The writers of Encouraging.com are celebrating their fifteen year landmark by making their 365 daily devotional book, God Moments, available as a free digital download! A total of thirty-six GABC writers have faithfully captured “moments of God’s presence” in their lives to encourage your own spiritual journey. You can find God Moments on amazon.com, iTunes, and BarnesandNoble.com.


NIV is used unless otherwise noted.



Shut The Door; Keep Out The Devil


Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:7

My sweet Labrador is a very smart dog. As an 8 month old puppy, she was very observant. She noticed that every time my husband or I wanted to open the gate in our backyard, we would pull a string on the latch. She watched and soon learned how to open the gate. One morning while we were sound asleep, Chloe opened the gate and escaped. Off she ran, right down our street to a very busy road. Without stopping, she ran across the road and was hit by a truck. We rushed her to a veterinarian; and after surgery and a long recovery, Chloe was almost back to normal. Chloe opened a gate she should never have opened, and she suffered greatly as a result.


There are some doors that are meant to remain shut. In Genesis 4, Cain was angry with his brother, Abel. Abel’s sacrifice had been accepted by God. However, Cain’s sacrifice had not been accepted; and so, Cain began to sulk and scheme against his brother. God came to Cain with a warning: …sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it (Gen 4:7). Sin is pictured as a person crouching, waiting for the perfect opportunity to seize its victim. Cain did not heed God’s warning. Instead, he opened the door of temptation and sinned. He killed his brother and then experienced God’s punishment.

You and I encounter doors daily that should not be opened. Behind those doors of temptation, sin is crouching, waiting, ready to seize us. It might be the sin of lying, jealousy, hatred, laziness, gluttony, greed, or even adultery. Once the door is open, how difficult it is to resist the sin! We are easily seized.

So believer, stay away from that door! Don’t focus your attention upon it. Certainly, don’t touch it; and by all means, don’t open it! Shut that door; keep out the devil! Instead, open the door of truth (the Bible). Open the door of fellowship with God. Open the door of prayer for strength to resist the temptation.

Jan Burkhart

No comments: