2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
One of the most important things that a faithful person can do is to stretch toward God’s perspective on the circumstances of his life. Every believer has to endure spiritual warfare, but it is made enormously more bearable by reaching toward God’s way of thinking. I would be foolish and arrogant if I said we could attain the full measure of God’s perspective, but we certainly can move closer to it than those who conform to the values of the world. The way to do this, of course, is from the Source itself, the word of God. Prayer often illuminates a difficult circumstance too. These two citations place us where we need to be in this construct. IS 55: 8-9, “’My thoughts,’ says the Lord, ‘are not like yours, and My ways are different from yours. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are My ways and thoughts above yours.’” 1 COR 2: 14, “Whoever does not have the Spirit cannot receive the gifts that come from God’s Spirit. Such a person really does not understand them; they are foolishness to him, because their value can be judged only on a spiritual basis.” So, where do we fit? Right where Christ placed us when He gave His life on the cross and we decided to repent and come to faith in Him.
Our loving Abba was delighted when that happened, and Satan began to have reason to mourn and be angry. Additional insult was done to Satan when the Lord sent the Holy Spirit to indwell within each believer. It was added ammunition against the evil adversary’s efforts to engage in spiritual warfare. The battle was only beginning, but the two opposing armies were not equally equipped for victory. God built in an advantage to His side. That is faith. HE 11:1-3, “To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see. It was by their faith that people of ancient times won God’s approval. It is by faith that we understand that the universe was created by God’s word, so that what can be seen was made out of what cannot be seen.” Faith, or taking God at His word, is the critical advantage. When nurtured by study, prayer, fellowship of others who believe, with the help of the Holy Spirit, it builds endurance [RO 5: 3-4]. That endurance brings God’s approval and also sees us through the worst of Satan’s arrows wounding us. The advantage we are given in spiritual warfare is no accident.
IS 53: 11 prophesied what Christ would go through on our account and why our coming to faith means so much to Him. “After a life of suffering, He will again have joy; He will know that He did not suffer in vain. My devoted Servant in Whom I am well pleased will bear the punishment of many and for His sake, I will forgive them.” There is no question in my mind that “My devoted Servant in Whom I am well pleased” is Jesus Christ. We see this clearly much later at the time of Christ’s baptism in JN 1: 32-36, “And John [the Baptist] gave his testimony: ‘I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and stay on him. I still did not know that He was the One, but God Who sent me to baptize with water, had said to me, ‘You will see the Sprit come down and stay on a Man; He is the One Who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ I have seen it,’ said John, ‘and I tell you that He is the Son of God.’ The next day John was standing there again with two of his disciples, when they saw Jesus walking by. ‘There is the Lamb of God,’ he said.” More proof of Christ’s deity and position as our Redeemer comes in MT 17: 5 during the transfiguration. “While he [Peter] was talking, a shining cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is My own dear Son in Whom I am pleased-listen to Him.’”
With faith comes power, power to be all God intended man to be. This power equips us for service. EPH 3: 7, “I was made a servant of the Gospel by God’s special gift, when He gave me through the working of His power.” Paul understood just how we are given this power. That comes out in his prayer of EPH 3: 16-18, “I ask God from the wealth of His glory to give you power through His Spirit to be strong in your inner selves, and I pray that Christ will make His home in your hearts through faith. I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love, so that you together with all God’s people may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ’s love.” The perspective we must understand is found in EPH 3: 20-21, “To Him Who by means of His power working in us is able to do so much more than we could ever ask for, or even think of: to God be the Glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever! Amen.” Christ was raised from death to life and is the “first among many brothers” [RO 8: 29]. Herein, is the greatest motivation God has given us to stay the course when attacked by Satan. We have the power to defeat the enemy and the road open to eternal life. For what greater blessing could anyone ever ask???
PRAYER: O Lord, It is often difficult for us to maintain a clear picture in our minds of Your greater purpose when we are in pain in the belly of the beast. And yet, we must stay grounded in Your word and yielding to Your leadership to endure till the end. Our flesh yearns to dominate, and Satan tries his best to drown out Your truth with His lies. If we give in, we stop hearing Your direction. If we give in, Satan wins the battle. We are equipped by You to not allow that happen. Today, we pledge to be alert to the adversary’s attempts to interfere with our attending to the “combat intelligence” You give us. We promise to counter them with faith-building knowledge along with use of the discernment and wisdom You give us in the word. We listen for Your direction and are dedicated to obeying Your commands. You allow us to see our pain, suffering, and loss as indicators that You are taking us through spiritual warfare to the greatest victory ever to be won. We will not forget that this is Your way of forwarding our sanctification and getting Your crucial work done at the same time. Some of us will die physically along the way, but all of us will march on to spiritual life in the new Jerusalem. The pain of this battle is worth it, Dearest Lord. You are our Banner, Jehovah Nissi. As PS 135: 14 tells us, “The Lord will defend His people; He will take pity on His servants.” We believe this and are honored to confess our sins in humility before You and offer You our eternal adoration, loyalty, diligence, honor, glory, trust, obedience, praise, and thanksgiving. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will begin by looking at one of Satan’s greatest losses-the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Then, we will go on to see more “combat intelligence” on Satan’s tactics. We should recognize ourselves as Christ’s soldiers, fighting in his army against that of the adversary. The Lord trained us by the circumstances which brought us to faith. That was our boot camp. Many of us had to be brought to brokenness before we realized the only way out of our misery. Today, we are soldiers who are at the same time being trained (perfected) in the process of sanctification and who are out in the world doing battle against evil. The evil we meet can be anything from lack of ethics in the workplace, to materialism, to being victims of crime, and every other form of misery the devil and his followers can concoct. Our Lord Who loves us more than we can comprehend equips us to deal with these battles and does so for one main reason. He wants as many people as possible to end up living in joy and peaceful fellowship with Him for eternity in heaven. What more righteous motivation or compassionate Deity can there be? As blessed, protected, guided, and fully equipped soldiers in God’s army, we will win the war! As does the Lord, Peter and I send you our love today and always.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn