2002-11-04
Good Morning Treasured Ones,
I am led to continue discussing what God has to say when we are plagued with doubts, those fiery darts sent to our minds by Satan. Satan likes nothing better than for us to forget about the power of our salvation and to question ourselves and our faith. In MT 8: 31-33, Jesus Christ recognized the devil working through Peter, as He can no matter where the devil works. “Then Jesus began to teach His disciples: ‘The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later He will rise to life.’ He made this very clear to them. So Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But Jesus turned around, looked at his disciples, and rebuked Peter, ‘Get away from Me, Satan,’ He said. ‘Your thoughts do not come from God but from man!’” What we can learn from this passage is that even a person who later was to be the highly respected leader of the early church in Jerusalem, the same man who wrote such God-inspired wisdom in the Scriptures, was vulnerable to being used by Satan. Why is such a thing possible? I believe the answer lies in the strength of faith one has. At this time in Peter’s life, he was young and his faith wasn’t fully formed. Remember, that this event occurred even before Peter denies knowing Jesus three times as the cock crows. Another revelation here is that no matter what Satan does, no matter how he tries to deceive by appearing as another, Christ recognizes him.
We must remember Satan takes on different forms [GN 3: 1; EZK 28: 12; REV 12: 9, 34] and can infiltrate the personalities of good people, like Peter [MT 16: 23]. We have already learned in GN 3: 1 that Satan is cunning. He can disguise himself too. 2 COR 11: 14-15, “Well, no wonder! Even Satan can disguise himself to look like an angels of light! So it is no great thing if his servants disguise themselves to look like servants of righteousness. In the end they will get exactly what their actions deserve.” Our parent-apostle, James, once again lays it on the line as to what we should do when Satan is trying to ingratiate himself in our lives in JAS 4: 7, “So then, submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you.” We are to model the same faith, knowing and using the Scriptures, as Christ did when He was so sorely tempted for 40 days in the wilderness [MT 4: 1-11]. In other words, we have been given the faith and the power to stand firm against Satan’s attacks on the grounds of the cross!
Some of the questions that Satan gives us to raise doubts are: What is my life worth anyway? What should I do? To whom should I turn? What should I believe? Am I really saved? Should I get even? And, I’m sure there are many more that one can conger up from his own experience. Those of us who pray and study God’s word daily are aware of the answers to these questions. We have an awesome God Who calls us to seek Him first when we are in trouble and Who has proven over and over again that He will be there for us. PS 46: 1, “God is our Refuge and our Strength, always ready to help us in times of trouble.” If we ever doubt our true value to God or that God is eager to be there for us, we can be sure those doubts are from Satan and not from God. JN 8: 44 has revealed that Satan is the “father of all lies” and “there is not truth in him.” Thus, we can know that these doubts are his efforts to lead us to lies. If we are foolish enough to buy into them, then we are asking to share Satan’s fate of an eternity of torment in the lake of fire and sulfur.
We must remember the admonitions of 2 COR 10: 3-5, “It is true that we live in the world, but we do not fight from worldly motives. The weapons we use in our fight are not the world’s weapons but God’s powerful weapons, which we use to destroy strongholds. We destroy false arguments; we pull down every proud obstacle that is raised against the knowledge of God; we take every thought captive and make it obey Christ.” We can take heart and have the courage of our faith, because the Lord is there for us granting us sufficient power to remain anchored in the truth. This is not what Satan tells us, but what God tells us. Look at the situation Joshua and the Jews found themselves in JS 3: 5, 14-16. “Joshua told the people, ‘Purify yourselves, because tomorrow the Lord will perform miracles among you’…It was harvest time, and the river was in flood. When the people left the camp to cross the Jordan, the priests were ahead of them, carrying the Covenant Box. As soon as the priest stepped into the river, the water stopped flowing and piled up, far upstream at Adam, the city beside Zarethan. The flow downstream to the Dead Sea was completely cut off and the people were able cross near Jericho.” Satan would have had them all believing it wasn’t possible, i.e. doubting. If we have doubts in our own lives, we can examine them, knowing that if we will turn to the Lord in prayer and study of the Scriptures, He will tell us the truth. He will show us whether or not Satan is assailing us with lies.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have given us many wonderful stories with lessons from the Scriptures to help us deal with our doubts. One such story is that in 2 CH 20: 1-24 of Judah’s war with Edom led by King Jehoshaphat of Judah. Jeshoshaphat was frightened and prayed to the Lord for guidance in the face of a large army from Edom advancing upon the Jews from east of the Dead Sea (1-3). The Spirit of the Lord came upon a Levite, Jahaziel son of Zechariah, who delivered this message to the king. “The Lord says that you must not be discouraged or be afraid to face this large army. The battle depends on God, not on you (16)…the Lord will be with you!” (17b). The people praised God, and the king told them to put their trust in God (19-20). The Lord threw the invading armies into chaos, and they killed each other, leaving the Jews unscathed (24). Your power to help us is supreme, and Your will is sovereign. You are a righteous God Who loves His children and guides them through danger, including doubts cast upon them by Satan. This story shows us that when we are doubting, we should turn to You in prayer, listen for Your direction, take action when You command and in the way You command, praise You for Your greatness, and see what You do in people’s lives. We can count on You and Your Son to be entirely consistent throughout our history. HE 13: 8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” From the days of the ancient Jews, You have given us, through Moses in DT 4: 29-31, direction and comfort. “There you will look for the Lord your God, and if you search for Him with all your heart, you will find Him. When you are in trouble and all those things happened to you, then you will finally turn to the Lord and obey Him. He is a merciful God. He will not abandon you or destroy you and He will not forget the covenant that He Himself made with your ancestors.” Today, we come before You to acknowledge our dire need for You in our lives, our willingness not to doubt Your teaching, the power You have given us to fend off the adversary’s fiery darts, and our dedication to obey Your direction in this battle. We humbly voice the confession of our sins and offer Your our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, glory, honor, trust, obedience, thanks, and utmost praise. In Christ’s holy name, we pray. Amen.
It is very necessary for us to examine the fierce spiritual battle that goes on, so we can see it for what it is and recognize how our salvation has led to God’s mighty love, help, and presence in our lives. He doesn’t leave us to fight this battle alone, nor does He send us into it poorly equipped for victory. Just imagine Jehoshaphat leading his vastly outnumbered Judean army into battle with the Edomites. He openly admitted he was frightened and was smart and faithful enough to turn to the Lord. God had to have been pleased that Jehoshaphat turned to Him first in honesty, and rewarded that by giving the king His lofty perspective on whose battle this really was. God’s pleasure at hearing the praise of the Judeans just made His protection given them all that much sweeter. Nothing like this would have been possible without the enormous love that God has for each of us, for we are His beloved children. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn