2007-07-27
Good Morning Dear Ones,
As we carry on discussing temptation, we must remember from MT 6: 22, "The eyes are like a lamp for the body." These are Christ's very own words from the Sermon on the Mount, the ones that tell us we must have enough obedient faith to have the power to avoid temptations to sin. Because of Christ's Atonement, we have that choice of whether or not to sin. Without it, we would be destined to sin and to experience the worst of all consequences, spiritual death. The pure crystal logic of Christ's admonitions would be lost amidst a cacophony of uncontrolled emotions. We have an adversary who wants to see us lost, separated from the God Who created us in His own image [GN 1: 27], wants to block God from bringing us back to Him for a blissful eternity [1 PET 5: 8], and waste the blood shed for us on the cross-thus lying about the importance of our redemption [JN 8: 44].
One of the saddest prayer requests our prayer chain ever had came from a young father who was into pornography on his computer. What he didn't realize until it was too late was the watching eyes of his two sons, ages 9 and 11. These boys would sneak when their dad wasn't looking, and visit the same awful web sites they had seen their father visit. When the father realized what was happening, he was desperate for God's help, begging for it through prayer. This is only one way the evil one attacks, and he attacks where humans are most vulnerable. He is indeed a cunning prowler "crouching at the door, wanting to rule you," as GN 4: 7b describes him. I recommended to that family that they seek competent Christian counseling from a professional or pastor immediately and pray in humble confession to God. The desire to sin, to separate ourselves from God, is always here on earth. But we can look forward, if we are willing to turn away from this desire, to not having to deal with this in heaven. I know this from REV 21: 27, "But nothing impure will enter the city, nor anyone who does shameful things or tells lies. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of the living will enter the city."
Another kind of lure the evil one uses is deception. Once again, I can draw from my own experience with a relative who had the capacity to appear very caring, friendly, and peaceful to a person, all the while busily stabbing him in the back. This is the kind of personality, I detest. This person, by means of vicious gossip, gave people the wrong impression of things in my life. It took years of emotional pain and rejection for me, before this person's lies were uncovered. I would hazard a guess that many of you reading this message have met such a person. I was young at the time and didn't have the kind of faith in Christ that I have now. What many believers don't realize is that we are fully equipped, when we are true believers, to battle the adversary full bore and to be victorious in Christ's holy name. EPH 1: 18-20, "I ask that your minds may be opened to see His light, so that you will know what is the hope to which He has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings He promises His people, and how very great is His power at work in us who believe. This power working in us is the same as the mighty strength which He used when He raised Christ from death and seated Him at His right side in the heavenly world."
One of the most vicious works of the devil is doubt. He loves to plant doubt in the mind of a believer, particularly a new believer or one who is going through a troubling challenge at the time. Surely, it was the evil one who led Moses to say, EX 6: 12, "Even the Israelites will not listen to me, so why should the pharaoh? I am such a poor speaker." What happened afterward proves Moses' doubts to be a lie. The resurrected Jesus rebuked the doubts about Him demonstrated at the time by the eleven remaining disciples (after Judas Iscariot's deceit was brought to light), in MK 16: 14. Should we do nothing for doubters? Of course not! JUDE 22-23, written by Christ's own half-brother, clarifies. "Show mercy toward those who have doubts; save others by snatching them out of the fire; and to others show mercy mixed with fear, but hate their very clothes, stained by their sinful lusts." Thanks to Christ's death on the cross, we have the choice to exercise the power against the devil that we have been given and to help others do the same [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. We have been given the full armor of God [see EPH 6: 10-18] to fight to victory in Christ's name against the adversary, and that is how we can choose for ourselves to avoid whatever cunning temptation our enemy uses to strike us. We must stand up to the devil, as the young David stood up against the giant, Goliath in 1 SM 17: 45-47. David knew God was with Him, and we must know that too. Our loving, compassionate, powerful, and righteous Lord is with us every minute of every day. He claims ownership of us [PS 100: 3; RO 14: 8], and His love is the greatest we can be offered [PS 33: 5; IS 64: 4]. If each of us takes the time to look up the verses given in this message, we will see the patterns and feel the love the Lord has for each of "the sheep of His pasture." PS 79: 13, "So we Thy people and the sheep of Thy pasture give thanks to Thee forever, to all generations we tell of Thy praise."
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before Your mighty throne battered, at times, with the fiery darts of the evil one. Some of these are desire, deception, and doubt, among others. He is a cunning enemy who seeks to wear us down, to pull us away from You. We acknowledge Your superiority to him and recognize that we can't battle him successfully without You [MT 5: 3]. PS 97: 10-12 helps us to better understand. "The Lord loves those who hate evil, He protects the lives of His people; He rescues them from the power of the wicked. Light shines on the righteous, and gladness on the good. All you that are righteous be glad because of what the Lord had done! Remember what the holy God has done and give thanks to Him." And so, we do praise and thank You for being the powerful and compassionate God You are. Moreover, we do pledge our faith in "the Stone which builders rejected as worthless," Who "turned out to be the most important of all"-our Lord and Your Son, Jesus Christ [PS 118: 22]. He is "the Stone Who causes the evil to stumble" [IS 8: 14-15; 1 PET 2: 8]. David was a mere lad when he faced Goliath, but he had Your power and love for him behind him. We must face our own "Goliath's" with the same trust and faith in You, as he did. Dearest Abba, we desire more than anything else to shorten the distance between ourselves and You that sin has caused. We remember how Christ was tired, battered, and in need of Your help when He battled the evil one in the wilderness, in MT 4: 1-11. You showed great care and compassion in verse 11, "Then the devil left Jesus; and angels came and helped Him." You sent those angels for Him, and will do so for us when we are weary from battle against the temptations of the adversary. Our hope is in You, and You show us mercy and compassion [PS 146: 5; PS 116: 5; PS 103: 12]. You are a loving God, and we offer up our worship, adoration, loyalty, praise, and thanks to You. In Christ's holy name we pray. Amen.
Next week, the Holy Spirit has directed me to begin a new segment of these messages about the Sermon on the Mount on "worrying about mammon" [money, material things]. We read our Lord Jesus' words about this subject and have the opportunity to look further into it. If it amazes us that Christ covered so much in His Sermon on the Mount, it is because He knew His first incarnation on earth was limited and was coming to an end. His love for mankind is so great that He is willing to take on even the most sinful of us. Note how God forgave the prostitute who poured nard [perfume] from an alabaster jar and wiped His feet with her tears [LK 7: 36-50] and Paul, who had begun his career as a persecutor of the early church working for the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin [AC 9: 1-6; AC 26: 12-18]. No matter how sinful we may think we are, and yes, we are indeed sinners, when we approach God with a humble heart, confess our sins, and look to Him for forgiveness, He will grant it. Our task is not continue repeating the sin, whatever it is. We must know that "I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me" [PHIL 4 :13]. We do have the strength to overcome the adversary. We can trust in God's help for this. PS 46: 1, "God is our Shelter and our Strength, always ready to help us in times of trouble." He is near, and we can trust Him to do this, if we will have the humility and courage to seek Him out. PS 33: 19, " How wonderful are the good things You keep for those who honor You! Everyone knows how good You are, how securely You protect those who trust in You." Once again, we can lift our hands to God and offer Him the praise and thanks He richly deserves. Hallelujah!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn