Godliness the Way the Old Self Would Try to do It

Once again we’re back with Elsie Montgomery who has been writing at Practical Faith, since 2006, and is one of most often-sourced writers here. Click the link in the title which appears next to read this where it appeared first.

Burdens from God — Or Me Worrying?

Over the past few weeks I’m realizing the difference between spiritually-motivated Christian living and that which is from the old nature trying to be godly. Oswald Chambers says, “Every element of self-reliance must be slain by the power of God. Complete weakness and dependence will always be the occasion for the Spirit of God to manifest His power.”

What comes in to counter that power from God? The world says I’m to have self-confidence. I’m to be sure of myself and trust my abilities and judgment, moving forward in everything with an assurance that I can do it without any problem. God says:

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2)

If I don’t conform to the ideas of the world about confidence and instead discern the will of God, what can be expected? Here are some things:

For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. (Romans 12:3)

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. (1 Corinthians 12:4–6)

So to keep me 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. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7–10)

So much for the wisdom of the world. And the above verses also apply to my so-called confidence in my old nature with its sinful ways of thinking. Jesus adds this just to make sure I’m not putting my confidence in me:

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4–5)

What about the lies of Satan? I once did a Bible study through much of the NT where I read the truth God says, then pondered the lies that counter it. For instance, ‘God says this…’, ‘but the enemy says this…‘

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. (John 15:9–10)

God does not love you the way you want to be loved. He sent his son to be scorned and die; is that love? You don’t need to accept that because if you do, you are going to wind up like Jesus and suffer.

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

God wants you healthy, wealthy and wise. Work hard to make money. Let your lack of contentment drive you. That lack is just more evidence that God does not love you or want the best for you. He is busy with other things and not  even with you because he does not care about you.

There are many ways to illustrate the lies, but only one way of exposing them; read the Word of God and believe it, keeping sin and doubt confessed and trusting the truth of God. Be spiritual disciplined but not trusting me — only Him. He is the Savior; I am not.

PRAY: Jesus, this day I am bombarded with things I could worry about. Family members who are suffering, Christians who are tangled up in worldly and fleshy thinking, unsaved neighbors without interest in you, and more responsibilities that I can handle. Abiding in You seems difficult. Fruit-bearing? Where is it? Yet the weakness I feel indicates there is power lurking. Enable me to keep trusting You, no matter what the world or my flesh nags me about, and enable me to sort lies from truth so I can live in Your power and not worry about anything.

Things Our Minds Need to Erase

Both here and on my original blog, Thinking Out Loud, I’m sure you will get some interesting results if you look up “thought life.” The battle for the human mind is key to understanding the dynamics of spiritual warfare. So it’s a topic I often returned to in past writing.

Stephen and Brooksyne Weber are my devotional-writing heroes. You can find them each weekday at DailyEncouragement.net. Here’s a recent article. Click its title to read it where it first appeared, and then take some time to look around. There’s a sequel to this article which appeared the next day which I also recommend and it is linked at the bottom.

Delete Key For The Mind

Listen to this message on your audio player.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:1,2).

The delete key on the computer keyboard is a helpful feature we often use. If we consider through the years all we have written that gets deleted in the editing process it would surely surprise us and might even discourage us. But that’s just part of the writing process and much better than the whiteout we used with a typewriter especially if there were carbon copies to be dealt with for every error we wanted to erase.

 Of course we have all deleted emails although we hope that people read our messages before they hit the delete button! And if you’ve never deleted any files you probably have a very cluttered computer. Today let us consider a delete key for the mind.

We heard an interesting testimony from a young lady who was being baptized. Though she was raised in a Christian home she shared about her years of being addicted to pornography. Finally she fully committed her life to Christ and experienced deliverance from the dark world of pornography.

Wouldn’t it be great to have a delete button to erase pornographic images and other destructive content that is stored in our memory. One of the earliest Christian teachings I recall was based on Romans 12 and the transformation of the mind. Although we may be unable to delete every memory (many we want to keep), we can be transformed by the renewing of our mind.

The brain has an amazing capacity to remember. As we get older we are more likely to experience short-term memory loss rather than long-term. That is we tend to forget where we placed the keys, phone, wallet or coffee. But looking back it seems some events in life or images stored in our memory just can’t be forgotten.

Of course God is able to provide a deletion of memory but that is often not the case, so we can prayerfully, be transformed by the renewing of our mind.

A fundamental teaching is that God is pleased and honored when we follow His pattern for living as set forth in the Holy Scriptures. Let us not follow after “the pattern of this world” which stands in direct opposition to God’s designs for our lives.

Be encouraged today, Hebrews 3:13

Daily prayer: Father, we invite the work of Your Holy Spirit to descend upon our heart, to wean it from ungodly attitudes, destructive habits, and worldly passions. In love and compassion You stooped to our weakness, mighty as You are, in the person of Jesus Christ who lived a life of holiness, and willingly laid down His life that we might be forgiven, that our hearts and minds might break any conformity to this world and be transformed into the pattern of holy living as seen in Scripture. As we surrender our heart, soul, and mind to You we envision Jesus and cling to His cross by denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following in His footsteps wholeheartedly so that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. It’s through the resurrected power of Jesus Christ that we are able to make this mighty, eternal transformation. Amen.

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Here is the link to the sequel article which begins in the same Romans scripture passage. There are two diagrams you shouldn’t miss which contrast being conformed to be transformed. Click here to read.

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Previously at C201:

• Things Which Rob Our Spiritual Focus (March 2023)
• Things to Think About (December 2020)
• Keeping Your Thought Life Pure (August 2015)
• Purity in Mind | Clarity of Speech (June 2023)

The Power of His Word

A year ago at this time we introduced you to Doralyn Moore who is the author of two Christian fiction titles and writes at DoralynMoore.ca. One think I love about her writing is that readers are always guaranteed a generous helping of scripture! Click the link in the title which follows to read this where it appeared first.

Words

“Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven [standing firm and unchangeable]” Psalm 119:89 AMP.

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” Genesis 1:1-3.

From the above verses in Genesis, we see that the Spirit of God was moving on the face of the waters before God spoke, but nothing happened until God said. When God released His words of faith, creation happened. Everything in this material world is the result of the Word of God.

And Jesus holds the universe together by the word of His power.

“He is the sole expression of the glory of God [the Light-being, the out-raying or radiance of the divine], and He is the perfect imprint and very image of [God’s] nature,upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power” (Hebrews 1:3 AMPC) .

God’s Word is eternal, unchangeable, forever settled in heaven. The material universe, what we see, hear, touch, taste, and smell is temporal. It can change and it does change. When you apply the unchangeable to the changeable, it is obvious which one will yield – the changeable.

When we take the unchangeable Word of God and apply it in faith to the temporal world, the temporal world must conform to the Word of God. Jesus demonstrated this principle while He lived on earth. When he spoke, demons fled, diseases were healed, the dead were brought to life (“And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth…” John 11:43 KJV), food multiplied, and winds and storms ceased.

Jesus said He did what His Father told Him to do.

“I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me,  but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me” (John 14:30-31 NIV).

By the power of God’s Word, Jesus lived and ministered on this death filled planet totally free from all its bondage. Jesus desires us, as born-again believers, to speak His Word in faith, and expect it to change the negative circumstances around us through the power of His unchangeable Word.

Our words have power and we need to be careful how we use them. The following ten Scripture verses speak about our words:

1. “Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut” (Proverbs 10:19 NLT)
2. “Wise words bring many benefits” (Proverbs 12:14 NLT)
3. “A gentle tone is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit” (Proverbs 15:4 ESV-bolding mine).
4. “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:21 NIV).
5. “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment” (Matthew 12:36 NASB).
6. “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29 NIV).
7. “The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you” (Matthew 12:37 NLT).
8. “If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless” (James 1:26 NLT).
9. “And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!” (James 3:10 NLT).
10. “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies” (1 Peter 3:10 NLT).

And lastly, Satan can steal from us with our words.

“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:6-7 ESV).

From the above verse, we see we have the choice to waiver or to receive. We can’t do both at the same time. One of Satan’s tactics is to get us to doubt and waiver. We can either give in to the doubting thoughts and give place to the devil (Ephesians 4:27) or we can stand on the veracity of God’s Word. We are the ones who decide if we will allow Satan to steal God’s promises from us. Remember, Satan’s only has one plan – to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10).

We need to be like God, Who calls the things that are not, as though they were.

“As it is written: I have appointed you to be the father of many nations. So Abraham is our father in the eyes of God in whom he had faith, the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that don’t exist into existence” (Romans 4:17 CEB).

Be assured, born-again friend, God’s unchangeable Word, spoken and acted on in faith, will release the power of God and change the circumstances you face.

Recognizing the Depth of our Sinfulness

Today we’re back with another article by Doug Eaton at his blog Flight of Faith.  Doug is the Executive Director of Admissions for Trinity International University, which consists of: Trinity College, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Trinity Law School, and Trinity Graduate School. Clicking the title below will take you to where today’s devotional originated.

If We Say We Have No Sin

I once encountered a professing Christian who boldly declared he had not sinned in over ten years. The Apostle John’s words resound: “He has deceived himself, and the truth is not in him.” False teachings occasionally surface, suggesting that individuals can rise above the struggle with sin entirely in this life, but the Word of God says otherwise.

John provides this profound truth in 1 John 1:8: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” He is speaking to believers about walking in the light. When he talks about our sin, it is in the present tense, which means our having sin is not merely a thing of the past. It is current. Biblical history, Church History, and even our own experience all confirm there is a war between the flesh and the Spirit within every born-again believer.

Claiming sinlessness is not only saying they have stayed away from everything prohibited by God in word, thought, deed, and desire, but it also claims to have done everything he commanded perfectly. For someone to claim they have loved the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength and loved every neighbor as themselves every second of every day for ten years is beyond delusional. It is saying their righteousness is equal with Christ himself in their earthly humanity.

To assert sinlessness, even as a Christian, is self-deception, and it exposes a lack of truth within us—it is walking in darkness. John’s words hold a vital lesson for those striving to walk in the light—it doesn’t demand perfection. Instead, it beckons a disposition of the soul toward Jesus. It involves recognizing our struggle with sin and constant trust in the imputed righteousness he provides through his death on the cross and resurrection.

Though Jesus has forgiven our iniquities and even our conscience has been washed clean by his blood, we are still aware of our indwelling sin and commanded to fight against it. Though our sin no longer condemns us, we still must acknowledge it and strive to put it to death.

Renowned theologian Matthew Henry wisely noted that Christianity is a religion of sinners. Understanding our sinful nature is essential, for if you do not think you are a sinner, then you do not think you need a Savior. If you do not think you need a Savior, then you do not know Jesus—the truth is not in you.

Awareness of the depth of our sinfulness brings us face-to-face with the reality of the cross. The more we grasp the extent of our transgressions, the more our understanding of what Jesus endured for our sake becomes profound. Conversely, the more we comprehend the depth of Jesus’ sacrifice, the more we will know the depth of our own sinfulness.

Not only does deceiving ourselves about our current sinfulness darken our hearts about what Christ accomplished for us, but we will not fight against the sin we deny exists within us. In essence, 1 John 1:8 teaches us that humility before God involves acknowledging our ongoing need for His grace. Walking in the light is not about claiming perfection but embracing our dependence on Jesus. By recognizing our sinfulness and working to mortify it, we find a deeper connection with the crucified Savior, understanding the magnitude of His sacrifice on our behalf.

Like Paul, we cry out, “Who will save me from this body of death?” The only answer to that question is Jesus. He has justified us, he is sanctifying us, and he will one day make us sinless through glorification when we awaken in his presence and see him face to face. Until that day in glory, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

Sometimes the Devil Recognizes Christ’s Authority More Than We Do

The (shorter) title of today’s article (below) at its original source caught my attention. Sherrial Murray writes at Perfect Inspirations (tag line: Doing life with God in Mind.) There’s a lot of scripture in today’s devotional, but she leaves it up to you to look up the referenced verses. Click the title below to read this where it first appeared.

Confirmation From The Devil?

The devil is aware that Jesus is the Son of God, and every demon doing his bidding shares this knowledge. They recognized Jesus and communicated with him during his ministry, as evidenced by Legion and several other instances where Jesus interacted with them while healing the sick, sometimes needing to silence them.

Jesus does not require validation from the devil or demons. Despite Satan’s objective being to undermine Jesus, he is inevitably bound to acknowledge Jesus’ identity and power. The real question is, do we recognize and affirm who Jesus is?

During Jesus’ encounter with demons in the region of the Gerasenes, opposite Galilee, these entities recognized Him as the Son of God, aware of His authority and power (Matthew 8:28-29; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:27-32). If one were to seek affirmation of Jesus’ identity from demons, this event would serve as a substantial testimony.

In another episode recounted in Mark 1:23-26, a demon residing in a man in the synagogue identified Jesus as the Holy One of God, just before being cast out by Him. This moment prompts us to reflect – do we recognize Jesus’ authority and power as clearly?

Luke 4:40-41 details other instances, mentioning, “…demons also came out of many, crying out, and saying, ‘You are Christ, the Son of God.’ And He rebuked them and did not allow them to speak because they knew He was Christ.”

The devil not only acknowledges who Jesus is but is also aware of the might of God. This acknowledgment was evident when he attempted to tempt Jesus into turning stones into bread, showcasing the magnificent power of Jesus (Luke 4:3). There is truly nothing too difficult for God!

Satan has always known the true identity of Jesus – the Son of God, the Word made flesh, God in the flesh. He illustrated his awareness during the temptation of Jesus on the temple’s pinnacle, when Satan quoted scriptures, bearing witness to his understanding of Jesus’ divine identity and His unique relationship with God.

In this scenario documented in the Gospel, Satan dared Jesus to cast Himself down, quoting scripture that angels would save Him. He said, “If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning you, to guard you,’ and ‘On their hands, they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

Our faith and our new life in Christ attest to the identity of Jesus. The scriptures clearly describe who Jesus is, and the Holy Spirit bears witness.

Satan is inevitably bound to acknowledge Jesus’ identity and power. We do not need his confirmation to understand and accept what we already know about Jesus. Thank God for His Word and His Spirit!

Bonus article:

Save The Planet?

by Sherrial Murray

There are many good people who fight good causes. Many are dedicated to saving the planet in some form or fashion. All of that is good. However, they are fighting a lost cause. There is no saving the planet—it’s resources, plants or animals! I am not being a pessimist nor am I preaching gloom and doom. What I am being is someone seeking to save God’s crowning creation—mankind. Let’s focus our efforts on saving what can be saved—the whosoever.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬ ‭ESV

I repeat, there is no saving the planet! There is respect for God and His creation. It’s call being a good steward. Stewardship demands being responsible, considerate, and trustworthy. God has given man dominion over the animal kingdom. God has given man dominion over the plant kingdom—a directive to till the soil. Man has a God given duty and responsibility to care for earth. But, there is no saving it.

Nature.org asks the question, “Can the earth be saved?” It goes on to say “yes” and gives three things we must do. I respectfully disagree. Three things or three thousand things, there is no saving this planet.

I am not knocking environmentalists or their efforts of conservation. Please, by all means possible be responsible stewards of the planet. God expects that of us. However, this earth is doomed for destruction. Those of us who have been charged with saving what can be saved, let’s lift up Jesus in everything we say and do. Let’s preach Christ. Let’s teach Christ. Let’s live Christ and save the lost!

“Long ago, you made the world. You made the sky with your own hands! The earth and sky will end, but you will live forever! They will wear out like clothes, and like clothes, you will change them. But you never change. You will live forever!” Psalms‬ ‭102‬:‭25‬-‭27‬ ‭ERV‬‬

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” Matthew‬ ‭24‬:‭35‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.” Revelation‬ ‭21‬:‭1‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Temptation: Part Two

Some subscribers may have missed the first part of this because it didn’t release as scheduled until the following morning. To read Part One first, click here.

Temptation 2 – Lead Us Not…

by Ruth Wilkinson

The ancient Greek noun that gets translated to ‘temptation’ is peirasmos. Sometimes it is translated into English as ‘temptation’ and sometimes as ‘testing’ depending on the context. There’s a big difference between the two ideas of temptation and testing.

When scripture talks about being drawn towards doing something that we should not do because it is wrong, translators use the word temptation.

I want to focus a bit more on the second translation: testing. Same original word in the original language, but it gets translated differently.

God does test us. He does bring things into our lives that challenge us and make us marshal everything we’ve learned and the strength that we have built. He gives us the opportunity to flex the spiritual muscles that we’ve been building to overcome a test so that we know that we are ready for what he has for us next.

When He enters the wilderness, Jesus has lived for 30 years. He’s an adult. He’s had experience of the world. He knows who He is. He has learned, and become stronger. God has revealed to Him some of the reality of what Jesus’ own story is going to be. And Jesus is ready to start what’s next. He’s ready to begin that next three years of intensive ministry in the world, so the Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness to experience peirasmos. Not temptation, but testing. However, the enemy, being the enemy, knows an opportunity when he sees one and he moves into that testing with some temptations that, he hopes, will put a dent in Jesus.

We’re going to look at each of these three temptations one by one: asking what was the temptation, what was the devil’s scheme, and what was Jesus’ way of escape?

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Then Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for 40 days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answered, “It is written, “Man shall not live on bread alone.””

The first temptation was turning stones into bread. Which is kind of odd because there’s nothing actually sinful about miraculously producing food, something that Jesus went on to do later in his ministry. So why did Satan think that this was a temptation that was worth focusing on? And why did Jesus resist it?

First of all, Jesus would probably resist it because Satan suggested it. That would be clue one. But I would suggest that the devil’s scheme here was distraction. He was trying to distract Jesus.

Jesus was hungry. He was without food for 40 days, probably hungry for 39. So Satan comes along and he goes, hey, are you hungry yet? Are you hungry yet? Are you hungry yet? Are you hungry yet, oh look! Food!

But Jesus was there to prepare for His ministry. Fasting was an important part of that. For the next three years of His life, He needed to have a solid foundation. He needed to understand Himself. He needed to have refined His ability to obey and recognize the voice of God so that He could do His calling and work. And part of that preparation was this time of fasting.

Jesus’ precedent for these 40 days goes back to Moses, who led Israel out of captivity in Egypt, then for 40 years in the wilderness, and to the promised land. Moses spent 40 days alone with God, without food (Exodus 34), a time of preparation for what was next… An explosion of stuff that God gave his people to do. Moses came back from those 40 days with the 10 commandments. With instructions on how to build the tabernacle, their portable house of worship that they would carry with them for generations until it finally found a home in Jerusalem under the reign of David. Instructions for making the Ark of the covenant—the emblem and the anchor of God’s presence among His people. All of this happened after Moses’ 40 days of fasting.

That’s Jesus’ precedent. What Moses did, He is going to do, but the devil is trying to pull Jesus away from that focused time with God by appealing to Jesus’ human vulnerability by going, “Hey, what’s in the fridge?”

So if the scheme was distraction, what was the way of escape? To quote Moses’ words in Deuteronomy 8:3 which remind the people of Israel of a time when what they needed to do the most was to go without, to stay hungry for a time. He reminded them that God will provide what is necessary, but sometimes what is necessary is not satisfaction. Sometimes what is necessary is trust. Jesus’ way of escape was to remember what was most important, what He was there to do.

Jesus says to Satan in effect, “I know what I’m here to do and I know it’s not supposed to be easy, but I’m gonna do it anyway. No distraction.”

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Then the devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. The devil said, “I will give you authority over all these kingdoms and all their glory, for it has been relinquished to me and I can give it to anyone I wish. So if you worship me, Jesus, it will be all yours.” Jesus answered, “It is written, “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.””

The second temptation is to take authority over the world. And honestly, is that a bad thing? Jesus actually in charge of the world. I could vote for that—getting rid of human corruptibility and fallibility and just having Jesus in charge. That sounds like a win to me.

What scheme did Jesus recognize in this temptation? I would suggest that it was taking a shortcut. This is a temptation that the enemy had used before and very effectively. It worked out nicely for him in Genesis 3:5. The serpent said to Eve and to Adam, “Do what I tell you and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

The serpent was burying the fact that they were already like God. They were created in His image, and given a share in His work in the world—in stewardship and in partnership and in friendship with God. So Satan offered them a shortcut to knowledge they had not earned. And whether you’re talking about the garden of Eden or Jurassic Park, we know that that does not end well.

Shortcuts are a temptation. So what was Jesus’ way of escape? Knowing the path. He knew He had a long road to travel. Like Eve and Adam, Jesus already had what Satan was promising—authority over the world. In Psalm 8:5-6 the writer says about humanity in general, “You made him ruler of the works of Your hands. You have placed everything under his feet.” The apostle Paul takes that same verse in Corinthians 10 and applies it directly to Jesus. “You have placed everything under his feet.” Jesus was all ready given rulership of the world.

But He doesn’t get sucked into debate. He doesn’t argue the point. Jesus instead cuts to the chase and shuts it down, saying in effect to Satan, “I know what you want me to do. I know what God wants me to do and I will take the path He has set for me. I will serve Him only. And I will take no shortcut.”

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Then the devil led him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple. “If you are the son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here, for it is written, “He will command His angels concerning you to guard you carefully and they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” But Jesus answered, “It also says, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.””
Prove it. You say you believe in God, prove it. Make me believe it.

Again, believing the Bible is not a bad thing. Jesus responds to each temptation by quoting from the Bible. So what’s the scheme? I would suggest that it was the temptation to take the wheel.

First, Satan takes scripture out of context. The fact that Satan quotes scripture should not come as a surprise to us. He’s our primary and enemy, and the scripture is our primary resource. But he’s taking this verse from Psalm 91 out of context. Yes, it is a promise for God’s protection, but it is conditional. “If you dwell in the shelter of Most High… If you rest in His shadow… If you make Him your dwelling… If you hide under His wings… If you trust… If you take refuge… If you acknowledge His authority… Then He will guard you.” There’s nothing in there about jumping off a cliff. Jesus knew what the promise was, and He knew what the promise was not, and it was not what Satan was suggesting.

Second, (and this is debated, but it’s something to think about) among some rabbis it was believed that when the Messiah came, one of the ways that Israel would recognize him was that he would appear standing on top of the temple. Satan may have been playing into that cultural expectation. He may have been saying, “Look, the end justifies the means. If you’re the Messiah, you want people to know. Go for it, take the wheel. Don’t just stand up here on the roof. Make God prove his promises by literally stepping out in faith.”

So what was Jesus’ way of escape? Again, He turns to Moses. After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, of being guided by God, of being protected, corrected, shaped, refined by God, Israel was finally standing on the shore of the Jordan river. Their toes were wet, and they were ready to cross. But Moses had some last words for them (because he wasn’t going with them) largely recorded in Deuteronomy which Jesus has been quoting from. If you could summarize it, it would basically be, “Don’t play games with God. Don’t put God to the test. He will test you. You will not test Him. Don’t make arrogant little fist-shaking demands of the God of gods. Obey His law. Remember, teach, live His law. Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”

Jesus is responding, “I know who I am. I know whose I am. I will stand where I have been told to stand. I will not take the wheel.”

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Rev. Ruth Wilkinson is now a pastor in the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec (CBOQ), currently serving in a town east of Toronto. Her sermon blog is Pastor Percipia the second word explained as “a play on the Latin word ‘percipio’ which translates into concepts of perception, learning, and understanding.”

Click the title of this post for a link to the full article and a video sermon of which this is an excerpt.

Temptation: Part One

   Matthew 4:1-11
Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. ³ The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    and they will lift you up in their hands,
    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹ “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

¹¹ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

Temptation

by Ruth Wilkinson

When we talk about temptation, what are we talking about?

This is a word that gets used differently in scripture than in most of our everyday lives, in our culture and popular media.

The first way it gets used is as a kind of metaphysical Whack-a-Mole; something happens and you have to react. You try to knock it back down into the hole and not get in trouble. You’re hoping to get a good score. To rack up as many points as you can so that you have better chances of getting into heaven when you die. You want the good to outweigh the bad.

The other way that the world uses the word ‘temptation’ is to speak that word, but with a wink. Tempting chocolate cake. Tempting spicy wings. “Ohh, I’m tempted by those spicy wings. I’m going to be sorry in the morning… but it’ll be worth it.”

But in scripture the word ‘temptation’ is neither Whack-a-Mole nor chocolate cake.

Temptation in scripture is the idea of being tested. It’s the picture of standing on a threshold, standing in a doorway, and the door is open and there’s somebody or something on the other side of the door calling you. You stand there. And you decide: Am I going to walk through that door? Or am I going to close it? That’s the ‘temptation’ that we see in scripture: when we pause long enough to decide whether we should… or shouldn’t. It’s that space between doing and not doing. Between A and B.

Sometimes that moment goes on for ages. Sometimes it takes us forever to decide because we have to listen to and argue with all the voices that only we can hear in our hearts.

And sometimes that decision comes in a snap: so fast we don’t even know we were making a decision at all. We just reach out and take it. We just step through that door without being aware that we made a choice.

What temptation is not… is sin. It is not wrong. It is not sinful to be tempted. It is not a failure to be tempted. In Hebrews 4:14-15 the writer talks about Jesus, who they call “our high priest.”

“We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. But we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, but was without sin.”

Just think about that for a minute… Think about Jesus.

Who comes to mind? For some people it’s “gentle Jesus, meek and mild.” For some, it’s the guy with the whip in the temple. For some, it’s the guy who somehow manages to walk along dirt roads wearing spotless white, floor length robes. However you picture Jesus, he was the only perfect human being who ever lived. He was the only one who got through life without doing any of the things that we sometimes wish we hadn’t. He’s the only human being who never woke up in the morning going, “Oh, I shouldn’t have done that” or needing to ask forgiveness. He didn’t have to experience that because he never got it wrong. Everything that you have ever struggled with, everything that I have ever struggled with, he struggled with as well and he came through, making the right choice every time. Look at the next verse in that passage, Hebrews 4:16:

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence. So that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

He knows our reality. He knows our fallibility. He knows our hearts. He knows our weakness. He knows our internet history, but when we turn to him, he will provide grace to help us in our time of need.

Temptation is not a sin. I would suggest that it is, in fact, an opportunity. When we’re standing on that threshold, looking at the person or the thing that is inviting us through, we pause long enough to make a decision. We’re not just choosing A or B. We’re not choosing this or that. We are asking ourselves in that moment what is most important to us, what is most valuable to me, what is most precious.

What am I going to most grieve and lament when I wake up tomorrow morning and remember what I threw away and what I held close?

1 Peter 1:6 is written to a church group, probably not super different from ours in the ways that matter:

“…For a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials, temptations, testings so that the proven character of your faith, more precious than gold, may result in praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

We go through trials and temptations and testing so that our faith can be refined, so that our character can be deepened, so that we can learn about who we are, learn about how we’ve grown, learn about how we’ve stagnated, and learn about how we need to turn to God regardless. Those moments of temptation are an opportunity.

They are a challenge, like lament, as we’ve talked about in recent weeks. Like lament, temptation is hard. It’s difficult, it’s complicated.

But it is an opportunity to grow: to grow in our faith and to grow closer to God.

…

Then, what is our response? How do we respond in a healthy way to temptation?

The first option is not a healthy response; we can continue to play Whack-A-Mole. We can continue waiting for things to pop up, reacting reflexively, and making the best decisions we can in the moment, and then making excuses for our own failure. “Well, the game was fixed. I was tired. I had too much to drink. She made me mad. He deserved it. They owe me.”

The second response, which is far healthier, is to pay better attention. Anticipate the moment when the machine pops up 2 moles instead of 1. Knowing that it’s coming helps you to make those choices in advance. In 2 Corinthians 2, Paul is writing to the church in Corinth about a member of their church who had done something wrong. Paul is telling the church that they need to repair this relationship and forgive him. This has a lot to say to us on this question.

“You ought to forgive and comfort him. If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And if I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven it in the presence of Christ for your sake, in order that Satan should not outwit us, for we are not unaware of his schemes.”

Yeah, Satan is our greatest enemy. He is the greatest manipulator. He is the cleverest accuser. He is the smartest tempter. But in all of human history, he has not learned any new tricks. There are no new tricks for him to learn.

He is the same as always. His schemes are the same as always, and if we’re paying attention, we can learn to recognize that.

Human nature is the same as it has ever been. We are the same as we have always been, and if we pay attention our own lives, pay attention to when and where we are our weakest… When and where we most often encounter our most difficult temptations… What website? What street? What time of day? In whose company? When you’re tired? When you just got paid? When you need a drink? When you just had a drink? If we learn to identify those risk factors, we can learn to recognize and anticipate the situations so that we can avoid them to some extent, or so that we can, when those situations arise, be better prepared to make those decisions well.

A third response that we can bring to temptation is to accept responsibility. When we are tempted, when we walk where we ought not to walk, we need to accept responsibility for our choices, for our failures. In 1 Corinthians 10:12 and following Paul writes,

“The one who thinks they are standing firm should be careful not to fall. No temptation has seized you except what is common to humanity and God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted he will provide a way of escape so that you can stand up under it. Therefore, my beloved, escape…”

There is always a way out. There is always a handle on your side of the door that you can use to pull that door shut. There is always space to back up and walk away. There is always an option to step back from the brink and to choose well.

But we’re human. And we don’t always escape. We don’t always choose well. And when we don’t, there is always, always, always forgiveness, and the opportunity to try again.

The final response I would suggest is to get help. We’re not designed to live this life entirely under our own steam, using our own brains and our own wits and our own personal strength to solve all of our problems. We are not intended or built for a life of isolation and rugged individualism. Be part of a faith family, be part of a faith community. Identify people in that community who you can trust. And talk to them. Because we are not meant to do this alone. Jesus went into the desert alone and faced down Satan—I’m not Jesus. I’m not going to try to do it alone and I shouldn’t.

Temptation is not just a game of Whack-a-Mole. It’s not just reacting to things as they pop up one at a time and hoping for the highest score you can get and hoping that in the end the good numbers outweigh the bad.

Temptation is an opportunity. It’s an opportunity to learn. It’s an opportunity to grow. It’s an opportunity to get it right. It’s an opportunity to fail.

And then to be forgiven.

And to forgive yourself.

And to try and try and try again.

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Longtime contributor here, Ruth Wilkinson is now a pastor in the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec (CBOQ), currently serving in a town east of Toronto. Her sermon blog is Pastor Percipia the second word explained as “a play on the Latin word ‘percipio’ which translates into concepts of perception, learning, and understanding.”

Click the title of this post for a link to the full article and a video sermon of which this is an excerpt.

A Halloween Devotional!

Instead of running away from a rather dark seasonal observance, we can embrace it, if done correctly. Failing that, tomorrow is All Saints Day.  Second-party devotionals which appear here aren’t usually repeated, but today we’re making an exception.

As a bonus today, there’s a short original devotional that alludes to four Biblical narratives that a pastor friend of mine used in the spirit of embracing the imagery of the season while not necessarily approving of it.

Being Light on Dark Days

“Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead” (Deuteronomy 18:10,11)

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.  Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them” (Ephesians 5:8-11)

I looked for something appropriate to Halloween and found a post from Daily Encouragement by Stephen & Brooksyne Weber. Actually I found two. The scriptures above are taken from this post, Go Light Your World, as is the song at the bottom; and what follows is linked from the title below.

Exposing Darkness With Light

“The light shines in the darkness” (John 1:5).

“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them” (Ephesians 5:11).

For about 7½ years we served the Lord Jesus Christ in New England, pastoring a church about 35 miles south of Boston in Taunton, Massachusetts. Only once did we drive through Salem which is about 16 miles north of Boston. This historic town is best known for the witch trials held in the late 1600’s. It is still a center for witchcraft and other deeds of darkness. In fact it proudly promotes its reputation as the “witch city”.   I recall sensing the spiritual darkness even as we drove through.

There are several Bible-preaching churches in the city and certainly in the surrounding area. What a mighty job they have in letting the light of Christ shine through them to the darkness that pervades that area. Halloween is a very significant day for witchcraft and other satanic activities in Salem (and elsewhere), and yet the true church will have mission outreaches.

The light of Christ will shine as they expose the fruitless deeds of darkness. May the Lord bless these worthwhile efforts! Thankfully, God has a light shining in the midst of this darkness and the true church has seen many people turn from fruitless deeds of darkness to God’s marvelous light.

The first daily verse fundamentally speaks of Christ. He is the Light and indeed He shines in the darkness. Wherever you live there is darkness, although some places are certainly much more spiritually dark. We noted such a difference in this regard when we moved from Northern Pennsylvania to New England and now to Lancaster County.  But when we compare our Christianized nation to dark places such as Papua New Guinea and other unreached tribal regions the darkness is even more pervasive.  (We do thank God for Bible translators and missionaries who are going into these dark strongholds and reaching these souls for Christ.)

“The light shines in the darkness.”  The verb “shines” is in the present tense and can be understood as “the light keeps on shining.” Jesus teaches His followers. “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).

In our second daily verse the Apostle Paul makes a very unambiguous statement: “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”  It’s a call desperately needed in our culture and increasingly so in the Church but it will subject us to ridicule among many who “love the darkness rather than the light” (John 3:19).  In fact the world wants to silence those who speak out for truth exposing darkness with the Light of His Word.

You see, when we become accustomed to the darkness it just may not seem as dark anymore.  When we were children playing at dusk our moms would call out, “Come into the house.  It’s dark outside.”  But we’d continue to play since we could still see.  A few days ago I was mowing my lawn in the early evening. Afterward I entered the house and looked out the window and it was dark. But while I was mowing my eyes got used to the dark since the dimness was gradual. I believe that can be true of our spiritual eyes as well and all the more reason why we must be on guard.

Today, all over the world serious believers are allowing the light of Christ to shine through them. This light exposes the fruitless deeds of darkness and this is the essence of spiritual warfare. Darkness hates the light. Yet faithful followers of Christ will continue to let their light shine, essentially reflecting the true Light, who is Christ.

May each reader today shine brightly.  As for me and my house we will stand up for the One True God today and seek to let His light shine through us!

Daily Prayer: Father, You created us to be people who function and thrive by light.  Your placement of the sun by day and the moon by night is the way You provide for our physical needs enabling us to see as we carry out our multitude of duties.  As important as light is for the eyes to see, it is even more essential that the eyes of our heart see the magnificent light of Your glory.  As we walk in Your light we will be able to discern that which is evil from that which is good.  Jesus, we know that goodness cannot partner with wickedness for there is no harmony between You and the devil. We are one with You as we walk in Your truth and dispel the darkness everywhere we go, for greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. Amen.

Directly Confronting the Season

…These are the notes for a message I prepared for a church in Toronto, and rather than running away from Halloween, I chose to confront it.

We looked at some supernatural encounters in scripture, including

1. Simon the Sorcerer (aka ‘Great Power’) in Acts 8:9ff. He was a baptized follower of the Apostle Phillip, and yet parts of his old life — the love of the spotlight, for example — still lingered.
2. The Seven Sons of Sceva in Acts 19: 11-16. The demons they tried to confront knew of the Apostle Paul and they knew Jesus, but they basically taunted the seven sons with “Who are you?” The world isn’t interested in what we have to do or say on our own strength, but rather, on whether or not Christ is flowing through us.
3. Demetrius in Acts 19: 23-27. Christianity was turning out to be bad for the whole idol-making business. There are entire industries with a vested interest in retaining followers. If people really do turn to God, that will change. (But we have to be careful that we don’t create similar industries in the Christian world. Hmmm.)
4. The Demon-Possessed Man in Mark and Luke and Men in Matthew 8:24-34. This wasn’t just a healing. There was a third party — demons — involved in this story. Jesus affirms their reality.

For a good spiritual showdown, we also looked at I Kings 18: 16ff, the confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. Elijah just knew that God was going to come through. The buckets of water were a nice touch!

We contrasted Jesus’ words to the imprisoned John the Baptist (“Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those with leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor…”) with his words to Thomas after the resurrection (“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”)

We also were reminded of Ephesians 6:12, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms...”

We finished up with John’s admonition in 1 John 4: 1-6 to test the spirits.

¹Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ²This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

⁴You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. ⁵They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

Some credit for this message concept must go to my favorite Reformed pastor, Jack Vanderveer.

Peace Feet

Oh, my! Where to begin? Last year we introduced you to Joel Kime who is a pastor in Pennsylvania. His blog is titled Let’s Talk About Sunday. He has been doing a series of articles on the armor of God, but by that I don’t mean one post per piece of armor.

His current series on the armor’s footwear, which he calls the “boots of peace” had six parts to it. (You’re getting the concluding part today.) All equally good. As I type this he is beginning an equally deep dive into the shield of faith. (I hope when this is finished he’ll at least try to shop for a publisher; there’s a book in all this.)

Click the header below; read this at its source, and then click the blog’s own header to navigate around and at the very least, read the other parts (five plus a preview; also linked below) for this part of the series.

God deeply desires us to experience peace

Boots of Peace, Part 5

…[C]onsider what Paul writes about peace in Ephesians 2, verses 11-22:

“For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”

Do you see how expansive the peace is?  God has made it possible for us have peace with God and peace with others. Jesus’ victory over sin, death and the devil, makes it possible for us to have peace with God because where once we were separated from God because of sin, we now can be brought near to God, so near to God in fact that God the Spirit lives in us!

Jesus’ victory also compels us to pursue peace with others.  In Paul’s day, there was a very difficult battle raging in many of the churches. It was a battle between Jews and non-Jews.  They came from different ethnicities and cultures, and that difference was like a huge wall between them.  Paul says that Jesus breaks down the wall and brings peace between them.  The two can become one, together citizens of the Kingdom of God.

Peace, therefore, is more than “war is over.”  Peace is also what we experience as flourishing.  Peace is when things move toward rightness and wholeness in the world.  Jesus brings the opportunity for that kind of peace.  In John 10:10 he called it the abundant life.  It is what happens when God transforms us inwardly so that his Fruit of the Spirit flows out. It is what happens when our relationships are healed.  Our relationship with God and other people.  It is what happens when all forms of injustice in society and culture is eradicated.  When people have enough.  When there is equality, fairness, and flourishing for all.

This is the expansive kind of peace that we proclaim.

God also desires that all people experience deep inward peace.  In Philippians 4:6-7, Paul writes that we can experience peace that passes understanding.

I’ve mentioned in the past that anxiety has been a part of my life, for many years. This part of the armor has special significance to me, as a reminder that we do truly have peace. Most importantly, we have peace with God, and he wants us to experience his peace.  I love how Paul describes it in the Philippians passage, because he says that we can be thankful in all situations as we pray to God, and that God promises his peace.

No matter what kind of peace you are looking for, it can be found in God.

When we find peace in God, we then share that peace widely and lavishly.  In other words, we are peacemakers.  We choose to be the people who bring peace in any situation.  We refuse to start drama or add to the drama.  In fact, peacemakers reduce drama.  Peacemakers are what some people call a non-anxious presence. Christians are people who other people want to be around because they do not add to the anxiety of our increasingly anxious world.

When we are ready to share the Gospel of Peace, we also want people to experience the peace that passes understanding by getting to know the Prince of Peace.

How are you living the Gospel of Peace?  Christians love others, running towards the goodness of God, guiding people toward reconciliation.

Christians are people who rest in the truth that we have peace with God, and peace in God.  He has won the victory.  He is for you.  No matter the crises or struggles or battles you are facing, look for his peace that passes understanding.

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The rest of this part of the “boots of peace” sub-series:

■ Struggling with war and peace – Boots of Peace, Preview

■ The important lesson I learned from running – Boots of Peace, Part 1

■ When it comes to the Gospel are you ready or stuck? – Boots of Peace, Part 2

■ How armor, footwear, good news and peace go together – Boots of Peace, Part 3

■ Where peace is found – Boots of Peace, Part 4

 

Storming the Gates of Hell

^{Matthew.16.13} Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” ¹⁴ And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” ¹⁵ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” ¹⁶ Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock^[b] I will build my church, and the gates of hell^[c] shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed^[d] in heaven.” ²⁰ Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.

1. Matthew 16:18 The Greek words for Peter and rock sound similar
2. Matthew 16:18 Greek the gates of Hades
3. Matthew 16:19 Or shall have been bound… shall have been loosed

The question is rhetorical. The Gates of Hell are located at the gates of Hell, or the gates to Hell. Our focus here today is not on the translation of Hell, though we’ll pause for a minute to compare translations:

• And the gates of hell will not overpower it  (God’s Word translation)
• and the forces of Hades will not overpower it (Holman Christian Standard Bible)
• and hades’ gates shall not prevail against it (Darby)
• and all the powers of hell will not conquer it  (NLT)
• and not even death will ever be able to overcome it (Good News/TEV)
• The gates of the underworld won’t be able to stand against it (CEB)

You can check out other translations here.

Instead I want to look at the visual picture that we create when we read the word “gates.”

There is both a literal meaning and a generally accepted interpretation. If you use Strong’s Concordance at BibleHub.com you read:

4439 pýlē (a feminine noun) – a large door; an entrance-gate to a city or fortress; a door-gate. 4439 /pýlē (“a door-gate“) typically refers to the exit people go out, i.e. focusing on what proceeds out of it.

[“Gates” in antiquity generally represent authority/power.]

The part in brackets at the bottom is important. Hell will have no authority or power over the church (“…build my church”) that Jesus is instituting here. However, the visual image is the entrance to Hell, not to the church.

In other words, in this picture the powers of Hell are not amassing at the ‘front door’ of The Church in general, or your local church or denomination in particular. The visual image is of The Church amassing at the ‘front door’ of Hell, as expressed in the phrase, ‘storming the gates of Hell.’

Again, to repeat, the church is not in a defensive posture in the imagery of this verse, rather, the church is in an offensive posture.

On that basis, I have to say that I think The Voice Bible translation is the only one that expresses this:

The church will reign triumphant even at the gates of hell

Again, the visual distinctive here is the word ‘at’ as in ‘at the gates of hell.’

I believe part of the reason we don’t read this verse this way is that we tend to map on other verses’ contexts. For example, this writer assumes the link between Matthew 16 and Revelation 9:

The commentary on the Gospel of Matthew written by W. D. Davies and Dale Allison, The Gospel According to Saint Matthew (vol. 2, pp. 630-32) lists a dozen various interpretations of this phrase “gates of Hades” expressed over the past 2000 years of Christian history.  Davies and Allison suggest that the view I argue for in this post is probably the one held by “most contemporary expositors” (p. 632), but it is not the one they prefer.  They prefer the idea that Hades is not used here as a term to refer to the realm of the dead, inhabited both by the righteous and the wicked, but a term referring to the location of demonic powers who will assault the church in the last days.  They argue, relying upon illustrations from Rev. 9:1-11, that,

• “One should probably think of the end-time scenario, when the powers of the underworld will be unleashed from below, from the abyss, and rage against the saints. . . . even the full fury of the underworld’s demonic forces” (p. 633).

However, regardless of the visual image, the verse is unmistakably clear in its assurance of victory over the powers of darkness.  I just think we should try to avoid creating mental imagery of the church always in a defensive posture.

Video is static-image, audio-only.

 

The Battle Within Our Hearts

Today we have a new author to introduce you readers here. But first…

The devotional for today resonated with me on several levels. First, it was based on the rich lyrics of the hymn, “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind” which was sung at my mother’s funeral.

Second, I had only last week heard several references to the fact that as Christ followers, we can’t expect to engage the spiritual battle going on outside when we are fighting a Civil War within our minds; within our hearts.

With those two things in the background, today’s new writer is Marilyn Daniels who writes at Marilyn’s Meditations. Clicking the title which follows will also take you there, where you can read this where it appeared first.

Reclothe Us

Read: 1 Kings 19:11-18

11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”

Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Often as I begin my devotions each morning the words of a hymn forms the basis of that devotion. Today it was the words of John Greenleaf Whittier, words taken from a longer poem which he wrote in 1872. The country was just recovering from the American Civil war of 1861-1865. He describes hearts longing for peace.

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.

Solomon said there is nothing new under the sun, and history has proven him to be right. The same attitudes exist around the world today, causing hatred and bloodshed between nations and even dividing families. This hymn might be a prayer that God would reclothe us in our rightful minds, even today.

Apparently the words of this hymn came from a much longer poem “The Brewing of the Soma” describing Vedic priests brewing and drinking Soma in an attempt to experience divinity. Whittier’s intention was to compare this to the use some Christians made of “music, incense, vigils…trance……all in vain – it is mere intoxication” (Wikipedia).

Raised as a Quaker, he knew the true way of seeking God’s will. Silence and selflessness enable us to hear the “still small voice” described in the Bible (1 Kings 19:11-13). The voice of God was not heard in earthquake, wind or fire, but rather in a soft, gentle whisper which followed the dramatic events of God’s power. But first we must seek God’s forgiveness. The lyrics go on –

…Forgive our foolish ways.
Reclothe us in our rightful minds,
in purer lives Thy service find….

As an advocate for justice, the moral and spiritual values of his up-bringing impacted his writings and earned him the title of “America’s finest religious poet”. Many of his poems are still sung in churches today. One phrase captured my particular attention as I thought about our worship “…in deeper reverence, praise!” His poem goes on to talk about “simple trust” with which early Christians rose up and followed Jesus when they heard “the gracious calling of the Lord”.

Jesus calls His disciples, whether in the midst of a Civil War, or in the business of twenty-first century living: “Come unto Me all you who are weary and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Whittier captured the essence of that rest:

Oh Sabbath rest by Galilee….
where Jesus knelt to share with Thee [God his Father],
the silence of eternity
interpreted by love.

The depth of that statement alone is cause for hours of reflection!

Reflection:

However, it is the last verse which provokes even deeper thought. What do the heats of our desires look like today? Do we need God’s coolness and His balm? Oh that we might enjoy His “still small voice of calm”! Then we would be ready to serve, to bless others with God’s love and peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm.

Don’t Be Resigned to Our Sinful Nature

Today another new writer to introduce to you, who is unnamed. The blog is called Starlight. There are a number of practical and applicable articles waiting for you there. You can also click the link in the title which follows which will take you to where this appeared first.

Fight the Flesh

Recently I have been aware of the very real fight against the flesh: that inner struggle the Christian has to ‘live by the Spirit’.

We are living in a world that is consumed by its own desires. Society is moving away from truth to live by feeling. Things that have never been questioned and seen as fact, are now under examination. There is such confusion that hardly anyone seems to know which way is up and down!

I think back to the period of the Judges in the Bible which was described as a time where there was no King and “...Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25). Our world could largely be described as this now, the only difference being that even those in government are corrupt. This is a world that wants nothing to do with God and with the ‘air of positivity’ flowing around, no one wants to think of the consequences of their actions.

While this largely describes society, this should not be the case for the Christ-follower.

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.

Galatians 5:16-17

Some people will try to justify their sinful actions by saying its ‘just natural’ or ‘only human’. That is true because sin is in our bodies: we are all born with a sinful nature that is in rebellion to God. But when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we “.. have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.” (Romans 6:18). Christians can say ‘no’ to sin and the Spirit guides and convicts us as to what displeases God.

The way a Christian lives should be vastly different from the world. Sin should cause us to grieve and our minds disciplined to obey God rather than the flesh. If we struggle we can take heart, because we know we aren’t alone in the battle. The Bible tells us that  “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind.” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Anyone seeking to please God will struggle against the flesh so we know that even if we feel alone in the battle, we aren’t. It’s important for us to gather regularly with like-minded believers and to have accountability and when we do so we can be encouraged and strengthened to press on. Not only this, but as the verse continues: And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. God doesn’t leave us unequipped to deal with the temptations that we face on a regular basis, but provides what we need to say no and to combat against that desire.

So in our struggle, we can take heart. There is an ongoing battle with the flesh but we aren’t alone. What’s important is that we do fight against sin. In the end, we know there is victory in Jesus and one day, this struggle will finally be over.

If you are fighting sin, you are alive. Take heart. But if sin holds sway unopposed, you are dead no matter how lively this sin makes you feel.
-John Owen

 

 

Co-existing with a “Do Not Touch” Tree

On the weekend, a discussion turned to a mutual acquaintance who has chosen to opt out entirely from the internet, to avoid the inherent temptations therein. I suppose if everyone felt that way, no one would be reading this, but at the same time, it’s hard to judge someone who goes out of their way not to be put in temptation’s way.

Still, I can’t help but wonder if in the internet’s place, some other form or medium of temptation rears its head. Put differently, I find it hard to accept that the road to sinless perfection (or if you prefer, holiness) is to be found by living in a vacuum.

Genesis 2 and 3 form our thoughts today:

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it, And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” (2:15-17 NIV)

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. (3:1-7 NIV)

I would argue that Every garden has a tree.

If that’s not clear, Every life contains points of temptation.

In February 2013, I wrote:

I think the point is that today, each of us has “trees” in our “garden” that are the source of spiritual testing. Adam and Eve “walked with God in the cool of the evening,” so they were intimate friends; but God was clearly God, so the temptation to ignore his warning not to eat the fruit — especially when offered the opportunity that “your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil”(3:5 NLT)  — should not have been argued away, but in fact, was easily rationalized away.

But nowhere are we told that the “First Couple” said something like, ‘This is too great a temptation, so let’s simply transplant this tree to a back corner we never use.’

No, it sat there.

We don’t know for how long.

The narration in those early Genesis chapters moves along rather swiftly, but at some point in Genesis 3, they both get talked out of their deep convictions.

Maybe — dare I say this? — you need a “Do Not Touch” tree in the middle of your garden to occasionally remind you of your predisposition to fall, albeit with hopefully less severe consequences.

I Corinthians 10:13 has been the source of the “God will never give you more than you can handle” fallacy, when in fact it’s talking about the commonality of temptation:

The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.  (NLT)

The Christian life is not so much about getting rid of the source of temptations as it is about living in a garden which contains them, and learning to overcome.

In February of this year, I wrote about the challenge to live lives that are set apart from the world, and maintain a distinct identity, even in a lost an perverse world.

In April of 2016, I wrote that Every Generation Has a Tree. It reads in part,

I believe that throughout history there has always been a tree in the middle of the garden. It’s there in the garden of our world. In the garden of our society. In the garden of our nation. In the garden of our community. In the garden of our families. In the garden of our hearts.

There’s always a tree.

The warning not to touch its fruit is given to some by direct command, though others believe that the idea of not tasting of its bounty is written on the hearts of people; they simply know.

Some people say that everyone knows this, some people think people do need to be commanded, to have it spelled out for them; while others spend long hours drinking hot beverages wondering what then of the people who haven’t heard of the command.

In some cases, there is always one large tree to confront. In other cases there are several trees which must be avoided. Some reach a point where they simply lose interest in the forbidden fruit, it no longer tempts them, only to find themselves looking squarely at another tree, which holds a similar prohibition.

Finally, we need to remember that there are some people who are called to live in the middle of Tree-ville. I think of the Salvation Army or people called to the parts of our cities which reflect the worst of what society has to offer.

Another generation’s preacher, C. T. Studd, penned this often quoted line:

“Some want to live within the sound
Of church or chapel bell;
I want to run a rescue shop,
Within a yard of hell.”

One Christian singer put this idea into music, and said we ought to “Run to the Battle;” i.e. run toward the spiritual chaos instead of fleeing away. (Perhaps not unlike Jesus “setting his face toward Jerusalem;” i.e. pointing himself toward the conflict.)

Of course that takes a special calling.

It’s not for everyone.

But it seems a more Jesus-like thing to do than trying to live in a world without “Do Not Touch” trees.

 

The Enemy’s Power is Limited

Today we have a new source to feature here. Bright and Morning Star is written by Aaron Osowski, and published in conjunction with Morning Star Cleveland, a non-profit. Clicking the title which appears next will take you to where this appeared first.

Our Enemy’s Powerless Intentions

And Ishbibenob, which was of the sons of the giant, the weight of whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of brass in weight, he being girded with a new sword, thought to have slain David. But Abishai the son of Zeruiah succoured him, and smote the Philistine, and killed him…” [2 Sam 21:16-17a]

In the passage above, we see that Abishai rescued David from death, killing a giant named Ishbibenob. I think there is some further insight here which The Lord would have for us, which He has concealed, and if we, like the king described in Proverbs, would “search out a matter,” [Prov 25:2] we shall find some wonderful truth of Christ. There is here, I believe, a parallel that gives God glory. Abishai’s name means “Father of [the] gift” and Ishbibenob’s name means either “his” or “my” “seat is at Nob;” and if we replace the names with their meanings, we could paraphrase this passage in 2 Samuel by saying “The Father of [the] gift” slew he whose “seat is at Nob.” This is interesting because Isaiah speaks of a future time in chapter ten regarding the Antichrist, or The Assyrian. Near the end of the chapter, Isaiah speaks about his journey towards and attempted conquest of Jerusalem. Notice how he gets close to Jerusalem, right about the Mount of Olives, in Nob.

“As yet shall he remain at Nob that day: he shall shake his hand against the mount of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem. Behold, The Lord, The LORD of Hosts, shall lop the bough with terror: and the high ones of stature shall be hewn down, and the haughty shall be humbled. And He shall cut down the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a mighty one.” [Isa 10:32-34]

And notice also, though he nears Jerusalem, the only thing he can do is “shake his hand.” He can’t destroy Jerusalem nor the people in it. He is powerless against The LORD, who comes to bring him down once and for all and to destroy him. All the Wicked One can do is “shake his hand.” Likewise, all the giant in 2 Samuel can do is to think of slaying David. He “thought to have slain David.” But it never mentions him trying or attempting it, just thinking it. The giant thinks and plans but is powerless, because “The Father of [the] gift” slays him and rescues David.

So too it is with us. Sin taunts and raves at us, but it is powerless. Satan, the world, and our flesh all boast of great things; even as The Antichrist will have “a mouth speaking great things.” [Dan 7:8] Our enemies can shake their hands, say mean things, put us in fear – but at the end of the day, our Father is on our side, Jesus Christ Himself is on our side, and He will rescue us; nothing may infiltrate the city of our lives as it were except by our Father’s permission for God says plainly, “thy walls are continually before me.” [Isa 49:16]

Demon Possession and Mental Illness

This is a topic for today’s regular readers here at Christianity 201, and honestly, we’re not hoping to answer all questions or clear up any misunderstandings; rather, just getting people to think.

The topic of mental illness is very sensitive and if you find yourself or someone you love needing help, you’re encouraged to look for medical help, spiritual help, or both; as is available in the part of the world where you’re reading this.

Luke doesn’t waste any time. From the start of his narrative, he calls out the man as demon-possessed:

^{NIV.Luke.8.26} They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. ²⁷ When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs.

Mark’s account doesn’t get there right away:

^{NIV.Mark.8.1.}  They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.  ² When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him.

He uses the term “impure spirit,” only advancing this later in the description:

⁹ Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. (italics added)

Two verses later, the NIV identifies the “them” in verse 10:

¹² The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.”

And only later does Mark actually use the phrase, surprising considering the concision usually found in his gospel:

¹⁵ When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. ^16a Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man…

^…18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him.

Luke’s gospel account also tells us about “Mary called Magdalene” and also quantifies the level of possession:

^NLT.Luke.8.1  Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him, ² along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons;

and this time Mark’s gospel concurs with the description and the number.

There are places in the gospel narratives where the writers add a parenthetic explanation of what terms mean, but here it’s taken as a given that the readers understand what is being stated. This was apparently part of their experience of the world.

…Today, in North American and Western Europe we find the term “demon-possessed” used rather sparingly, while at the same time we hear much more frequent reports from places in Central America, South America, Africa and Asia.

In the West, the term has become more common when talking with Pentecostals and Charismatics, for whom spiritual warfare and deliverance is a key part of both doctrine and practice; and among Roman Catholics, for whom exorcism is still part of their vocabulary.

It is as though the West, gaining sophistication in areas related to medicine, has preferred the use of mental illness instead of the harsher-sounding demon-possessed.

It is important to note that in such cases, the presenting phenomena might be the same. In other words, both can manifest similar symptoms.

It’s also important to note that, outside of Pentecostal/Charismatic circles, it’s possible that the gift of discernment isn’t as strongly encouraged; but it’s also possible that the cases in South America or Africa represent more extreme forms of, for lack of a better word, mis-behavior.

So where did this come from today?

We have a next-door neighbour. I don’t want the importance of today’s topic to get lost in a case study or illustration, but in the last few months, I’ve found myself asking more and more, ‘Is it mental illness or demon-possession?’

Recent consideration has caused me to lean more toward the latter.

It’s easy to commit various logical fallacies when dealing with this however. If someone is a true Christian, and they suffer from what has been diagnosed as mental illness, are they actually demon-possessed?

This question flourished in Bible study groups when I was in my teens and early 20s. There were nuanced distinctions made between demon oppression and demon possession.

Today, not unlike other other things in the emotional and cognitive realms, we see in an increase in, for example depression. Severe depression definitely fits into the category of mental illness, and there are fine, Christ-following people who are now able to control this with medication. I would never consider demonic activity as a factor in their condition; I would never seek a spiritual solution when the medical diagnosis has proved accurate and the medical solution has proved to work.

Google the phrase “mental illness or demon-possession” and you will get over 3,000,000 results! There are some great articles there and others which I think are also good, but use terminology that’s over my pay grade!

Here’s a better piece of advice: Immerse yourself in a local church where there are senior leaders and pastoral staff who have experience in counseling and a thorough knowledge of the Word of God.

Or, if the people in your fellowship are hesitant to breach the topic of spiritual warfare, make an appointment to meet with a Pentecostal or Charismatic minister in your area. (You won’t be the first to request this, I promise.) If you feel you need to, meet with a second such person as well.

My sense is that if you came to a website called “Christianity 201” and read an article like this all the way to the bottom, possession may not be the issue, but do remember Paul’s words in Ephesians 6:12:

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.(NLT)

Spiritual forces are at work in our world. We err if we try to ignore that. But we also err if we refuse to investigate getting medical help that is easily available to all. Each situation is different.