John
8:44 You belong to your
father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from
the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he
lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
In our weekly
home group Bible Study, tackling the subject of “Spiritual Warfare” with the
devil is not the “looking at life through rose colored glasses type lessons
that we typically cover, but knowing that there is an adversary, who the enemy is
and how he operates in order to stand firm, overcome and walk the Christian
life victoriously is essential. It is a tactical error to under-estimate or
ignore any enemy, to give them a foothold (Ephesians 4:27 “do not give the devil a foothold”), nor an advantage (2 Corinthians 2:11 “so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we
are not ignorant of his schemes.). It is also a tactical mistake to over-estimate
an adversary, imagining them more formidable or more capable than they truly
are. The devil can only persuade; he cannot compel. Satan works his lies and
temptations upon our lusts, but it is us who decide whether we let him in and
sin; missing God’s mark and hitting the devil’s mark. And with Sin, the default
is Hell.
1 Peter 5:8
tells us: “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy
the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
Christ conquered sin and
death, fulfilling the Protevangelium - “The First Gospel” of Genesis 3:15 at the Cross, but Satan isn't done deceiving, tempting and persuading the world to abandon their
relationship with Creator God through Christ and in so doing cuts off their dependence on
God, their duty to God and their communion with God, as “the tempter” attempts to take as
many down with him to hell as he can, come Judgment Day (Revelation 20:10 and 14). The devil is not a toothless “defeated
foe” for those who do not know the Lord, their Savior, and is a ruthless tempter,
who attacks the children of the kingdom
of Heaven
Mike,
from our small group wrote this list of God's default conditions:
Default #1 - Truth: God's truth is the default condition, inaccuracy is contrary to the truth. Default #2 - Light: darkness is the absence of light. God is light and in him is no darkness at all. (1John 1:5) Default #3 - Action: it is God that worketh in you. (Philippians 2:13) Inaction and passivity is the absence of action. Default #4 - Deliberation and intention: to will and to do of his good pleasure. Unintentional, haphazard, random and confused is the absence of God's deliberate action and control. Default #5 -Providence
Mike concludes: “We have a glorious future when we give up (the default of hell via our sinful flesh desires, the God-rejecting world system, and belonging to Satan) and give in to make Father God’s good pleasure our good pleasure.”
Default #1 - Truth: God's truth is the default condition, inaccuracy is contrary to the truth. Default #2 - Light: darkness is the absence of light. God is light and in him is no darkness at all. (1John 1:5) Default #3 - Action: it is God that worketh in you. (Philippians 2:13) Inaction and passivity is the absence of action. Default #4 - Deliberation and intention: to will and to do of his good pleasure. Unintentional, haphazard, random and confused is the absence of God's deliberate action and control. Default #5 -
Mike concludes: “We have a glorious future when we give up (the default of hell via our sinful flesh desires, the God-rejecting world system, and belonging to Satan) and give in to make Father God’s good pleasure our good pleasure.”
Know
your enemy,but most importantly, know God and walk in victory!
In
Christ, Brian
2 comments:
Blessed by your visit. Thank you. I haven't visited you also in a while but never forgetting the "bond" we share. Great topic. Informative and true. Lack of knowledge destroys us. How can we know the things of God? By His Spirit and thanks be to the Lord for His arsenal of weapons. God bless and protect you always.
Thank you rcubes for the visit too. My old Mentor Bill used to always say: "you can't know and understand what you are saved to, until you know and understand exactly what you have been saved from." Meaning to seek and understand the "full" story. The very word salvation means saved from "something" or "someone" or both, so why not know what that something or someone is? Then we can truly appreciate the "Someone" and the "something" that that Someone did to save us. By having this balance knowledge and understanding, Believers can then be equipped (in God's strength) to deal with the trials and tribulations thrown at us, come what may. If we are unaware and naive about the counterfeit than we may be fooled by the deceiver enemy. Stand firm sister.
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