2012-10-05
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, we saw the terrible disappointment to God that His once-favored angel in charge of worship in heaven, Lucifer, became. This was as he tried to “be higher than the Most High God” and became evil [IS 14: 11-15; EZK 28: 11-19]. He was cast down to earth along with the “one third of heavenly hosts” [who became evil angels following him] [REV 12: 9]. Lucifer was then called Satan, which means “accuser” in Hebrew. As you already know, he is the serpent in the Garden of Eden who lured Adam and Eve into sin [GN 3: 1-6]. This week, we need to look at the things only our righteous God can do, so that we have a better understanding of the reconnaissance we need to know to be successful using the power Christ gave us to win, in His name, in spiritual warfare.
To begin, let’s listen in on an important conversation that took place long ago between Moses and God that took place when the Jews were to wander in the desert, seeking the Promised Land. EX 33: 13-14, “If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways, so I may know You and continue to find favor with You [Moses was saying]. Remember that this nation [the Jews] are Your people.” “The Lord replied, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’” Yes, our God was to live among His people. In the physical sense, He did this until much later during the exile of Israel’s first dyaspora [scattering and temporary loss of nationhood] due to their idolatry, when Ezekiel was a prophet to the Jews, then in captivity in the Chabar river area of Babylonia. At that time, God allowed Ezekiel to have a vision of Jewish priests in secret rooms in the Jerusalem temple walls in EZK 8: 7-10, “Then He brought me to the entrance to the court. I looked and I saw a hole in the wall. He said to me, ‘Son of man, now dig into the wall.’ So I dug into the wall and saw a doorway there. And He said to me, ’Go in and see the wicked and detestable things they are doing here.’ So I went in and looked, and I saw portrayed all over the walls all kinds of crawling things and detestable animals and all the idols of the house of Israel. [Seventy elders of the house of Israel were worshipping there].” EZK 10: 18-19 reveals the act of God leaving the temple for heaven. “Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God was above them.” But, we must ask: has God abandoned His people totally?
The answer to this question comes from PS 9: 9-10, “The Lord is a Refuge for the oppressed, as stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know Your name will trust in You, for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek You.” By far, this is not the only place in the Scriptures which tell us God will never abandon those who love and believe in Him. [See DT 31: 6; PS 16: 8-11; PS 37: 17, 25, 27-29; PS 94: 14; IS 42: 16; IS 49: 16-18; JN 6: 37; HE 13: 5-6]. Indeed, there are things only our God can do, things of which Satan is not capable. Let’s look at PS 91: 11, 14, “For He will command His angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways…’Because he loves Me,’ says the Lord, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him for he acknowledges My name.’” God may have physically left His people, but He has not left those who believe in Him in many other important ways. We must also remember what we learned in COL 1: 15-20 about Christ’s unique attributes and COL 3: 10 about how God is “renewing us continually in His image, so that we can have a greater knowledge of Him.” Satan cannot do that. Above all, Satan can’t offer us salvation through faith in him or acceptance of him as our savior, because of the greatest sacrifice of all, his life on a cross. Only Christ’s Atonement could do this [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. Further proof of Satan’s limitations comes in 2 COR 5: 14-17, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in union with Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come.” Both the OT [in JOB 1: 12] were we see the Lord laying down limitations on what Satan can do to Job and in the NT [in REV 12: 12] where we see a statement of how the Lord has limited Satan’s time to do evil on earth, we see that God is always in ultimate charge of what happens on earth and not Satan. We can thank and praise Him for this and so much more!
PRAYER: O Lord, we find it difficult to learn to trust You, because the inherent evil in mankind has led us to so much pain and hurt. And yet, we must understand that no one has Your sovereignty or supremacy-no human, no angel, and certainly not, Satan. PR 21: 1 gives us an idea of Your power. “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord; He directs it like a watercourse wherever He pleases.” What great proof of this we find in DN 4: 17 in reference to who rules a country! “The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone He wishes and sets over them the lowest of men.” While this was written around c. 530 BC, it is still true in our upcoming election today and in any human government in the future. There are times when someone we don’t want is allowed to be in leadership of a government. We may not understand why You allow this or why You set the particular limits on how long those people are in power. However, it is Your sovereign right and wisdom, Dearest Lord, to which we must submit and respect. At the crux of this is our willingness to trust You. PR 30: 5, “God keeps every promise He makes. He is like a shield for all who seek His protection.” PS 118: 8-9, “It is better to put trust in God, than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.” Your perspective is so much higher and better than ours, that we can’t totally comprehend it [IS 55: 8-9]. We can put our trust in the prophecies of Your word. An important one resides in DN 2: 34-35. “While you were watching a rock was cut out , but not by human hands. It struck the stature on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the Rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.” Yes, Lord, all human governments will come to an end, and the covenant You made with David will come true. Your Son, Jesus Christ, will rule forever over the earth, supplanting all human rulers [2 SAM 7: 12-13]. We offer You our undying reverence and submit to Your authority over all. We pledge to learn to always trust You, and we thank and praise You forever, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I am led to begin a new segment of the “Our Covenant” messages called “Selfishness to Unselfishness,” in which we will examine crucial changes that happen to those who come to faith in Christ and mature in it. This sanctification process is God at work purifying and perfecting us, so that one day we will become glorified, i.e. be taken up to heaven to be with Him in blissful covenant relationship for eternity. When we realize that God has kept no important issue secret from us, we must realize He has not only accepted us as His friends, but He has deemed us “innocent” of our sins of the past. RO 5: 9, “Since we have not been justified by His [Christ’s] blood , how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!” What a great sacrifice the Father made of His beloved Son on the cross, so that we could alive in Him and live for eternity! How can we not feel blessed by this? Our God loves us and wants us to live by His teaching, so that we can enjoy the fruits of a great covenant relationship with Him during our time on earth and forever afterward in heaven. Nothing our God does is without righteousness and wisdom. We must be willing to submit to Him to know the real blessings of this amazing relationship. We can pray for this protection from Satan’s malicious activity. PS 31: 3-5, “You are my Refuge and Defense; guide me and lead me as You have promised. Keep me safe from the snare that has been set for me; shelter me from all danger. I place myself in your care, You will save me, Lord; You are a faithful God.” All praise, honor, glory, and thanks belong to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2012. All Rights Reserved.
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