2003-02-20
Good Morning Treasured Ones,
I was listening to “Walk In The Way” this morning, the ministry radio program of Pastor James McDonald of Harvest Bible Church in Rolling Meadows, IL. Every so often, I get the feeling that the Holy Spirit put words in another person’s mouth that were expressly meant for me. He was talking about the courage we can have before God when we know His will well and obey it. Since the Spirit has been prompting me to write about ways we can use God’s word to break Satan’s grip on us, I couldn’t help but be moved by what Pastor McDonald had to say, so I’ll share some of it here. The first step in breaking Satan’s grip is: 1) having confidence in the power of Christ’s atoning blood. The second is: 2) having faith in Christ’s supremacy and sufficiency. Today, we’ll look at the third step: 3) having courage to claim and use our authority to resist evil.
James, who I like to call our parent-apostle because of his pronouncements, puts it quite directly when he says in JAS 4: 7, “So then, submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you.” As I have often said, that’s exactly what Christ did during His temptation in the wilderness in MT 4: 1-11. The devil ran away from Him in MT 4: 11. Before returning to some of the citations on the authority we have been given, we need to examine our own personal relationship with God. Going back to David’s in PS 34 is a pretty good idea, because we get a beautiful picture of God from it. David begins with an invitation for us to praise God in PS 34: 1-3, “I will always thank the Lord; I will never stop praising Him. I will praise Him for what He has done; may all who are oppressed listen and be glad! Proclaim with me the Lord’s greatness; let us praise His name together.” David’s invitation is grounded in humility, the attitude that God wants us to have before Him. It also acknowledges God’s great accomplishments. When Satan oppresses us, it hardly seems like a time to listen and be glad, but that’s what David is telling us we can do when speaking in prayer to our compassionate God. Christ reiterates this idea in MT 11: 28-30, “Come to Me all you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke and put it on you, and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest. For the yoke I give you is easy and the burden is light.” We can listen for God’s wisdom and be glad that He promises protection and care for those who love Him. In other words, God is there for us, no matter what cruelty Satan delivers.
PS 34: 4-7 shows us why it’s okay for us to have courage from the authority we have been given to battle Satan to victory in the Son’s name. “I prayed to the Lord, and He answered me; He freed me from all my fears. The oppressed look to Him and are glad; they will never be disappointed. The helpless call to Him and He answers; He saves them from all their troubles. His angel guards those who have reverence for the Lord and rescues them from danger.” Satan wants us to be afraid. God, through Isaiah in IS 41: 13 says, “For I am the Lord, your God, Who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, ‘Do not fear; I will help you.’” IS 43: 13 lends credence to God’s comforting words, “I am God and always will be. No one can escape from My power; no one can change what I do.” So, there it is, laid out as clear as crystal! Not even Satan can overcome God’s power, and yet, this fool keeps on trying.
The word, “fear,” is confusing in English, because it has two very distinct meanings. The first one is “to be afraid;” the other meaning is “to have reverence for.” Amazingly, both fit our approach to God. We should be afraid of His mighty power, if we know we are being unrighteous. On the other hand, if we love God, we will want to have great reverence for Him, because we will have a good idea of His wonderful attributes and His great accomplishments. When a person matures in the faith, if my own experience is any teacher, he falls madly in love with the God Who is madly in love with Him. RO 8; 28, “We know that in all things God works for good with those who love Him, those whom He has called according to his purpose.” PS 145: 8-9, “The Lord is kind and shows mercy. He does not become angry quickly but is full of love. The Lord is good to everyone; He is merciful to all He has made.” And now, I’m led to return to Christ’s words upon the return of the seventy-two men whom He sent to spread His message of salvation and peace to several towns in LK 10: 19, “Listen! I have given you authority, so that you can walk on snakes and scorpions and overcome all the power of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you.” Christ never lied. That message applies to us, just as it did for the seventy-two. PS 32: 7 are David’s words acknowledging this message. “You are my hiding place; You will save me from trouble. I sing aloud songs of deliverance, because You protect me.” Each of us has been given the authority to battle Satan effectively. Now, we must have the courage to use it!
PRAYER: O Lord, You give us clear direction on how to please You. When we take the time through daily study of Your word, learn it by heart, and take it with us to the battlefield with Satan, Satan will be defeated! You inspired David to let us know what the result will be, so we will know our labors in that battlefield were worth it. PS 34: 8-10, “O taste and see how good the Lord is: blessed is the man that trusts in Him. Have reverence for the Lord, all His people; those who obey Him have all they need. Even lions go hungry for lack of food, but those who obey the Lord lack nothing good.” Pastor McDonald tells the story of a little girl who encounters a lion by the only stream of fresh water in the area. She is thirsty, but the lion looks ferocious. As she advances toward the stream, the lion moves closer to her. She asks the lion if there is another stream nearby, and the lion says, “no, you must drink from this water to remain alive.” She inches closer and closer, as does the lion to her. At least, she drinks from the stream, and the lion gently places his paw on her back, stroking it and saying, “Fear not, I will protect you.” That is the way we are with You, Dearest Father. When we don’t know you well, we are afraid of You, but when we taste the living water of faith in Jesus Christ and live “in Him,” we mature in that faith and come to recognize both Your awesome, righteous power, and how much You love those who endure in their faith. That brings us to utter the words of PS 143: 8, which are in our hearts today. “Let me hear of Your steadfast love in the morning, for in You I put my trust. Teach me the way I should go, for to You I lift up my soul.” You give us the courage to face our fears and to battle against the wicked forces of evil in our lives. We must remember the story of Job, never forgetting that You alone are in charge of everything that goes on here on earth and in heaven. You will not allow Satan to defeat those who remain loyal, trusting, and obedient to You. You empower us, authorize us, and give us the right to claim victory against Satan by the blood shed by Your Son on the cross. We come before You today in humility to confess our sins and to offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, glory, honor, trust, obedience, thanks, and utmost praise. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Tomorrow, we’ll look at the next step in using God’s word to break the hold Satan has over us. The lion in the story above is in my mind, the Lion of Judah, God’s second personality, Jesus Christ. Those of us who feel that we are “new creations” because of our union with Him [2 COR 5: 17] haven’t forgotten how frightened we felt at submitting to Him when we first began to come to faith. We knew God had the power to punish us for our past sins, but we inched our way toward the living water that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God’s wrath is poured down upon liars, but when we were willing to confess our sins honestly to Him, we discovered His gentleness, kindness, goodness, forgiveness, and compassion. The little girl found her thirst quenched by drinking the water and by knowing that the lion loved her enough to stroke her back with His paw. That Lion, who alone has been given authority to judge [DN 7: 13-14], is only too eager to acquit the genuinely repentant sinner. Our loving Abba is indeed pleased when we recognize our need for Him and come to Him. His grace is truly sufficient for our every need, including direction, equipment, authority, power, and courage to beat off the forces of evil. God loves each of us, and so do Peter and I.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn