Isaiah 14:12-15
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
Five times we can see the usage of "I will" in the above verses, which reveals the mindset of the devil just before he fell down from the heaven. Let us study about the mindset that caused Lucifer to be kicked out from the heaven. I would like you to read it carefully and meditate on the above verses. We can see the mindset of "I will be, by what I do" or " I don’t have it now, I will have it, by my own performance" or "I am not now, I will be their where i want to be, by my self effort" and will be like the most high, independent of God.
Lucifer was an anointed cherub who covered the mercy seat of God in the heaven. The mercy seat is above the heights of the clouds, above the stars of God and was upon the holy mountain of God. He was covered with precious stones, and he was in the higher rank of the hierarchy of angels.God had already placed him in a high position. In spite of that, he wanted to be earn the position he held by his own effort. This focus on self-effort or independence from God was what kicked him out of the heaven.
Let us read the following verses to understand the position of Lucifer in heaven before his fall.
Ezekiel 28:14-15
Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Long before the creation of man, Lucifer was kicked out from heaven and I believe, he was wandering throughout the universe looking for whom he could devour with his fallen mindset. The mindset of "I will be, by what I do" independent of God was a choice given to Adam in the form of the fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam had two choices in the Garden of Eden, to live by the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, or to live by the life of God through the tree of life. Remember, the only fruit that was forbidden to Adam and Eve was the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Now let us go to the temptation Adam faced in the Garden of Eden by the serpent. It was actually an impartation of the fallen mindset of "I will be, by what I do" independent of God.
Genesis 3:4-5
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
The serpent imparted the mindset of "I will be, by what I do" independent of God to Eve. This led them to the fruit of the knowledge of good and Evil, thereby violating the one and only one commandment of God "Thou shall not eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil". Adam, when he ate the forbidden fruit, sold the whole humanity to the fallen mindset of "I will be, by what I do or "live by the fruit of the knowledge of Good and Evil". Man was not created to live by the fruit of his knowledge of good and evil (human wisdom, performance), he was created to liv e by the fruit of the life of God in him. When Jesus fulfilled the law and died on the cross for the human race, he delivered the humanity from the fallen mindset. What you and I have to do is to purge out the fallen mindset from us, so that the life of Jesus will flow through us.
My friend if you are born again, say "I am what I am by the grace of God", your fasting, praying, tithing, giving cannot earn anything more from God, in addition to what you already have in Jesus. Let your fasting be a time of understanding who you are in Christ, and build an intimacy with the person Jesus. Yield to His life in you, so that His giving, loving and forgiving nature be manifested through you.
Scripture references:
Colossians 1:13 - Deliverance from the power of darkness