The Gift that Keeps on Giving – His Truth that Lasts Forever - Purity 605
Purity 605 12/18/2021 Purity 605 Podcast
Good morning,
Today’s photo of blazing sun over three standing planks in the waters
somewhere in the Florida Keys comes to us from a friend’s October vacation.
If you follow the blog, you may suspect that this is the third photo
from our friend’s Autumn vacation, and I guess you could say that their trip is
the gift that keeps on giving because it continues to provide us with stunning
scenes of God’s creation.
However if you did suspect that these photos were from the same October
vacation and the same friend, and hey perhaps the same day, you would be correct with two of your suspicions,
but they would have been based on your deductions, or assumptions, of the
evidence, for you could have been incorrect as I never named the friend and
could have had three different friends that took October vacations to the
Florida Keys. And as for whether the
three photos we share all coming from the same day, that is a hypothesis that
is possible but would take more information to verify.
As a teacher of Christian Discipleship and Spiritual Warfare, one of the
things I teach is to question our experiences and to test them against the
truth of God’s word. Satan’s primary tactic against mankind is deception and
the reason that we struggle so much in life is that we believe the lies that
the world, the flesh, and the devil tell us. And unfortunately we can also do a
number on ourselves when we assume things.
Today is the 18th of
December and we are a week away from Christmas and many of us will use
this weekend to do some shopping for our Christmas celebrations and to buy
gifts for our loved ones. As Christians,
we really shouldn’t be propagating the lie of Santa Claus as those of us who
were lied to about that flying fat man who gives presents on Christmas can
attest to the disappointment, loss of innocence, and possible sense of betrayal
that we felt when we learned the truth.
Christmas shouldn’t be surrounded by lies! Should it?
The Santa Claus lie not only causes us to doubt our parent’s motives and
truthfulness, it also can cause a lack of faith in God as parallel associations
between God and Santa are easily drawn. Who else sees you when you are sleeping
and knows when your awake? Who else wants you to be good for goodness’ sake?
Who else gives gifts, by answering prayers? Who else can let you down? Who else isn’t real? Satan would love to lead you on this train
of thought to atheism and bitterness by answering: God to all of the
above.
So for our first holiday spiritual warfare lesson let’s learn to : submit
to God, by standing on the truth of God’s word, and resist the devil, by
rejecting his lies, and he will flee from you, as James 4:7 teaches us.
When we question our experience against the truth of God’s word, it’s much
easier to see Satan’s game and to send him packing by confronting him with a
hearty rebuttal: “It’s a lie!” And then
following it up with a truth from God’s word. Like: “God is real! For Genesis
1:1 tells us that “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth!”
Christ’s temptation and victory over Satan in the wilderness documented
in Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s gospel accounts teaches us this strategy so if you
want to answer the question of What would Jesus Do? WWJD? Know that you can follow
Jesus’s example by using the word of God as your foundation for living and to use
it to expose the lies of the enemy and to live a life of truth and
righteousness.
So because Santa isn’t real should we not give gifts at Christmas?
No! Gifts express our love for one another, and as many a preacher and
Christmas play has taught us, gift giving is a part of the Biblical Christmas
narrative as the wisemen presented gifts of myrrh, frankincense, and gold to Jesus. We all know that story about the “three
wisemen” giving gifts to Jesus, right?
Well it might shock you to know, that the Bible never actually numbers
the wisemen as a trio. Nowhere in Matthew
2, does it state that there were three wisemen: the text only says wisemen. We assume three wisemen based on the number
of gifts and from church tradition, which is not infallible.
Also another shocker from this part of the Christmas narrative is in
verse 11:
Matthew 2:11 (NKJV)
11 And when they had come into
the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and
worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts
to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Wait… they had come into “the house”? Didn’t the wisemen show up with the shepherds
in Luke 2:16 who:
Luke 2:16 (NKJV)
16 … found Mary and Joseph,
and the Babe lying in a manger.
I’m not throwing doubt into any of the Christmas narrative, I am
only saying that the wisemen may have been a little later in coming to visit
Jesus and that the birthday gifts they brought appear to have been belated as
Mary and Joseph had found lodging in a “house” when they presented the gifts.
This brings up another principle of Spiritual Warfare and good
Christian Discipleship, don’t assume you know what the Bible says based on what
you have seen in movies, or even learned in Sunday school or at church. As disciples
of Christ, we should seek to read and know what the Bible says, and doesn’t
say, through our own study if we are to properly apply its wisdom to our lives
and to be mature in our faith.
The out right lies of the enemy and our own assumptions about
faith can lead us astray.
I believed the lie that I had to “be good to go to heaven” which
is common among even those who call themselves Christians.
This lie takes what the Bible teaches, that we are to be holy for
God is holy and twists it against us by utilizing other truths in the Bible
that tell us that those who practice the “work of the flesh”… will not inherit
the kingdom of God”. The enemy and the world will take two trues and make a lie
out of them by excluding information or by leading you to a logical but false
conclusion, that if you sin, you are automatically going to hell.
That is true, unredeemed sinners do go to a place described as “outer
darkness” where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth”. but it is only true for people who don’t put
their faith in Jesus Christ for
Ephesians 2:8-10 (NKJV) says:
8 For by grace you have
been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift
of God,
9 not of works, lest
anyone should boast.
10 For we are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand
that we should walk in them.
We are not saved by our good works but we who are saved by
faith, aka created in Christ Jesus, should walk in them (good works).
Our good works are how we should live as Christians not the means
by which we become Christians. So do
good works and share the love of God this Christmas by giving gifts and telling
people about the reason for the season and the cause for your peace and joy:
Jesus Christ.
And one more thing, as we seek to resist the devil and refute the
lies that are pervasive, I want to expose a whopper of a lie that most of us
believe.
I was listening to a pop song yesterday and one of the lines in
the song said something about “nothing lasts forever”. As I was listening, I believe the Holy Spirit
gave me a “heads up” as I realized that
this is possibly the biggest and most pervasive lie that the enemy and the
world declares that few of us have the insight to deny.
Nothing lasts forever. That’s just a fact, right? Everyone dies.
Everything falls apart. We are but a vapor, as the Bible teaches right?
Well science, our experience, and everything we see tells us that
this is just one of those harsh realities of life that we have to deal
with. Right?
But it’s a lie. It a lie
that most of us believe. Everything we
see tells us that it is true, but the word of God tells us of the God who was
there before -Genesis 1:1’s “In the beginning…”. God made time and space. He was there before
all that we see began.
Revelation tells us that all though this earth will pass away,
God will create a new heaven and a new earth.
God lasts forever. Pretty
awesome huh.
Well, hold on to your hat.
Christ came to save us and those who put their faith in Him are called
to be with Him for all eternity for:
John 3:16 (NKJV) says
16 For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Those are Christ’s words, and they tell us
that we who put our faith in Jesus, last forever too. And as Jesus said in
John 11:25-26 (NKJV)
25 "I
am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he
shall live.
26 And
whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
As Christians, though we may die, we shall
live for as our Savior told us whoever lives and believes in Jesus will never
die.
The question for you, and your peace and
joy, is : Do you believe this?
So stand on the truth of God’s word and resist
the enemy and the world’s pervasive lies that lead us to condemnation and
despair, by saying in your heart, mind, soul, and spirit: “Yes, I believe the
Truth, the Way, and the Life and I will live forever with Him for He said it
and “It is written”!”
So keep walking and talking with God. Know His truth and live in the
peace. joy, and love that He wants you to know, now and forever more.
Today’s Bible verse is
drawn from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.
This morning’s meditation verse is:
Proverbs 2:8 (NLT2)
8 He guards the paths of the
just and protects those who are faithful to him.
Today’s verse reminds us of the Lord’s protection to His faithful followers.
The word of God
dispenses wisdom for us to live by and as we have seen the enemy loves to
contradict it and will even use scripture against scripture to cause us to
doubt it’s truth and the goodness of God.
Here the Bible
tells us that God guards the path of the just and protects those who are faithful
to Him.
In this one verse there are many lessons to learn.
For one, God’s protection seems to be conditional. To claim this verse as a promise, we should understand that it applies only to those who are just and who are faithful to him.
I hate to say it, but scripture tells us that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. So none of us can question the Lord if something negative should be fall us because none of us, by our own efforts, are just or completely faithful to Him.
This answers the paradoxical question of why bad things happen to “good people”?
In truth, there are no good people. That’s why Christ came, we all sin and need to be forgiven to have peace with God.
No one likes to hear that because the world likes to tell the lie that is made famous by Anne Frank’s quote that says “… I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.”
Anne Frank’s sentiment is in direct contradiction to truth of the Bible and unfortunately some Nazi’s didn’t express the goodness of their hearts as they exterminated her and an estimated 6 million other Jews, an estimate that is refuted by some who are believing the lie that the holocaust never happened.
So all lies are not created equal – some are lies to hide evil schemes and some are lies that tell the tale of what would be nice but simply aren’t true.
So the enemy would challenge today’s verse, pointing to all the suffering in the world and those instances in which the “just and the faithful” were not protected and would say that God is a liar and that none of us can expect protection.
However, although we will more than likely suffer, and possibly die, before Christ returns to reclaim the earth, today’s verse is true because those who have placed their faith in Jesus are declared just and faithful and the everlasting life that is promised in John 3:16 for those who believe is the protection that never fails.
So make sure you can enjoy measures of the Lord’s protection here on earth because of His providence and His ultimate protection in the coming Kingdom because of your placing your faith in Jesus Christ.
God does protect us and encourages us to live lives that are just and faithful. When we represent the King, our conduct and hope can be used to extend His protection to more people as they choose to live and be protected by making Jesus their Lord and Savior as we did.
As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org
where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors
to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.
Today we continue sharing from A.W. Tozer’s Advent
Devotional – From Heaven, for Day 22 as this
current resource series will lead us to Christmas Eve.
As always, I share this information for educational purposes
and encourage all to purchase A.W. Tozer’s books for your own private study and
to support his work.
DAY 22
THREE TRUTHS BEHIND CHRISTMAS
But you, Bethlehem, in the land of
Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will
come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.
MATTHEW 2:6
Now the second chapter of Matthew
gives us the story of the birth of the infant Lord. This story is the wonder
story of all lands and all ages. It is also told by Luke. It is said to be, and
I believe it is, the most beautiful story in human language. It is beautiful
but terrible as well. For there are three unexpressed facts that explain the
chapter, facts that are not here but that explain it. They are the setting for
the chapter. They are that which go before and go after and make it
intelligible to our intelligent minds.
There are these three things:
The total moral and spiritual
disaster that had engulfed the human race. Now we cannot think of the coming of
our Savior to the world apart from this, or think of a rescue ship going out to
rescue those who had not been shipwrecked, or a doctor sent to a place where
there had been no accident or epidemic.
This was a rescue. And that is the
second unexpressed fact here. This is the story of a rescue, not a rescue team,
of one who came alone to rescue mankind and thus fulfill God’s ancient purpose
in sovereign grace, the sending of a Rescuer. Save is the word we use and it
means the same thing: to save the world and to redeem men who had been caught
in this disaster and engulfed in this woe.
And the third is the black malice,
the cold fury of the one we call Satan, the destroyer. You and I, all we human
beings, we are adept at the business of presenting one side of a question. And
all through this rather happy Christmas season, there is but one side
presented: it is the side of the golden bells and the angels who said, “Peace
on earth, good will to men.” But I say these unexpressed facts make all this
intelligible to mortal men. The evil, the fury loosed against humankind and
through humankind against God. For it was not the devil’s fury or anger at
mankind that caused him to be the devil he is, but it was his anger with God.
And since mankind was made in the image of God, and God has expressed—and did
express—His great love for mankind, then it was to get at God that the devil
attacked that race of beings that God had loved the most.
And so we have in this chapter—and I
want you to think of the entire chapter, not just one text out of it—events
that are solemn and fearful and breathtaking. We have a view of life inside and
outside, a view of the human race, of the religious world and of the
irreligious world, of the Jewish world and of the pagan world, of the temple
and of the armory, of the priest and of the soldier, all here. And we have this
view of yesterday and an explanation of today and a preview of tomorrow.
Tozer, A. W. (2016). From heaven: a
28-day advent devotional. Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers.
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