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Psalms 73:1-7 A Psalm of
Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, To such as are
pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; My steps had nearly
slipped. For I was envious of
the boastful, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pangs in their death,
But their strength is firm.
They are not in trouble as other men, Nor are they plagued
like other men. Therefore pride
serves as their necklace; Violence covers them like a garment. Their eyes bulge with abundance; They have more
than heart could wish. Father, in the name of Jesus we give you
thanks and praise for all you do in our lives. We ask for wisdom, knowledge,
and understanding of your word so that we can continue refining our lives for
you, and become more Christ like with each passing day. We give you all the
glory and praise. Amen!
Romans 8:37-39 NKJV
Last
week we left off with a four word sentence, “God is for me”. With the emphasis
on each word it is a real refreshing phrase that can comfort and ease our anxiety
with the hustle and bustle of daily life. It reminds me of these scriptures; Deuteronomy 3:22 You must not fear them, for the LORD your God
Himself fights for you.' Exodus 14:14 The LORD
will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." With God for us we need not fear daily
trials and tribulations. A believer can put their trust in Jesus to fight and
protect them against the evils of this world. By keeping our eyes focused on
Jesus and our faith in what He did at Calvary, we can rest in Him.
Satan
and his band of angels and evil spirits love to keep us busy so that our time
is all consumed with things that take our eyes and thoughts off Jesus. Here is
a partial list of 12 things Satan probably instructs his band of evil doers to keep
us busy with:
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·
Keep
them busy with non-essentials.
·
Tempt
them to over spend and go into debt.
·
Make
them work long hours to maintain empty life styles.
·
Discourage
them from spending family times for when homes disintegrate there is no
refuge from work.
·
Over
stimulate their minds with television and computers so they can’t hear God
speaking to them.
·
Fill
their coffee tables and night stands with newspapers and magazines so there
is no time to read the Bible.
·
Flood
their mailboxes with sweepstake promotions and get rich schemes to keep them
chasing material things.
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·
Put
glamorous models on TV and magazines covers to keep them focused on outward
appearances that way they will be dissatisfied with themselves and their
mates.
·
Make
sure married couples are too busy for physical intimacies that way they will
be tempted to look elsewhere.
·
Emphasize
Santa and Easter Bunny That way they will be diverted from the real meaning
of the holidays.
·
Involve
them in worldly causes so they won’t have time for eternal ones.
·
Make
them self sufficient, keep them busy in their own works and strengths so they
will never know the joy of Gods power that can work through them.
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BUSY
= B – Being U – Under S – Satan’s Y - Yoke
When these things happen
to you each day, take a few minutes and divert your focus to Jesus and what He
did for you and let His love for you comfort and calm the situation that you
are dealing with. In fact turn it over to Him and ask Him to take control. Ask
Him for His guidance in the situation. Then watch and see what happens, and at
the end of the day reflect on the day’s activities. You might be pleasantly
surprised how the situation turned out. God loves to help his adopted children,
all we have to do is ask for his help. It is the same way for little children.
At times they want to do things on their own, but may not have the capability
of accomplishing what they want to do, so out of frustration they will ask for
mommy or daddy’s help, and out of love the parent gives a helping hand. So
often we try to do everything our self and it leads to frustration, if we would
just develop the habit of going to our advocate, Jesus, our life situations
would be resolved in a much healthier fashion.
This
week’s lesson picks up where last week’s lesson left off. We will learn more
about all the things we are protected from when in Christ. Deep down, everyone
is tempted to be afraid of something. The past, the future, powerful people,
supernatural forces, death, and many more. But a true believer considers only
one thing; there is nothing more powerful than the love of God in Christ Jesus.
So let’s see what we can learn with these verses.
37 Yet in all these things we are more than
conquerors through Him who loved us.
“In all these things”; Paul is referring to the list in
verse 35; tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or
sword, and also to the list in verses 38 and 39; nor death nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor
height, nor depth, nor any other created thing. All items listed here, as
children of God, we need not fear them. In fact a Born Again Christian does not
fear them as long as they keep their faith in the finished work of the Cross.
It is when we take our eyes off Jesus, the things of life will creep into a
believer and fear rises up. It happened to Peter when he stepped out of the
boat and started walking on the water. As long as he had his eyes (faith) on
Jesus he was ok, but he was distracted by the wind (the world) and started to
sink and then cried out to Jesus to save him. Matthew 14:29-30 So He said,
"Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on
the water to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and
beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"
An adopted child of God
knows they don’t belong here on earth. Their true home is in Heaven with Jesus
and they long for the time when they can go home. They see the world with a new
set of eyes in fact they see people in a whole new way. Newly saved individuals
have told me that people seem different all of a sudden, but they don’t know
why. Every Spirit filled individual will experience this in some way, some more
than others. I had one individual tell me everyone was like dead corpses
walking around, because their faces were expressionless and pale. The reason
for this is because they are spiritually dead, and have not had a spiritual
birth. A great multitude of these people are good people, but haven’t been Born
Again, therefore are spiritually dead and live their life for worldly pleasures
and not for God. Jesus speaks of this in Luke. Luke 9:57-62 Now it
happened as they journeyed on the road, that
someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go." 58 And Jesus
said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the
air have nests, but the Son of
Man has nowhere to lay His
head." (Saved individuals have
no place here on earth to rest because they always have to have their guard up
against the things of the flesh and the world.) 59 Then He
said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, let me first
go and bury my father." 60 Jesus said to him, "Let
the dead bury their own dead, (Spiritually dead bury
the spiritually dead.)
but you go and preach the kingdom of God." (If you want to follow me, put me first in your life above
all other thing, meaning your flesh and pleasures of the world.) 61 And another also said, "Lord, I will follow
You, but let me first go and
bid them farewell who are at my house."
62 But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking
back, is fit for the kingdom of God." (If you want to follow me, grab the plow and keep putting
one foot in front of the other and don’t look back to the past, things of the
world. Lot’s wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.)
“more than conquerors”; What does Paul mean? Don’t forget he
is talking to believers of his time and also of our time. The phrase is
actually the translation of one Greek word. That word is, “hypernikomen”. The
middle part of the word “nikao” means to overcome. “Hyper” means over and
above. With the two words together you get the meaning of, “over and above
victory”. Believers are super conquerors, over achievers, and this is in the
present tense. With our faith in Jesus Christ we have victory in all that the
world can throw at us. As a true believer the love Jesus has for us cannot be
removed. Nothing listed in the following verses can cause this to happen when
we give our heart to Jesus. As long as our faith is in Jesus death and
resurrection we are His.
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life,
nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to
come,
39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created
thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord.
“For I am persuaded”; At this point in Paul’s life he can
attest to all the things listed in these two verses. He has had a very rough
life as Jesus apostle. There is probably no one else in history that has
endured what Paul did in taking the Gospel throughout the world. There was a
shipwreck, stoning, and beatings, but Paul never once wavered under what Satan
threw at him. He was a true soldier for Jesus and stood fast under pressure,
because he knew God’s love would never abandon him.
“Neither death”; Being a true believer is not denying
Jesus as your king and lord unto death. Shortly after the writings of the book
of Acts, things turned ugly for the Christians. The Roman arenas turned to
blood from Christians being thrown to the lions or subject to Roman spears.
What cause this, the Roman emperors demanded they be recognized as a God and
all people were to bow down to them. Those that didn’t were executed. Not all
emperors demanded this because they recognized their human frailties, but Nero
was the worse.
“nor life”; Life in those times were very
troublesome for believer. Just with the ups and downs of normal life things
were difficult, but being a Christian added a whole new dimension to living. It
was probably harder to live for Jesus than it was to die for Him. Philippians 1:21-23 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is
gain. 22
But if I live on in the flesh,
this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I
cannot tell. 23
For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with
Christ, which is far better.
“nor angels”; Angels is referring to the fallen
angels that joined in with Lucifer. These angels are powerful angels that carry
out the orders of Lucifer in attempting to get followers of Jesus to turn their
back on Him and enter back into the darkness of the world. Being a believer we
are protected from these angels because Jesus has power over them. Jesus
defeated Satan when He rose from the dead. Ephesians 1:19-21 and what is the exceeding greatness of His
power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from
the dead and seated Him at His
right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above
all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is
named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
“nor
principalities”; Refers
to satanic powers of the fallen angels. They have great power that is to be
directed toward believers in hopes of winning them back to darkness of the
world. Ephesians 2:1-3 And you He
made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which
you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of
disobedience, 3
among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh,
fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath, just as the others.
“nor
powers”; This again
refers to the powers of the fallen angels.
“nor
things present”;
Referring to the power and principalities present today that inflict God’s
children.
“nor
things to come”;
Satan and his band of followers are constantly planning and devising strategies
in an attempt to win believers back and cause confusion and destroy God’s
prescribed order of things.
“nor
height nor depth”;
Refers to the vast range Satan can roam in and cause havoc. He is prince of the
powers of the air to the depths of Hell. He is in control of his band of
followers that carry out his desires. Ephesians 2:2 in which
you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, Height or depth also refers to
Satan’s plan of attack on a believer pertaining to its severity.
“Nor
any other created thing”;
Paul has included this statement to cover all of creation. God was not created
therefore to give us assurance that his list is complete he included other
created things.
“shall be able to
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”; So in conclusion to this chapter, we do not
wrestle with humans things, but spiritual powers. Ephesians 6:12 For we do
not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Satan, his Fallen Angels, and Demon
Spirits cannot harm a child of God unless God allows it. God allows trials and
tribulations in our live for a purpose, but in these struggles we are made
better not worse. We come out of our troubles stronger than when we went into
them. 2 Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, "My
grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."
Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of
Christ may rest upon me. Some
of the struggles we go through seem unbearable at the time, but we need to evaluate
them and see if God is trying to tell us something. We need to stay focused on
what we can’t see, eternity. 2
Corinthians 4:17-18 For our
light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of
glory, 18
while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are
not seen. For the things which are seen are
temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
As a Born Again Saint we
can rest easy and be assured that nothing created can remove God’s love from us
as long as we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. It’s believing in Jesus, His death
and resurrection, that keeps us in God’s love and grace. If we as humans take
our eyes off the finished work of Christ, and turn back to the ways of the
world, then and only then will we be separated from God’s love because of our
actions, but God will still love us and take us back through our repentance in
a heartbeat. 1
Corinthians 15:58 Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of
the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
For I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ,
for it is the power of God
to salvation for everyone who believes,
Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a
steadfast spirit within me.
Unless you are Born Again,
you cannot enter into Heaven, the Kingdom of God."
Bill Wiesbrock
Last Week’s Trivia: Who is Abi?
Answer: Abi was a well known eight century BC
queen and queen mother. She was the daughter of Zechariah, the wife of Ahaz,
and the mother of Hezekiah. 2
Kings 18:2 He was
twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in
Jerusalem. His mother's name was
Abi the daughter of Zechariah.
This week’s Trivia: Who was Abialbon?
