We are in a battle, and the
battle is for our minds and our hearts. Satan is our foe, and he is out to
destroy us. So, he will come at us from all different angles to try to break us
down, to try to discourage us, to try to get us to give in to our emotions
and/or to give up hope. But, we can’t let him do that! We have to fight the
good fight of faith, put on the armor of God daily, resist Satan, flee
temptation, and draw near to God in full assurance of faith.
The Lord Jesus led me to read
1 Peter 5 (Select vv. ESV).
So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder
and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory
that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you,
exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have
you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your
charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears,
you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Vv. 1-4
One of the ways Satan will
come at us, to try to destroy us, is through false shepherds of the people or
through true shepherds who have lost their way and who are following after men
rather than after God. These particular shepherds (could be pastors, elders,
deacons, teachers) are greedy for power, followers of men, and are being used
of Satan, either willfully or naively, in teaching the people mixed messages
and half-truths which are persuading people to reject much truth from scripture
in order to accept what their itching ears want to hear.
Many of these shepherds of
the people have bought into the lies of business men in their marketing
schemes, and are believing that they must serve more as dictators rather than
as servants of the Lord; more as CEOs of corporations, rather than as fellow
workers for Christ. So, they will often reject scripture in favor of men’s
teachings and will lead the church, the body of Christ, to also become
followers of men over being followers of God.
So, for the body of Christ,
we must be in tune with the Spirit of God in recognizing what is true and what
is false; what is of God, and what is of man, so that we can reject the lies,
and so that we can follow the truth. And, for those shepherds who have been
following man instead of following God, they must listen to the Spirit, and
follow the Spirit instead of the flesh of man, and they must see themselves as
fellow servants of the Lord, as parts of the body of Christ, and as those who
must lead their people by example rather than lord it over them, acting more like
they are gods.
Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the
elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” V. 5
We, the body of Christ, are
to be subject to those in authority over us, but with biblical exceptions. We
are never to subject ourselves to what is false, to what is not of God, to what
is of Satan, to man-made religion, and to sinning against our Lord. We are not
to be unequally yoked together with the ungodly, and we are not to buy into
what are lies, but rather we are to expose them. We are to test everything to
make sure it is of God, and if it isn’t, we are to reject it.
So, we need to examine what
we are being taught to make certain that what we are believing is truth. Just
because something looks good or sounds good doesn’t mean it is good. Many lies
are cleverly disguised as truth because they are mixed in with truth, but it is
twisted truth or half-truth which is still lies. So, we need to know the truth
through bathing ourselves in the Word of God daily, through prayer, and through
obedience to Christ and his Word.
Humility and stupidity are
not synonymous. Being humble does not mean we go around just accepting
everything we hear or submitting to everything that comes from the mouths of
those in authority over us. Being humble does not mean we don’t stand for what
is right and stand on truth. Humility means to be God-reliant rather than
self-reliant, depending on the Lord, rather than on ourselves or on the flesh
of man. We do not demand our own way, but rather we submit to God. We do not
take credit for what we have accomplished, but rather we give God all the glory
and praise.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of
God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on
him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the
devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him,
firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being
experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have
suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his
eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and
establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Vv. 6-11
One of the ways Satan will
come after us is to get us to depend on self or on the flesh of man rather than
on God; to get us to give in to the fear of man rather than to stand strong in
our faith fully clothed with the armor of God. He will try to convince us that
he still has power over us and that God can’t help us, and so we need to be
afraid of what is going on in our lives, rather than trusting the Lord with our
circumstances. He will try to distract us with all sorts of other things, too,
to try to get us to get our minds off of Christ and on to the things of this
world.
But, we need to give all
these fears to the Lord, trusting him with our lives and with our circumstances
and with other people in our lives. And, we must submit to our Lord and to his
purposes for our lives, being willing to suffer for the sake of his name, and
that he might work his purposes in our lives in purifying our hearts, maturing
us in our walks of faith, and in teaching us perseverance, and in giving us
strength and courage to keep going and to keep fighting off these evil attacks
against our minds.
So, we have to resist Satan,
flee temptation, and draw near to God daily. We have to be wise and discerning,
too, so that we do not fall into the devil’s traps, for he will try to bring us
down and he will try to trip us up and to get us to give up and to give in to
the flesh instead of yielding to the Spirit. There is a real battle going on
for our minds and hearts, and Satan and his many hordes are out in full force
coming against us, so we need to be aware of this, and we need to put on that
armor, and not yield to our flesh.
Near the Cross
Fanny J. Crosby / William H. Doane
Jesus, keep me near the cross;
There a precious fountain,
Free to all, a healing stream,
Flows from Calvary's mountain.
Near the cross, a trembling soul,
Love and mercy found me;
There the bright and morning star
Sheds its beams around me.
Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day
With its shadow o'er me.
Near the cross I'll watch and wait,
Hoping, trusting ever,
Till I reach the golden strand
Just beyond the river.
In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever,
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.
Friday, January 12, 2018,
4:44 a.m. – Thank you, Jesus, for this teaching from your Word. Help us, Lord,
to be wise and discerning, and to rely on you and not on human flesh; to resist
Satan and to draw near to God.
No comments:
Post a Comment