Timely Insights into God's Word from Khandielese Reyes

“And Deliah said to Samson, Tell me, I pray thee, wherein thy great strength lieth, and wherewith thou mightest be bound to afflict thee.  And Samson said unto her, If they bind me with seven green withs that were never dried, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.  Then the lords of the Philistines brought up to her seven green withs which had not been dried, and she bound him with them.  Now there were men lying in wait, abiding with her in the chamber.  And she said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson.  And he brake the withs, as a thread of tow is broken when it toucheth the fire.  So his strength was not known.  And Delilah said unto samson, Behold, thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: now tell me, I pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound.  And he said unto her, If they bind me fast with new ropes that never were occupied, then shall I be weak, and be as another man.  Delilah therefore took new ropes, and bound him therewith, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson.  And there were liers in wait abiding in the chamber.  And he brake them from off his arms like a thread.  And Delilah said unto Samson, Hitherto thou hast mocked me, and told me lies: tell me wherewith thou mightest be bound.  And he said unto her, If thou weavest the seven locks of my head with the web.  And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson.  And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.  And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me?  Thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth.  And it came to pass, when she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death; That he told her all his heart, and said unto her, There hath not come a razor upon mine head; for I have been a Nazarite unto God from my mother’s womb: if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man.  And when Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once, for he hath shewed me all his heart.  Then the lords of the Philistines cam up unto her, and brought money in their hand.  And she made him sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.  And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson.  And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself.  AND HE WIST NOT THAT THE LORD WAS DEPARTED FROM HIM.”  (Judges 16:6-20) 

The spirit of persuasion comes in many forms and often is so cunning, so crafty that its appearance may give off the illusion of simple “harmless suggestions” but when heeded to, will lead to temptation and ultimately sin for it’s purpose is to cause those who know in their heart to do good, to inevitably surrender to evil.   

Throughout the bible, we can see evidence of the spirit of persuasion visible in certain situations and circumstances.  Beginning in the book of Genesis, it first slithered out in the form of a serpent whose sole purpose was to tempt Adam and Eve into doing that which was opposite of what the Lord God commanded.  In order to tempt them, he had to first get Eve to believe a LIE, “Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” and being persuaded to believe the lie as truth, because of it, sin entered the world.   

Here in the book of Judges, we can see how this spirit came upon Samson, the form it used to show itself through, and the end results of surrendering to it. Driven by the promise of money from the “lords of the philistines”, Delilah sets off to lure and tempt Samson into revealing the secret of his strength as written here in the book of Judges.  Three times she attempts to deceive Samson, and 3 times Samson misled her into believing a lie.  Delilah’s first attempt to get at the truth started out lightly (it always does), by simply asking Samson to tell her the source of his strength.  When this failed, she pushes a little more, annoyed that he’d not spoken to her the truth.  After failing again, she becomes angry giving off the impression that she’s rather hurt he’s not confided in her and when she fails a third time, she uses the most common strategy of persuasion…. She then begins to question his love for her and persists in this manner until finally it troubled him so emotionally that he gave in, and reveals the secret of his strength to her.  Notice that once he revealed his secret to her, the Lord, who was his strength, departed from Him.  Still thinking he had the strength to fight, he rises from his sleep only to notice he was defenseless and did not know the Lord had departed from Him. Only after he cries out to the Lord does his strength return. Much like when we surrender to the spirit of persuasion and fall into sin, our strength leaves us also and ONLY when we cry out to the Lord in TRUE repentance, does it return. 

Throughout the body of Christ, many are being manipulated and lured into temptation by the spirit of persuasion.  For some, it has kept you bound by sin for when temptation arose, rather than instantly flee (as the Lord provides a way of escape through every temptation), you instead stopped and listened to the deceptive speech of this lying spirit which has said to you: “What you are doing is not so bad; Just one more time and God will forgive you; you’ll do better tomorrow; you’re not hurting anyone; this is small compared to what others are doing…..etc.” thus this spirit is accomplishing what it’s set out to do and the longer you believe the LIE, the more difficult it will be to see the TRUTH!  Remember the enemy will send this spirit in a variety of different forms, thus we must recognize it’s seductive packaging and not open it to toy with the contents inside, but upon recognizing it, immediately rebuke it and turn away.  It may appear in the form of an object or person to first lure you visually.  Remember that Eve ate of the fruit AFTER she “SAW that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise…(Gen 3:6)”  Once she believed the lie and then SAW the fruit was good, she gave into the temptation, ate of it, gave it also to Adam and sin entered in.  It may also come in the form of speech to lure you emotionally.  Remember that Samson gave in to Delilah AFTER  “she pressed him daily with her words, and urged him, so that his soul was vexed unto death”.   Once he gave in, once he surrendered to the spirit of persuasion, he lost his strength to fight. 

This spirit also attempts to come into the mind, filling one’s thoughts with negativity, lies, doubts, fears, attempting to turn the truth into a lie, and a lie into the truth.  Therefore, keep the truth in your hearts, and reject that which is spoken to the mind.  Follow after that of the Spirit and reject the deeds and desires of the flesh keeping in mind the scriptures, “To know to do good and not do it, is sin.”  The Lord will always provide a way of escape……… You already have the victory over the “The spirit of persuasion”.

I love you all so very much. Have a blessed week in the Lord and remember: Whatever we do, do ALL for the GLORY of GOD, who ALONE is worthy of the GLORY and the PRAISE!

May the peace of the Lord be with you today and always…….

Khandielese
Daughter & Servant
   of the Lord God