Isaiah 57:1-2 “The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.”
Death is not a pleasant topic to discuss, especially as morning devotion! But the fact is death will come to each of us one day in some way or the other. But in Christ we no longer need to fear it, for as it says in Heb.2:14-15, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he (Christ) too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death”. “Gone too soon” is the cry of loved ones left behind when death strikes. But those who belong to Him know deep down inside that in His infinite wisdom and abounding love God always does things at the right time, not too soon and not too late. In His mercy God ushers His people, away from further suffering and effects of sin, through the doors of death directly into the throne room of His presence where there is peace, rest and no more mourning, crying or pain. God has purpose for us in this life, to complete the work He has set before us in order that we may glorify Him and be a blessing to others. But while we carry out His purposes in this life and yet reflect on death, may we never fear it but rather live in that paradoxical state that Paul experienced and expressed with these words, “I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body” (Philippians 1:23-24). Live for Him yet die to gain Him!
Isaiah 1:18-19 “Come now, let us settle the matter’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land;”
The fact that an utterly holy God is conciliative enough to even propose a sit down, in order that He may explain the way of repentance and redemption to His rebellious nation Israel, is amazing in itself. Let us sit together and let me explain things to you, says God to sinful Israel! What God says to them is that all their wicked sinfulness can be removed from them leading to their being blessed, but only if they were ready to be willing and obedient. But what is even more amazing is that this same utterly holy God has reached out to us, we who were not His people, who were not part of Israel, and said “come now, let us settle the matter”. God sat down with us and reasoned with us by means of His Word. Rom.10:17 says, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ”. He so worked in us as to make our hearts respond willingly in obedience to the Word about Christ. We who were stained with sin and beset with a bent towards wickedness, were made white as snow and pure as wool!
The God that we did not seek sought us and made us His people, holy, righteous and blessed with every spiritual blessing. Is that not amazing enough to praise Him and bless Him every single day of our lives?
Today may our hearts be filled with gratitude and may they resound with His praises.
00Philip Holderhttp://www.hoperoadnazarene.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/hrn-logo-520x140-1.pngPhilip Holder2015-07-29 12:05:142015-07-29 12:05:14LET US SETTLE THE MATTER
The two great enemies of our souls are sin and Satan. And sin is the worst enemy, because the only way that Satan can destroy us is by getting us to sin.
God may give him leash enough to rough us up, the way he did Job, or even to kill us, the way he did the saints in Smyrna (Revelation 2:10); but Satan cannot condemn us or rob us of eternal life. The only way he can do us ultimate harm is by influencing us to sin. Which is exactly what he aims to do. So Satan’s main business is to advocate, promote, assist, titillate and confirm our bent to sinning.
We see this in Ephesians 2:1–2: “You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked . . . according to the prince of the power of the air” (NASB). Sinning “accords” with Satan’s power in the world. When he brings about moral evil, it is through sin. When we sin, we move in his sphere, and come into accord with him. When we sin, we “give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:27). The only thing that will condemn us at the judgment day is unforgiven sin — not sickness or afflictions or persecutions or intimidations or apparitions or nightmares. Satan knows this. Therefore his great focus is not primarily on how to scare Christians with weird phenomena (though there’s plenty of that), but on how to corrupt Christians with worthless fads and evil thoughts. Satan wants to catch us at a time when our faith is not firm, when it is vulnerable. It makes sense that the very thing Satan wants to destroy would also be the means of our resisting his efforts. That’s why Peter says, “Resist him, firm in your faith.” It is also why Paul says that the “shield of faith” can “extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16).
The way to thwart the devil is to strengthen the very thing he is trying most to destroy — your faith.
00Philip Holderhttp://www.hoperoadnazarene.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/hrn-logo-520x140-1.pngPhilip Holder2015-07-28 08:07:192015-07-28 08:07:19SATAN'S STRATEGY AND YOUR DEFENSE
BLESSED HOPE
/in Steadfast HopeIsaiah 57:1-2 “The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.”
Death is not a pleasant topic to discuss, especially as morning devotion! But the fact is death will come to each of us one day in some way or the other. But in Christ we no longer need to fear it, for as it says in Heb.2:14-15, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he (Christ) too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death”. “Gone too soon” is the cry of loved ones left behind when death strikes. But those who belong to Him know deep down inside that in His infinite wisdom and abounding love God always does things at the right time, not too soon and not too late. In His mercy God ushers His people, away from further suffering and effects of sin, through the doors of death directly into the throne room of His presence where there is peace, rest and no more mourning, crying or pain. God has purpose for us in this life, to complete the work He has set before us in order that we may glorify Him and be a blessing to others. But while we carry out His purposes in this life and yet reflect on death, may we never fear it but rather live in that paradoxical state that Paul experienced and expressed with these words, “I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body” (Philippians 1:23-24). Live for Him yet die to gain Him!
LET US SETTLE THE MATTER
/in Steadfast HopeIsaiah 1:18-19 “Come now, let us settle the matter’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the good things of the land;”
The fact that an utterly holy God is conciliative enough to even propose a sit down, in order that He may explain the way of repentance and redemption to His rebellious nation Israel, is amazing in itself. Let us sit together and let me explain things to you, says God to sinful Israel! What God says to them is that all their wicked sinfulness can be removed from them leading to their being blessed, but only if they were ready to be willing and obedient. But what is even more amazing is that this same utterly holy God has reached out to us, we who were not His people, who were not part of Israel, and said “come now, let us settle the matter”. God sat down with us and reasoned with us by means of His Word. Rom.10:17 says, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ”. He so worked in us as to make our hearts respond willingly in obedience to the Word about Christ. We who were stained with sin and beset with a bent towards wickedness, were made white as snow and pure as wool!
The God that we did not seek sought us and made us His people, holy, righteous and blessed with every spiritual blessing. Is that not amazing enough to praise Him and bless Him every single day of our lives?
Today may our hearts be filled with gratitude and may they resound with His praises.
SATAN'S STRATEGY AND YOUR DEFENSE
/in Discipleship, Steadfast HopeResist him, firm in your faith. (1 Peter 5:9)
The two great enemies of our souls are sin and Satan. And sin is the worst enemy, because the only way that Satan can destroy us is by getting us to sin.
God may give him leash enough to rough us up, the way he did Job, or even to kill us, the way he did the saints in Smyrna (Revelation 2:10); but Satan cannot condemn us or rob us of eternal life. The only way he can do us ultimate harm is by influencing us to sin. Which is exactly what he aims to do. So Satan’s main business is to advocate, promote, assist, titillate and confirm our bent to sinning.
We see this in Ephesians 2:1–2: “You were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked . . . according to the prince of the power of the air” (NASB). Sinning “accords” with Satan’s power in the world. When he brings about moral evil, it is through sin. When we sin, we move in his sphere, and come into accord with him. When we sin, we “give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:27). The only thing that will condemn us at the judgment day is unforgiven sin — not sickness or afflictions or persecutions or intimidations or apparitions or nightmares. Satan knows this. Therefore his great focus is not primarily on how to scare Christians with weird phenomena (though there’s plenty of that), but on how to corrupt Christians with worthless fads and evil thoughts. Satan wants to catch us at a time when our faith is not firm, when it is vulnerable. It makes sense that the very thing Satan wants to destroy would also be the means of our resisting his efforts. That’s why Peter says, “Resist him, firm in your faith.” It is also why Paul says that the “shield of faith” can “extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one” (Ephesians 6:16).
The way to thwart the devil is to strengthen the very thing he is trying most to destroy — your faith.