How Satan Serves God

 

Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. (James 5:11)

Behind all disease and disability is the ultimate will of God. Not that Satan is not involved — he is probably always involved in one way or another with destructive purposes (Acts 10:38). But his power is not decisive. He cannot act without God’s permission.

That is one of the points of Job’s sickness. The text makes it plain that when disease came upon Job, “Satan . . . struck Job with loathsome sores” (Job 2:7). His wife urged him to curse God. But Job said, “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). And again the inspired author of the book (just as he did in 1:22) commends Job by saying, “In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

In other words: This is a right view of God’s sovereignty over Satan. Satan is real and may have a hand in our calamities, but not the final hand, and not the decisive hand.

James makes clear that God had a good purpose in all Job’s afflictions: “You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11).

So even though Satan was involved, the ultimate purpose was God’s, and it was “compassionate and merciful.”

This is the same lesson we learn from 2 Corinthians 12:7, where Paul says that his thorn in the flesh was a “messenger of Satan” and yet was given for the purpose of his own holiness — to keep him from becoming conceited. “Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited!”

Now, humility is not Satan’s purpose in this affliction. Therefore, the purpose is God’s. Which means that here Satan is being used by God to accomplish his good purposes in Paul’s life. In fact, for God’s elect children, Satan cannot destroy us, and God turns all his attacks finally against him and for us.

OUTWARD APPEARANCE DECEIVES!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12, 2022.

SUBJECT : OUTWARD APPEARANCE DECEIVES!

Memory verse: "But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (First Samuel 16 vs 7.)

READ: Matthew 23 vs 25 - 28:

23:25: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.

23:26: Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. 

23:27: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful  outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

23:28: Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

INTIMATION:

Outward impression or appearance can mislead. It can mislead or deceive because it may be pretentious in order to make a good impression; the appearance outwardly does not give the real expression of the intent of the heart of a person. The heart, sometimes translated “mind” or “soul,” constitutes the center of human reasoning and thoughts, and reveals what people are really like or what their true value is. The heart is the locus of feelings and intuitions; it’s, figuratively, the seat of emotions—the place of origin of the affections, understanding, and thoughts. Things of the heart are inward and hidden, and may not be outwardly expressed in appearance of a person.

The prophet Jeremiah stated thus; “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17 vs 9.) The intent of the heart is invisible or unknown to any other except the owner and God. Consequently, every plans, thoughts, activities, etc. of a person is consummated in the heart, and nobody knows it except the owner and God. And the outward expression of the person may not be the actual impression of the heart.

Your outward appearance might be superb and admirable, while inwardly you may be devilish. For instance, in today’s memory verse, God told prophet Samuel not to look at the outward appearance. God had rejected Saul as king of the Israelites, and sent prophet Samuel to go and anoint a new king He has chosen for the nation of Israel. Saul was tall and handsome; he was an impressive-looking man. Samuel may have been trying to find someone who looked like Saul to be Israel’s next king, but God warned him against judging by appearance alone. 

Saul was tall, handsome, strong, rich, and powerful, but all of this was not enough to make him someone to be emulated because of his disobedience to God. He was tall physically, but he was small in God’s eyes. He was handsome, but his sin made him ugly. He was strong, but lack of faith made him weak. He was rich, but he was spiritually bankrupt. He could give orders to many, but he couldn’t command their respect or allegiance. Saul looked good on the outside, but he was decaying on the inside. 

When people judge by outward appearance, they may overlook quality individuals who has the inner qualities required by God, but rather they may be influenced by the outward physical qualities that society currently admires. A right relationship with God and a strong character are much more valuable than a good looking exterior. 

Jesus, in admonishing the Pharisees, said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16 vs 15.) In the passage we read today, Jesus also condemned the Pharisees for their deep concern about their outward appearance, while their inward attitude is rotten: “Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23 vs 28.)

The Pharisees acted piously to get praises from others, but God knew what was in their hearts. Fortunately God judges by faith and character, not appearance. And because only God can see on the inside, only Him can accurately judge people. Most people spend hours each week maintaining their outward appearance; while they should do even more to develop their inner character. While everyone can see your face, only you and God know what your heart really looks like. 

Nothing can be hidden from God. He sees and understands everything in our hearts. It makes no sense trying to hide any thoughts from all-knowing God. Instead, heed the advice of the apostle Paul: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12 vs 2.) However, knowing that God knows sinful heart and still loves us should be a thing of joy, not fear, because He knows even the worst about us and loves us anyway.

Never judge anybody by the outward appearance. The outward piety may not really be the inward attitude of the person. Many people pretend to be what they are not, and deceive others by their outward appearance. The intent of their hearts may be devilish while they outwardly appear pious, nice, unassuming and so on. They are ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’ (Matthew 7 vs 15). 

All Christians should strive to develop the mind of Christ (Philippians 2 vs 5); to do the will of God and receive His approval and the “crown of glory”—eternal life with Him. My prayer is that we should all strive to be Christlike in thoughts and character.

Prayer: Abba Father, let this mind be in me, which was also in Christ Jesus, that I will do Your will, and my appearance be a true reflection of my inner man, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

ESCAPING TEMPTATION!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11, 2022.

SUBJECT: ESCAPING TEMPTATION!

Memory verse: "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able; but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." (First Corinthians 10 vs 13.) 

READ: Genesis 3 vs 1 - 5:

3:1: Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God Indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”

3:2: And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;

3:3: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

3:4: Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.

3:5: For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

INTIMATION:

Temptation is to entice to sin; to put to test; to make a trial of. Temptation is Satan’s invitation to give in to his kind of life, and give up on God’s kind of life. Satan is busy getting people to sin. In our society filled with moral depravity and sin-inducing pressures, temptation to sin is relatively high. It happen to everyone, and no one can say or feel he or she has been singled out. Temptation will always come, therefore, we need to be constantly on guard against the devil’s ongoing attacks. The good news is that many others have resisted temptation, and so you can do it. 

We must realize that being tempted is not sin  until we give to the temptation. Temptation comes from evil desires Satan is throwing up inside of us. It begins with an evil thought and becomes sin when we dwell on the thought and allow it to become an action. The best time to stop temptation is before it is too strong or moving too fast to control. However, any temptation can be resisted because God will show you a way out. Then, to resist temptation we must:

(1) Pray for strength to resist. If we attempt to meet life’s challenges with human effort alone, we will find the pressures and temptations around us too great to resist. We must be alert and pray. Being alert means being aware of the possibilities of temptation, sensitive to the subtleties, and spiritually equipped to fight it. Because temptation strikes where we are most vulnerable, we can’t resist it alone. Prayer is essential because God’s strength can shore up our defense and defeat Satan’s tempting power.

Jesus said to His disciples, “Watch an Pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14 vs 38.) He is speaking to all of us. In time of great stress, you are vulnerable to temptation, even if you have a willing spirit. Therefore, to escape temptation we must keep watch—stay awake and be morally vigilant by praying to God, and this is how you maintain your vigilance. 

(2) Run, sometimes literally, from anything you know is wrong. Stay away from people, places, and situations that may tempt you. God will help you recognize those people and situations that give you trouble. Running from a tempting situation is your first step on the way to victory, and often can be the most courageous action to take. Remove yourself physically from any situation that stimulates your desire to sin. Knowing when to run is as important in spiritual battle as knowing when and how to fight. 

(3) Seek support of friends and loved ones who love God and can offer help when you are tempted. This is how you build up your resistance and help others. When one is weak, others are strong. The devil often tempts us when we are vulnerable—when we are under physical or emotional stress (for example, lonely, tired, weighing big decisions, or faced with uncertainty). Sharing your concerns or opinion with others can help you avoid any temptations by the devil. You may have strong faith, but you also have areas of weakness, and that is where temptation usually strikes. Strengthen and protect yourself where you are weak because a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. 

(4) Be focused on doing God’s Will and not your own. Often we tempted not through our weaknesses, but through our strengths, where we are most susceptible to pride. We must guard at all times against his attacks. When we give in to the devil and wrongly use our strengths, we become proud and self-reliant. Trusting in our own powers, we feel little need of God. To avoid the trap, we must realize that all our strengths are God’s gifts to us, and we must dedicate those strengths to His service. 

Most decisions about how to face temptation are made with cool heads long before we feel the heat of temptation. Build your defenses now before temptation strikes. When temptation strikes it is too late to ask for advice. When desire is fully activated, people don’t want advice, they want satisfaction. Resistance is easier if the decision has already been made. Don’t wait to see what happens. Prepare for temptation by deciding now how you will act when you face it.

All Christians struggle with temptation. Sometimes it is so subtle that we don’t even realize what is happening to us. Satan wants to destroy believers or at least neutralize them through sin, shame, and guilt. He tries to block God’s purposes for your life or for someone else’s life. God has promised that he won’t allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. Ask God to help you recognize temptation and to give you strength to overcome it and choose God’s way instead. At the root of most temptation is a real need or desire that God can fill, but we must trust in His timing. 

Prayer: Abba Father, help me to recognize temptation and give me the strength to overcome it, and choose Your way at all times, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!

I'M GONNA BE READY BY YOLANDA ADAMS

 

We Are His House

 

Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses — as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope. (Hebrews 3:3–6)

The people who boast and hope in Jesus Christ are the house of God. Which means that Jesus this very day — not just back in Moses’s day or in his own days on earth — but this very day is our Maker, our Owner, our Ruler, and our Provider.

Jesus is called the “builder” of this house. Moses was not the builder. He was part of the house. So it says, “Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses — as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself.” So Moses, as great as he was in leading the house, and giving God’s word to the house, was still just a part of the house. But Jesus built the house.

So if we boast in Jesus and hope in Jesus, we are the house, and Jesus is our Builder, and Owner and Ruler and Provider. He does not let his house be destroyed or fall into ruin.

Then the writer changes the imagery — from builder and house, to son and servant. “Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant . . . but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son.” So Christ did become part of the house — part of the household — he built. But even so, his honor is far above Moses. Moses was a servant. Christ is the Son. The heir.

And we are part of this household. Hebrews 3:6: “And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.” By all means, let us respect and give Moses his due. But the point of the whole book of Hebrews is: Christ is greater. Greater in every way. He is the builder of the house of God’s people. And he is the Son in the house of God’s people. Let us respect Moses. But let us worship Jesus — our Maker, our brother.

RIGHT CONDUCTS IN OBEDIENCE TO GOD!

 

EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 10, 2022.

SUBJECT: RIGHT CONDUCTS IN OBEDIENCE TO GOD!

Memory verse: "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.” (Mark 12 vs 30.)

READ: Genesis 12 vs 2; Romans 12 vs 1; First Corinthians 2 vs 9; Colossians 3 vs 12; ; 

Genesis 12:2: And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shalt be a blessing:

Romans 12:1: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

First Corinthians 2:9: “But as it is written: “Eyes has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Colossians 3:12: Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

INTIMATION:

God is mindful of our conduct in our obedience to Him, and He reckons it for our reward; “And, behold, I an coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work.” (Revelation 22 vs 12.) When your conduct is right before God, He speaks out for you, even before our Adversary—the devil. God said of Job to the devil, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1 vs 8). Job was faithful to God in all he did, serving Him with his whole heart. He was a model of trust and obedience to God, and God reckoned with him.

We obey God with (1) Our heart: by loving Him more than any relationship, activity, achievement, or possession; by placing God first in everything in our life. The human heart is the chief organ of the physical body. It occupies the most important place in the human system. By an easy transition the word came to stand for man’s entire mental and moral activity, both the rational and the emotional. In other words, the heart is used figuratively for the hidden springs of the personal life. Therefore, yielding your heart to God is yielding the central and core of your being to Him, which God desires. The Bible describes human activity as in the ‘heart.’ For instance, every thought has its seat in the heart. (Matthew 15 vs 19 - 20.)

(2) Our will; by committing ourselves completely to Him. The “will” is the decision-making capacity, indicating a power of choice. God is mindful of our will—our decisions relating to our obedience to follow Him and obey His commands. Joshua was an exemplary king who showed his subjects his will to follow after God with his family: “And if it seem evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24 vs 15.) It’s easy to slip into a quiet rebellion—going about life in your own way. But the time comes when you have to choose who or what will control you. The choice is yours. Will it be God, your own limited personality, or another imperfect substitute? 

(3) Our mind. The mind is the faculty that encompasses the reflective thinking of the brain and the emotional thinking of the heart. The mind denotes, speaking generally, the seat of reflective consciousness, comprising the faculties of perception and understanding, and those of feeling, judging and determining. It is the faculty of knowing, understanding, or moral reflection. God desires our seeking to know Him and His Word. His principles and values form the foundation of all we think and do. Th apostle Paul desires that we conform our minds to God’s and His Word; “And be not conformed to this world: but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12 vs 2)

 (4) Our Body: The body is one’s essence. It’s, as a whole, the instrument of life. It is used to denote the physical nature, as distinct from the spiritual nature, and soul. God desires we serve Him with our body, recognizing that our strengths, talents, and sexuality are given to us by Him to be used for pleasure and fulfillment according to His rules, not ours: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12 vs 1.) God wants us to offer ourselves as living sacrifice—daily laying aside our own desires to follow Him, putting all our energy and resources at His disposal and trusting Him to guide us. God wants the best for us. He wants us to be transformed people with renewed minds, living to honor and obey Him. 

(5) Our finances: All of the resources we have ultimately come from God, and we are only managers of them, and not owners. The Scripture says, “...A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven.” (John 3 vs 27.) The power to get wealth comes from God (Deuteronomy 8 vs 18). And He blesses us to be a blessing to others (Genesis 12 vs 2). 

(6) Our future: By deciding to make service to God and man the main purpose of our life's work. God knows the future. Any believer can trust His or her future to God because God already knows what is going to happen. Today people are still fascinated by horoscopes, fortune-telling, witchcraft, and bizarre cults. Often their interest comes from a desire to know and control the future. In the Bible, God tells us all we need to know about what is going to happen. With the trustworthy guidance of the Holy Spirit through the Bible and the church, we don’t need to turn to occult sources for faulty information.

The Scripture says, “But as it is written: “Eyes has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of Man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (First Corinthians 2 vs 9.) We cannot imagine all that God has in store for us, both in this life and in eternity. He will create a new heaven and a new earth (Isaiah 65 vs 17; Revelation 21 vs 1.), and we will live with Him forever. Until then, His Holy Spirit comforts and guides us. Knowing the wonderful and eternal future that awaits us gives us hope and courage to press on in this life, to endure hardship, and to avoid giving in to temptation. The world is not all there is. The best is yet to come. 

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace to rightly conduct myself in obedience to You in all things, that I may have Your approval and receive a crown of life which You promised to those who love You, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed. Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD! 

POWER FLOW BY MONIQUE