A Spirit Of Provocation

[An Advanced Study]

In the world today, there are a number of different types of systematic attacks on people by the devil – especially since he knows his time is short. He employs certain types of devil spirits to do specific jobs so that he can continue his ministry which is to steal, kill, and destroy. One of his most prevalent attacks is to use a devil spirit of provocation to incite, make you anxious and fearful and overall take your peace away from you.

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I [Jesus Christ] am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. -- John 10: 10

You can be provoked by people, by circumstances and by the environment, but more than likely, it is people through whom the adversary works by controlling and possessing them to do his will.

I could go through a barrage of Scriptures to document this point, but if you don’t know that you should keep God first in your life, then you should not be reading this teaching.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. -- Matthew 6: 33

In the simplest terms, what does it mean to keep God first in your life? It means to keep His commandments, which is also the definition of the love of God.

For this is the love of God, that we keep his [God's] commandments: and his commandments are not grievous [burdensome or oppressive]. – I John 5: 3

Now we need to find some specific Scriptures that tell us more about the love of God so let’s go to I Corinthians Chapter 13. Can a believer be provoked? No, not if he or she has their mind renewed to the rightly divided Word of God. In the following Scripture, the word ‘easily’ should be deleted as it is in the closest to the Aramaic and Greek texts. The word was added by Satan himself as he controlled a scribe’s mind.

I must say that it was just tonight that a spirit of provocation came at me with all the power it has. I stood up to this insane person, but I was not provoked to seek vengeance. What happened was so devilish, it’s not worth telling the story. That person will wish for death.

Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily [scratch ‘easily’] provoked, thinketh no evil. – I Corinthians 13: 5

If a Son of God is pushed enough by the god of this world, he can defend himself. BUT it should take a lot before a renewed mind believer is provoked by the devil – in fact, its broken fellowship. Oftentimes we let unimportant matters and situations or circumstances provoke us. Haven’t we all had the following problem? You are driving your car and before you know it, some idiot is about two feet away from your back bumper. Do you know one of the best ways to deal with that situation? Slow down, put your right blinker on and pull to the side of the road – to the shoulder. The tailgater goes by and just lost his ‘provokee’. Now he feels like a fool which is what he is but he can no longer provoke you. Try it. You must understand that Satan is a parasite. He exists by hitchhiking off of the good that the true God creates. Devil spirits are hosts – they must have a human body to feed off, afflict or possess. Avoid Satan like he is the plague, and he is, and he cannot touch you. Make sure you stay in fellowship with the true God, renew your mind, study and pray every day.

Webster’s New World Dictionary has some interesting definitions of the word ‘provoke’. Let us review them so that there is no confusion in your mind pertaining to the exact meaning of ‘provoke’.

PROVOKE – to excite to some action or feeling; to anger, irritate or annoy; to stir up (action or feeling).

Take note that it not only invokes a feeling but provokes an ACTION. A spirit of provocation when allowed to control to an extreme can result in a person committing a homicide, so what we’re studying is rather important, wouldn’t you say?

The following Scripture tells us why an attempt to provoke us may happen.

Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: -- Hebrews 3: 8

The Lexicon points out that the word ‘provocation’ is referring to “an embittering with or towards any one.” Now what happens to a person’s heart when they become this way? The Word of God says they become ‘hardened’. Unless we know and apply the Word of God each and every day, we put up walls around our heart as a protective device. I, at one time, did the same thing. The more Word I knew, studied and applied, the more walls came down around my heart. Remember, the heart is the innermost part of the being. Your ‘heart’ is referring to the innermost part of the mind. The more walls that come down, the more freedom and joy you have. It is truly a spiritual phenomenon and cannot be explained by the five senses.

Now I believe that you should have a very clear understanding of the meaning of the word ‘provoke’ by now. NOW we want to learn how to stand against and counter this type of spiritual attack.

In the first place, there are TWO KEYS FOR STANDING AGAINST THE DEVIL:

1) YOUR POWER OF ATTORNEY.

2) THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT.

I cannot begin to tell you how often I use my power of attorney against devil spirits.

That at the name of Jesus [Christ] every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; -- Philippians 2: 10

As I mentioned in the title, this is an advanced study. God has given you the power of attorney to operate the power of Jesus Christ until he returns. How is the power of attorney properly used to rebuke devil spirits? Very simply.

If I know, from all of my study of God’s Word and the manifestations of Holy Spirit, (word of knowledge, word of wisdom and discerning of spirits), that there is a devil spirit present, I simply rebuke the spirit IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST. It’s that simple. You would be surprised at the results. That devil spirit MUST leave.

Now let’s talk about the second key for standing against the devil which is the Word of God.

If you are walking with God, you are staying your mind on Him all day. You are speaking in tongues and reviewing Scriptures in your mind. Here is the result:

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. – Isaiah 26: 3

Make your mind stay put on God and His Word and devil spirits will stay away from you. If your mind is mainly on your SUV or your cell phone, you are leaving your mind wide open to the enemy – and he will take advantage of it, believe me.

You must understand that your mind can only think on one thing at a time. Discipline it to think on God and His Word. That shuts any trap doors in your mind. This is the second of the two ways that you can stand against the devil and the devil knows it.

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. – James 2: 19

Do you want to make devil spirits tremble? USE YOUR POWER OF ATTORNEY and LEARN AND APPLY THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT which is the Word of God.

Now we must expand a bit and get more specific about applying the Word of God to counter a spirit of provocation. God talks about avoidance in many Scriptures. Let’s look at a few regarding fellowship with darkness which is giving place to the devil.

Neither give place to the devil. – Ephesians 4: 27

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. -- Ephesians 5: 11

God does not want you hanging out with unbelievers. There is no profit in it at all for God or for yourself. Why?

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? – II Corinthians 6: 14

How can light have communion with darkness? It cannot. How can righteousness have fellowship with unrighteousness? Again, it cannot. God makes it very simple. Man confuses the situation with a term I like to refer to as organized confusion. He goes out of his way to make the confusion sound organized and orderly.

Notice what God is exhorting you to do here. He wants you to AVOID the devil and his devil spirits whenever and wherever possible. Try it first and then you will see the results.

Let love be without dissimulation [hypocrisy]. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. – Romans 12: 9

The word ‘abhor’ is very interesting in this verse. It means ‘to shudder from’ – ‘to shudder with horror, hate’. In other words, AVOID like the plague. God wants you to go out of your way to avoid evil. If you do, Satan will have less and less of a chance to provoke you. It is so simple that you can easily overlook this solution for years.

One of the worst things a man can do is to fall prey to the hands of a prostitute. This is documented in Proverbs.

For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. – Proverbs 5: 3, 4, 5

This is quite graphic, isn’t it? No one can say it like God. What does this woman use her lips and her smooth mouth for? TO PROVOKE!! A woman like this provokes the weak man to act and in turn, she seduces him. From this point on, the man’s conscience can almost drive him crazy if he cheated on his faithful wife. I know a person who suffered about ten (10) years in condemnation after he had a heated relationship with another woman. This man never even had sexual intercourse with this other woman. He could not forgive himself. Listen up men and women. This is one of the most common and deadliest traps Satan can spring on you.

So how do you AVOID this? Be careful/sharp at all times. Some people are natural flirts. Be careful – this can be dangerous. Stay away from places you should not be. If you’re married, you should not be frequenting nightclubs or bars alone. You’re looking for trouble and I will tell you if you look for it, you will find it. If you have a steady boyfriend or girlfriend, again, avoid the above. Satan will go out of his way to ruin a good thing. Believe me, I am speaking from experience. And don’t let your guard down. The enemy has a nasty habit of hitting you with something when you least expect it. This is one of his trademarks.

Let’s talk a little bit about anger. It’s been said that if a person angers you, they control you and can provoke you. You need to remember the Scriptures. Anger can be a tricky emotion. Believe it or not, in some cases, it can be productive.

Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: - Ephesians 4: 26

If you become angry, do not be provoked to break fellowship with God by sinning. On the other hand, it is usually almost always better if you just quit being angry.

Cease from anger and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. – Psalm 37: 8

If you can at all help it, just stop being angry. Temperance (self-control) is one of the nine fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5: 22, 23. If you almost never become angry, the enemy is going to have a hard time provoking you. We, as believers, should have mastery of self. Emotions can be very dangerous at times when expressed to an extreme. AVOID getting angry and you will experience greater peace. I know these renewed mind principles are difficult at times, but the benefits of mastering them greatly outweigh the difficulties of, at first, learning them. I taught this teaching because this is one of the areas where, I myself, have had some difficulty. Satan never gives up, but you can defeat him on every hand if you believe and apply the Word of God in your life. These final two (2) Scriptures say it all.

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. – I John 4: 4

And the God of peace shall bruise [crush] Satan under your feet shortly [quickly]. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. – Romans 16: 20

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