“The Woodpecker (satan) Never Gives Up”
Written By: Pat Aman
June 26, 2003
Well, have you ever watched a Woodpecker? They never give up. They will constantly peck away at a tree branch until it is destroyed. They have even pecked at the wood on houses, until the wood on the house had to be replaced. You also can hardly get rid of a Woodpecker. The only way some people have gotten rid of one is to destroy it, which is a federal offense.
Now I am going to share some facts about the Woodpecker. Please read the facts, then you will understand the devotion. ** Woodpeckers are seldom seen in flocks. Most of them are solitary or in pairs. Their lives are lived mostly on tree trunks and branches, head up and tails down. They perch on or move up tree trunks, searching for insects or digging holes for roosting and nesting spots. They have pointed beaks that are straight and very hard, and they use their beaks rather like chisels. They also use their beaks to hammer or drum and tap to communicate with one another, and to court. There are three-toed woodpeckers and four-toed woodpeckers, but all woodpeckers have short legs and long, strong toes with curved, sharp nails so that they can cling to trees.
First try to get rid of the Woodpecker: Cover all holes as soon as possible. Place a metal sheathing or plastic sheeting over the pecked areas on building siding to offer permanent protection from continued damage. Occasionally, the birds will move over to an unprotected spot and the protected area must be expanded. Aluminum flashing is easy to work with to cover damaged sites. Woodpeckers will sometimes peck through aluminum flashing. Metal sheathing can be disguised with paint or stimulated wood grain to match the siding. ** Just make sure that the woodpecker is not living in your home. Disturbing a woodpecker den or killing one is a federal offense.
Second: Harass and scare the woodpecker causing damage using one or more of the following techniques. Remember no harassment technique works all the time or in every situation. It may take a variety of techniques and repeated prevention methods to effectively solve the problem. Woodpeckers can be very persistent and are not easily driven from their territories or selected pecking sites. In any event, once a woodpecker problem has been noted, you should act quickly to discourage him before the woodpecker decides your home is a nice place to live!!**
“Pat’s Opinion” Well, do you know what I am going to talk about? Yes, The devil and his team of demons.
When you ask Jesus to come into your heart and you are delivered of your past, I can guarantee that satan will come back and try to tempt you of the things you did in the past. He will see if you are strong in the Lord, or if you are straddling the fence. He will keep hammering away, until he can find a place where he will perch himself on you, and go up and down, trying to find your weak spot.
The best way to prevent the devil from taking up residence in your life, is to GET IN THE WORD. Then you will know that you know, that the devil is not living in your life.
(Luke 7: 24-26) 24. “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’
25. And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.
26. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.”
Jesus is talking about the empty place left in your life, after you have been delivered. If you do not fill it with the God’s Word, Prayer, and fellowship with other Christians, you are opening yourself up to be drawn back into that sinful nature. Then your state will be seven times worse then before.
And do not depend on your wife, husband, children, preacher, etc. to do the studying and the praying for you, to keep you covered. It does not work that way. You have to do it yourself.
When others pray for you, it is them just asking God to protect you and watch over you until you get some sense in your head. You cannot get to Heaven on someone else’s coat tail.
I really do not want to get into the next statement at this time, but I feel I need to share what the scripture is really talking about, then I will go on with the devotion. (I will let you know that Jesus was mainly talking in the verse about a person being delivered from demons and not being saved. The vacuum left by the departure of an evil spirit must be filled with the Holy Spirit, or else the individual is open to worse demonic activity. Jesus is warning that when a situation like this happens before a fundamental reform happens, the person’s state can be worse than before the deliverance. In other words, when a person lacks the spiritual discernment to recognize Jesus as the Savior.)
When you are saved, you need to get into the Word of God. That is so important. You need to dress daily in the armor of God. You need to keep yourself covered from the attacks of satan and his demons. You need to make sure that you do not let your armor down.
Ephesians 6:10-18 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
11. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
13. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15. and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16. above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
17. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
18. praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—
Just like when they tell you to put up metal sheathing to keep the Woodpecker away, they also tell you that the Woodpecker will move to another spot, and while looking for food he will destroy that portion of the wood. Satan will also do the same thing. He tries to feed on you and destroy you. If you do not stay covered he will slip in, just like the Woodpecker, trying to find another weak spot, a place in your life that you have not completely turned over to God. Hidden sin in your life, that you have not asked God to forgive you of…
Remember the people around you may not see or know it, but God does.
And please remember, when you ask for forgiveness of your sins, God removed them from the pages of your life. He remembers them no more. So do not let satan throw old sins up in your face that God has forgiven you of. If God remembers them NO more, why should you constantly dwell on them or the passed. You just need to dwell on doing the assignment God put you on earth to do. And I promise you, you do have a work to do for God.
We are all sinners saved by the blood and grace of Jesus.
The Armor of God does not cover a sinful nature. The devil will try to find out where you are the weakest. He is persistent, just like the Woodpecker. I will say, that when dealing with satan, you have to be strong in the Lord. You cannot play church on Sunday and Wednesdays, and think you have the strength to tell satan where to go. You cannot scare the devil away on your own.
How much can I emphasize that you have to study God’s Word and pray, to be strong in the Lord. The devil does not play fair, and the only way you can get rid of that persistent devil is to defeat him with the Word of God and be covered with the Armor of God.
Jesus defeated satan in the wilderness by saying, “It is written” He was talking about the Word of God. And satan who also knows the Word of God, and was stupid enough to try to temp Jesus with the Word.
Matthew 4:1-11 1. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.
3. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
4. But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”
5. Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,
6. and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘ He shall give His angels charge over you,’and, In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’”
7. Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’”
8. Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.
9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
10. Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”
11. Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.
Just as the Woodpeckers can be very persistent and are not easily driven from their territories or selected pecking sites, Satan is persistent and cannot be driven away with just a little, “devil get out of my life.”
You need to realize that when Jesus died on the cross, He then gave you the authority to stomp the devil into the ground. When Jesus died on the cross, He put the devil under your feet.
I cannot understand why people who know God’s Word, just like the devil knows God’s Word, let the devil run over them. Even the demons know God and fear Him. And when you have Jesus in your heart and know you are in Christ, the devil and demons should fear you when you walk into the room.
In any event, once a woodpecker (The devil and his demons) problem has been noted, you should act quickly to discourage him (The devil and his demons) before the woodpecker (the devil and his demons) decides your home is a nice place to live.
Do you have any Woodpeckers (habits or sins) in your life today?
Has the devil and his demons taken up residence at your house? If so, get rid of them now. Get down on your knees and repent of those sinful habits. Ask God to forgive you, then get in God’s Word, Pray, and get into a church where you can be in fellowship with other Christians. Being in fellowship with other Christians will help you. For sometimes you need someone to help hold your hands up. You may be saying, but the church is full of hypocrites. Well, one more won’t hurt. If you are judging the people in the church you are just as bad as they are.
You just get in there, and do what God wants you to do. Do not worry about what the other church people are doing. God will take care of them.
And again, please remember, when you ask for forgiveness of your sins, God removed them from the pages of your life. He remembers them no more.
So, today, ask God to forgive you of your sins. Then keep yourself bathed in the Word if God and Prayer.
Joyfully, In The Master’s Service Blessings, Prayers and Love,
Pastor Pat Aman/©1996/2015
CWPM1996/2015
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First Rights
One Book, Three Pages, No Words
bibleandsword
John 3: 16 – 17, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but the world through Him might be saved.”
Nehemiah 9:17, “But Thou art a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in loving-kindness.”
A certain man was reported to have carried this book with him everywhere he went. Sadly, I do not know his name. As the title says, this book had only three pages in it, and yet none of those pages had a single word on them. Still, he carried this book with him everywhere he went. The first page was pure black. The second was red like scarlet. The third was white as snow. He not only carried the book, but he would take it out and show it to people. No one knew what it was or what it meant. One day, he told someone the meaning of his book.
Page One: The black page. He said that this page was his sin, which rightly deserved the wrath of God. “I look, and look, and think it is not black enough, though it is black as black can be.” Like the tax-gatherer in Luke 18:13, this man knew his sin. “But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!'”
sinwilltakeyoufurther
Page Two: The red page. This page is the page of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It remembers His atonement for sin by His blood. “How do I delight to look at that, and look, and look again.” This man knew what 1 Peter 1:18,19 says, “Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”
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Page Three: The white page. He called the white leaf his soul, which was washed in Christ’s blood. Through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the red page is made white as snow. “‘Come now, and let us reason together,’ Says the Lord, ‘though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool,'” Isaiah 1:18.
jesusloves76
So here we have the three-page book. It is a book we should all carry around, at least mentally. There really are three pages in our book. Before Christ, there is only one page, the black one. When we come to faith in the atonement of Christ for our sin, we experience the red page, which cleanses us and makes us like the white page, spotless and pure, owning for ourselves Christ’s sacrifice, and saved from our sin through the shedding of His innocent blood.
When I Say
Author Unknown
When I say…. ‘I am a Christian’ I’m not shouting ‘I’m clean living,’
I’m whispering ‘I was lost, Now I’m found and forgiven.’
When I say… ‘I am a Christian’ I don’t speak of this with pride.
I’m confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.
When I say… ‘I am a Christian’ I’m not trying to be strong.
I’m professing that I’m weak and need His strength to carry on.
When I say.. ‘I am a Christian’ I’m not bragging of success.
I’m admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.
When I say… ‘I am a Christian’ I’m not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.
When I say…. ‘I am a Christian’ I still feel the sting of pain…
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.
When I say… ‘I am a Christian’ I’m not holier than thou,
I’m just a simple sinner Who received God’s good grace, somehow!
Devotion Written By: Pastor Pat Aman Book © 1996/2015 “Coffee With Pat Daily Devotionals”
Study Notes: The New King James Bible
Unless otherwise stated, all content in this mail is © 1996 through 2009 by Coffee With Pat, and the Respected Authors.
Blessing, Love and Prayers,
Pastor Pat
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