The Power in your NO

Saying no is never easy. But we have many different examples of people who won the battle because of the power in saying no. If we ever hope to overcome any struggles, we must study and mirror those who won their battles by saying no to the advances of the enemy. A keyway to do this is by studying those who failed. In World War II, General Patton won a decisive victory over the Germans who were led by one of their greatest commanders, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Prior to the battle, Patton obtained a copy of Rommel’s book, The Tank in Attack. When asked about the key to his victory, Patton replied, “I read Rommel’s book.” God not only wants us to win, he wants us to succeed. The bible declares in 3 John 1:2, “Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in good health.” God desires for us to be winners and overcomers. There will always be testing and trials in life, but you must master the ability to say no to the enemy and what he desires for us. In Genesis 4:7, God told Cain, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door, it desires to have you, but you must master it.” We must master the art of saying no to Satan's desires. Sin desires to destroy us, but rather than submit we must determine in our heart to master it. I believe one of the reasons the bible was written was to teach us that, although we live in a fallen world, we don’t have to live a fallen life. We have been given the power of choice, and we must determine to make the right choices by forcibly saying no to some things that Satan offers in his attempts to sway us and lead us down the wrong path. Resisting the Devil Let’s see the results of failing to exercise the power of both yes and no by looking at the lives of the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. In Genesis 1:27, the bible declares, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them and God said let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle and over all the earth, and every creeping thing that crept upon the earth.” Genesis 2:15-17 says, “Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it, and the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”