2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
If it seems strange that I refer to you as "Dear Ones," there is a very good reason for that. It has to do with the feelings that God has given me when He put me in a "koininea" relationship with all others who share faith in Jesus Christ and with Himself. Any faith that any of us has and any love that we show are gifts from Him. The "koininea" bond is supernatural too. It connects us with all other believers and with the Lord Himself. So, Dear Ones, there is nothing artificial or not genuine about it. Just thought you'd like to know. By the way, "koininea," is a Greek word for fellowship (of that special kind).
Yesterday, I was led to begin discussing some wonderful passages that illuminate God's will, give "combat intelligence," and in general prepare us for successful spiritual warfare against the devil and his followers. With them, we need never feel that the enemy can defeat us. You all know that I love the Psalms and lean heavily on them in my writing. They are more gifts from the Lord Who loves each of us so profoundly. PS 127: 1, "If the Lord does not build the house, the work of the builders is useless; if the Lord does not protect the city, it does no good for the sentries to stand guard." This citation draws our attention to the fact that we absolutely need the power of God to be protected from the adversary, and that without it, any attempts we make to defeat him go to ruin. That is nothing to make us sad as long as we endure in our faith. That is because the Lord is only too eager to stand in the gap for us just as He has done on so many occasions throughout mankind's history. God reveals Himself in our daily lives. PS 107: 43, "Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord." In a recent Lenten service in our congregation, our pastor gave a sermon on PS 124: 1-8. Let me share these wonderful words here upon which we can meditate. "If the Lord had not been on our side--let Israel say--if the Lord had not been on our side when men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive; the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away. Praise be to the Lord, Who has not let us be torn by their teeth. We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler's snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth."
These words were written by David and spoken of in the context of the escape of the Jews from their Egyptian captors in the parting of the Red Sea. However, if we apply them to a greater meaning inherent in them, we see this as one more example of spiritual warfare. The whole reason that the Jewish nation was created in the first place was as a means of escape from the evil of idolatry. Who is at the bottom of idolatry? Satan himself and those who follow him. When this Psalm speaks of being like a caged bird freed from the fowler's snare, this could apply to any form of captivity to sin's awful consequences in our lives, and the fowler is the devil who tries make imprison us with them. [By the way, the modern word for "fowler" is a hunter of birds].
Satan's effect on even the most faithful of people is still a continuing problem for us. We can't make the assumption that just because we came to faith, we will never sin again. That is why our vigilance in remaining connected to God daily in His word and through prayer is essential. David was buffeted by Satan's arrows when he got the idea to take the census in 2 SAM 24. If you don't remember this story, please review it. It is also discussed in 1 CH 21. 1 CH 21: 1, "Satan wanted to bring trouble on the people of Israel, so he made David decide to take a census." It was through wisdom that David made the choice of punishments that he did. He trusted God over men to mete out justice, and the Lord did. This story is a reminder that we must understand the source of any decisions we might be thinking about making and any actions we might potentially take. There are times when through meanness, the adversary tries to make himself sound to us like God and gives us direction that can lead to pain, suffering, and even destruction. The real defense that we have against this is the discernment we get from prayer and from the Scriptures. We must put on God's full armor as described in EPH 6: 10-20 and go forth with confidence to battle the enemy. We must not be afraid, for we never go into this battle without the power of God with us when we stay obedient to His word [EPH 1: 18-20].
While we might not be dealing with Egyptians chasing us across the Red Sea or the ill effects of a census taken in our country, we do have to deal with incoming arrows from Satan's hateful attack on us in other ways. At a time in the future, I hope to write more about the lies Satan inflicts upon us which wreak havoc in our lives and relationships. There is also the problem of confusion, jealousy, materialism and a host of other evils that beset our lives. All of these evils put us in the cage, hold us captive to sin, until we, through endurance in faith and trusting obedience to the Lord, find ourselves released and on the path to an eternal life of joy and fellowship with Him. Remember Christ's own words in JN 8: 32, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free."
PRAYER: O Lord, You gave David words to express one of Your greatest attributes, words which we express today in PS 91: 1-4. "Whoever goes to the Lord for safety, whoever remains under the protection of the Almighty, can say to Him, 'You are my Protector. You are my God; in You I trust.' He will keep you safe from all hidden dangers and from all deadly diseases. He will cover you with His wings; you will be safe in His care; His faithfulness will protect and defend you." What comfort that brings when we accept the fact that for now the devil and his followers are out their waging war against us. How grateful, Dearest Abba, we are to know that You will limit their time to operate and are using their activity to bring people to the brokenness necessary, so that they will hear and act on Your life-giving teaching. Paul gives us Your perspective on our suffering in RO 8: 18, "I consider that what we suffer at this present time cannot be compared at all with the glory that is going to be revealed to us." We are not to feel sorry for ourselves, but are to don Your full spiritual armor and are to go forward into battle against evil with the confidence that You are with us. Once again, Paul's words help us to keep Your perspective in RO 8: 31-32, "In view of all this, what can we say? If God is for us, who can be against us? Certainly not God, Who did not even keep back His own Son, but offered Him for us all! He gave us His Son-will He not freely give us all things?" We come to You altar in humility to confess our sin and to place before You our adoration, worship, glory, honor, trust, obedience, diligence, loyalty, praise, and utmost thanksgiving. In Christ's holy name, we pray. Amen.
Tomorrow, we will finish up this segment on Satan's origin in preparation to begin another called "Fear Satan?" There are still a few more wonderful citations that help us to better understand this crucial subject of spiritual warfare in our lives that demand our examination. I would like to witness to you this morning that the Lord loves each and every one of us with all His heart. I look over my own life and see His blessings filling it every day. Today, a person for whom I've been praying, took action that required courageous honesty. It was Godly action and if continued will bring her and her husband much closer to the Lord than they have ever been before. This is just one more way that the Lord has blessed my life and Peter's. Look around you and take some time today to discover all the ways He blesses your lives. It will give you a much better day than you would have had not doing this. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn