There’s a Prize on the Devil’s Head

By Mlungisi Biyela

Do you understand that faith requires resilience to take what belongs to you? Do you know that the Devil keeps to himself things that belong to us from our Father? He wants to mock us, like a criminal who robs and kills people and keep their possession as trophies. Everything good in possession of the Devil does not belong to him at all, he stole it from us. Read about the Bible’s king David’s strategy to take up a cause to save his nation and in the process changed his family’s trajectory and his own. He aimed for the crown on the Devil’s head and gained the kingdom’s royalty, with no previous lineage to the throne. This book is about taking by force from the Devil what belongs to us. He has a crown that he forfeited when he was expelled from Heaven. Therefore, he takes our precious possessions from God and crowns himself with them. Read this book and learn how to do exactly that.

About the Author

Mlungisi Biyela is a social sciences researcher based in Cape Town, South Africa. He is a devoted intercessor and a cancer survivor. He is a qualified teacher and former school manager. He has written a few books on surviving hardships, the application of faith and the goodness of God. He holds an M. Phil in Knowledge Management and Values from the University of Stellenbosch.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mlungisi Biyela
• Release date: May 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005906283

Book preview

THERE’S A PRIZE ON THE DEVIL’S HEAD

THERE’S A PRIZE ON THE DEVIL’S HEAD

Mlungisi Biyela M. Phil

Copyright © 2021 Mlungisi Biyela M. Phil

First edition 2021

Published by Mlungisi Biyela M. Phil Publishing at Smashwords

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without permission from the copyright holder.

The Author has made every effort to trace and acknowledge sources/resources/individuals. In the event that any images/information have been incorrectly attributed or credited, the Author will be pleased to rectify these omissions at the earliest opportunity.

Mlungisi Biyela M. Phil

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Dedication

I dedicate this book to all the Children of God who contend with the wiles of the devil on daily basis but win over him in the end. These are the people who make our society and our world look better. They give meaning to the Gospel of Christ. They understand and know that there is a victory in defeating the devil; there is life to be emulated from them by those who had given up on God because the devil makes them think God doesn’t care about them, which is a great lie from hell.

Acknowledgements

My gratefulness goes to the Almighty God for giving me the energy to write this book in honour of men and women who take the devil head-on when he wants to play his tricks on them.

I want to acknowledge my Mother, Mntwana¹ Jabulile Masondo for her contribution in making me who I am today. The seed of honour she planted in my life is highly appreciated.

¹ (Mntwana is a Zulu word for a prince or princess, someone of royal descent.)

My gratitude to my dear Pastors Bongani and Fisakuphi Madlala of my home church in Dundee, KwaZulu Natal, for the faith seed they planted into my life.

I give honour to my dear Pastors Neville and Wendy McDonald of my city church, Good Hope Christian Centre in Parklands, Cape Town for my spiritual care.

I want to thank my children Tholizaba Biyela-Khanyile, Sibusiso Khanyile, Nondalo Biyela and Zaluthe Biyela, not forgetting my granddaughters for their support over the years.

I wish to thank my niece, Her Royal Highness Mntwana Sibusile Zulu, for encouraging me to continue writing books to spread the good news.

I wish to thank my siblings Mntwana Mbhekeni Calvin Masondo, Ndlunkulu Lindiwe, Mntwana Mbango Emmanuel Masondo, Mntwana Mthembeni (late), Mntwana Senzeni Masondo and Mntwana Bonisile Masondo (late) for their invaluable support.

I salute my friend and colleague who always encouraged me on my writings: Dr Scotney Watts who proofread the original manuscript, providing useful perspectives where necessary. I am grateful to all my other colleagues from the Parliament of South Africa for always encouraging me as well.

Table of Contents

1. Dedication

2. Acknowledgements

3. Explanation of Contexts

4. Identify the Giant or Devil in Your Life

5. Realize That the Giant or Devil is a Small Man With a Will Power to Win

6. You Can Also Do Better Than What the Giant or Devil Can Do, Even More

7. The Giant or Devil Does Not Always Possess What You Have

8. Identify an Eliab or Big Brother in Your Life

9. A Few Sheep Are a Way to Your Promotion and Destiny

10. Take the Prize on the Devil’s Head

11. Conclusion

12. References

Explanation of Contexts

Price: In this context price means the ransom God gives to all His children who are prepared to take down the devil and expel him from their lives, families, workplace and minds.

Prize: In this context prize means the crown of God’s children that is on the devil, where it does not belong. The prize or crown belongs to God’s children, because He sent His Son to make them the righteousness of God. God’s children are supposed to strip the devil and take the crown for themselves.

Please note:

Wherever I mention how I traversed on the faith journey, all credit and glory go to the Lord who gave me the strength. On my own, nothing is feasible.

CHAPTER 1

Identify the Giant or Devil In Your Life

My message throughout this book will be based on 1 Samuel 17: 25-28 (NLT), which reads as follows:

²⁵ Have you seen the giant? the men asked. He comes out each day to defy Israel. The king has offered a huge reward to anyone who kills him. He will give that man one of his daughters for a wife, and the man’s entire family will be exempted from paying taxes!

²⁶ David asked the soldiers standing nearby, What will a man get for killing this Philistine and ending his defiance of Israel? Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?

²⁷ And these men gave David the same reply. They said, Yes, that is the reward for killing him.

²⁸ But when David’s oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. What are you doing around here anyway? he demanded. What about those few sheep you’re supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and deceit. You just want to see the battle!

Each one of us experiences the devil in different ways. He tries to kill all the plans that God has on every person’s life. Remember that God had in Jeremiah 29 already said:

¹¹ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. ¹² Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you (NKJV).

Here, the Lord had already promised each one of us a good future and hope. Each one of us is born with this in-dwelling good future and hope. It won’t change. All we have to do is to pray to Him, not to our gods, as He had already promised that He will listen to us. However, the devil’s mission is always to steal, kill and destroy God’s thoughts and dreams about us as well as what we dream and think about ourselves in the Lord. Still, a call on and prayer to the Lord will make Him listen. I know that most people believe that what the Lord had already said will come automatically just because He had said it. I beg to differ with that mindset. Not in all cases will that happen.

I have heard the argument within the Christian circles that as long as there is grace all will be well. Those who profess this to the extreme believe that when the counter-argument about the other perspective that we should not promote laziness and abounding in sin by abusing grace; the response is that people were already sinning before grace was preached and promoted. I believe that that argument is true to some degree. However, I also believe that promoting laziness and abounding in sin by abusing grace is also true. All we have to do is to find a balance in both perspectives, especially because they are both true.

Grace makes us to labour in love because grace is there to support us where we stumble. Grace is a force from God that gives us the power to endure in hard times, to labour in love, to walk in the park when we have to receive and enjoy the blessings from God. Grace encompasses all these extremes. It is not a fixated realm where all one can do is to relax. It involves doing what is right, not because you rely on human works, but because God did something to redeem the world through Jesus. Grace draws us closer to God where we begin to walk in righteousness, we being acutely aware that it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance and to good works befitting that repentance (Romans 2:4).

Jesus did something by laying down His life to perfect the plan. The Holy Spirit did something by moving and shaking all evil power and replaced it by in-dwelling in man. The apostles did something after receiving the Holy Spirit to move in Him to preach, baptize and heal people. People did something by accepting Jesus and confessing that He is Lord. They moved in His power, they didn’t just relax.

So, we better identify this devil that is prancing around to steal, kill and destroy the Lord’s plan concerning us. I support the message of grace, but I need a balancing act on it too by saying grace teaches us to endure too. Remember Paul’s prayer to God to take out a thorn in his flesh. God said to him His grace is enough to carry him through (2 Corinthians 12: 8-9). That is the message that is not popular within the church today. Jesus Himself said in as much as He wanted the cup to be taken away from Him.

He (Jesus) still wanted the Lord to prevail to give Him the strength to fulfil the Plan; that is to go through what Jesus was supposed to go through to save the world. Then you might say Jesus then had already done the work. Fair enough, He has. But He was showing us an example that some cups have to be taken in as much as God can remove other cups from us.

I am yet to see a pastor who would say he started nicely and smoothly to be where he or she is now. It was not easy for all of them, even for those that inherited ministries from their parents. This is because the Lord wants a pastor to cherish his or her ministry knowing where he or she came from to be where he or she is today. So, why should we say things shall always be easy as a result of grace? I beg to differ. Some situations will be easy and some will not be. Nevertheless, what I know about an easy and a difficult situation is that they both have an inherent testimony in them for the children of God.

A balancing act is therefore the best option for me. John the Baptist was a preamble to the Ministry of Jesus, but he had to go through a tough time and was ultimately beheaded. Jesus did not rescue Him from the guillotine, He just relayed a message that blind people see and the lame walk in the new dispensation. However, the new dispensation did not salvage John from the guillotine. John’s redemption was beyond the grave and he is one of the saints in Heaven as we speak.

Now, back to 1 Samuel 17: 25-28 (NLT) with emphasis on verses 25 and 26 for this chapter. Here is what it says:

²⁵ Have you seen the giant? the men asked. He comes out each day to defy Israel. The king has offered a huge reward to anyone who kills him. He will give that man one of his daughters for a wife, and the man’s entire family will be exempted from paying taxes!

²⁶ David asked the soldiers standing nearby, "What will a man get for killing this Philistine and ending his defiance of Israel? Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of