2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
We continue to examine the question: Should we fear Satan? It is logical for us to look at the character profile given of him in the Scriptures to have a better understanding of how to answer that question in our own lives. One of Satan's favorite ways to bring us pain and difficulties in our lives is to feed us lies. Sometimes these lies come to us through well-meaning people who raise us without the discernment that faith and knowledge of God's word brings. Sometimes they are lies that Satan gives us directly, which manifest themselves as misunderstanding of the truth in our interpretation of the circumstances of our lives. Often these lies are outgrowths of poor communication in our relationships. Whatever way they come to us, they originate with Satan. When we give into them, the adversary is pleased. We learn just how natural to our enemy lying is from Christ's own words while arguing with the Pharisees in JN 8: 44, "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there was no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." When we put this together with what we know from EPH 6: 12, the origin of these lies is revealed. "For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age."
Yesterday, I shared an example of a lie that Satan put into my life through my parents, the origin of which they didn't recognize. The lie was that I was worthless, needed to fear everything, and would never be able to do what was expected of me. The truth is that each one of us is precious to the Lord and are loved by Him. That is why He inspired Jesus to say in JN 13: 34-35, "And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are My disciples." When we put that together with GN 1: 27 which tells us that we were made in God's image, it becomes obvious that God would not hate what is created in His own image. The Scriptures address the other part of the lie that gave me so much pain, that part which said that I needed to fear everything and would never be able to do what was expected of me. 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." PHIL 4: 13, "I have the strength to face all conditions by the power that Christ gives me." Faith is believing in the truth, the truth that Christ tells us in JN 8: 32 shall set us free. If there was ever a verse that Satan hates, it is HE 4: 12, "The word is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It cuts all the way through, to where the soul and spirit meet, to where the joints and marrow come together. It judges the desires and thoughts of a man's heart."
The story of Ananias and Sapphira in AC 5 reveals God's attitude toward lies. AC 5: 1-5, "But there was a man named Amanias, who with his wife Sapphira sold some property that belonged to them. But with his wife's agreement he kept part of the money for himself and turned the rest over to the apostles. Peter said to him, 'Ananias, why did you let Satan take control of you and make you lie to the Holy Spirit by keeping part of the money you received for the property? Before you sold the property, it belonged to you; and after you sold it, the money was yours. Why, then did you decide to do such a thing? You have not lied to men-you have lied to God!' As soon as Ananias heard this, he fell down dead; and all who heard about it were terrified." A similar fate happened to Sapphira a few hours later. Where God is at work, Satan is also there to counterfeit, corrupt, and contend. However, where there is real spiritual power, deceit and hypocrisy will be exposed and eventually defeated. We are seeing this right now with the adjudication of the Enron matter. God knows the content of our hearts. If we are faithful, we have nothing to fear. If we think we can hide wrongdoing or wrongful attitudes, we are deluded by that "father of lies," Satan. The expunging of lies from our own lives sometimes takes a lot of willingness to dig down deep. Dr. William Backus wrote an excellent book called "Learning To Tell Myself The Truth," which deals with a method for extracting the lies in our lives and exposing them for what they are without guilt. Our understanding of and obedience to God's will from the Scriptures in the matter of lying must be applied not only in our private lives, but in our congregations, workplaces, and anywhere else we are. We need to meditate on how this truth impacts our own lives.
PRAYER: O Lord, each day You try to bring us closer to You by making methods known to us how to expose and expunge Satan's deceptions from our lives. When we read the Scriptures, Your will becomes clear to us. We come to Your altar as sinners, imperfect but willing to let the Holy Spirit lead us to Your truth. We are often vulnerable to Satan's lies, sometimes buying into them. We acknowledge that the best way for us to combat this vulnerability is to stay grounded daily in Your word and with You in prayer. The lies we believe and act upon can bring us nothing but pain, suffering, and death if we persist in them. The lies that we expose and get out of our lives can no longer hurt us or keep us separated from You. There is nothing that You do not know. We are grateful that we can come before You in an honest appraisal of our shortcomings and know that You will greet our pleas for forgiveness and direction in our lives with loving patience, protection, and compassion. It is only when we think we can fool You and still keep on sinning that we incur Your righteous wrath against us. The Psalmist's pleas in PS 140: 1-5 express our own pleas. "Save me, Lord from evil men; keep me safe from violent men. They are always plotting evil, their tongues are like deadly snakes; they words are like a cobra's poison. Protect me, Lord from the power of the wicked; keep me safe from violent men who plot my downfall. Proud men have set a trap for me; they have laid their snares and along the path they have set traps to catch me." These pleas are answered in PS 121: 1-5, "I look to the mountains; from where will my help come? My help will come from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. He will not let you fall; your Protector is always awake. The Protector of Israel [and all who believe] never slumbers or sleeps. The Lord will guard you; He is by your side to protect you." We humbly offer you our adoration, worship, trust, obedience, diligence, loyalty, glory, honor, praise, and thanksgiving. In Christ's name, amen.
There is more that I am led to say on the subject of Satan's deceptions. I will take this up in tomorrow's message. We are always better off by knowing the enemy and thus being able to recognize when he is about his dirty work. Our own reactions to his attempts to besiege us reflect the strength of our faith in God and knowledge of the Lord's teaching. It's both a head and a heart trip that we must be on for Him. When our faith is strong, He is able to protect us from any deception the devil can conjure to bring us pain and suffering. We can take great comfort in knowing that by persisting the battle against Satan, we have a Partner in Christ Who leads us to eternal victory. That is one more way that our Abba shows us His love and faithfulness. Peter and I send your our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn