2017-09-23
Job 42:11 NCV
Satan’s attack can strengthen your faith. The Devil dared to question the stability of Job’s faith, so God gave him permission to test Job. “The Lord said to Satan, ‘All right then. Everything Job has is in your power, but you must not touch Job himself'” (Job 1:12 NCV). Notice, God set both the permission and the parameters of the struggle. Job passes the test and Satan complains that Job would have fallen had he been forced to face pain. Again God gives permission, and again He sets the parameters: “Job is in your power, but you may not take his life” (Job 2:6 NCV). Though the pain and the questions are abundant, in the end Job’s faith and health are greater than ever. Again, we may not understand the reason for the test, but we know its source. Read this verse from the last chapter of the book of Job. The family of Job “comforted him and made him feel better about the trouble the Lord had brought on him.” Satan has no power except that which God gives him. Even when Satan appears to win, he loses. Martin Luther was right on target when he described the Devil as God’s tool, a hoe He uses to care for His garden. The hoe never cuts what the Gardener intends to save, and never saves what the Gardener intends to weed. Surely a part of Satan’s punishment is the frustration he feels in unwillingly serving as a tool to create a garden for God. So be encouraged today: Satan’s attack will strengthen your faith, refine it, and take it to greater heights.
Soul food: Zech 12-14; Mark 14:43-52; Ps 54; Prov 25:1-3
2017-09-22
2 Corinthians 12:7 NIV
Satan’s attack can drive you closer to God. That was true in Paul’s life. Think of Paul’s résumé: a personal audience with the resurrected Christ, a participant in heavenly visions, an apostle chosen by God, an author of the Bible. He healed the sick, travelled the world, and penned some of history’s greatest documents. Few could rival his achievements. And maybe he knew it. But God loved Paul too much to allow pride to destroy him. “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.” We aren’t told the nature of the thorn, but we’re told its purpose – to keep Paul humble. We are also told its origin – a messenger of Satan. The messenger could have been a pain, a problem, or a person who was a pain. We don’t know. But we do know that the messenger was under God’s control. Note what Paul says next: “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (vv. 8-10 NIV). Here’s a truth that can transform every test into a potential triumph: Satan and his forces are simply a tool in the hand of God to strengthen you.
Soul food: Zech 9-11; Mark 14:27-42; Ps 52; Prov 24:32-34
2017-09-21
1 John 4:4 NCV
Satan is a fallen angel who wasn’t satisfied to worship God; he wanted to occupy His throne. Angels, like humans, were made to serve and worship God. And they were given free will; otherwise, how could they worship? But Satan said, “I will make myself like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:14 NIV). That got him evicted from heaven: “You are brought down to…the depths of the pit” (Isaiah 14:15 NIV). And Satan hasn’t changed. He’s as self-centred now as he was then, and he’s just as limited now as he was then. Even when his heart was good, he was inferior to God. God knows everything; angels only know what He reveals. God is everywhere; angels can only be in one place. God is all-powerful; angels are only as powerful as God allows them to be. So Satan is still subservient to God. And every time he tries to advance his cause, he ends up advancing God’s cause. In The Serpent of Paradise, pastor and author Erwin Lutzer writes: “Satan has different roles to play, depending on God’s counsel and purposes…We must bear in mind that he does have frightful powers, but knowing that those can only be exercised under God’s discretion and pleasure, gives us hope. Satan is simply not free to wreak havoc on people at will.” Satan doesn’t want you to know that; he’d rather you be deceived into thinking of him as an independent force with unlimited power. But he’s not. And he’d rather you’d never read these words: “God’s Spirit, who is in you, is greater than the devil.”
Soul food: Num 29:1-6; Mat 24; Rev 11:15-19; 1 Cor 15:50-58
2017-09-20
Isaiah 43:1 NIV
We hear about people being released from prison after serving time for a crime they didn’t commit. It was a case of mistaken identity. Identifying someone means having the ability to recognize and say exactly who they are. Satan wants you to identify with who people say you are, versus who God says you are. And unless you know who you are in God’s eyes, Satan will hammer you with feelings of condemnation and unworthiness. God’s grace and unconditional love for you is the only secure foundation on which to base your salvation and self-worth. Today He says to you: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” Jesus identified with God’s opinion only: “I know where I came from and where I am going” (John 8:14 AMP). People said terrible things about Jesus, yet here’s what God said about Him: “The stone…the builders rejected has become the…cornerstone” (Psalm 118:22 NKJV). Sometimes we’re so busy telling people what to do that we neglect to tell them who they are. Knowing who you are in Christ gives you confidence to hold your head high. You are “complete” because of your relationship to Christ (See Colossians 2:10). God sees you clothed in Christ’s righteousness (See 2 Corinthians 5:21). Once you accept that, you stop feeling like you constantly fall short. When you have money in the bank and you need to withdraw it, you don’t feel pressured because you know it’s in an account with your name on it. Likewise, you don’t have to struggle for other people’s approval when you know you’re loved and accepted by God.
Soul food: Zech 5-8; Mark 14:12-26; Ps 34; Prov 24:29-31
2017-09-19
1 Thessalonians 2:4 NIV
There’s a world of difference between performing for people’s approval, and being free to minister to their needs because you know you already have God’s approval. Striving for approval is like any other drug; you can never get enough of it. And like all junkies, you go crazy when it’s withheld. It places you at the mercy of other people’s opinions, and as a result you live on an emotional roller coaster. That’s not how God wants you to live! Paul was free to speak the truth in love: to confront people or to be gentle with them. When someone told Paul they didn’t like him, he didn’t lose sleep over it because his security and self-worth weren’t built on their acceptance. “We speak as men approved by God” (v. 4 NIV). Paul didn’t go around comparing himself with others, demonstrating his superiority by trying to be top dog or the one who’s always in charge. Knowing he already had God’s approval set him free from such anxiety and meant he could enjoy the life God called him to. When we’re immature, we worry about what others think of us. But as we become more mature, we realize that most of the time they aren’t thinking about us at all. They’re too busy thinking about themselves – or worrying about what we think of them! Knowing you have God’s approval gives you the strength to deal with criticism and conflict because you’re secure in your identity. And your identity is this: You’re redeemed, called, and approved by God.
Soul food: Zech 1-4; Mark 14:1-11; Ps 39; Prov 24:26-28
2017-09-18
Mark 11:25 NKJV
No matter how much two people love each other, conflicts are sure to arise that call for extending grace and showing forgiveness. Do you know that couples who are happy and stay married have the same number of disagreements and conflicts as couples who are unhappy and get divorced? Statistically, that is true! It’s not the absence of conflict that preserves marriage, but the ability to manage conflict when it happens. So how do you “manage” conflict? By practicing the kind of self-control that keeps conflicts from mushrooming into hurtful and divisive standoffs. It also means knowing what to do with hurt feelings like anger, disappointment, and dashed expectations. In other words, it means knowing how to forgive it and forget it. But emotional hurt and tension are almost impossible to forget; the harder we try, the more we remember. So what’s the answer? Remember to forget! Try to act like God, who chooses not to hold against us what He knows about us. He says in His Word: “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins” (Isaiah 43:25 NKJV). That means if you are holding something against your spouse, there’s only one solution: Forgive it and forget it. You may never forget how you’ve been hurt, but you can choose to forgive it and move on. No, it’s not easy, but you can do it. How? By remembering the things, known or unknown to others, that God has forgiven you for and extending that same grace to your spouse.
Soul food: 2 Tim 1-4; Mark 13:24-37; Ps 3; Prov 24:23-25
