2003-03-07
Good Morning Dear Ones,
At the end of yesterday’s message, I cited LK 11: 13, which is appropriate for me to repeat here. “As bad as you are [meaning as capable of sin as you are], you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask for Him.” Placing this in context, this is a reference to the Father giving one who seeks it the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s the reason why I believe we should 1) confess our sins, 2) empty our spiritual vessels of human agendas, and 3) ask the Holy Spirit to fill our vessels and assume leadership before doing any task for the Lord. This is how we can give ourselves the greatest chance of success at what we are attempting to do.
The Spirit leads me now to discuss the tests that Satan has been given permission from God to give us and God’s will for how to respond to them. This is a big topic, but let’s look at it from the point of God’s overall plan for mankind first. The book of Job is an excellent example of how God’s system of sanctification works, His act of bringing us gradually to perfection. You’ll remember that the Lord and Satan entered into an agreement that Satan would be allowed to test Job, a man of real faith, to see if he could get Job to abandoned his faith [JOB 1: 8-11]. But, God never yielded total control of the situation over to Satan. We learn this in JOB 1: 12, “’All right,’ the Lord said to Satan, ‘everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself.’ So Satan left.” Throughout the book of Job, we see that Satan did everything to Job within his power to cause Job to abandon his faith, everything from bringing boils, illness, loss of property, and even loss of his wife and children. Nothing worked, and God knew this remarkable believer would endure. Even through the incorrect slant [believing that this was a reward/ punishment situation] that his friends took toward what was going on in their discussions with Job didn’t veer Job away from his faith in God. In the end, Job’s health and prosperity were returned to him, and he was even able to remarry and have a new family. Job was more prosperous than ever before [JOB 42: 12a], one more example of God’s faithfulness and compassion for those who love and obey Him. What this wonderful story points out is that while Satan is allowed to bring us pain, suffering, and loss, he is never able to make God a liar when our Deity, through Paul, promises us that we won’t have a test we can’t overcome in 1 COR 10: 13.
God’s consistency in this matter is seen once again in Christ’s words to Peter in LK 22: 31-32, “’Simon, Simon! Listen! Satan has received permission to test all of you, to separate the good from the bad, as a farmer separates the wheat from the chaff. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you turn back to Me, you must strengthen your brothers.’” Peter can’t see as far ahead as the omniscient Christ can, and Christ’s prophecy is to come true. Three times, Peter denies Christ, doing the unthinkable, and yet, he returns to his faith and becomes “the rock upon which My church will stand and the one who will receive the keys to the Kingdom” [MT 16: 18-19]. The big picture lesson here is that this prophecy also has future implications for us. Christ is prophesying the eventual separation of “sheep and goats” [MT 25: 32] that will occur in the seven years of Tribulation that will eventually lead to the establishment of His Kingdom. He is also demonstrating that Satan’s ability to do his dirty work is limited by the Father. Peter had to deny Christ in order for the Father’s plan to send Christ to the cross for us could go forward.
If we fast forward to Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane the night of His arrest, we find Him praying to the Father. His prayers begin for His disciples (and yes, that includes us) in LK 22: 40, “When He arrived at the place He said to them, ‘Pray that you will not fall into temptation.’” Then, he went off a distance and began to pray to the Father one of the key prayers that reveals Christ’s heart of obedience in LK 22: 42, “’Father,’ He said, ‘If You will, take this cup of suffering away from Me. Not My will, however, but Your will be done.’” What a model for us when our own will is not the same as the Father’s! The Father hears that prayer, and we know this because of LK 22: 43, “An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him.” God answers our prayers, just as He did Christ’s, and He equips us to obey the commands He has for us. PS 116: 1, “I love the Lord, because He hears our prayers and answers them,” the Psalmist sang long ago. Our totally unselfish Lord was still thinking about the welfare of His disciples in LK 22: 46, when after He finished praying, He went back to the disciples (who had fallen asleep) and said, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you will not fall into temptation.” Christ knew their need for defensive prayer here. He knew they would be sorely tempted to abandon their faith after His crucifixion. This leaves us with some questions to ponder about our own lives. How unselfish are we? Do we realize our need for frequent prayer? Do we listen for God’s commands and put them first before our own agendas? Do we realize the God has equipped us to succeed in any battle we have with the forces of evil, as long as we endure in our faith?
PRAYER: O Lord, we are so grateful that You sacrificed Your Son on the cross for us, that You sent us the gift of the Holy Spirit, and that You have made study of Your word and prayer available to us. How very well You understand the suffering, pain, and loss that Satan is allowed to send us. You do not leave us unprotected or ill-equipped, if we will only endure in our faith in You. There are times when we must turn to You, especially amidst a dry season. David understood this when he asked these questions in PS 43: 5, “Why am I discouraged? Why so sad? I will put my hope in God!” Later, in PS 54: 1-2, 4, He does what we should do, acknowledges his need for You. “Save me, O God, by Your name; vindicate me by Your might. Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth. Surely God is my Help; the Lord is the One Who sustains me.” From the hindsight of history, we know that You not only helped David survive Saul’s persecution, but You guided him through repenting of his own horrific sins and gave him victory over the Philistines. Moreover, Dearest Abba, You honored David with the Davidic covenant, found in 2 SAM 7: 12-13, “When you die and are buried with your ancestors, I will make one of your sons king and will keep his kingdom strong. He will be the one to build a temple for Me, and I will make sure that his dynasty continues forever.” David was like our Lord in that he made both defensive and offensive prayer an important part of his life. Christ is the model for us in this respect. He never did anything that didn’t have Your approval. We come to You in this prayer knowing that we are stained with sin and knowing that You deserve praise and adoration for the righteous and loving God that You are. We humbly confess our sins and offer You our souls in worship, adoration, loyalty, diligence, trust, obedience. We offer You honor and glory; we magnify Your name. From the depths of our hearts we thank You for all You are and all You do for us. In Christ’s name, amen.
I am led to write about how defensive prayer works in tomorrow’s message. What is discussed here is very much on my mind right now because I am leaving today to serve on the team that prays for a Cursillo weekend at a church in St. Paul, MN. You get my messages about 3 weeks after I write them, so by the time you receive this message, my 4-day spiritual retreat will be over. I mention this, because the very same prayers that I’ve discussed here are the same ones I am saying in my plea that I will serve with my team in a way which pleases God. I know that without my faith in Christ, my life would be empty, and I would be totally useless. However, He has told us all in PHIL 4: 13, “I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.” Our loving Abba has given all us that verse out of the love He has for us. So, it is with this in mind that I go to serve Him and those who love Him. Peter and I send each one of you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn