2003-02-24
Good Morning Treasured Readers,
Yesterday, I ended my message by citing JAS 4: 7, 10, and feel I should recite it one more time, because it relates to more that needs to be said about our authority to resist the forces of evil. “So then, submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you…Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.” That says so much to me, because it shows us that we can place our trust in God not to leave us dangling in the wind when Satan sends off his fiery darts at us. It also points out the necessity of us acknowledging Who God really is and His mighty power. We learn from many places all over the Bible how righteous and compassionate our Deity is, so that we don’t have to be concerned that submitting to Him is a mistake. Instead, it’s the best thing we can do!
JAS 1: 5-8 really helps us to have a better understanding of the benefit of faith and wisdom in this or any other matter. “But if any of you lacks wisdom, he should pray to God, Who will give it to Him; because God give generously and graciously to us all. But when you pray, you must believe and not doubt at all. Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is driven and blown abut by the wind. A person like that, unable to make up his mind and undecided in all he does, must not think that he will receive anything from the Lord.” Those of us who spend daily time in God’s word and in prayer soon realize that any doubts about God that a person have come from Satan himself. That is one of his favorite ways of keeping people from maturing into deep faith in God and in the Son. In the course of this series on spiritual warfare, we’ve spent a lot of time in Ephesians. I feel that time has been worthwhile. James talks about God giving generously and graciously to all who pray. Look at how God finally answered the murmurs of His chosen people made so long ago in EX 2: 23b-24 in EPH 1: 7-8, “For by the death of Christ we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. How great is the grace of God, which He gives us in such large measure.” The time between the Jews wandering in the desert until Paul’s ministry was instituted was the time needed to “ingraft” the wild olive branches [Gentile believers] to the cultured olive branches [believing Jews] spoken of in RO 11: 16-24. Through Christ’s Atonement, all believers were brought to salvation and peace with God; the barriers between Jew and Gentile are destroyed. GA 2: 19b-20, “I have been put to death with Christ on His cross, so that it is not longer I who live, but it is Christ Who lives in me. This life that I live now, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave His life for me.”
Dear Ones, the power of prayer should never be underestimated. All that time ago, the Jews heavily burdened under the oppression of Egyptian slavery, murmured and begged God for deliverance. Once given deliverance, they didn’t know what to do with it, which is why God gave them the Law through Moses. Even then, they disobeyed, complained, and built a golden calf to worship idolatrously [EX 32: 1-35]. God first gave people the Law, so that they could know what is righteous in His eyes and what isn’t [RO 7: 7]. When He felt they were ready for the opportunity for salvation, He sent His only begotten Son to the cross, so that His blood could seal a new and better covenant [JN 3: 16; 1 COR 11: 25]. What we need to do in our lives is to answer these questions: How often do I pray? Do I listen for God to speak first? For what do I pray? Do I look for God’s answers around me? Do I personally recognize the power of prayer in supporting the authority we have been given to battle the forces of evil? Do I remember to offer God thanks and praise first for His marvelous attributes and great deeds? Do I really appreciate the great sacrifice of His Son that was made for me? Do I remember to confess my sins?
I can testify to my own personal experience about the power of prayer. God has privileged me to write all the prayer requests for our huge prayer chain of 142 prayer servants. People are wonderful about sending in updates, so that we can follow the progress of the people for whom we pray. In turn, we keep all of that information confidential within our chain. I’ve seen God miraculously heal people from cancer in which the doctors had though it was terminal. Others have gotten jobs and put their lives back on course after unemployment due to the current “downsizing” trend in American businesses. And, a few others have reached the time when they were called home to the Lord with their families approaching their grief knowing that their separation was only temporary, and they are now in a better place without pain or sorrow. The power of prayer is only the first in a series of truths that support the notion that we are fully authorized to battle Satan to victory in Christ’s name. There are more, and I’m led to continue discussing that in tomorrow’s message.
PRAYER: O Lord, we need to always remember and be grateful for Your generosity and compassion in bringing us the way out of slavery to the marketplace of sin by Christ’s death on the cross. To this, we must add our thanks that You wanted us to have a personal relationship with You, enough to be the One Who first extended the invitation for us to come to faith. On that thanks list, we must acknowledge how much it means to us that You gave us Your word and the gift of the Holy Spirit, so we could understand it. Satan would like us to think that we have no power, that we can doubt Your promises will be fulfilled, and that we have no authority to battle him. But, his message is a snow job, meant to deceive us. The real truth is that we have all of those things when we endure in our faith and trust in You. PS 16: 11, You show me the path of life. In Your presence there is fullness of joy; in Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” PS 40: 4-5, “You bless all of those who trust You, Lord, and refuse to worship false idols or follow false gods. You, Lord God, have done many wonderful things, and you have planned marvelous things for us. No one is like You! I would never be able to tell all You have done.” PS 69: 32, “The humble shall see their God at work for them. No wonder they will be so glad! All who seek for God shall live in joy.” The words of these three citations from the book of Psalms speak to the content of our heart-attitude about You. We recognize our limitations and our great need for Your presence and direction in our lives. We also feel and appreciate the power and authority You give us to stand firm against Satan and his cohorts. In JER 11-13, You made us a promise that we cherish. “I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future your hope for. Then you will call to Me. You will come and pray to Me, and I will answer you. You will seek Me, and you will find Me because you will seek Me with all your heart.” We come before You in humility to confess our sins and to offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, diligence, glory, honor, trust, obedience, thanks, and praise. In Christ’s name, amen.
As mentioned above, I will continue writing about evidence we have of our authority to battle Satan to victory in Christ’s name. We can know that God loves each and every one us no matter what our age, sex, career, appearance, education, or income might be. To God none of these things matter. All He cares about is the state of our faith in Him and willingness to obey His commands. Because our loving Abba is as righteous as He is, we can place our total trust in Him and never worry that He will lead us to disaster. The picture of foolish men held strongly by Satan dragging Christ to the cross and crucifying Him, tells us that they never recognized Who He really was. We, on the other hand, have been allowed to know that He is our Messiah Who has brought us salvation and peace. All those from the past who never met Christ, people like Joshua, son of Nun, Caleb, Moses, Elijah, and the other OT prophets who died in faith, are given the opportunity to accept Christ as their Savior. We have proof of that in MT 17:3 at the transfiguration, where Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus. Our God is an awesome, compassion, just, and patient God, whose greatest bliss is in bringing as many of His creation back to Him as will listen and come to faith in the Son. Peter and I send each one of you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn