I Can’t Talk About My Faith –
Lies of the Enemy #18– Purity 1030
Purity 1030 04/28/2023 Purity 1030 Podcast
Purity 1030 on YouTube:
Good morning,
Today’s photo a blazing sun and blue skies over
Waite Rd comes from yours truly as I captured this scene last week on the walk
back to my countryside home in Easton while out walking my canine, friend Harley. I know this is a familiar scene but it’s a good
one and I share it because I am rejoicing over being there again for the
weekend and to illustrate the point that its okay to continually go back to the
familiar things in our lives that give us joy and peace.
Well it is Saturday, and while we have to be careful
not to make idols, form addictions, and be discerning in what it is we get our “peace
and joy” from, the practice of appreciation can increase our capacity for joy
and in turn increase our emotional resilience.
The word of God tells us to think about things that are true, noble,
pure, lovely, virtuous and good for a reason and the practice of appreciating
the simple and pure things in our lives helps us to grow in the spirit.
But I just don’t dwell on sunny days, blues skies,
and country roads. Those things are good and pure but whenever we take pleasure
in the created things of this word we should also remember and thank, the Creator
– God.
While that particular stretch of Waite Rd is near
and dear to my heart, when I walk it I often give credit where credit is due by
thanking the Lord for it, the other things in my life, and my relationship with
Him.
The best “true, noble, pure, lovely, virtuous, and
good” Person to meditate on – God is not a thing – is the Lord and I know that thinking
about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and my life with Him is the well spring from
which I can continually go to find meaning, purpose, peace, and joy.
And I don’t only enjoy thinking about God, I like
talking about Him too, which brings us to our current series, The Lies of the
Enemy, which is an examination of some of the common lies, sometimes sneakily
whispered into our minds as “first person” statements, that the enemy tells us
to cause us to doubt our faith, lose our peace, cause division, or influence us
to not follow the Lord with the way we live our lives.
Today’s big lie is:
Lie #18: I can’t talk about my faith.
This lie of the enemy encourages us to keep silent about
the most important topic of life – our relationship with the Lord.
It has often been said that “you can’t talk about “religion”,
in public or at polite social gatherings, by various people throughout the ages
as general advice to “keep the peace” and so this lie that you can’t talk about
your faith has been widespread throughout the ages. Even though our current culture supposedly tries
to stress “inclusion”, “tolerance” and “diversity”,
political correctness would actually prefer that we remain silent on matters of
faith, particularly that of the Christian faith, because the things that Jesus
Christ said caused people to choose sides, to not tolerate evil, and to put
their faith exclusively in Him alone.
Christ’s claim to be the ONLY way to God doesn’t allow for a “polite
peace” because He was fighting the world, the flesh, and the devil to save people’s
souls.
Although conversations about the Christian faith
could make people uncomfortable, that’s really the point. Jesus came to wake
people up to the spiritual realities of life because the idea that “everyone is
fine believing whatever they want to believe” isn’t true. What we believe in and who we put our faith
in matters. Our faith as Christians just doesn’t give us a framework to
navigate through life with, it gives us a relationship with the Creator of all
things who has shown us the way to live with Him forever – through faith in
Jesus Christ.
So not only should we be talking about our faith
because of the personal peace it brings us, we should be talking about our faith
in Jesus because it is the “good news” that saved us from destruction and could
save others from a dire eternal destiny.
We have to resist the devil and the societal forces
that wish to silence our Christian witness. We may face persecution and
rejection for sharing our faith ,but Christ was willing to die to share the
truth and as Christians we should be faithful to the call of the Great Commission,
to go and make disciples in all nations, to teach and to do all the things that
Christ commanded us.
Personally, I think the best way to share our faith
is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, to live out our faith and to make a
regular habit of encouraging others to follow the Lord, not just with the words
we speak but by the living example of how we live our lives.
The purpose of this blog is to encourage people to
seek the Lord and His ways for our lives.
I seek to lovingly testify to how the world and the enemy have lied to
us and that the answers and solutions that secular society has for us will
ultimately fail because no matter what utopian – or dystopian – plans man can
come up with to help us to “get along” –
the existential questions of how made us, why we are here, and where we are
going are never addressed or answered in light of ultimate reality – the reality
of God and His kingdom that has been revealed to us by Jesus.
Faith isn’t a matter of opinion or separated from certain
aspects of our lives. Our relationship
with God is the only thing of value because it is the thing that will determine
our eternal destiny.
So let me encourage you to not believe the lie that you can’t talk about your faith, and instead demonstrate your faith by the way you live and to tell people about what the Lord has done for you since you put your faith in Jesus.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For those who want more evidence for Christianity
than my simple apologetic will provide, I offer apologist, Frank Turek’s
website, https://crossexamined.org/ .
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today’s
Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.
This
morning’s meditation verse :
Revelation 3:5 (NLT2)
5 All who are victorious will
be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but
I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.
Today’s verse points to the future and the destiny of those who put their faith in Christ and who are not soiled with evil.
While I don’t really wear white – at all – here on earth, I will be happy to be clothed in white, if that’s the dress code, when I enter into God’s eternal kingdom when I go to heaven or when Christ returns to rule and reign here on earth.
Today’s verse talks about our eternal destiny as Christians – our names are written in the Book of Life and Jesus will declare to God the Father, and His angel’s – Hey guys, Michael, Gabriele… – that we are His.
While we can really appreciate
the benefits of our lives as Christians now, this ultimate reality should
positively amaze us and fill us with an awesome sense of joy and wonder. Some day this will happen to us. We will see
this scene. We will be “clothed in white” and stand before the Father and His
angels to be declared those who will live for ever, as those who belong to
Christ. That’s good news. So enjoy your relationship with God and share
your faith because it’s the truth and your words could be used by God to bring
others to experience this future “magic moment” too.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 begin sharing from “Satan, Demons & Satanism: A Sinister
Reality” By June Hunt.
As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage all to purchase June Hunt’s books for your own
private study and to support her work. This resource is available online
for $7.99 (https://june-hunt.myshopify.com/collections/keys-for-living/products/keys-for-living-on-satan-demons-satanism_
).
Satan, Demons & Satanism
A
Sinister Reality
by June Hunt
Have you
ever wondered, Why is there so much evil?
Bewildered people all over the world watch the news wondering why evil is so
prevalent. Many never realize that Satan is the source of evil—a sinister force
who has influenced people to be evil from the beginning of time. His sly
strategy is to distort the truth of God and to lead the whole world astray.
“That
ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan … leads the whole world astray.”
(Revelation
12:9)
I. Definitions
A. Who Is Satan?
Do you
remember in your early school years when you were assigned to a competitive
team in sports? The obvious objective was to defeat your opponent. The team you
played hard to defeat was viewed as “the adversary.” In later years, sport
strategies became more sophisticated, and coaches began to make serious studies
of the adversaries, including watching films of their opponents. Today you have
an adversary. But this is no game—it is real. You need to know your adversary,
Satan—the enemy of your soul. His one determined objective is to defeat you and
to destroy God’s plan for you.
“Be
self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring
lion looking for someone to devour.”
(1
Peter 5:8)
• Satan
is the supreme adversary of God and the leader of the spiritual forces of evil.
• The
English word satan is derived from the Hebrew noun satan, which means
“adversary” or “opponent.” The Hebrew verb satan means “to attack or accuse.”
• Satan
is an angelic being created by God and possessing:
— A
mind “Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning.…” (2 Corinthians
11:3)
— A
will “The devil … has taken them
captive to do his will.” (2 Timothy
2:26)
— Emotions “Then the dragon was enraged at the woman.…” (Revelation 12:17)
Q “If God is so good, why did He create Satan?”
He
didn’t. God created “Lucifer, son of the dawn”—an angelic being who, because of
rebellion against God, was cast out of heaven. Only after he sinned did he
become “Satan,” which literally means adversary. Only then did he become the
adversary of God and of all that is good.
“How you have fallen from heaven, O morning
star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid
low the nations!” (Isaiah 14:12)
Scriptural
Names of Your Adversary
• Accuser
“The accuser
of our brothers, who accuses them [believers] before our God day and night, has
been hurled down.” (Revelation 12:10)
• Angel
of Light … Lucifer means “lightbearer.”
“For Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:14)
• Destroyer
… Abaddon
and Apollyon
mean “destroyer.”
“They had as king over them the angel of the
Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon,
and in Greek, Apollyon.” (Revelation
9:11)
• Devil
… In Greek, diabolos means “slanderer” and is used 37 times in the New
Testament.
“The devil,
who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast
and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for
ever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10)
• Dragon
… Also means “the great dragon.”
“There was war in heaven. Michael and his
angels fought against the dragon,
and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and
they lost their place in heaven. The great
dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who
leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with
him.” (Revelation 12:7–9)
• Enemy
“The enemy
who sows them [the weeds or the sons of the evil one] is the devil. The harvest
is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.” (Matthew 13:39)
• Evil
One
“Take up the shield of faith, with which you
can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (Ephesians 6:16)
• Father
of Lies
“For there is no truth in him [the devil].
When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44)
• God
of This Age
“The god
of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see
the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2
Corinthians 4:4)
• Morning
Star or Lucifer … Lucifer means “lightbearer” or
“shining one.”
“How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have
been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!” (Isaiah 14:12)
• Murderer
“He was a murderer from the beginning.” (John 8:44)
• Prince
of This World
“The prince
of this world will be driven out.” (John 12:31)
• Ruler
of the Kingdom of the Air … or Prince of the Power of the Air
“As for you, you were dead in your
transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways
of this world and of the ruler of the
kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are
disobedient.” (Ephesians 2:1–2)
• Satan
… A Hebrew word which means “adversary”—his most common name, used 53 times in
the Bible.
“Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan!’ ” (Matthew 4:10)
• Serpent
… Sometimes called the “ancient serpent”
“He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or
Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20:2)
• Tempter
“The tempter
came to him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become
bread.’ ” (Matthew 4:3)[1]
---------------------------more tomorrow------------------------
Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage
Breaker”, "Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the
mt4christ247 podcast!
at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts
(https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available
on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and
Audible.com.
These teachings are also available on the
MT4Christ247 You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MT4Christ247
Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and
to be encouraged.
My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian
encouragement via her Ask Seek Knock blog (https://tammylynask.blogspot.com/ ), her
Facebook Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on
Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)
“The views, opinions, and commentary of this
publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to
reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries,
or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication,
and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the
author may represent.”
Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship
[1] June
Hunt, Biblical Counseling
Keys on Satan, Demons & Satanism: A Sinister Reality
(Dallas, TX: Hope For The Heart, 2008), 1–3.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.