Spirit-Living Devotional
Apostle Osborn
DEFY DEATH
[[Act 28:3]] KJV And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
While gathering sticks to kindle fire because of the cold, a venomous viper came out of the heat and fastened on Paul’s hand. Viper is a very poisonous snake in the family viperidae. It’s venom when unleashed into the bloodstream clots the blood, swells you up, and kills you in a matter of minutes.
When the vicious venomous viper escaping the heat fastened on Paul’s hand and unleashed the deadly venom into Paul’s blood stream, the onlookers expected him to swell up and die. But the bible says, “Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god” *(Act 28:6).
Paul defied death. He had come to terms with the divinity encapsulated in his humanity. He was living out what Jesus said about us: “They (believers) shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” *(Mar 16:18).
The bible says Paul “…shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm” *(Act 28:5). What faith? What audacity? He didn’t fret. No panic: he just shook off the serpent into the fire as if he had just swatted a fly from off his shoulder and lived on. Glory to God. We carry this same life. Death can’t work in us. Unfortunately, many do not demonstrate the same faith.
The time has come for you to demonstrate your divine life. Refuse to accommodate death. Venom is incompatible with your genotype. Your genetic constitution was alternated when you became born again. You live above death. Don’t just believe it; live it! Defy death. Stop entertaining thoughts of dying young. The devil is a lair; I see you defy death! Glory!
Confession:
The life of God is in me. Death is not compatible with me. I function with the ability of the Holy Ghost. I’m full of God. Venom can’t work in me. Life is in me. I’m blessed and healthy in Jesus’ name.
