BIBLE PASSAGE:
“In Him we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the
riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us
with all wisdom and understanding.”
(Ephesians 1:7-8)
MEDITATION:
As we know, Satan never rests; he is constantly at work in our world.
We see evidence of his control over many young people who have not
had their hearts captured by Jesus Christ. And, unfortunately, we
see how he is also controlling the lives of people of all ages.
He can make the world so attractive to those who have not received
God’s salvation, that it will be difficult for them to realize they need
the Lord in their lives, if they want to enjoy eternity after their brief
journey on Earth.
And he is constantly waging war against Christians in his effort
to disrupt their ‘joy of the Lord’, and render them ineffective in
their efforts to serve the Lord in the area He has chosen for them
to participate in His ministry.
Just look at his influences in this world. He knows that many folks
young and old, have an attraction to anything sensual and sexual.
Sex is a gift God has given us to be enjoyed within the confines of
marriage, however Satan wants us to treat His gift in an unhealthy
manner. It pleases him to see marriages destroyed whenever he can
lure someone to have sex with another person who is not their spouse.
Any believer who is not in fellowship with the Lord, is in danger
of breaking their marriage vows (the promises that were made in
God’s presence). Multiple acts of adultery can become a strong
possibility (or probability?) when Satan has convinced someone
to believe they belong to God, and their faith is real (but in fact,
he is the one who is really in control of their life).
He has been successful in convincing the world to call illicit
sex an ‘affair’, instead of what God calls it, which is adultery
(a violation of one of His commands). Satan wants us to think
that ‘affair’ doesn’t sound so bad, so it couldn’t be any kind
of disobedience of the Lord’s commands; after all, it is ‘just’
an affair. This is how subtle he can be in his efforts to entice
us to sin.
He has influenced the news media to not use the words “pro-life”
because ‘pro’ has a positive connotation. Instead, they refer to
“pro-lifers” as “anti-abortionists” (which sounds more negative).
Conversely “anti-life” people are called “pro-abortionists” because
“anti“ has a negative sound, and “pro” sounds more positive and
good.
Satan wants us to believe that God has nothing to do with the
creation of life and therefore, it is okay for mankind to decide
if a child should be allowed to live or die. But what is God’s
opinion of abortion and when life begins?
“You shall not murder.”
(Exodus 20:13)
Did not he who made me in the womb make them?
Did not the same one form us both within our mothers?
(Job 31:15)
From birth I was cast on you; from my
mother’s womb you have been my God.
(Psalm 22:10)
Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place
(Psalm 51:6)
From birth I have relied on you; you brought me
forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you.
(Psalm 71:6)
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
(Psalm 139:13)
As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the
body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot
understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.
(Ecclesiastes 11:5)
This is what the Lord says— he who made you, who
formed you in the womb, and who will help you: Do
not be afraid, Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun, whom I
have chosen.
(Isaiah 44:2)
“This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, who formed
you in the womb: I am the Lord, the Maker of all things, who
stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself
(Isaiah 44:24)
Listen to me, you islands; hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the Lord called me; from my mother’s
womb he has spoken my name.
(Isaiah 49:1)
And now the Lord says— he who formed me in the womb
to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel
to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord and my
God has been my strength
(Isaiah 49:5)
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before
you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a
prophet to the nations.”
(Jeremiah 1:5)
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby
leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled
with the Holy Spirit.
(Luke 1:41)
As soon as the sound of your greeting reached
my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
(Luke 1:44)
But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb
and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son
in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my
immediate response was not to consult any human being.
(Galatians 1:15-16)
From these few scriptures we can see the connection of the unborn
with their Creator. The scriptures tell us that God is “the Maker of
all things”. We can also see that when God creates each child, He
has plans for them, even before they are born.
Doesn’t it just make sense that those who belong to the Lord cannot
accept and embrace anything destructive to His creations? There is
no hate or animosity directed toward ‘anyone’ who chooses abortion,
but ‘actions’ in opposition to God cannot be embraced by His followers.
We are all sinners, but God has promised to forgive us when we have
remorse for our sins, confess them to Him, ask for His forgiveness,
and show we have a sincere desire to avoid them in the future. That
means He will forgive us for ‘any’ sins we have committed.
If Satan has caused someone to choose an abortion, it doesn’t mean
God has abandoned them. However, it does mean that if they want
to have fellowship with God and receive His salvation, they need to:
– admit their sins (to Him),
– ask for His forgiveness,
– commit to following His Son, Jesus,
– and commit to obeying God’s commands in the future.
To ensure Satan is successful in luring people away from obeying
the Lord, he has encouraged some people to write all kinds of
pornographic literature and produce sex movies. In addition,
he has created a ‘social acceptance’ mindset that considers these
sinful creations as normal and not harmful.
He is determined to bombard us with enough sexual things to
desensitize our awareness of God’s commands, and to distort
all the good things God has given us. Why? So we will pursue
new pleasures outside the boundaries established by God.
Even in the realm of intellectuals, Satan is busy urging some
in the teaching profession to encourage others to accept and
embrace a hedonistic and permissive philosophy. When he
succeeds in this area, he has created the foundation for his
plans to distort the mindset of people, so they will become
tolerant of the things that displease God and are sin to Him.
He uses this tolerant mentality to turn other people against those
who belong to the Lord. When his forces are at work, Christians
are often considered as ‘mean-spirited’ whenever they choose not
to be tolerant of the things that God calls sin.
Satan can convince the general public that Christians ‘hate
the person’, rather than their ‘sinful actions’. God has given
His people a command to love Him, and to love others, so the
idea of hating people is not a part of those who follow Jesus.
So, what counter-offensive action can we take as followers of Christ?
We must remember the redemption and forgiveness of sins we have
received because Jesus went to the cross and shed His blood so that
He would receive the punishment we deserve.
In addition, we need to have the confidence that we have been given
wisdom and understanding as gifts of God’s grace. Lastly, we need
to remember that when we surrendered our lives to the Lord, He
gave us the Holy Spirit as our Advocate to help us in our battles.
God doesn’t give His people wisdom and understanding so we will
appear wise and intelligent in the eyes of the world. He gives them
to us so we will recognize Satan’s schemes, and to draw us into a
closer fellowship with Him.
God gave us wisdom and understanding so that we could see
through the veil Satan uses to mask his attempts of leading us
astray. We can recognize when he is distorting God’s gifts and
trying to convince us to view them from his perspective and not
God’s.
We know how Satan can create lies that don’t fulfill our desires,
but instead they leave us with a yearning to pursue sin even more,
in our attempts to find pleasure. We have internal warnings that
steer us away from Satan’s perverted ways, and thankfully, they
create in us a desire and appreciation for all the Lord has given us.
Whenever we yield to the temptations from Satan, God gives us
a feeling of guiltiness, and a desire to run to Him and ask for His
forgiveness. If we don’t feel guilt when we sin, we may question
the genuineness of our faith. God also instills us with a confidence
that we can overcome Satan and his temptations with the help and
guidance of the Holy Spirit.
We are not left alone to fend for ourselves against the attacks from
Satan. God has assured us of His presence and His availability to
help us with our burdens, and to lift our spirits whenever we are
tired and weary. He has told us,
“Come to me, all you who are weary
and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
(Matthew 11:28)
ACTION:
There are many who do not belong to the Lord and they are
being swayed by a world under the influence of Satan. Each
believer has a responsibility to show others that our faith is
real, and that we will not yield to Satan and his influences on
our world.
Those who are lost need to know we are blessed with contentment
of how the Lord has satisfied us much more than Satan can. Our
obedience to God should be evident to others and have a positive
influence in leading the lost to the Lord.
Why? So they can experience the same joy that we have in knowing
that all good things come from our Creator, and so they can leave the
destructive road they are on, and begin a new journey with the Lord;
a journey that will give them assurance of an eternity with Him.
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for redeeming me and
forgiving me of my sins. Thank You for the wisdom
and understanding You have graciously given me.
Teach me to live a life that will point others to Jesus
and away from the destructive path Satan has shown
them. Impress on me the importance of my responsibility
to live a life that serves as a witness to others of Your
goodness and how You have blessed me. Guide me in
replacing my selfishness with selflessness so I will have
a passion to see others know You as I do. Thank You for
all the good things in my life!”
BLOG: utvolwoody.wordpress.com
BREAD FOR BELIEVERS 
Discussion
No comments yet.