Speak the truth of God’s Word into your life. Believe Him. Trust Him,
learn of Him and know He is with you where ever you go. Make Him the
focus of your life and grow in relationship with Him.
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”—Phil. 4:13
Believe it. Speak it to yourself in faith.
When you are facing something that is causing you to fear, or doubt.
Turn to God. Trust Him and speak the truth into your life. Tell yourself
out loud.
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
He is with you. He is working in you and through you if you know Him.
If you are trying to accomplish something; know that he is with you. Trust the Word.
Are you concerned with having your needs met? Trust God. Stand on the Word. Speak this verse to yourself and believe it.
“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.’—Phil. 4:19
What does it say? Does it say “Some”? No it says “All”. God will take care of you. Say it. and trust Him.
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”— Rom. 10:17
Speak the Word of God out loud to yourself and others. Believe it.
Say
“My God shall supply all my need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
Say it out loud and trust it. It is a fact.
Speaking the Word out loud builds faith.
Is something making you think you lost your salvation? Turn to God
and ask Him to save you through Jesus Christ and speak these words over
your fear.
“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.:—John 6:37
If you know Jesus, He will not cast you out. You might stumble. You
might drift away, but He is with you still. Just turn to Him and ask.
“I am in Christ, and He will not cast me out.” Say it and believe it.
“And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.”—John 6:39
If we know Him, we will be with Him on that day.
Are you confused? Are demons whispering into your mind trying to get you to think God is out to get you?
Trust God.
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”—Rom. 8:28
Say it out loud.
“All things work together for my good. I love God and He has called me to Him and His purpose for my life. He is with me.”
Believe it. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
Your faith expands when you hear God’s truth and you trust Him.
It’s sort of like stirring yourself up, except that it is spirit. His
words are spirit and truth. They impact your soul and spirit and the
things beyond the veil. They build up faith, and when you see Him move,
your faith grows as well.
Are you facing something you cannot overcome, like addiction or some task?
“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”—Rom. 8:37
Say it.
“I am a conqueror in Jesus name. I will overcome through Him.”
Speak it and believe it.
Do not let the devil, beat you down with fear and doubt. Stand on
God’s Word. Believe His promises and speak them into your life and the
life of others.
The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy.
But, Jesus came to give us life, and to give it more abundantly. (John 10:10)
“I have an abundant life in Jesus name. He has saved me and is blessing me.”
If the enemy can get you to stop trusting God, then you have no where to turn. You can believe the Word.
Even if God is causing you problems or allowing it. It is for your
good, and you can trust Him. Pray the Word. Speak the promises.
Stand on it.
(Do you have prayer requests or praises? Tell me in the comments or message me.)
The Bible speaks of reaping and sowing. (Gal. 6: 7-9, 2 Cor. Chapter 9, )
When God created the world He spoke forth certain principles. Seeds
fall to the ground and make plants. If you plant a seed it will grow.
There is a time to plant and a time to harvest. ( Gen. 1: 11-12, Gen.
8:22, Ecc. 3: 1-13)
Now God does not play around. When He does something it is done
right. So, His laws are not just physical. They are also spiritual. All
creation sees and understands this principle.
When God set reaping and sowing into motion in our world, the
creation kept doing it. The process of reaping what we sow is a fact and
goes on all the time, because that’s how it was designed. Of course
there are lots of aspects that goes with this concept, but it is a
biblical truth.
We reap what we sow. Whether good for good or bad for bad.
So, let’s look at three biblical truths that should encourage us or warn us.
1. Give and It Shall be Given Unto You:
Jesus said, “Give and it shall be given unto you, pressed down shaken together shall men give unto your bosom.” (Luke 6:38)
This is a spiritual truth. If you give, things will come back. And
it’s not just spiritual blessings. The verse says “Men shall give”. Men
cannot give you a spiritual blessing. This verse is an example of the
reaping and sowing law at work in the creation.
But, it’s not just for good. Because if you do not sow, neither shall
you reap. (2 Cor. 9: 6-7) If you are not willing to help others or be a
cheerful giver. It’s quite possible you will not get blessings or help
when you need it as well.
Which takes us into the next concept.
2. Do Unto Other As You Would Have Done Unto You:
We often look at this saying from Jesus and think it’s a wise moral
law. (Luke 6:31) But, what if it’s more than that. Maybe it’s a truth in
regards to reaping and sowing. Maybe it’s more than just cause and
effect. You are mean to some one, so they are mean back to you. This is
true. It happens.
But, what if its more? What if it’s saying that if you are mean to people, you will run into people who are mean to you someday.
If you are unkind, it will come back into your life later on.
It’s the way the creation was designed.
3. If They Will Not Work Neither Shall They Eat:
A lot of Christians use this verse as a reason to not help the poor.
Basically claiming that since they won’t or don’t work a job or a
satisfactory job, they should starve to death with their children. (2
Thess. 3:10)
That was not God’s intent. He wants us to love and help and give.
But, if we find after loving and helping that a person is just taking
advantage and not trying to do anything to help themselves, we can
withdraw help. But, that is not our first act. That is a last resort.
Our first act is to love.
But, keeping in line with the context of reaping and sowing, perhaps
the verse is more than physical flesh. Maybe it’s reaping and sowing. We
know that if we will not work, we cannot get a harvest. This is cause
and effect.
But, consider that if you refuse to do the Lord’s work, you will not
be fed spiritually. We learn a lot in our spiritual walk when we step
outside ourselves and follow the Spirit. If we refuse or don’t listen we
miss the blessing and spiritual food we can gain from God, by working
with Him.
So, when some Christians use this verse as an excuse to not help
others. They are actually cursing themselves. They will reap what they
sow…nothing. And on that day when He comes they will find that they have
no oil in their lamps and that they buried their talents in the sand.
(Matt. 25.)
***
People will say, “it’s not supposed to be about what you get back or get out of it”
It doesn’t matter what you think or believe on the subject. Reaping
and sowing is a law. It occurs whether you like it or want it or not.
It’s like gravity. You can say what you want, but when you step off that building you will fall. Period.
Every thought and action within the creation will bring a return. If
you do bad. You will get bad. if you do good. You get good. If you do
nothing. You get nothing.
This is why God has told us about it, and warned us about it. His
warnings on our behavior is a warning of what will come back on us.
When God created the world, He created it good. But, we fell and
death and sin entered the world. Then, God laid down the curse, to get
us to turn back to Him.
The creation was not originally designed for evil. The reaping and
sowing was designed to bring good. Because everything in the creation
would be doing good. So, more good comes in abundance. That’s God.
Blessing us.
But, evil came. Now the reaping and sowing also brings back evil.
Perhaps that’s one of the reasons for God’s Law. To help us live in the world.
We
know that after the fall humans became totally depraved. We are so evil
we do not even understand how evil we are. So, God gave us the Law to
show us. The law helps us to see our sinfulness and our need for a
savior, Jesus Christ.
But, after we are saved the law works to help us grow, and know what
to confess to the Lord. Perhaps it also helps us in living a life where
we reap good things and not bad?
My suggestion is to Love God. Love others. Serve God. Help People. Give Joyously, and Do Good.
Because like Paul said “We reap what we sow.” Whether we like it or not.
We avoid deception when we are taught by the Holy Spirit
"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but
after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears"--2 Timothy 4:3
The
scriptures teach that in the last days we shall heap to ourselves
teachers having itching ears, because we ignore sound doctrine and
follow our fleshly desires.
This is referring to the believer and unbeliever alike.
We
are perishing for lack of knowledge. We know it deep in our hearts. We
know it in our souls and spirits. Something is wrong and we seek to know
what it is. We seek anything to fill that gaping hole that can only be filled by God. (Hosea 4:6)
At the same time, we are
surrounded by people who want to be important. They think they are the
smartest one in the room and they often make sense or are so
charismatic, that they seem wise or command respect.
So
we gather around these people having itching ears and desiring to hear
from God through them, or anyone who can give us a spark of insight.
These people are shiny. They transform themselves into angels of light.
They teach works, and their end will be according to their works. They
are from Satan. (2 Cor. 11:12-15)
But, the scriptures teach that God Himself, has gifted teachers and given them to us. ( 1 Cor. 12:28, Eph.4:11.)
A
teacher from God is not the same as a teacher from man; or Satan. God
uses the base things to confound the wise. (1 Cor. 1:15-31)
But
we are so eager to fill a spot or chase after some preacher or teacher
who might not be from God.That we miss the real teachers from the Lord.
We want the pretty thing, not the rough thing. We want polished, not the
beat up clunker.
I'm not talking about learning a trade from a tradesmen. Although, we should seek to be led by God into that as well.
I'm talking about spiritual things.
So, how do we avoid the false teaching?
Jesus said that the Holy Spirit teaches us and leads us into all truth. (John 16:13)
John said that we have no need for any to teach us but the anointing will do it.(1 John 2:27)
James said, if we desire wisdom we can ask of God and He will give it.(James 1:5)
So,
how does this work? Well, first we turn to God and confess Jesus as our
Lord and believe in Him. We must be saved, have the Holy Spirit and
willing to believe what He teaches and what the Word says. (Romans
10:9-10, Romans 4:3, Gal. 3:6, James 2:23, Luke 11: 11-13, John
14:16-17)
Then, we ask the Lord to teach us and guide us. (Prov. 3:5-8)
He will open up the scriptures to you. He will open up your mind, heart and life to learn from Him.
You will see things around you and in your life that will grow you and change you and teach you.
God will lead you to the church and the teachers and preachers He wants you to have. Listen to His Spirit as He guides you.
In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path.
But,
this takes time.
After being saved, Paul went
into the desert of Arabia to hear from God. Then after 3 years he talked
with Peter, to make sure what he heard was correct. Then, he continued
to learn from the Spirit for 14 years as he served. Even then, he still
made sure of what he was teaching. He already had head knowledge from
his
years as a pharisee. But, he needed heart knowledge, he needed Spirit
knowledge, he needed brokenness. This takes time. (Gal.1:1-24-Gal
2:1-10)
God calls his teachers and
preachers as He sees fit. It is a burden. A calling. It's not something
you get from a few classes. It's not something you get because you are
important in the community and able to attract listeners.
Jesus said "I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one."---(John 10:25-30)
With
so many voices around us, is it any wonder that we can't hear from God
anymore? Have you heard His voice? Would you know it? Jesus says you
will if you are with Him. Believe it.
How do we hear from Him? We listen to the still small voice not the earthquake or raging fire full of fear. (1 Kings 19:11-12)
Jesus said "If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?" (John 3:12)
Do
you believe the hard things in His Word? Do you believe the crazy
things in the Bible? Do you believe in six days of creation and one day
of rest? Can you believe in talking serpents and global floods? If you
can't believe that, then how can you believe that He rose from the
dead? (Romans 10:9-10)
How can you believe He is
coming again? How can you believe He answers prayer or will never
forsake you? How can you believe there is an enemy, and how can you
believe there are false teachers? Maybe even the one who preaches to you
about works every Sunday.
He
has given us teachers. But are we listening to HIS teachers?
Like the leaders of Israel
ignored and killed the true prophets. Do religious leaders keep the
people in darkness today as well? Do we heap to ourselves teachers today thinking we are so smart, or so spiritual?
If we trust the Holy Spirit and let Him teach us we will avoid the deceptions of these last days. We will know the truth. This is how the elect avoids deception, in these days of lies. (Matt. 24:24)
By letting the Holy Spirit teach us we grow in relationship with God and we avoid heaping teachers based upon our fleshly desires. Whether we mean to or not we have a tendency to want to hear from teachers who are agreeing with what we already know or believe.
This verse is not speaking of "desires" in the sense of lusts. No preacher is telling you to commit adultery or steal or kill, or be a drunkard. No one would follow this guy. But, the teacher is teaching based upon the desires of the fleshly mind, instead of the things of the spirit. Teaching a salvation by works, instead of grace. Teaching the religion of the Anti-Christ to come. A religion that twists and ignores the Word. Teachers serving Satan instead of God. A religion of deception and control, in order to lead the people into the Apostate Church to come.
Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you. Start listening to Him right now. We avoid false teachers by listening to the Holy Spirit. He will lead us into all truth and open the Word for us. He will renew our mind. He will change us.
For the past week meteorologists have been warning about a coming
winter storm. It’s freezing rain and snow will cause problems, they say.
And folks believe them. They stock up on bread and milk. They buy icy
melt. They break out the snow gear and the shovels. They check on
family. They stay home to keep roads clear and safe. They close
businesses to keep people safe.
Because they believe what they are told.
The Word of God tells us that there will come a time in the future when the world will face great trouble.
The Word tells us that we will face trouble in our own lives.
The Word tells us that we will face death someday.
A storm is coming.
Are we going to believe it? Are you prepared?
When an ice storm is coming, we listen to the experts. We listen to
the people who have seen it before, and we rest in the experiences we
have had in the past. This helps us to prepare for the coming storm.
Likewise, we can turn to God to save us and see us through the future
storms of life and death. He can save us for eternity. We can trust
Him. We can trust His Word.
When we believe the warnings of the ice storm we respond.
When we believe the Word of God we can respond also.
Belief leads to response. Faith leads to action.
Jesus told the paraplegic man to take up his bed and walk. (John 5)
But, what if the man had not done it. Would he have been healed?
He was healed because He believed and responded to the Word given him.
We are told “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”—
Rom. 10:9-10
When we read this verse do we believe it? Or do we doubt?
Do we say “Yeah but there has to be more to it than that. How can a
person just say some magic words and get saved? Don’t they have to love
God and obey Gods law?”
We make up all kinds of excuses because we cannot believe the simplicity of salvation and the love of God.
Satan is more than happy to give us excuses to get us to doubt God’s
goodness and Word. It’s the same thing He did to Eve in the Garden.
(Gen.3)
Our belief leads to a response. The response is to turn to God
(repent) and confess Jesus is the Lord and He is our Lord, and believe
that He rose from the dead. Which is believing the Word we have been
given.
Do you believe it? Do you believe He died for you, and rose from the dead? Do you believe He is God?
Yeah but… “Faith without works is dead.” Some will say. — (James 2)
Belief or faith requires a response, and the response is confessing
Jesus as our Lord. Confessing is a work. Baptism is a work. Communion is
a work.
What did the thief on the cross do?
He confessed Jesus as Lord, then he told the other thief about Jesus.
That’s it. And Jesus said “Today you will be with me in Paradise”–Luke 23
Likewise, when we confess Jesus as Lord, and tell others about Him, we will be with Him in Paradise, when we die or He returns.
That’s it. Jesus said, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before
men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.”—Matt.
10:32
We confess because we believe. Belief leads to a response.
God’s grace and our belief and confession is how we are saved. That
salvation leads to a relationship with God as we see Him moving in our
life. Our faith and belief grows in Him.
We trust that He forgives us. We trust that He is with us and will
never leave us. We trust that He loves and cares for us and will take
care of us, and we see Him moving and doing it. This leads to praise and
thanksgiving which helps grow the relationship, faith and trust.
That is belief. That is faith. Our response is to confess Him as
Lord, love others and build the kingdom. We are saved and healed so we
lead others to be saved and healed in Jesus name.
But, there’s a storm coming.
Storms in our lives and in the world.
Trouble comes, and we can turn to Him and He will move. Stand on the
promises of God in His Word. Trust Him. And when you see Him move it
will build your faith and relationship.
But, the coming storm will be of darkness without hope. Some say believers will escape,
but that has not been proven. God will be with us through the storm.
Just like He was with the disciples on the boat, and with Israel through
the plagues.—(Luke 8, Exodus)
He will be with us as this world gets worse and worse. As terrible things fall upon the Earth preparing for Christ’s return.
Do you believe it? Are you preparing for the times of trouble and His
return? Are you getting people saved, and preparing your own self?
The scriptures are clear that when He returns there will be church
people who thought they were saved but were not. People who prayed a
prayer, or people who sat in church every week. But, never believed.
They never really confessed Him as Lord. They never fully trusted Him to
save them but instead trusted their own works. They never had a
relationship with Him.
The storm is coming.
But, many do not believe.
These false brethren will fall away when the trouble comes. They will say “Where is the promise of His coming.”. They will wonder why He has delayed His return. —(2 Peter 3:4, Luke 12:45-46)
Then, they will form the apostate church and help the Anti-Christ
persecute the saints. They will beat the men servants and maid servants.
They will go back to living for the world. They will be like Judas the
betrayer. —(Luke 12:45-46, Rev. 6, Matt. 24, )
And when He returns they will be foolish virgins without oil. (Matt. 25)
They will have taken the gifts and talents and salvation the Lord
gave them, and buried it in the sand instead of responding in belief and
serving the Lord. (Matt. 25)
They will stand before Him saying “when did we see you naked?”
Because they never believed and turned and let the Holy Spirit lead them
to serve others and love people and help them. (Matt. 25)
They will not be clothed in the wedding garment because they never knew the King. (Matt. 22)
They never had a relationship with Him or confessed Him as Lord.
They just went to church every week, judged others, and tried to obey rules.
And He said “Depart from Me, I never knew you.”
The storm is coming. Do you really know Him.
Can you trust Him when they are killing your church? Can you trust
Him when they threaten to fire you from your job if you won’t take the Mark of the Beast?
Can you trust Him, when people who call themselves Christians lie to
you, attack you, betray you and destroy your life, or lead you to death?
Can you trust Him when you face homelessness and starvation? or will
you turn back like Lot’s wife, desiring the comforts of the world?.
(Gen. 19)
The storm is coming, the Word says.
Turn to Him,
and ask Him to save you. Confess Jesus as your Lord. Believe He rose
from the dead. Believe the Word, given to you. Tell others about Jesus,
building the kingdom.
The Holy Spirit will come and teach you and lead you into all truth. (1 John 2:27)
And you will know Him and have a relationship with Him.
And when the storm comes you will be safe in the Ark, that is His salvation and care.
When the waters rise and beat upon you, you will stand firm because
you’ve built your house on the Rock of Jesus Christ, who is the living
Word. Not on the sand of your own works and power. (Matt.7)
There’s a verse in Isaiah that people like to quote.
“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they
shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary;
and they shall walk, and not faint.”—Isa. 40:31
Tough times come into our lives.
It doesn’t matter what kind of tough times, because it all does the
same thing to us. It brings us to a place where we are faced with
trusting God or not.
When you look at the temptations of Christ, you will find that they all end in the same basic question.
Do you trust God?
Do you trust God to provide?
Do you trust God to protect?
Do you trust God to answer?
Do you trust God to guide?
I am in the same boat. Destroyed and abandoned by people I called
friends. People who claimed to be friends. People who call themselves
believers in Christ, but do not love the brethren, like He commands.
I’m waiting upon the Lord.
What does that mean?
Well, it means to continue doing the things you know for a fact He
called you to do. It means doing what is right and abiding in Him;
keeping the relationship with Him.
He called Abram to follow Him out into the wilderness and Abram went. “Come unto a land that I will show you.”
And Abram followed as God led. It was a daily walk. But, God led him to a place where Abram was fulfilling his purpose.
Abram listen to God’s leading, as frustrating as it is to not know
the whole plan. But, the following and the waiting and the learning the
voice of the Lord was the real plan. That was the relationship.
And Abram, became Abraham, the father of nations. A powerful prophet in the land where God led him.
As sheep we follow the shepherd. We know his voice because God
teaches it to us. We see Him moving and we remember what He tells us. We
trust in the things He has shown us and confirmed in His Word.
He leads us by the still waters. His rod and staff comfort us. Not
because of where we are, but because of Who is with us. Nothing can harm
us for real. He is there.
Our faith grows in the relationship. It grows when we hear God’s Word
and we put our faith in it and stand on it despite all odds. His
promises are true and no matter what happens He is with us. He will
never leave us nor forsake us. We can stand on the Rock of Christ, the
Rock of His Word.
Turn to Him and He comes running. Seek and you shall find. Ask and it
shall be given to you. Knock and it will be opened. We have not,
because we ask not. We are his children, we can come boldly to the
throne and seek Him in our despair.
While we wait on the Lord to show us the next step, we stand on
faith. We stand on His Word, and the things He has shown us in our
lives, which is our testimony. The testimony of the great things He has
done for us.
We can trust Him. He is coming fast.
Like the Israelite’s in the desert waiting on the pillar of smoke and fire to move. He will move.
Faith comes by hearing the Word. Speak it to yourself.
“Whatsoever I ask in His name He will do.”
Believe it.
Trust it.
Drive the doubt out of your mind with it.
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”
Say it.
Believe it.
Stand on it.
Let the promises fill you with faith and drive the demons of doubt and fear and infirmity away.
“By His stripes I am healed”
Believe it.
“Take up your mat and walk”
Believe it.
Get up and get busy.
Do what you can do.
Grab that promise and run with it.
Dance before the Lord and trust that He has your back.
He is coming. He promises.
You will run and not be weary.
Believe it.
Our relationship with Him forever is being built.
We know Him, through the relationship He is building. We know Him as
we walk with Him through the desert. We know Him as we wait upon Him and
continue in well doing till he comes.
And He is coming.
You will hear His voice and see Him move to help you.
As Saints we need to understand the Word, and the work we are called to do.
We need to understand the world around us and what is going on in our lives, and the lives of people we are in contact with.
Why do we sin?
Why do we have difficult lives?
The reason is because Adam chose to eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, after being warned not to.
This brought death into the world. It caused humans to have a
corrupted nature. It allowed Satan to take dominion of this world from
Adam.
That is why we sin. That is why we die. and that is why there is a power that seems to rule over this world.
But, God did not leave us like that.
He came and brought a curse, “for our sake”. (Gen. 3 KJV)
The curse did not bring death or sin or Satan, those things already
existed because of the fall. And God does not cause us to sin. That is
not His character.
We commit sins because of what is in us from the fall. Our corrupted
nature. This is important to understand. It’s like the symptoms of a
spiritual plague. The plague of Sin.
God laid down His curse not as a punishment but as a tool to cause us to turn to Him and be saved. He is our only Hope.
He created the woman to be a helper to the man. So, the curse plays
on her desire to help and nurture. It causes her to seek God for
salvation and help, through her desire for family. She needs help and
God is the only help.
The man is not cursed. But, the earth is cursed, so that no matter
what he does, it only brings forth thorns and thistles. His hard work,
is supposed to cause him to turn to God for salvation and help.
This is literally true. But, there is a symbolic truth involved, because thorns and thistles are symbols of sin.
It means that all his works are sin. It means that no matter how hard
he tries he cannot produce good. This symbolism is supposed to teach us
that there is nothing we can do to fix ourselves, only Christ can do
that.
Everything around us are symbols of the truth of God. Every aspect of reality is interwoven with the truth of His Word.
So, let’s look at more thorns and thistles.
Paul says that Jesus Christ was made sin for us. (2 Cor. 5:21)
God made a sinless Christ into sin for us and nailed it to the cross.
He nailed Sin itself to the cross.
Notice how Jesus was given a crown of thorns and a robe of scarlet. (Matthew 27:27-30)
These are the symbols showing He was made sin for us.
Sin and it’s power over us has been destroyed on the cross if we turn
to Him. If we ask Him to save us and confess Him as our Lord. (Rom
10:9-10)
That doesn’t mean we don’t sin. Remember every work we do is filthy rags. It is all sin, unless we do it through and in Him.
And when we sin we confess our sins to Him and He is faithful and just to cleanse us of ALL sin. (1 John 1:8-10)
But, ALL of our sin is gone in Him. It is as though we had never
sinned at all. Christ’s blood washes us clean. So, clean that we do not
sin, even in the midst of our sin. It is not held to our account.
But, have we really turned to Him? Do we really know Him?
That is important.
In these last days we need to make sure we are in Christ. He is our Ark for salvation.
The scriptures teach that there will be people who think they are
saved, because they are relying on their own works, instead of the
finished work of Christ.
Are we relying totally on Him, or are we trying to do things ourselves, and only producing thorns and thistles?
Jesus said, “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?”— (Matt. 7)
The fruits of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness,
faith, meekness, and temperance, do not come from the flesh. They come
from the Holy Spirit in us and working in us. Our fleshly works only
produce thorns and thistles.
Are you growing in the Spirit? Are you producing good fruits? Are the
people you seek to follow as leaders really producing good fruits?
The narrow way that leads to life is Jesus Christ and Him alone for
salvation. It is not by works. It is not by flesh which produces thorns
and thistles. It is not because you quit sinning. You cannot quit
sinning, its all thorns and thistles without Christ.
Jesus tells us of the Sower in Matthew 13.
The Word of God goes forth into the World.
Some people become quickly deceived by Satan and demonic forces and cannot understand the Word, or refuse to receive it.
Others hear it, and are overjoyed that God will forgive them of sins
and work in their life. But, trouble comes and people make fun of them
or persecute them. So, they turn away from God. They never knew Him.
They had no root, in Him.
Some people hear the Word, but thorns and thistles choke it out. They
let the problems of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke
out the Word. They never turned to God and let Him save them. The sin
and flesh in their life overpowered the Word. They relied on their own
works and wealth to save them.
But, when we are willing to let God work, and give ourselves to Him.
When we are broken enough, like good soil prepared for the Word. We can
turn to God and be saved. Growing in Him.
God keeps coming. His Word is everywhere. He does not just try one
time and you are done. He keeps working to save us till we are dead.
We might be hard hearted, but over time He breaks us and softens us
so that we can hear Him speak and accept Him. Then, His Word grows in us
a mighty Oak, that thorns cannot stop. God works to prepare the soil of
our heart to receive Him. We cannot.
Never stop turning to God. Never stop relying on Him alone for salvation, not by our works but by His grace and goodness.
By His Holy Spirit working in us, we can produce fruit, instead of the thorns and thistles of the flesh.
The Word speaks that in these last days there will fall away great
numbers of Christians who never really knew Him. They will beat the men
servants and maid servants. They will give in to persecution and have no
root in God. They will have no oil of faith in the their lamp, when He
comes. They will be rejected. (2 Thess. 2:3, Matt. 25, Luke 12:45,)
Christmas is a time for cheer. A time when we slow down and remember the things that matter most.
It’s a time when we celebrate the birth of a King. The birth of a savior. Jesus Christ our Lord.
As has been pointed out many times, December is not the actual date of His birth. It was probably sometime in September.
But, there is a symbolic reason for the choice of December 25th
When you consider the darkness in this world, and the shadows of evil in our hearts.
When you consider that we are in bondage to our wicked ways and the demonic forces of Satan, the usurper.
When you consider the blackness of the souls that are ruling this world and the misery they impose on us.
We can see the darkness.
The cold savage darkness full of torment.
Just before Jesus was born, King Herod commanded that all babies
under two years old be slain, in order to stop the birth of the true
King. (Matt. 2:16)
Herod wanted to protect his blood line’s power.
But, the demons who really rule behind the scenes wanted to keep the world in bondage to them.
To keep the world in darkness.
And what is more dark, than rulers killing children?
It was the darkest of days.
But, a light came into the world.
On that day Joy and Love came to save us from death and raise us up to be with Him.
The light came to shatter the deep and break the power of the forces of spiritual darkness in high places.
The true King was born.
And we celebrate it in a symbol.
A symbol of the light, and a symbol of salvation.
On December 21 we have the darkest day of the year.
We have the day the light goes out.
The day the light dies and goes into the grave of death.
Then, three days later the light is born.
A picture of our savior in the belly of the earth 3 days.
Dec. 22, Dec. 23, Dec. 24
December 25th the light is born. The King is come. He is born to be
with us. He was born to die for us and rise from the grave, to set us
free. And He will return soon to destroy the darkness, forever.
I often run into Christians who speak of the devil as though he is
powerless and weak. That he is a defeated foe and not a real enemy.
It’s almost like they haven’t actually read the Bible.
Yes, Christ defeated Satan on the cross.
Yes, God is in complete control.
But, no where in the scriptures have I found instructions for us to ignore the enemy. or act like he has no power.
As a matter of fact the Apostle Peter says, “Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about,
seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing
that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in
the world.” (1 Peter 5:8-9)
A lion will roar, and it will cause the herd to flee. This gives the
lion a chance to devour the young, weak and infirm. We have the power
through faith to resist. But, it is an obvious affliction on those who
are attacked.
It’s not something to be ignored, or belittled.
We are told in the book of Jude to not be foolish in how we speak of
Satan, the fallen angels and spiritual forces. They have power and
authority. (Jude)
Paul says That we are not to be ignorant of the enemy. (2 Corinthians 2:11)
So, we need to know what we are facing. Not to treat the enemy as if
he is nothing or ignore him, but to face the enemy properly.
We are called to resist. But, how can you resist if you do not know anything about the enemy? (1 Peter 5:8-9, James 4:7)
So, let’s do a quick overview of the enemy.
It is believed that Satan fell through pride because he wants to be God. (Isa. 14:12-15)
At some point after his fall, he used a Serpent to deceive Eve, and get Adam to fall. (Gen.3)
Adam had dominion of the Earth. But, when he fell Satan took that
dominion. That is how he became the god of this world. (2 Cor. 4:4)
There’s a lot more to this story, but it could lead to an entire book.
So, Satan has authority in this world.
Paul plainly states it. All the Apostles state it.
When a person is born into the world they are born in a right
standing with God. They are subject to death, but not hell. Until they
commit the first sin, knowing it’s a sin. Then, they are subject to
hell, just like all humans.
It is also at this time that the person becomes a slave to Satan.
They are his children. They are his slaves to various degrees.
(Ephesians 2:2)
Here’s where some Christians will jump up and say “Yeah but he is defeated! God is in control!”
Yes, Jesus defeated the enemy on the cross. And there will be a future victory as well. (Gen. 3, Luke 10:18, Revelation)
This means that when Jesus died and rose, He defeated Satan. He set
the prisoners free. ALL the prisoners or slaves under Satan’s control
are free. But, only a few will hear the call and turn to Jesus to obtain
it.
Saints are free from the control of Satan. We are saved and cannot
lose it. But, as the Bible warns we can open doors and let the enemy
back into our lives again. We can fall under that power. Take addictions
as an example. (Matt. 12:43-45)
We can also still be impacted by Satan working through other people or nature.
All of this is plainly taught by the scriptures.
But, there will still be those who say “Yeah but God is in control!”
He certainly is.
Nothing can happen to us that God has not allowed.
We see this both in the book of Job, and when Jesus tells Peter that Satan has asked to sift him as wheat. (Luke 22:31-33)
Why? Why does God allow the devil access to us?
It seems that Satan has some kind of legal authority to ask, and
expect an answer. We can speculate on why this is. But, we do not fully
understand how things work in the spirit realms.
What we can say is that we have faith and power in Jesus Christ to
resist the enemy. We have access to the King in prayer. We have God’s
Word and promises we can stand on. We also have a relationship with God.
We know Him. We know His character, and the Holy spirit dwells in us.
So, we know that God is always good. He seeks good always. He loves
us and wants us with Him. So, no matter what happens, He is on our side,
and we can use it to grow closer to God, and grow in faith. We can turn
evil around for good.
But, how can you do that if you do not recognize evil? If you ignore
the fact that we have an enemy, how can you stand against him or turn
his attacks around for good? (Rom. 12:21, 2 Cor. 10:1-6)
If you feel that everything comes from God, then how can you call anything “Evil”?
Does God do evil?
Of course not, but He does allow things to happen. It’s our job to
have faith in Him and turn to Him. Then turn the evil for good. We use
it to save people or help people.
The scriptures tell us that the enemy possesses power. So, let’s do a
list of what this power is. And I am in know way stating that this is
everything. But, starting from the beginning of the Bible and going
through we see that the enemy has the power to…
Deceive people who are walking with God and know Him, if they are not
careful. If they doubt God’s Word, and Goodness. He can use our loved
ones to get us to turn from God. He can use nature as a cover for his
activities. We see this in Adam and Eve.
We can see in the book of Job, that Satan and his angels go about the
Earth. We see that He has the power to cause a tornado to kill people.
He can get humans to rob and kill others. He has the power to cause
disease. He has the power to get our loved ones to turn against us. He
also has the power to kill. (God would not let Him kill Job.)
The book of Job shows us that no matter what happens God is with us and we are to stay with Him. Trusting Him and His Goodness.
But, we see here that Satan is the prince of the power of the air.
He apparently has power to control the weather. Which explains why we
see ancient people all over the world making human sacrifices of babies
to gods, so they can have good weather for crops, and fertility. We see
the destruction weather and climate can cause.
He uses humans to kill, steal and destroy, obviously. How does this
control occur? It’s possible that it starts with a whisper into the mind
of a leader who then gets men to follow him. A leader whom Satan worked
to put into a position of power.
We see that he gave Job a disease. We do not know what disease. It doesn’t matter.
All of this, the destructive weather, violence of men and disease,
came upon Job and led Him into despair. So, Satan can also cause
despair. (Except for God. Job continued to trust God and lean toward
Him, and that’s what saved him.)
Job also shows that Satan can get our loved ones to betray us, or at least add to our torment.
I tell you this so we can recognize what is going on around us and
pray properly or respond correctly. We respond with spiritual warfare.
We respond with love and prayer and praise and trust in God, and His
promises. We overcome evil with good. We take the bad that happens to us
and turn it around to serve God and help and save people.
So, let’s fast forward to the New Testament.
Immediately after Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit led Him into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. (Matt. 4:1-11)
This is a lesson for us. Have you ever considered that the moment you
got saved and was baptized Satan was allowed to tempt you, and sift you
as wheat?
I’m not saying he is. I’m not saying it happens to everyone, all the time.
But, the question must be asked. If you’ve never been tempted by the
enemy, or faced spiritual warfare, then whose child are you?
The temptations Jesus faced are temptations we all face, except for Christ, they were far more extreme.
We learn that we can overcome these things by faith in God and His goodness, as well as using His Word.
So, we see that the enemy has the power to tempt us, and try to get
us to fall. But, we can resist and if we fail we can turn to God and
confess it to Him. (1 John 1:8-10)
We also see that Satan has power over the nations of the Earth. This is confirmed in the book of Daniel. (Dan. 10)
Paul also speaks of how the enemy has power in high places. (Eph. 6:12)
When we look at the ministry of Jesus we see that there are unclean
spirits and demons that work in peoples lives. and we are called to wage
war against them.
We also see that his greatest earthly rival was the religious leaders.
Jesus plainly said they were the children of the devil. (John 8:44-47)
So, we can say that Satan used religious leaders to kill Jesus and
persecute the Church. He got these religious leaders, to use the
governmental powers, to kill people, and impose laws upon them to
destroy their freedom.
The Bible also says that there are false brethren, false teachers, and false prophets. (2 Cor. 11:26, 2 Pet. 2:1)
All of whom are probably listening to Satan.
Since he is the god of this world, and has power over the disobedient
children. and he has power over nations, governments and religious
leaders.
Then, we can say that the empires seeking to conquer the world, are
doing it by his authority. That when they oppress people and persecute
saints, it is by Satan’s authority, throughout history and even today.
Ok?
We see from Jesus’s ministry that the enemy can cause a friend to
betray us and deny us. Even in the face of death. Even to betray us to
people who will kill us.
Friends and family.
The Bible teaches that saints will be betrayed unto death by those closest to us. (Luke 21:16)
History teaches it.
We see saints dying the most horrific deaths for Christ, caused by the devil.
The enemy will attack and tempt our family in order to get them into
terrible situations simply to hurt us. But, we turn this for good and
tell them about Christ.
All of the apostles and saints around the world have faced
persecution. And there is more to come. That is the reality, even though
we might not face it in our current time.
So, as you can see the enemy has power. We are not called to belittle
it, but to stand against it. We are not called to fear it, but to turn
it around for good.
It is a tactic of the enemy to get believers to not wage war, by making us think he has no power.
Now, understand that through Christ we have power and authority over
the enemy. Through faith we can stand on His Word. We are overcomers
through Him who is in us.
But, if you think there is no enemy you won’t exercise that power.
People crack jokes and say “The devil made me do it.”
Well, maybe he did. Maybe instead of joking about it, we need to wage war and make sure of what is going on.
Maybe there is a devil behind every bush. Maybe it’s a roaring lion.
God is with us, but we are called to wage war. If we are saved we are free from Satan but we are still in a war.
God is with us. He protects us. Nothing can touch us unless it is allowed, and we can overcome it.
This life is just a moment. Every terrible thing only lasts for a second compared to eternity.
And when we die we go to be with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:1-8)
There’s no need for fear. There is no need to be focused on the enemy.
But, we are called to wage war.
We are called to turn to God and focus on Him, and we shall overcome.
We all face trouble in life. It is something we can all agree upon.
No matter who you are, something bad will eventually come to cause you
trouble. Something will break your heart. Something will break you down.
Something will make you crazy, concerned or confused.
When we look at the story of Job in the Bible. We see a lot of spiritual truth that we can apply to our lives.
Now, understand that trouble is relative to you. Just because someone
on the other side of the Earth is in extreme poverty with nothing.
Doesn’t make your problems any less concerning. Just because someone
else is dying of some terrible disease, doesn’t make your troubles any
less destructive to your life.
Evil is evil, in whatever form it manifests. We need to stop
belittling peoples troubles and start solving problems. It’s very
possible that if we solved the petty problems, they would not become the
huge problems. If we cared about the person who can’t afford simple
things, we might also care about the person in total poverty and solve
the problem. If we care about the person with a flu bug, we might also
care about the dying man, or even prevent disease from growing.
I say this because Job, faced terrible tribulation. He lost
everything he owned, His children were all killed, and his health was
attacked. On top of that, his wife was against him.
Just because Job’s troubles were really bad, doesn’t mean yours are
not concerning to you. The Bible often gives us the most extreme vision
of things so that we will see that our troubles are also able to be
overcome. The same faith can overcome all of it. The same God is with us
in all of it, no matter how big or small.
In the book of Job, Satan comes to God and asks to test Job. He claims that if Job is mistreated he will turn from God.
That is the focus of the story and that is our focus. Nothing else matters.
It doesn’t matter how bad the trouble was. It doesn’t matter if God
allowed it. It doesn’t matter if Satan did it, or God did it. None of it
matters.
Because Job had no clue. He just knows he is having trouble. His
whole life has been upended. We even see toward the end of the book that
Job is confused and has questions. It’s ok to have questions, doubts
and confusion. But, Job turned to God. Job stayed with God. That’s the
point.
When we face trouble, we often have no clue what’s going on. We might
think it’s nature. Or God is punishing us or the devil is attacking us.
We might know exactly what we did or didn’t do. We might be suffering
because of something done to us by people who claim to love us.
None of it matters.
The answer for all of it is the same. Turn to God.
Pray to Him, ask Him to save you and help you. Listen to His guidance.
Job said, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15)
He turned to God and trusted Him. Even if God chose to kill him, Job
knew God was good and had good reasons. He trusted God, and continued
walking in the way that he was walking in his life, because he did not
see that he had done anything wrong. And he hadn’t. God will let you
know.
The whole point of the story is that Job turned to God and stayed
with Him. No matter how bad. No matter what philosophies, or good
intentions from friends. No matter how much a friend called him a
sinner. No matter how much pain and humiliation. Even when his wife, was
led by Satan to say, “Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse
God, and die.”
Job stayed with God. He trusted God and turned to God.
Now understand that I am not talking about going to church. You can
go to church all you want and still not know God. You can be the
greatest member of your church and still be lost.
Do you know Him? Do you trust Him? Turn to Him.
This can be seen in the Garden when Satan through the Serpent,
tempted Eve. He caused her to doubt God’s promises and His goodness.
(Gen. 3)
That is the the devil’s favorite tactic. To get us to stop trusting
God and to not reach out to Him. Once that’s done, we have no real hope
or real help. We are defenseless and powerless.
This is why God brought the curse. It is designed to cause us to turn to God.
When Adam ate of the fruit all humanity gained a corrupted nature
through him. The only solution is to turn to God for salvation and
help. The Curse causes us to seek that help, if we are willing.
Always turn to God. Turn to Him in everything, and He will save you, lead you, grow you and know you.
You have a choice. Do not let trouble or the enemy drive you away from God. Turn to Him and let Him work.
Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from
Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has
written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ a collection of dystopian short stories.“The Future is Coming” and his latest book “The Latter Days‘ is a book on Bible Prophecy and avoiding the deceptions to come.
