2002-11-20
Good Morning Fellow Believers,
Yesterday, I was led to begin discussing how sin originates with Satan’s attack on a person’s mind and not with his actions. God has more to say to us about this. I’m virtually sure that this “combat intelligence” is information God knows we need to have to wage successful spiritual warfare. It comes to us as one of the many blessings of our salvation. Long ago two children at a party I was attending got into a fight over a tricycle in our host’s back yard. They were each about 5 at the time, and one of the bit the other. Needless to say, the adults quickly broke up the fight and physically separated these little “warriors.” What this childish battle points out is the reality that human beings when provoked can act like uncivilized animals, engaging in behavior that is unacceptable in polite society. The adults in charge were not only faced with stopping the battle, but with teaching the combatants how to change their minds in regard to what is an acceptable way to mediate their differences and why. Of course, today we know there are more reasons that social graces to stop people from biting each other, like the spread of disease. This backyard contretemps is an example of what God must deal with on a much larger, deeper scale in bringing sinful people to righteousness and teaching them the blessings of living “in Christ.” RO 12: 2, “Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by the renewal of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God-what is good and is pleasing to Him. and is perfect.” PR 4:23, “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.”
PR 23: 6-8 teaches us another principle which is related to our topic. “Do not et at the table of a stingy man or be greedy for the fine food he serves. ‘Come on and have some more,’ he says, but he does not mean it. What he thinks is what he really is. You will vomit up what you have eaten, and all your flattery will be wasted.” Not a pretty picture, is it? But that’s the way sin really is-ugly when exposed to the light. All of us have at one time or another run into people who seemingly have two personalities, the one presented to us and the one which is really them. These people are so steeped in evil that they are toxic to us. They are so polite to our faces, and so ready to stab us in the back to further their selfish agendas. God gives us passages like this one from Proverbs to give us the discernment to recognize these people at their game and to wage full-blown spiritual warfare with the evil that is in them. Believe me, from personal experience I know that it takes courage to do this, courage only our Lord can give us. It also points out another teaching. I can’t help but remember the unholy alliances that King Solomon formed with Israel’s enemies through marriages to daughters of pagan kings [1 K 11: 1-2]. You can bet that politicians sometimes will form ill-conceived alliances for short-term benefit even in today’s world. These never work. The enemy doesn’t play the game to the same set of rules a believer has. The consequences of such poorly conceived alliances are what God inspired Paul to address himself to in 2 COR 6: 14, “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for it cannot be done. How can right and wrong be partners? How can light and darkness live together?”
Whenever we think of sin, I get a mental picture of a drop of ink on the corner of a linen handkerchief. The stain migrates throughout, changing it from pure white to the color of the staining substance. In other words, sin has a nasty way of spreading, if left unchecked, throughout the population. Satan loves this, and this was his plan when he first deceived Adam and Eve [GN 3: 1-6]. Isaiah takes this up in IS 64: 6 [KJV], “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Christ teaches about things that make people ritually unclean in MT 15: 18-19 in a way that illuminates how sin begins at Satan’s point of attack, the mind. “But the things that come out of the mouth come from the hearts, and these are the things that make a person ritually unclean. For from his heart come the evil ideas which lead him to kill, commit, adultery, and do other immoral things; to rob, lie, and slander others.” How can we miss the ugly example of the sniper who has been murdering people in the VA, MD, & Washington, DC area recently? The sharp-shooting skills this demented person has been using were carefully learned, and then, Satan convinced him to use them to evilly murder innocent people. The same can be said of all those Al Qaeda operatives who came to this country, learned to fly without learning to land, and carried out the 9/11 atrocities. Is it no wonder that Paul expressed his deep concern for what might have been happening to the early church in Corinth in 2 COR 11: 3? “I am afraid that your minds will be corrupted and that you will abandon your full and pure devotion to Christ-in the same way that Eve was deceived by the serpent’s clever lies.” We are called, Dear Ones, to be on the alert and to see the adversary’s lies for what they are.
PRAYER: O Lord, You have commanded us in PHIL 4: 8-9, through Paul, to: “Fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable. Put into practice what you learned and received from me, both from my words and from my actions. And the God Who gives us peace will be with you.” The only way we recognize what these things are is to spend time daily in Your word and to keep open the two-way channel of prayer, allowing You to speak first. The world we live in is fraught with temptations, things that appear on the surface to feel good and entertain us. It is through Your word that the Holy Spirit can warn us when the enemy is behind these things. New Age churches appear to be like Christian ones initially. It is not until people have been in them for awhile, that the evil agenda can really be clearly seen. Titillating movies, TV programs, and ads appeal to the hungers of the flesh and are really entries into porn designed to stimulate fornication and adultery. Teenagers invited to raves seek acceptance, entertainment, and escape from rules. Some of them end up overdosed on dangerous drugs and addicted for life, if they live through it. In 1 PET 5: 8-9, through Peter, You give us the warning that we must heed well. “Be alert, be on watch! Your enemy, the devil, roams around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Be firm in your faith and resist him, because you know that your fellow believers in the all the world are going through the same kind of sufferings.” Dearest Abba, You alone have the power to transform us inwardly by the renewal of our minds. When we spend time with You each day, You give us the weapons we need to stop Satan’s attack before it overcomes us. That You even want to do that for us is nothing short of amazing, in view of our status as needy sinners. But, You love us so much that You gave Your only begotten Son on the cross for us, so that we should be saved, to live in sweet fellowship with You for eternity. We confess our sins and offer You our undying adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, glory, honor, trust, obedience, thanks, and utmost praise. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, I am led to summarize all of the “combat intelligence” the Lord has given us recently about how sin begins with the mind. I realize this is an uncomfortable subject upon which we are called to meditate, but this call and the warning against Satan’s snares come from our God, Who loves each of us so much that He feels compelled to issue it. He may be calling us to wage spiritual warfare, but He also gives us the grounds to carry it out to victory in Christ’s name. Yes, Dear Ones, we may claim that victory when we endure in our faith in our Messiah and Savior. Christ and the Father are actually with us every second that we are in the heat of battle against Satan, directing and encouraging us, correcting us when we err, and providing us with the weapons we need to win our battles. Our physical lives may be on the line, but our spiritual lives are fully protected forever, as long as we obey the Great Commander’s direction. What love He has for us, such love as has never been seen before! Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn