God’s Absolute Faithfulness

A pastor was asked if temptation was a sin. He replied, “You cannot stop a bird from flying over your head, but you don’t have to let it build a nest in your hair.”

He implied that the world, the flesh, and the devil will call out to me in various ways, but I must not dwell on what they say, suggest, or how they make their appeal. I  cannot stop those suggestions nor can I block any doubts that come to me any more than I can hinder someone from saying nasty words as I walk by, yet I am not doing anything wrong by hearing the temptation. I can refuse to listen.

It is the same with doubts. I can dwell on them, join in with them, consent to them and adopt them as true — or I can turn from them and to the truth that God gives me.

The world might say, ‘Faith in God is foolish. Being a Christian has too many rules and spoils your fun.’ Do I know the truth that smacks down that line?

The flesh might say, ‘God is not in charge of your life. If He was good, this … would never be happening to you. There is no reason for you to be suffering. Escape…’ Do I know the truth about God’s power and sovereignty, about His love for me and the purpose of suffering?

The devil continually bombards me with stuff like: ‘God does not really want the best for you. This isn’t really so bad; everyone does it so it must be okay.’ Can I reply to those slanders of God with truth that hits them out of my mind?

Today’s devotional puts emphasis on the value of reading and knowing the Word of God for it also tells me what God is like and reminds me of what He has already done. It gives me answers to the subtle and not so subtle suggestions that come to me as temptations to doubt Him. While I have a choice and can believe the lies, I also know that doing so robs me of joy and the goodness of knowing my God is faithful.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)

Yet there is another ‘lie’ that is often missed. It is the lie that says, ‘You can do it, You’ve got this’ and other versions that say I am able to handle anything if I just decide to do so and try harder. The Word of God says otherwise as does my own experience. I cannot be godly or battle sin without Jesus Christ. My confidence can never be in my own strength. Instead, the victory over temptation comes with a confession of weakness, never a determination to try harder. In the battle against lies and temptations, the only way to win is by yielding to God, by looking to Jesus.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (Hebrews 12:1–4)

Jesus is the Savior. I am not. He is faithful. I am not. He will “sustain me to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom I was called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:4–9) Note also the order of actions in this verse:

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)

I cannot rid myself of the devil and his lies, nor the world and its thinking, nor the flesh as it tries to resurrect itself from being dead unless I am submitted to God first, then resisting the lies of temptation. Trusting and believing is only part of the weapon; obedience is the sharpest sword to put doubts and nest-building from happening, perhaps even from showing up.

PRAY: Jesus, I need You to keep me safe from the lies that fly about me, even the lie that ‘try harder’ will work. Enable me to practice a continuous habit of believing You and having discernment against temptation and doubt. Only You can make them vanish and replace them with the glory of Your absolute faithfulness.  

Why Pray when you can Worry?

Consecration is about having the obstacles removed that keep God from bestowing God’s full blessings. While the devotional for today say this purging is something we do and describes it as being entirely abandoned to God, that is not entirely true. Our willingness is part of His saving work. Many times I have said to Him, “Lord Jesus, I am totally unable to be all that I should be; You are the Savior — save me from this…” whatever it is where I keep trying but fall short.

The Bible says this:

Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. (2 Timothy 2:21)

Yet what cleanses us from that which is dishonorable? Is it not this:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

To become clean, consecrated, abandoned to the will of God in that entire surrender of the whole being to God—spirit, soul, and body placed under His absolute control, for Him to do with what He pleases, the only way is through keeping short accounts. This involves recognizing my sin and agreeing with God about it. It does not involve “try harder” but confession and repentance.

Repentance isn’t mere acknowledgment. It is responding to the Holy Spirit in such a way that the sin is replaced with righteousness. That is His work. I cannot remove my sin without the enabling of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes this means a number of tests to determine if it is still my desire to keep on doing it. This is like the young missionary who said, “The trouble with a living sacrifice is that it keeps crawling off the altar.” My old nature is dead/separated from God and I need to consider that to be true.

The other thing to consider is that much of sin is the result of believing a lie. Instead of trusting what God says, life’s circumstances often open our ears to that old Liar who whispers, “God does not really want the best for you…” and we fall for it, take matters into our own hands, and sin.

Consecration is having that “Thy will be done” attitude that no matter what, and then resting in the trust that He does love me and even in tough situations, His will is the most blessed thing that can happen, no matter the circumstances.

In discussions with other Christians, some actually say they are afraid to totally trust the will of God. At that, they are obviously not hearing His Word but the words of the enemy who does not want any of us to understand that God’s perfect will means loving-kindnesses, tender mercies, and unspeakable blessings — even if it also means hard times. Think of Jesus: His greatest suffering produced the greatest blessing God could give us.

Yet in the tough times, that whisper from my enemy produces anxiety. He uses hard times to suggest to me that God is not loving because He is messing with my comfort, my Eden. I need to remember how that old snake tells preposterous and bald-faced lies to keep me from trusting in the love of God and His unfailing promises.

PRAY: Satan uses dreams (nightmares), adverse circumstances, nasty people, even my imagination, to get me to think wrongly about You, Lord. Forgive my foolishness of listening to the lies instead of “storing your Word in my heart” and letting it be “a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” — and I pray for those who continually worry because they have forgotten that You love them and that the Liar uses that to keep them from praying.

Who is my enemy?

 

READ 2 Samuel 1–5

David was a wise leader who respected God’s people even though some of them opposed him. Instead of retaliating, he blessed them and saved his energies to fight against the pagan Philistines, his true enemies.

For instance, David said to the messenger who brought the news of Saul’s death and how he was part of it, “How is it you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” Then he had this man executed saying, “Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the Lord’s anointed.” (2 Samuel 1:14–16)

David grieved the loss of Saul and Jonathan his son even though the former king had repeatedly tried to kill him. Then he asked the Lord for specific instructions about what he should do next:

“Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And he said, “To Hebron.” So David went up there . . . and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.

At that time, he found out who buried Saul and told them, “May you be blessed by the Lord, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord and buried him. Now may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you. And I will do good to you because you have done this thing.” (2:1–6)

How different from current politics. Imagine a newly elected leader in our country or any country treating former leaders with respect and honoring their memory. No mud-slinging in the election and no reminders to everyone of their mistakes. How amazing that would be!

David’s rise to reign over Israel was not as easy as being crowned in Judah, yet in the “long war between the house of Saul and the house of David” David grew stronger and stronger while the house of Saul became weaker. (3:1) In it, a man called Abner offered to help David. With stipulations, David agreed, but Joab, the king’s supporter, was not happy. He thought Abner came to deceive and know David’s strategies. Joab followed Abner and killed him, but this really wasn’t motivated by loyalty to David; Abner had killed Joab’s brother during a prior battle. (3:22–30)

David did not take sides. Instead, he grieved for Abner and “all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them, as everything that the king did pleased all the people. So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king’s will to put Abner to death.” David added, “Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel? And I was gentle today, though anointed king. These men . . . are more severe than I. The Lord repay the evildoer according to his wickedness!” (3:36–39)

Later, enemies killed Saul’s son, Ish-bosheth. They came to David with, “Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life. The Lord has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring.” David reminded them of what happened to the messenger who brought news of Saul’s death, then said,  “How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?” He had them executed and respectfully buried the remains of the son of Saul, who actually had been the only heir to that man’s throne. (4:8–12)

Then David was anointed king over Israel. He was thirty years old when he began to reign. He reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years. He became greater and greater, for the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him. He knew “that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.” (5:10–12)

David was kind to God’s people but the opposite in his battle with the Philistines. Still, he asked God for specific instructions and did what God said:

“Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the Lord said, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand . . . . You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees. When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, for then the Lord has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” And David did as the Lord commanded him, and struck down the Philistines . . . . (5:5–25)

My enemies are not flesh and blood but worldly thinking, fleshy desires, and the devil who lies to me. God says I must deal ruthlessly with these and destroy their influence in my life. At the same time, I’m to treat other Christians with great love and respect for they are His children. Lord, thank You for David’s vivid and powerful example!

 

No matter how hard the devil tries . . .

 

1 Kings 22; Psalms 108–109; Daniel 4; 1 Thessalonians 5

Many books have been written to describe the activities of Satan. The Bible describes him as a liar and the father of lies, a deceiver and a destroyer. His intentions are never good but always evil. He works to keep the people of God from being effective in living for His glory and to keep those who do not know God from knowing Him. His methods vary but his main lie is that God does not want good for us therefore we cannot trust Him.

I’ve noticed in reading through the Bible this year that God blesses those who are downtrodden and needy, who cry out to Him because of oppression, difficulties and sorrow. His mercy is for those who cannot meet their own needs and who are mangled by life. He says:

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. (Isaiah 57:15)

Rarely does God call proud, self-sufficient people into His kingdom. Saul who became Paul is one example that shows He can call anyone, yet He also says:

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (1 Corinthians 1:25–29)

God’s purpose is to create a family of believers who reflect His glory. Most people are far more interested in our own glory, in being somebody and something important — an attitude that easily accepts the lies of the enemy, lies that bring us into his deception and even into dark places.

However, the Bible is also clear that the ‘successes’ of the enemy are in God’s control. He allowed Job to be severely tested to prove that the faith God grants can withstand great tests. He allowed a pagan king seven years of insanity until, “You know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” (Daniel 4:25) Not only that, at the end of this time, this once pagan King realized what God wanted him to understand. He said:

At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” (Daniel 4:34–35)

His kingdom and even more greatness was restored to him. He honored God saying, “All his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” (verse 37)

The power of God against the foe whose endless attacks and lies threaten all that is true and righteous becomes even more obvious in the New Testament. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the final blow to Satan’s plans:

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. (Hebrews 2:14–15)

Jesus gives His people eternal life. Death and the fear of death no longer enslave those who believe. Instead, we have this incredible promise:

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23–24)

APPLY: The short version is “Jesus Wins” — no matter what Satan does, or even that he gets to me now and then. His evil power was defeated when Jesus died for my sin and rose again to defeat death. I’m always needy and cannot do anything, especially glorify God, without the guidance and help of my Savior, but that is not a problem because He is always available to show me the way and enable me to walk in it.