It’s vital to know the enemy and his mode of operation…ask anyone who has served in the armed forces. The Scripture here is a lament or an oracle against Satan. It speaks of him being created blameless but then allowing wickedness and willful rebellious pride to enter him. Our enemy, Satan, also has many alias or aka – Lucifer, prince of this world, father of lies, the evil one, the devil, our adversary, a deceptive angel of light. His mode of operation is simple and yet very effective…it’s destruction, deception, and death. But it’s also essential to know the enemy’s limitations. It tells us in the Bible that if we resist the devil he must flee.(James 4:7) And when we are equipped with the armor of God, we are able stand against him victoriously. (Ephesians 6:11) Finally and most importantly…the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. (I John 4:4)
Category: daily devotional
Lord, You cannot change…but yet You change everything.
This idea comes from Psalm 110:4 and later echoed in the New Testament in Hebrews 7:21, “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind.” The God of the universe is unchanging, yet He’s continually changing everything around us. He’s changing hearts and minds…He’s changing situations and circumstances…He’s changing lives. I thank You Lord that You are the one and only stable factor in my life today…but I also thank Lord that You are continually changing me.
Proverbs 21:26 “…the righteous give without sparing.”
If we could only get past the notion that everything we own is ours… and would loosen the death grip we have on our money and belongings. We would realize that everything belongs to God…everything! And with that, we could then know the freedom in managing God’s assets. For if you think about it…you will never be able to out give God. For when you have a open hand policy concerning your material things and take on the heart of stewardship…God will bless beyond what you can imagine.
Mark 9: 33-34 ” They came to Capernaum. When He was in the house, He asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the road?’ But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.”
Embarrassed silence is all you heard. For Jesus already knew what they had been fighting about…and He knew their prideful hearts. But He wanted them to verbalize out loud to Him this dispute so they could hear just how absurd they sounded. Jesus was then able to use this as a teachable moment when He said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Boy, was that a blow to those fragile male egos of the disciples! I can almost hear them ask, “So what you’re saying, Jesus, is that in order to be the greatest…I need to become the least?”
I Kings 18:43-44 ” ‘Go and look toward the sea,’ he told his servant. And he went up and looked. ‘There is nothing there.’ he said. Seven times Elijah said, ‘Go back.’ The seventh time the servant reported, ‘A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.’ So Elijah said, ‘Go and tell Ahab, hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’ “
It was with patience and determination that the Hebrew Children marched around the walls of Jericho seven times before it fell. It wasn’t until Naaman obeyed the Prophet Elisha and resolutely dipped himself into the Jordan River seven times that he was healed of his leprosy. And in this passage, it was a persistent and tenacious Prophet Elijah that prayed seven times before the rain came and ended the drought. The number seven doesn’t matter here as much as the idea of not giving up! For all these examples show that perseverance pays off in the end, and that God rewards the single-minded.
James 4:13-17 ” Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s Will, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”
So many times we plan major things…making important decisions that will effect our life with little to none of God’s input first. We make up our minds that this is how it will be…and then as almost an afterthought… we ask the Lord to bless it. That’s kinda putting the cart before the horse don’t you think? Making choices without God’s input and counsel first is presumptuous and says we’re trusting in ourselves…not God.
Hebrews 13:1 ” Keep on loving each other as brothers.”
We are to continue to love one another as family, even when the family unit becomes dysfunctional. For we can choose our friends, but we’re born into a family…and family last forever. So, regardless how messy it may get, as Christians, we’re to love each other with a brotherly love out of the common bond of Jesus Christ. Because the commonality we have with each other is far stronger than any friction.
I Corinthians 15:58 ” Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
Christian ministry can be hard, thankless, and fatiguing. You can give everything to the Lord’s work day after day…but see no positive results…you think. There may even come a time when you’re ready to throw in the towel and chalk it up as pointless and a waste of time. But think of this…God’s ultimate plan and purpose may be about changing you and not about your work for Him. You may never see the results you think God wants…but you also may never be fully cognizant of the changes within you because of your diligent work for Him.
Jeremiah 23:4 ” I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing, declares the Lord.”
Over the 36 years as a Nurse this Scripture was my “work verse”. Health Care is a hard career, and I would remind myself daily with this Scripture that the Lord had entrusted me with these patients to do the very best job I could. For just as God watches over His flock like a shepherd (Jeremiah 31:10)…I was to do the same.
II Peter 3:3-4 ” First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, ‘Where is this coming He promised?’ “
The world has been making fun of the promised Second Coming of Christ from Old Testament times. Back then, they had a saying, “The days go by and every vision comes to nothing?” (Ezekiel 12:22) The world demands immediate and instantaneous results…because it hates to wait for anything. And so as the world watches for this Second Coming, it becomes impatient, and impatience becomes frustration, which turns to scoffing and mocking remarks like, “Just where is this Jesus you talk about and why hasn’t He shown up yet?” But God doesn’t go back on His promises, and the Second Coming is real…and when the world scoffs at the Second Coming of Christ Jesus, they are merely carrying out this Scripture.
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