Satan wants you to believe that he has been given unlimited power, but he is a liar. Satan is not a free agent. God has not freed him to do whatever he desires to do.
God is in control, not Satan. God has a Master Plan that consummates in the creation of a new heaven and a new earth where all things are brought together in one under Christ as Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:10. Within God’s plan and purpose for man, He has given Satan limited power and a limited amount of time to work.
When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he did not do it without God’s knowledge. It was not a chance meeting. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Jesus was tempted in all points, just as you are, so that you could have a faithful High Priest Who is touched by the feeling of your infirmities according to Hebrews 4:15.
Satan did not have the power to take Jesus’ life from Him. God planned to give His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. God allowed Satan, working through men, to crucify Jesus. Satan was not in control. God allowed the crucifixion, knowing that Jesus would complete the atonement for the sins of mankind, rise from the dead, break the power of sin and death, and return to Heaven. It was His divine destiny.
When the Jewish leaders and soldiers came to arrest Him, Jesus told them:
Luke 22:53 “When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.”
This was the appointed hour when God permitted Satan to work through these men to bring Jesus to death on the cross. It was not because God could not prevent this from happening. Jesus told them in Matthew 26:53, 54;
“Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?”
Pilate asked Jesus in John 19:10, 11:
“Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.”
So Satan’s power is limited. He has been given certain boundaries set by God and he cannot go beyond these boundaries. Satan is working throughout the world today, but God has placed limits on him concerning his attacks on believers. Satan’s power against you is limited by the almighty power of God. Don't think he's winning the war because he isn't and never will. The battle is the Lord's and He is on your side!
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