Devil you won't frustrate My Purpose

devil, you won't frustrate MY purpose anymore!

Today's devotional based on Ezra Chapter 4.
For reference purposes I will include Ezra 4:1-5 here but please read the full chapter to gain a better understanding.

4:1 Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel;
4:2 Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.
4:3 But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.
4:4 Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled them in building,
4:5 And hired counsellors against them, to "FRUSTRATE" their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of Persia.......

In verse 5 you'll notice the word "frustrate" emphasized.
First, let's take a look at the meaning of this word to have a
better understanding of it:

A. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: A persistent wind frustrated my attempt to rake the lawn.
B. To cause feelings of discouragement or bafflement in.
C. To make ineffectual or invalid; nullify.
D. (My personal favorite) to hinder or prevent (the efforts,
plans, or desires) of: "What ultimately frustrated every challenger was Ruth's amazing September surge." [syn: thwart, queer, spoil, scotch, foil, cross, baffle, bilk] 2: annoy constantly [syn: torment, rag, tantalize, bedevil, crucify, dun] 3: hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of; thwart [syn: spoil, thwart]

I'd like to apply these biblical truths to this here today:
WHENEVER there is a move of God in any one of His children, be it for the purpose of preparing him/her for development of those spiritual gifts that His Holy Spirit has decided to anoint us with for His honor & glory, or just because God sees His child truly pressing towards Him with true & sincere purpose of a loving father/child relationship, the devil will step in and attempt to frustrate our purpose! Why? Because he sees that we are that much closer to our
God and further away from his evil claws.   He's losing control ofyou and me! He doesn't own us anymore! He isn't our master anymore! We are not his slaves! You see, when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord & Saviour, the Holy Spirit took up residence in us. When we were baptized into Jesus Christ we were baptized into his death! (Romans 6:3) Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4) Our old man was crucified with Him, so that the body of sin might be destroyed so that we no longer serve sin for he that is dead is free from sin. (Romans 6:6-7)

We have to stop letting the devil frustrate our purpose. He can put obstacles in our way to make us stumble, but when we have the Holy Spirit residing within us that gives us dominion over ALL THINGS, including our flesh. We have the RIGHT as Children of God to bring everything on this earth under submission. This includes calling our bodies into our submission. Jesus said in Matthew 16:19: "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in
heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Brethren: We will be tempted and satan will do his best to "frustrate" our purpose. Maybe he sees you getting very involved in your local church ministry whether you're an usher, greeter, nursery care-giver, musician, choir member, Sunday school teacher, administration, nursing home, homeless, or prison ministry, whatever may be your calling; and fulfilling your duties as it has never been done before. Then you hear about some church members putting down
your efforts or saying other things about you and you decide that because of that you will no longer serve in that capacity because they don't appreciate you. Guess who's laughing? satan. Why? Because he has "frustrated" your purpose.

Father, I come to You in the Name of Jesus. I ask You for Your divine intervention, dear God. Speak to me when I get frustrated and let me know that it's just the enemy attempting to thwart my purpose, which is "Serving You, Lord."   Before I react out of anger and frustration, make me pause a moment to listen for the Word of Your Holy Spirit that resides within me, and I know He will tell me what to do. I have decided to take that stand. When it seems like all is going wrong, I will recognize who is masterminding that work & say to satan: "When you try to drag me down, I will pull away. The more you push me, the more I'll press!"

"devil, you won't "frustrate" MY purpose anymore!"

God bless you all.
Joe.