Tag Archives: Satan

No Condemnation

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My little girl can be so very naughty.  Having hit that terrible 2 age, she regularly throws tantrums and has been know to damage furniture, to scratch me and her mother, to bite, to throw things around, the list is endless on what a 2 year old can do!  And yet no matter what she does, I never stop loving her, and I always forgive her.

How much more does our father in heaven love us!?  He sent His Son to die that the gap that seperates us from God may be bridged.  When we therefore, believe on Him, and seek His forgiveness for our Sin, He forgives us, no matter what!  If an earthly father can feel such love for his child, how much more must our Heavenly Father love.

The prodigal son was still welcomed home by his father, even after sqandering his inheretence.  Like that father, God has His arms wide open to us, welcoming us home.  Remember, whatever you have done, God can and will forgive and you will have a right relationship restored.  Spend time with God, confessing, then believing in Gods promise that you are forgiven.

Forgiveness:
Acts 13:38-39,  Ephesians 1:7-8, James 5:15 and 1 John 1:9

Satan is the accuser, and wants nothing more that you to feel condemed for the things you have done wrong.  Instead of feeling condemed and far from God, read the promises above, believe in them, confess your sin, turn from it and believe in the promisies of God that you are a forgiven child of God.  You are a SAINT not a sinner!

Spiritual Gifts – 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

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Last night at our Lifegroup, we discussed the gifts of the Spirit. As part of our aims in our new Lifegroup we: “aim to encourage the use of the gifts of the Spirit in order to strengthen us spiritually as individuals and as a group”. Brynn therefore felt we should pick up on this and learn more about what the gifts of the Spirit actually are. We first looked through the gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11.

Wisdom

I understand this to be the ability to advise in difficult situations, resolving arguments, solving problems etc. I don’t think it refers either to a worldly wisdom but one that is of a divine nature.

Knowledge

Knowledge of the Word, and being able to effectively communicate the Word and the Knowledge gained from it.

Faith

Matthew 17:19-20 talks of faith enabling you to achieve wonderful and amazing things. As believers we all have faith, however I think this refers to a more radical faith where the normal rationalisations we add to a situation no longer apply to those people, and the have complete and utter faith in the Lord for something.

Healing

Jesus healed the sick.  By the power of the Holy Spirit some are able to pray over the sick and the sick are healed.  I think healing can cover both physical and mental illnesses or afflictions.

Miraculous Powers

Seems to tie in with healing, however there are stories too of other miraculous things taking place in modern times, for example people being raised from the dead.

Prophecy

The ablitiy to receive pictures and Word direct from the Lord, and to then be able to effectively communicate these to the group or to the individual that picture or word is for.  I used to think that prophecy was about predicting the future, however it would seem it is more being a mouthpiece for God, speaking wisdom, knowledge, encouragement and advice into peoples situations.  Prophecy can be particularly effective when someone prophecies into a situation in your life, or into something you are thinking about, and yet they have no earthly knowledge of the situation!  This has happened to me on occasions and it is incredible.

Distinguishing Between Spirits

Often when I watch religious broadcasting, certain preachers will set off alarm bells in my mind.  Sometimes based on what they are saying, and others just the feeling that although what they are saying seems Biblically sound, their motive is not that of the Lord.  It is the ability to see what is of the Holy Spirit, and what is of satan.

Tongues and Interpretation

This is an often debated subject in the church and one I believe we are going to study together in the Lifegroup to better understand this gift.  I think in a nutshell that its the ability to talk in other languages and others have the ability to translate.  I will go into more detail in on tongues as and when we have studied it in more detail soon.

Bryn pointed out that throughout the Bible, there are other gifts of the Spirit mentioned to include:

Serving, Administration, Teaching, Encouragement, Giving, Leadership, Mercy, Helping Others, Hospitality, Interpretation of Dreams and Creative Arts.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but certainly highlights the wide breadth of gifts that the Holy Spirit can and will bestow on believers.

Why so many gifts, and why does he give them to us?  Firstly, these are gifts.  They are gifts of His grace, and not of our own doing.  He gives us these different gifts, to different people, I think to build up the church, as well as each other and to help advance His kingdom.  We all have different gifts at different levels to create balance within the Church so that we can act as one body.  Ann made a good point, if we all had the same gift for example, prophecy, we would never get through one Sunday service as everyone would be prophecying and there would be far to much to act upon!

With such a wide range of gifts at our own church, things really do work well.  We have people gifted with musical abilities, others with serving others (the welcoming team), others with leadership, others with administration (including finances etc) as well as others with serving (including those that always have the tea and coffee ready at the end of the service).  During the service also, we are lucky to have many wise, knowledgable people who bring word to us all, as well as prophecy.  The Lord has built up a dynamic Church, full of people with completely different gifts, all working together to grow His church.  Its is indeed amazing, exciting and wonderful.

Staying Alert – Matthew 26:36-46

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“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” (NIV)

We are weak as much as we do not like to admit it.  There are occasions where we have given into temptation dispite knowing we am doing wrong.  Often its because we have been convinced by the lie of that temptation, that we will feel good for doing it, that we will be satisfied.  As Jesus said, the body is weak.  We alone lack the strength to resist temptation, to go the right course, that is why it is so important we have help.  Some tempt ation c

an creep up on us and get us when we are particularly vulnerable.  Other temptation can be in front of us for a long time, if we know it or not, slowly breaking us down should we become tempted by it.

The Lord in His great wisdom provided us with a helper.  His Holy Spirit whom guides and strengthens us to do the right thing.  We need to keep ourselves spiritually fit and active so we are not lulled into any false sense of security before sin pounces on us.  How can we do that?  Sounding like a broken record from many of my past posts the main ingredients are always regular Bible Study, Prayer, Worship and Fellowship.  Keeping ourselves fixed on the word, and continuing to develop our relationship with our Saviour is vital if we are to be prepared for any battle.

We need to understand and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of All, it is the Lords strength that allows us to resist temptation, not our own.  And any time we resist, it is for His glory and not to pat ourselves on the back saying, “didn’t I do well?”

Before I sign off on today’s reading, I am also reminded of the importance of rest (including sleep).  Yes the disciples were not being alert when the time required them to be.  We need to also remember however that rest and sleep are important tools in spiritual warfare.  When we have had too little (and the same affect can be had from too much sleep), we are not as quick to react, we are tired, vulnerable, and that is when Satan can pounce to try and steer us from the right path.  Remember satan is like a prowling tiger, waiting to pounce.  We need to be well rested, alert, full of the Spirit, and have fed on the Word regularly.

Doubt – Genesis 3:1-7

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This passage is about the fall of man.  The Lord had made Adam and Eve, and provided a wonderful world for them to live in.  He asked them not to eat of one particular tree as it would lead to death, and yet we find that in the end, man succumbs to temptation and eats of the tree.

Firstly, why did God put that tree there?  This isn’t covered in my reading, but the question did pop into my head just now!  Thinking back to the beginning, God made man so that man could love God and have a relationship with him.  The thing is, you can’t make somebody love you, or make them want to be with you, therefore God allowed for choice.  If man still then chose not to partake of that tree, then things would still be as they were, and man would be in a permanent loving relationship with the Lord.   Unfortunately, we chose differently.

The daily devotional goes on to highlight how Satan can use the doubt of God and his goodness to draw us into sin:

 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Satan was trying to convince Eve that God knew that the fruit of this tree would be good for her, but had decided to hold it back from her.  She therefore doubted Gods goodness and eventually took the decision to eat of the fruit on that tree, as did Adam.

You see, when we doubt God’s goodness, we need only look to the cross for confirmation that he really and truly does love us!  He sent his one and only Son to die for our sins so that we may be able to continue in a loving relationship with the father and join him for eternity.  Therefore, don’t consider the current circumstances and convince yourself the God does not understand, or that

God is holding out on you, just remember the Cross!

God Loves You!

Don’t Get Burnt – Deuteronomy 4:32-40

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40 Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God gives you for all time.

Today’s devotional pick up on the verse above hight lighting a warning from the Lord. Satan would have us think that we have a God who is out of touch, unfriendly and makes threatening demands. However when I read the above I can only see love!

The devotional cleverly picks up on the differences between a threat and a warning. A threat is something someone would make to get their own way, where a warning is made to protect the person being warned. Confused? Here are 2 examples, which is a threat and which is a warning:

  • A parent see’s a child putting his hand out toward a candle: “Don’t touch that, you will get burnt”
  • A couple argue about an outing: “If you don’t let me go, then we may as well divorce”.

My examples, although probably not scholarly clever, or extremely imaginative, I think highlight the difference well enough!

Sure they look the same! Someone is speaking of something that could happen as a result of certain actions, however the major difference is love! The parent lovingly warns their child, as it is in the child’s best interest not to get burnt.

The person making the threat in the couples argument however is using a possible outcome to get their own way, in other words a threat!

Our Lord through out the Bible never threatens us. He is our loving Father God. Everything he commands us to do is always in our best interests, and for our well being. He wants us to live happy and fulfilled lives in Him. His will is there to ensure we don’t get burnt!