Do Not Communicate With the Serpent of Old

Someone once told me that a liar and a thief are of the same spirit and you cannot separate the two.

This is exactly right, satan is a prime example of this fact. Jesus speaks to those who do not believe He is the Christ about the devil and who they and their actions are aligned with:

You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it (John 8:44).

Jesus calls him the thief who comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy; see John 10:10. And he repeats the same tactic over and over again against us. The first order of action is with the power of words—he lies. When it comes to sickness and disease, he and his evil work force whisper lies to our minds. Lies filled with fear, symptoms, doubt, and unbelief. And as soon as we buy into his lies, he swoops in with action and these lies manifest in our mortal bodies.

How to Correctly Deal with Satan’s Shenanigans

Instead of reacting to foolishness with foolishness, or sin with sin, how should we respond with words of wisdom? In the case just mentioned, respond as Jesus does when He is being tempted in the wilderness by responding with God’s Word, and God’s Word alone. Don’t enter into a conversation with him and his demons—use the authority of God’s Word against him. He recognizes the authority of God’s Word, so you silence him and put him in his place, under your feet.

 My advice is to not bite into his bait; and if you already have, spit it out. I’ve just told you how to do this, but now for a little instruction on what you should say. Next time he taunts you with a hostile medical report and lying symptoms, you rebuke him saying:

I rebuke you, satan. I command you to be silent in Jesus’ name. No! I do not accept this disease. I do not have it. It does not belong to me. Jesus purchased my healing with His own blood and gave to me all of His authority to silence you from releasing your word curse over me. In the name of Jesus, I do not have this disease because I possess His healing power and by His stripes, I am healed (Isaiah 53:5).

Does this mean the enemy will immediately stop? Probably not, he didn’t stop after his first attempt against Jesus in the wilderness, and he probably won’t stop after the first attempt against you either. You are going to have to effectively enter into spiritual warfare with the enemy. And in the beginning it will be a war with words inside your mind. He will badger you to try to get you to release those negative thoughts with your spoken words. But if you will stand your ground, hold up your shield of faith, use the sword of the Spirit, wear your helmet of Salvation, shod your shoes with the Gospel of Peace, and wear the belt of truth, you will win this battle with the enemy. You will wear him out just like Jesus did with the power of faith-filled words.

Let’s look at another real-life situation that I have had to face while in the ministry dealing with the devil’s shenanigans or just plain people’s foolishness, and how did I rightly respond to the situation with the power of my words.

One young teacher—whom I honestly loved, but due to inexperience in a place of authority working with adolescent boys—just did not want to abide by the rules. The rules were in place to protect both student and teacher. This teacher would overstep the bounds and take the adolescent boys from wayward backgrounds outside of the classroom without permission, and where no one could see them. I was the overseer in this situation and I had to uphold the boundaries. She did not like this and rebelled against my God-given authority over her. I had to have a time of words with her in the office. She finally looked up at me and with all sincerity of heart, she shouted at me three very destructive words, “I hate you.” I stood up and walked over to her and replied with equal sincerity, “Yes, but I love you.” My response was real, genuine, from my heart, and it stopped satan’s wickedness dead in his tracks.

 God’s Word teaches us that love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). And one way we express love is with our words. But like I mentioned, these words need to be real, genuine, from the heart; and when they are, they silence satan, put an end to his shenanigans, and even the foolishness of people.

 How was I able to calmly respond to this young teacher’s hateful words? I spent much time in prayer over this young lady. And all those spoken words of faith in prayer had already healed my soul, my mind, and my emotions from her rebellion.

Do Not Enter into Conversation with the Devil

The devil is a mastermind at trickery with words. He always looks for ways to make God’s people fall. Let’s journey all the way back to the Garden of Eden when the devil disguises himself as a talking serpent. Apparently during this time, the serpent has legs and does not slither, but walks. He sees Eve’s weakness, she doesn’t fully understand who she is. How do I know this? Because this is the very thing he uses to confuse and tempt her with. Read this encounter:

 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:1-5).

 The devil starts to converse with Eve, she listens and enters into conversation with him. But she is of an innocent nature, she doesn’t know how to lie, doesn’t even know what he is up to. And as usual that serpent of old takes advantage and tricks her with his words. He tells her if she eats of this tree she will be like God. He tells a lie, she already is like God, not equal to Him, but created in His mirror image. Because she enters into conversation with him, she falls for his lie and reaps serious consequences for listening to him.

 What Happens to the Lying Serpent?

But there is something here that I believe we miss, and it is a great lesson for us. This lesson has to do with God’s response to this lying serpent. What does He take away from the serpent?

So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:14-15).

 According to these Scripture verses, God takes away the serpent’s legs, his feet, and his ability to walk—now it has to slither on its belly and will eat the dust of the earth. Let me teach you what is prophetically happening here.

The sixth time Jesus sheds His atoning blood for us is through His feet. Feet in the Bible represent authority, and when Jesus releases His blood through His feet, He gives to us the ability to walk in His authority on this earth.

And because the serpent allows satan to use him to harm Eve, Adam, and us for this matter, God steps in with His authority and removes the serpent’s feet, ability to walk, and lowers his rank of authority. And not only will it slither on its belly, which is a sign of disgrace, but what does God declare it will eat? The dust of the earth. Let me ask you, “What does God use to create Adam with? What does the human body return to after the spirit leaves the body?” Again, the answer is the dust of the earth.

Here we see the hateful nature of satan and the jealously he feels toward Adam and Eve and toward us too. Why? Because we are created in the mirror image of Elohim, no other creation is created as we are, not even the angels. And as I teach you in my first work, DARE to Believe in chapter 1, the devil is just a fallen angel. And we have been given authority over him. God refers to him as the Serpent of Old.

Now what has me jumping here is this—the devil, the serpent of old, because of his lying, wicked nature, and the misuse of the Law of the Spoken Word, and because of the sin of his mouth used to harm us, God takes and fills satan’s mouth with our dust, our remains. It’s part of the prophetic fulfillment of your enemy losing his rank in the scheme of eternity. And when satan uses his words against you and tries to trick you from activating your authority against him, like your heavenly Father, you can put him in his place. Take the heel of Yeshua and stomp on the serpent’s head and boldly declare, “As He is, so am I on this earth, and I have been given authority over you and your wicked works, including this disease. I will not return to dust before my time. You are disgraced and on your belly you go. But remember, you will eat my dust.”

What Would have been the Correct Response to the Serpent?

What would have been the correct response to the serpent in the Garden of Eden? And how will this help you to respond to ungodly situations?

 Both Adam and Eve should have recognized the ungodliness of the words of the serpent. Yes, they were not exposed to evil, they didn’t understand what it was, and more so the negative consequences they would reap with aligning themselves with evil. But what they did have going for them was the ever-presence of God. They knew only truth and the goodness it produces. Spiritually speaking, they should have known that something wasn’t lining up to the truth.

 Case in point: when banks train their workers to recognize counterfeit bills, they do not handle false bills, they only examine true bills. It works the same way in the spiritual realm, when you read and study the Word of God and live out His Kingdom ways, you easily discern satan’s counterfeit, just like a banker can quickly identify a false bill from a true bill.

And when it comes to discerning the intents and words of people, if you abide in God’s abode and train yourself in His Word, you will have that check inside of you when someone is trying to pull a fast one on you. But you first must handle the truth in order to recognize the lie. This is such an important lesson for these last days we are living in now.

 What should Adam and Eve have done in this situation? They both should have taken their authority, called out satan, and walked away from him. And this is exactly what you should do when you find yourself in a questionable situation.