2  

“SHUT THE  

DOOR!” by

Gene Evans

“Neither give place to the devil…. Ephesians 4:27

Submit yourselves to GOD, resist

The devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

MEET THE BELIEVERS, INC.

P.O. Box 813 Douglasville, Ga. 30133

(770) 949-4973

  3  

 

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Gene and June Evans have dedicated their lives to teaching people that the Bible is a practical guide to problems that Christians face in their businesses, on their jobs, in their homes and in every aspect of their lives. God has anointed them with the ability to teach His Word with clarity, simplicity and great depth of understanding. Gene and June are noted speakers and travel extensively in ministry teaching and ministering across the globe through their own ministry, Meet The Believers, Inc. This book was originally written in the early 1980’s and is now available in digital format as originally transcribed.

  4  

The Lord has been speaking to me lately and this is what I want to share with you. God has been saying to me: “Shut the door.” He’s been saying: “Tell my people to shut the door.”

I believe what the Bible teaches that everything that we will ever need as Christians has already been provided for in what Jesus did at Calvary. The Word of God is clear on this. The Bible says: “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10 “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” 1 John 3:2 “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” James 1:2-4)

  5  

Have you ever had a desire to be “perfect, entire, wanting nothing?” When Jesus went to the cross He was punished for our sins, so that we could be forgiven. I believe the He also became sin that we could be righteous. You and I, as Christians, can live in the righteousness of God—not our own righteousness, but the righteousness that has been provided for us through Jesus. I believe that Jesus was stripped and beaten so that we could be healed. I believe that He became sick so that we could live in health. I believe that He became a curse so that we could have the blessings of Abraham upon our lives. I believe that He became poor, that we could be rich and have prosperity in the spirit, soul, and body. Jesus, in His death and resurrection, provided a way for us to be “perfect, entire, and wanting nothing.” I don’t believe there’s anything lacking. EVERYTHING has already been provided. SATAN IS A DEFEATED FOE

But, with that in mind, we also need to understand that Satan has already been absolutely defeated by God. That’s one thing we ought to settle as Christians. He was defeated when Jesus went to Calvary. In Colossians 2:15 it says, “And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” That means when Jesus hung on the cross, the devil had had it. God displayed Satan openly and said to him, “You’re defeated.”

  6  

Now Satan doesn’t want you to know that he’s defeated, and he’s going to do everything he can to keep you from finding out that he’s defeated. When Jesus went to the cross He gained dominion and authority over the devil and now believers have the authority over the devil. Jesus Christ gave believers that authority. You and I, as Christians, are the ones that can tell the devil to leave us alone. We have that authority because Jesus went to Calvary. He’s given us His name; He’s given us His blood; He’s given us the gifts of the Spirit; He’s given us the baptism of the Holy Spirit; He’s given us the fruit of the Spirit; He’s given us everything we will ever need.

Now, God is saying to us, YOU resist the devil; YOU defeat him. Don’t let him hinder you because now the devil is under YOUR feet. Did you realize that? The devil is under YOUR feet. LET’S HELP ONE ANOTHER

So it’s our responsibility then as Christians to take authority over the devil and to shut the door to the devil. The Bible says in Ephesians 4:27, “Neither give place to the devil.” That means don’t give him any room in your life whatsoever. It’s our place as Christians to stand together. If I find something in my life that’s working and find a way that I can shut the door to the devil, and you find something that works in your life and find a way that you can defeat the

  7  

devil in a certain area, then it’s our responsibility as Christians to share with one another and to work together. We can stand together because we have authority over the devil, and we need to share with another. The Bible says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6). It’s not that the devil is not defeated. It’s just that we don’t know the devil is defeated. We don’t have the knowledge in certain areas that the devil is defeated. The Bible says, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself lest thou also be tempted.” (Galatians 6:1) That means if you’re having trouble, and I’m not having trouble in that area I should come to you and say, “Well, look, I have found how to get the devil out of that particular area of your life. Let me share with you. Let’s work together.” As the Church, the Body of Christ, we need to stand together in the things we learn from God. HOW TO SHUT THE DOOR Therefore, what I’m going to share with you are some things in my life that have been helpful in giving no place to the devil and in shutting the door to him. There may be some areas in your lives that are problems. Perhaps you have a door open to Satan, and you didn’t know you had an open door. As I share with you, then I will reveal to you how

  8  

to shut the door and give no place to the devil in that part of your life.

1. REPENT The first door that we come upon as Christians, the door

with which we’re confronted when we are born into the family of God, is THE LACK OF REPENTANCE. I remember before I became a Christian, I heard somebody share about how great God was. The Spirit of God began to grip me and I thought, “What they’re talking about is what I’d like to have in my life.” I felt the convicting power of the Spirit of God. As they shared, I began to cry, “Why did I not get saved?” Crying doesn’t save anybody. You must repent. Repentance means that you have to change your mind. You’re convicted by the Spirit of God and you have to make a change. You have to make a decision, “I will live for God. I’m tired of going my own way. I want to God’s way. “ So, you decide to change. The things you used to do, you will have to reject. That is repentance.

2. Don’t Play With Satan

There comes a place in our lives when, as Christian

begin to close the door to THE THINGS OF SATAN. We don’t play with the devil as Christians. Repentance means that we go God’s way. As a Christian, I discovered that there are many areas in life where I was tempted to indulge in things that were Satanic in nature. Television programs portrayed witchcraft and occult power. Newspapers carried

  9  

horoscopes foretelling the future. It seemed like an unimportant thing to watch a television program concerning witchcraft or to read a horoscope. One night as I was sleeping, I had a dream. I dreamed that I caught a snake on the end of a stick. You may have seen these sticks with a loop that you put over the head of the snake and pull that loop tightly. I had that snake on the end of such a stick. I was having a good time playing with the snake when the snake began to grow as I held it. That snake got bigger, and he began to fight me and to wrap his tail around my legs. As he began to do that, he got bigger and I became tired. As that snake was just beginning to envelope me, I woke up in a cold sweat. God spoke to me, “You can’t play with the devil.”

If you’re reading horoscopes, if your playing around watching television programs that portray the power of Satan, if you’re playing with the devil in any way, it’s time to renounce that as sin and say, “God, forgive me. I’ll never do that again. I turn from it.” In other words, repent. Christians cannot become involved with the things of Satan. You come under a curse. It’s time Christians woke up and repented. We must shut the door to Satan and go God’s way.

3. Get Baptized With Water

Another thing that we’re face with immediately after we become Christians is WATER BAPTISM. I believe the Bible emphasizes that when a person is born again he has to be

  10  

baptized in water in order to be in obedience to God’s Word. It’s amazing how many Christians take water baptism lightly. They are saved and are born into God’s family. However, they don’t seem to place any importance upon water baptism. In the Bible when people were born again, they were always baptized in water. There’s no exception. We need to follow the Biblical examples and stress water baptism. God commands us to be baptized in water. When you are baptized in water you’re making a declaration to the world, to the believers, to the devil, and to all the demons of hell that, from this moment on you are on God’s side. You are breaking contact with the devil and are identifying yourself with the Lord Jesus in His death, His burial, and His resurrection. You are now a Christian. If you’ve never done that, you have a door open to Satan, and God says, “Tell my people to shut the door.” Be baptized in water.

4. Set Yourself Apart To Serve God

Another door that I believe we’re confronted with at

salvation is in the area of SANCTIFICATION. The Bible says, “The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching the innermost parts of the belly.” I believe that when you’re born again, your spirit becomes alive and active. The Spirit of God in our spirits works in us to show us things in our lives that need to be corrected our eliminated altogether.

  11  

This is sanctification – setting ourselves apart to serve God. This happened in my life. There are things I don’t do today that I did when I first became a Christian. As I began to mature spiritually and let the Spirit of God work in my life, I saw that there were things that I could no longer do. The Spirit of God would convict me of these things and I would correct or eliminate them.

If we’ll listen to the Spirit of God, God will work in our

lives so that we will be set apart, and we won’t be like the rest of the world. We won’t talk like the world. We won’t act like the world. We’ll be the people of God – set apart to serve God, letting the Spirit of God lead us and guide us. I’ve discovered that I cannot behave as the world does. I have the Spirit of God on the inside of me who convicts me of wrong and causes me to move in line with the Word of God. You need to sanctify yourself. Let God set you apart to His service. If you don’t shut the door, Satan has an inroad into your life.

5. Be Submissive Another door is in the area of SUBMISSION. I know this is a subject that has been abused, but that does not mean that submission is not a valid Scriptural principle. When we are born into God's family, we should come under submission, not only in the home and in the Church, but also in every area of our lives. The Bible teaches Christians

  12  

are to be submitted. There is a law of command in the family. The Bible says, "Let the woman be subject to the husband, the husband be subject to Christ, and Christ the God." That's a chain of command that should be operative in a Christian home. The Bible also teaches that in the Church we are to submit ourselves one to another, and we are to submit to those that have the rule over us and watch for our souls -- our Pastors. There's a submission involved. As Christians, we are expected to submit to authority. The Bible says that, "Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft." If we don't submit to God's chain of authority, we become rebels, and that becomes an open door to Satan. Then God cannot work in our lives the way He wants to. We need to be submitted. When one commits himself to a local assembly of believers, he should be so closely tied to the people of the local assembly that if he tries to rebel there will be those there that will reach out and begin to help him. Did you know as long as you stand on the outside fringe of a congregation or local assembly, there's no one that feels responsible for you? I want someone to feel responsible for me. If I begin to get into error, I want somebody to say, "That's not right. You don't need to be doing that. You need to watch what you're doing because you're getting into error." I would appreciate that in my life. And, I'm committed to my local church that if I tried to break fellowship and leave, there would be no way to leave wrong. I want to have somebody watching for my soul. I want a

  13  

Pastor responsible for me. I believe that's the law of God. If we are not submitted, we have left a door open to Satan and we need to close it. You have to be under authority to have authority. You have to be submitted to authority in order to exercise authority. Did you know that? Did you know the authority that a policeman has is no the fact he's a large man in size? The authority that policeman has when he holds up his hand and says, "STOP!" is the authority of the local city. And, if that's not big enough, the County backs him. And, if that's not big enough, the State backs him. And, if that's not big enough, the United States of America and all the National Guard, and all the armed forces of this country back him. The policeman is under the authority of the Country, and he has authority when he is under authority. I believe the angels of God recognize authority and when we've submitted to authority, the angels of God are obligated to see that we don't dash our foot against a stone, and that no evil comes nigh us, and that no plague comes nigh our dwelling. That's what Psalm 91 is talking about when it states that we are under the shadow of the Almighty. God wants a people that are committed, submitted, obedient, and faithful. Did you know the Bible says that if we're faithful in little things, God will make us faithful in big things? Have you ever wanted to start out on top? I've always wanted to start out on top, but God says start out being faithful in little things and we can get faithful in big

  14  

things. Be we don't start out faithful in big things; we start out faithful in little things. 6. Discern The Lord's Body Another door that I believe we leave open is NOT DISCERNING THE LORD'S BODY. The Bible says, "Because of this many are weak and sickly among you." The "this" is not discerning the Lord's body. This has a two-fold application. First of all, as Christians, we need to be able to discern that when Jesus took those stripes upon His back and was bruised, He did it for our healing. We need to discern that. We need to appropriate that for our lives. The Bible teaches us that when we're born again we get into the family of God, and that's the ONLY way into the family of God. At salvation we become members IN PARITCULAR within the family of God. If we come to the place where we do not recognize that ever born again child of God is in the family of God, we have failed to discern the Body of Christ. Paul says that this caused Christians to be sick and weak. Find a group of Christians, even a group of Pentecostal Spirit-filled people, that have withdrawn from the fellowship of the Body of Christ, and you will discover a sick group. We have to discern the Lord's body by recognizing that every born again child of God is in God's family. They are our brothers and sisters in the Lord. We need to recognize them. Don't you criticize a child of God.

  15  

He is in your family. We need to have fellowship with God's family. Visit with them. Get to know them. It's been a great blessing in my life to know that God's got a BIG family. The Bible says in Revelation 7:9, "Lo, a great multitude which no man could number out of all nations and kindreds and peoples and tongues…." The multitude is pictured standing in heaven worshiping God. God's got a BIG family. So, if you've never discerned the Lord's body, begin now. Close the door -- and begin to recognize that God's got a BIG family. 7. Confess All Sins Another open door is UNCONFESSED SINS. Did you know God didn't find out about your sins when you confessed them? Sometimes we're afraid to confess something. We're afraid it may shock God, but God already knows about it. God didn't find out about it when you confessed it. When you confessed it is when God forgave you of it. The Bible says, "If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." When we sin and God's Spirit convicts us, we ought to repent and confess it at that moment. The cleansing power of God will flood over you, and your will be forgiven. Don't have un-confessed sin in your life. When you sin, confess it and God will forgive you. Judge yourself, the Bible says.

  16  

8. Always Tithe NOT TITHING is another open door to the devil. The Bible says in Malachi 3:8-10, "Will a man rob God? Yet, you have robbed Me. But ye say, wherein have we robbed Thee? In tithes and offerings. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse that there may be meat in my house, and prove me now herewith, sayeth the Lord of Hosts, and see if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it, and I will rebuke the devourer for your sake." What a privilege it is to be a thither in the family of God and know that when the devil starts to come against you that God steps in between you and him and rebukes Satan for your sake. People say they can't afford to tithe. You can't afford NOT to tithe. God makes a difference in the tither. He'll rebuke the devourer for your sake. The Bible says that your fruit won't fall before its time. It's one of the greatest privileges any child of God could ever have -- to know that God is going to work in your life and make a difference. I know it works. When my wife and I began tithing there was no way financially we could afford to tithe. God convicted me on not tithing many years ago when my Pastor preached a sermon entitled, "A TIP OR A TITHE?" I saw myself giving God a tip. I attempted to show God why I couldn't tithe. I added up ALL my income, which wasn't large, and added up ALL my bills, which were large. I proved to god there was NO WAY I could tithe. There was no way humanly possible for us to tithe. But what my Pastor

  17  

said kept ringing in my ears. He said, "You NEVER can tithe if you wait till you can afford to tithe. You have to start on faith, and then watch God move the mountains that will allow you to tithe." By faith my wife and I began tithing. God proved that His Word was true. Since that time He has met ALL my needs. The Word is true, and God will pour out blessings upon you. If you're not a tither, close that door. Begin tithing. 9. Get Rid Of All Envy And Strife Another door that wee need to close is ENVY AND STRIFE. James 1:16, "For where envy and strife are, there is confusion and every evil work." Where envy and strife are, there is confusion and EVERY EVIL WORK. Did you know as a Christian you cannot afford the luxury of bickering, arguing, and strife? When you do that you open yourself up to every evil work. You must decide that you will not be involved in envying, strife, bickering, etc. Decide to let love and harmony flow. If you don't do it you "Open yourself to EVERY EVIL WORK." Now, that's a lot of evil. Close the door to every evil work. 10. Keep The Word Of God Another open door we need to close is NOT OBSERVING THE WORD OF GOD, or not obeying the Word of God as we hear it preached. Did you know the blessings found in Deuteronomy 28 are promised to those that observe and DO the Word? Keep the commandments and the Word of God.

  18  

If you hear a sermon preached and God reveals something to you in a certain area, begin to walk on what God shows you. You may stumble and fall down a few times, but get up and walk on the Word of God. Never come to the place where you discard the Word of God. If I had discarded the Word of God every time I stumbled, I would today be a miserable failure. But, I never gave up. I'd get up and try again. And sometimes I tried more than one time…more than two times. But sooner or later we will rise up and find the Word of God IS true and alive, and it WILL work for every believer who will put it into practice. Stand on the Word of God. If you don't that's an open door to the devil. 11. Walk In Love Another open door to the devil is NOT WALKING IN LOVE. The Bible says in 1 John 2:10, "Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no occasion for stumbling, or cause for error or sin." If you walk in love, you won't always be stumbling. You won't always be in error and in sin. As Christians, it's our obligation to walk in love. Love will never fail. If you begin to love people you can be assured of one thing and that is you will never fail. We need to recognize that God loves us, that we're His children, and that His hand is on our lives. We need to realize that everybody in the family of God and outside the family of God is a person that we need to love. You can actually win people into the family of God by loving them, for love will never fail. It's the child of God with the love of God on the inside of him that can reach out to those people that

  19  

are unlovely and unlovable. God is on the inside of you, and you can love people like that with the love of God that's on the inside. When people begin to irritate you and do things that you don't think are right, instead of your being irritated and holding resentment, learn to forgive. The Bible says that when you stand praying if you have anything against anybody, forgive, or your heavenly Father can't forgive you. (Mark 11:26) The Bible also, in teaching on this, gives a parable of the unforgiving servant. A man was forgiven by his master of a large debt. Then this man went out in the street and met someone that owed him a small amount. He was not willing to forgive that small debt. When the man's master heard of it, he took that man and handed him over to the tormenters to be tormented day and night because of unforgiveness. (Matthew 18) I believe the tormenters are demon spirits of hell. That same Scripture points out that unforgiveness opens your life to tormenters. The demon spirits of hell will gnaw at you day and night if you refuse to forgive. It's much better to forgive. The people you need to forgive are the ones closest to you. Those are the ones that can hurt you. You know, I don't have any trouble with people that are distantly related to me. I don't even know their names. They don't cause me a bit of trouble. It's those people that are close to me that give me problems. Learn to walk in love Learn to forgive.

  20  

12. Give No Place To Fear Another door that we leave open to the devil is FEAR. The Bible says in Job 3:35, "The thing that I greatly feared has come upon me." Fear opens the door to the devil. Fear is the opposite of faith. Fear is gripping people today. Let me give you a secret that I've found that works. As a believer with authority over the devil, it really helps sometimes to turn on him and use words. Words have life and spirit in them, especially if they are the words of God. Turn to that spirit of fear that's beginning to grip you and say, "You spirit of fear, I command you in Jesus' name, loose me and let me go." What has to happen? Fear will have to go. Let the Spirit of God rise up on the inside of you and rebuke the devil in the name of Jesus, and he’ll have to flee. So, don't let fear grip you and leave you open to the devil. Get it out of your life. 13. Learn To Praise God WE NEED TO LEARN HOW TO PRAISE GOD. Did you know that praise closes the door to Satan in your life? Psalm 8:2 says that praise will still the enemy and avenger. That means that when the devil is pursuing you, if you will begin to praise God "praise will still the avenger and the enemy: and cause him to flee the other way, as you begin to praise. Now, I know that's hard on people who have never had the tradition of praising God. The first time you begin to praise God, and especially in an atmosphere where the majority of the people are praising God and clapping their

  21  

hands, and raising their arms -- just begin to do it. Nobody is going to see you. If they do, they will think you are one of them. And nobody will look at your funny. Begin to praise God and you will find out that you can close the door to the devil. When you're at home, get in a room by yourself and learn how to praise God. It will become natural to worship and praise God after a while. As you drive your car, just roll the windows up and shout and sing to God as loudly as you can. It will cause your spirit to be loosed and the devil to flee away from you. Begin now to praise God. 14. Put On The Whole Armor Of God Another door we need to close is FAILING TO PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD. The Bible says, "Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." We are to "gird our loins with truth." (Ephesians 6:11) I believe it's high time Christians realized that it's the truth that will set us free. I cannot tell a white lie or a brown lie or a yellow lie. I have found that if I tell anything other than the truth, the Spirit of God convicts me of it. It takes the truth coming out a believer's mouth to keep the devil off his back because that's the way we gird up our loins. We need to put on that "breastplate of righteousness" and let the devil know it's there. We ought to just pull our coats back and say, "Look, that's the breastplate of righteousness there, devil. It's not MY righteousness. That's the righteousness of God. I wear it because I am a child of God and I belong to the family of

  22  

God. Let the devil know you wear the breastplate of righteousness. If you go around thinking you're a no-good worm you'll never get anywhere with the devil because that's what he's saying you are. The devil is agreeing with you, and the Bible says, "If two of you agree" you can cause anything to happen. (Matthew 18:19) I believe it's a lot better to get God to agree with you than it is to get the devil to agree with you. And we need to have our feet shod with the "preparation of the gospel of peace." Everything we do ought to be wrapped up in bringing peace to the body of Christ. We should never sow discord or disharmony. And we need to put up "the shield of faith to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." We need to "put on the helmet of salvation" and realize that when we're saved -- we're saved! We're somebody, we're saved, we're healed, we're preserved, we're sound, and we're in God's family because we are children of God. Let the helmet of salvation guard your mind, and when the devil tries to come against you and say you're not say, ""Yes I am." We need to take the "sword of the Spirit" which is the Word of God. Get into the Word and meditate in the Word of God. Let the Word of God get into your spirit and bring maturity into your life. And then the Bible says, "Praying always, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit…" (Ephesians 6:18). The Bible

  23  

says if I pray in tongues my spirit prays. Some people go around knocking speaking in tongues. The only thing I can say is that if you don't speak in tongues, you don't have the full armor of God. Because it says, "Praying always with all prayer, and supplication in the Spirit." What a joy to know that when we pray in tongues we are speaking directly to our heavenly Father. God has given us a hot line so that when we pray in the Spirit, we are talking directly to God and not to man. It would be great is the President of the United States would come out with a private phone in my bedroom and say, "Now, brother Gene, anytime you want to talk to me, just get on this phone, and I'll answer on the other end. And we will talk man to man." But, I've got something better than that. I already have a hot line to my heavenly Father. He says, "Gene, anytime you want to speak to me just get on this hot line and you will not be praying to men, but to Me." And I enjoy that. I enjoy praying to my Father in the spirit. The Bible says if I do that, I will edify myself and build myself up. I will build up my faith by praying in the Holy Ghost (Jude 1:20). I can pray for things I don't know how to pray for (1 Corinthians 14), and for people I don't know how to pray for, if I pray in the Spirit with groanings that can't be uttered with my own natural tongue. (Romans 8:26) What a privilege. 15. Put A Guard On Your Tongue I have one other door. It's probably the biggest door, and I'm amazed that so many people have not shut this door to the devil. YOUR TONGUE IS AN OPEN DOOR TO THE

  24  

DEVIL. Ephesians 4:27 says, "Neither give place to the devil," and goes on to say, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is edifying, that it may minister brace to the hearers and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby you are sealed until the day of redemption." All through the Bible it teaches that our lives are controlled and directed by out tongues. It says that if a man can control his tongue, he can control his whole body (James 3). It says, "Life and death are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21). There is blessing and cursing in the tongue and by your tongue "you are condemned" (Matthew 12:37). The Bible also says, "you can have what you say" (Mark 11:24). The tongue is important. James 3:5 says, "Even so, the tongue is a little member and boasteth great things; behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth." Do you know that kindling is wood? If you've ever lived in the country, you know that you don't put a log in the fireplace and take a match and try to start that fire. It will never burn. If you're going to start a fire, you get kindling wood -- small pieces of wood, preferably pine from the heart of an old stump -- and put that under the log with some paper and then strike your match. The kindling will burn until the log catches fire. Now, you and I have a log of life that we're living. The devil knows that he can't come right in and completely

  25  

destroy your log of life. So what does he do? He's programmed us to talk the way he wants us to talk. What if I stood here and said, "Man, that just tickles me to death," and the devil made me fall over dead? He wouldn't ever do that. You know why? Because nobody would ever say it again, that's why. It would make a believer out of most people. It would me. I wouldn’t have to see but one person fall over dead, and I would never say that again. But I want to show you how the devil will let it work. We go around "tickled to death," and "scared to death," "dying to go," and "sick and tired of hearing those kids fuss." All of these words are kindling that we're putting to our logs of life. There will come a time when we might be out of a job, everybody in the family sick, or other calamities begin to happen all at once. It's because our log is on fire. And we started the fire with kindling -- by the way we talked. Even the world trains people to talk right. You go into a sales meeting and one of the first things you're taught is "Be positive. Talk victory all the way." And victory comes as people watch the way they talk. But, in the church, we often talk defeat and destroy the lives of Christians. Yes, it's time we closed the door on negative talking. That's what God spoke to me. "Tell My people to shut the door. Tell My people to SHUT THE DOOR."