely scenario that would have emerged but, I decided to bear all the consequences as I was the offender here, not the offended.

WHY I BLEW THE TRUMPET OF MY OWN PERSONAL SECRET SINS OPEN

Don't forget I just committed a sin which I have been forgiven already because I asked for the forgiveness from man and from God. Now, the fact that I just committed a sin does not automatically make me a child of the devil, I only became a servant of sin at that material time, due to the fact that sin was the one I was obeying then Romans 6:16. The bible declared in Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." What happened was that, I came short of God's glory at that material time, losing my rights as a child of God but, they were immediately restored after my confession was made James 5:16. Also, Proverbs 28:13 says “HE THAT COVERETH HIS SINS SHALL NOT PROSPER: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” As I needed mercy brethren, I have nothing to be ashamed of order than to confess and exactly what I did. So, who is there claiming that he/she have never sinned before? 1 John 1:10 says “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

Therefore, I decided to blow the trumpet in exposing my sins openly because, I still have conscience that needed purging from dead works Hebrews 9:14. To obtain TRUE FORGIVENESS FROM MAN AND FROM GOD, you MUST confess your sins because, Romans 10:10 says “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and WITH THE MOUTH CONFESSION IS MADE UNTO SALVATION.”

Please, don't blame the devil for your woes because, the bible declared in Proverbs 6:27-28 asking,

27 “Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? 28 Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?”

You certainly know that the above is not just possible. So, why blame the devil?

WHO IS THE DEVIL?

According to the bible book of Revelation 12:9 and 20:2, the devil is called ‘the dragon, the old serpent, Devil and Satan.’

Revelation 12:9 “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

Revelation 20:2 “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.”

In Isaiah 14:12, the devil is referred to as ‘Lucifer and son of the morning’.

Isaiah 14:12 “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!”

In John 10:10, he is called a ‘thief’.

John 10:10 “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

In Matthew 4:3, he is called the ‘tempter’.

Matthew 4:3 “And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.”

In fact, he was called the ‘anointed cherub that covereth’ in Ezekiel 28:14.

Ezekiel 28:14 “Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.”

In John 8:44, he is known as ‘the devil, a murderer, a liar and the father of liars’.

John 8:44 “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

He is called ‘the wicked one’ in Matthew 13:19, 38 and 1 John 2:13-14.

In 2 Corinthians 12:7, Paul called the thorn that was on his flesh ‘messenger of Satan’.

The following passages of the scriptures referred to him as ‘Satan’. It is captured here chronologically.

1 Chronicles 21:1, Job 1:6-9, 12; 2:1-4, 6-7, Psalm 109:6, Zechariah 3:1-2, Matthew 4:10; 12:26; 16:23, Mark 1:13; 3:23, 26; 4:15; 8:33, Luke 4:8; 10:18; 11:18; 13:16; 22:3, 31, John 13:27, Acts 5:3; 26:18, Romans 16:20, 1 Corinthians 5:5; 7:5, 2 Corinthians 2:11; 11:14; 12:7, 1 Thessalonians 2:18, 2 Thessalonians 2:9, 1 Timothy 1:20; 5:15, Revelation 2:9, 13, 24; 3:9; 12:9; 20:2, 7. These are beside the several passages of the bible that called him ‘devil and devils’.

Now that we have established from the scriptures who is the devil, owing to the various events and circumstances that identified him with one name or the other, let’s move further to ascertain what this devil is capable of doing, whom the whole world and especially ‘wicked hearts’ have blamed for their actions and or inaction right from creation.

WHAT IS THE DEVIL CAPABLE OF DOING (SUGGESTING) BUT CAN'T BE BLAMED IF YOU THE OFFENDER IS CAUGHT?

On this phase, you should never misunderstand my position here please. This is with the fact that, the bible says a man will die for his own sin, not another person dying for the sin of another Jeremiah 31:30. The devil is condemned to hell fire already based on his own sin Ezekiel 28:15-19.

Therefore, never you mistake or dream and start thinking that Satan will be punish for your sins in hell fire, no, it will never happen that way Ezekiel 18:20. Should you end up in hell fire (God forbids), you are going to be punish for your own sins, no matter how hard you will try to blame it on the devil Revelation 20:12-13. YOU ARE THEREFORE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR SINS O MAN! Psalms 94:23.

The ONLY PERSON that have accepted to be blamed for the sins HE NEVER COMMITTED, and finally paid the penalty for the sins with His own life, was Our LORD Jesus Christ Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, 1 Timothy 2:6. This action of Jesus Christ brought about our redemption and today, we that were ‘aliens to the commonwealth of Israel and stack enemy of God’, has been drawn nigh unto God the Father, through the sacrificial blood Jesus sheds on the cross of calvary for us all Ephesians 2:12-13. May this God that always thinks GOOD about us be praised forever in Jesus name. Amen. Jeremiah 29:11.

NOW, LET US EXAMINE SOME FEW THINGS AMONGST SEVERAL OTHERS THAT THE DEVIL IS CAPABLE OF DOING HERE:

1. He can steal, kill and destroy John 10:10.

Despite these attributes of the devil here, you will never see him doing these things to you forcefully without you consenting to it. But, if you follow the wicked prompting you were sensing in your spirit mind, and do according to its bidding which are evil, you will SURELY SUFFER THE ABOVE, but you are responsible.

FOR EXAMPLE:

Your mind was telling you to steal. You pondered over it for a while and then, you went into stealing and you were caught. They then sent you to the tribunal and you were found guilty and they sentenced you to death by hanging. But, in the course of your defense, you had blamed the devil for your actions by saying 'it's devil's work'. Now, is it the devil that will die in your place (since you accused him of masterminding your actions) or you, the perpetrator of stealing that was caught? Again, is it the devil that steals, kill and destroy you? Aren’t you the cause of your misfortune?

Is God and His word not against stealing? Exodus 20:15. Why did you fail to obey God and His word? Ephesians 4:28.

You can see now that it is YOU, and not the devil who is responsible for your sins.

2. The devil can tempt you Mark 1:13, 1 Corinthians 7:5.

Remember, temptation in itself is not a SIN as the bible actually called you BLESSED WHEN YOU ENDURE TEMPTATION James 1:12, while James 1:2 says you should count it a THING OF JOY when you fall into divers temptations. The bible went further to say that, should you falter on the day of your trouble (temptation), your STRENGTH IS SMALL Proverbs 24:10.

In Hebrews 4:15, the bible says Jesus was tempted yet without SINNING. He Himself had laid down an example for us to follow His footsteps 1 Peter 2:21. So, why should you FAIL GOD that trusted in your judgment before allowing the devil to tempt you? 1 Corinthians 10:13, Job 1:8. You should remember God DOES NOT TEMPT ANY MAN in the first place James 1:13.

Therefore, before you start BLAMING THE DEVIL for any evil thing that may have befell you, first, go to God in prayers with all sincerity and ask Him, to show you what went wrong Joshua 7:6-13. I am sure you will be amaze that, nothing just happen at least to a true child of God, without you partially or fully RESPONSIBLE FOR ITS CAUSE Ecclesiastes 10:8.

3. He can cause you to become a liar Acts 5:3.

Remember the devil is the father of liars John 8:44.

When Ananias and Sapphira his wife conspired to lie against the Holy Spirit to Peter, they received instant judgment by death because, the bible says only the sin against the Holy Spirit that have no forgiveness Matthew 12:31-32, Luke 12:10. Now, when Peter rebuked Ananias for allowing Satan to fill their hearts with lies, it was Ananias and his wife Sapphira rather than Satan that died.

Brethren, even if the devil is the one tempting you to lie, remember you the liar will suffer for your lying alone and Satan will be left off the hook to suffer for his own sin Revelation 21:8. If you are therefore a liar, please repent now of your lies, as there's no small or big lie as some of you has been clamouring.

The wicked thing about lying is the fact that, when you lie, you will lie again to cover your former lies and in so doing, you become an expert in lying. You are playing with fire my friend as lying will certainly send you to hell fire and you can never blame the devil for it.

In 1 Samuel 15:1-35, apart from the fact that Saul disobeyed the instructions of the LORD that Samuel instructed him concerning the Amalekites, Saul also lied to Samuel verse 13, 20. You and I know what became of Saul and his kingdom, even though he acknowledged his sins immediately and repented verse 24-25. You should therefore stop lying right now.

4. He can pretend to be an angel of light 2 Corinthians 11:14.

The devil is very crafty hence we are warned to be vigilant 1 Peter 5:8, so that we wouldn’t be caught in the crossfire of the devil especially when he knows that he can never regain back his lost position in the presence of. Therefore, he is pretending to you now as the angel of light so that you too can fall out with God and end up in hell fire like him. However, this will never be your position today in the mighty name of Jesus of Christ. Do watch out!

5. He can enter into your mind Luke 22:3, John 13:27.

If you remembered how Satan twisted the mind of Judas Iscariot and he ended up selling his own master for a mere 30 PIECES OF SILVER Matthew 26:15, you will never give him any room in your mind as he will surely mess you up and finally your soul will be damned in hell fire Matthew 25:46.

These are many are what the devil is capable of doing but at the end of the day, you are the one that will suffer the consequences if you believed the lies of the devil.

WHAT ARE THE LIKELY THINGS THAT CAN FUEL YOU TO BE TEMPTED?

Here are a few of the things that can fuel your temptation if you are not washing with prayers Matthew 26:41.

1. Lust - James 1:14; 4:1.

2. Money - 1 Timothy 6:10.

3. Pride – Proverbs 15:25.’

4. Backslide – 2 Peter 2:22.

5. Greed - Numbers 22:7, 2 Peter 2:15.

IS THERE PROVISION OF GOD'S GRACE DURING TEMPTATION?

Of course yes. In fact, you have to be TRULY COMMITTED TO GOD in prayers. This was the continuous advice and teachings Jesus presented to His disciples, so that they like Job, will always come out tops from all temptations if and when it comes.

Jesus Christ our perfect example demonstrated to us during His temptations that a good knowledge of the word of God is a strong weapon to defeating the devil whenever he rears his ugly head up. It is written was the word that Jesus Christ used to remind the devil He is wiser and more intelligent than him.

Come to think of it. If the devil can tempt his own creator, who do you think you are that the devil cannot tempt? You should however remember the promises of God in 1 Corinthians 10:13, which says “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: BUT GOD IS FAITHFUL, WHO WILL NOT SUFFER YOU TO BE TEMPTED ABOVE THAT YE ARE ABLE; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” With these promise of God therefore brethren, be rest assure that His mercy will speak for you on the day of your temptation. You must however do all your possible best never to yield to temptation James 1:13-15. Remember in Jesus prayer, He said “And don’t let us yield to temptation” Luke 11:4 NLT

Finally, the blame game that Adam and Eve played on each other didn’t take away their punishment, after all every one of them got what was their portion as a result of their sin Genesis 3:11-19. Adam, Eve and the serpent were altogether not spared when God pronounced the judgment of sin on them. You should learn from this scenario today that you will never be free no matter how hard you tried to blame the devil for your sins.

May the LORD uphold you so that you will get victory over satanic manipulations in Jesus name.

May the boldness to face your fear that will bring about your true repentance be granted you in Jesus name. Amen.

God bless you all.

Shalom!