Putting the Snake in the Grass to Flight
by Kenneth Copeland
This article is an excerpt from the new book by Kenneth Copeland titled "Racism in the Church—Kill the Root, Destroy the Tree."
“For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.”—James 3:16
No one in their right mind would willingly turn a rattlesnake loose in their home. Yet people everywhere are doing it, right now. They’re throwing open the doors of their lives to a spiritual snake so deadly that, according to the Bible, it brings with it “every evil work.” They’re making themselves vulnerable to a demonic enemy whose aim is to steal, kill and destroy, and whose strategy is to divide and conquer.
You can tell how well the strategy is working just by looking around. The results are clear for all to see: people fussing and fighting with each other, relationships rupturing, entire groups of people arguing, accusing and hating each other—over everything from government policy to race and religion.
As if that weren’t bad enough, most of the people involved don’t have the first clue as to why it’s all happening. They can sense they’re being threatened and wounded, but they’re totally unaware of the snake in the grass. Determined to defend themselves, they’re fighting with each other because they don’t know who else to fight.
Even many born-again children of God have gotten caught up in the confusion. But, I’m writing this book because it’s time for that to change. It’s time for believers in Jesus to identify and go after the one who’s actually behind all the strife and division. We’re the only people who can do it. While others flounder helplessly in the face of this enemy, we’ve been equipped with the spiritual power to overcome him. We’ve been given the divine authority and ability to not only defend ourselves against this snake in the grass, but to rise up against him on behalf of others.
It’s one of the first things Gloria and I learned when we started in the ministry many years ago. Spiritually, we didn’t know very much back then. We certainly didn’t have as much revelation as we do today. But we did understand this: “Where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work” (James 3:16).
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