Stand Firm

Posted on by korgrocker

“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.”
1 Peter 5:8-9 NLT

We pilgrims are aware that the devil is on the prowl, and we are at our most vulnerable when we do something for God that is very visible in our families and communities. New Christians in particular are in the devil’s sights because, if he can, he will cause them so many problems that they give up almost straight away. Jesus taught about this in the parable of the sower, and, unusually, he explained it to His disciples. We read in Matthew 13:19-22, “The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts. The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced”. Notice that there are three categories of person who succumbs to the devil’s ploys. There are those whose spiritual eyes are blinded, preventing them from understanding the Good News. There are those who hear and understand it, but lack the perseverance to press through any difficulties that come their way. And there are those who get caught up with living in a certain way and pursue wealth to support their lifestyles. All methods that the devil uses to ensure a believer won’t cause him any difficulties.

The devil is very subtle in the way he tempts people. Look at the way he drew Eve away into sin. We read the story in Genesis 3, but the key opener was “Did God really say …?”  The devil will work with our human nature to birth sin in our lives, and there is that desperately sad verse at the end of Judges, “In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes” (Judges 21:25). The same applies today, with people who have no moral compass, who lack God’s presence in their lives, and go on to live a life, debased by the devil and his evil lies. Their own twisted logic is influenced and matured by the devil, who devours them and then uses them for his own wicked ways.

We are not on our own in matters of temptation. Peter wrote that the “family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering” that they were. To the early believers, a very real temptation was to alleviate the suffering by renouncing their new-found faith. But Peter’s answer was for them to “stand firm” and “be strong in [their] faith”. The Apostle Paul wrote some great practical instructions for the Ephesian church. We read what he said in Ephesians 6. “A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armour so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil” (Ephesians 6:10-11). He explains in a little more detail some information about how the devil devours. “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

Peter used the illustration of the devil prowling around but he has a whole contingent of “mighty powers”, and “evil spirits” all doing his bidding. We pilgrims need to be on our guard and constantly alert to those weak spots where the devil will find us the most vulnerable. We mustn’t forget that around us are other fellow believers who are fighting the same battles. So we pray for them and get them to pray for us. And we ask the Bible Author to show us the resources we need to help us in times of need.

Dear Father God. We pray again for Your help in our lives. We cannot fight the devil on our own and we thank You for the resources You have given us. Amen.

Stay Alert

Posted on by korgrocker

“Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.”
1 Peter 5:8-9 NLT

We may not like to think about this, but we pilgrims have an enemy. We may feel safe and secure in our Western societies, but look on in alarm at the wars and strife taking place in other parts of the world. As I write today, the war in Ukraine continues unabated, and the response by Israel to the Palestinian terror attacks is working out on the world stage, dominating the media. Even God’s chosen people, the Jews, are under attack and many of them fear for their lives. Who or what causes so much hatred and distrust between individuals and nations? Well, we have the answer in today’s verse – our “great enemy, the devil”. Peter wrote that he “prowls around like a roaring lion”, spreading evil and wickedness wherever he goes. The churches that Peter was writing to were themselves experiencing persecution of terrible proportions, and his encouragement contained both a warning and the means to combat it.

But firstly, we must consider who the devil is looking to devour. The devil is against anything to do with God. The devil was thrown out of Heaven for his pride and rebellion, and, because God is so much stronger then he is, he is having to make do with his next priority – God’s precious creation, mankind. So perhaps it would be a good place to start with who the devil is not devouring on Planet Earth. Obviously those people who deny the existence of the devil wouldn’t bother him. They are no threat to him at all. Then, anyone who hates the Jews, God’s chosen people, with their antisemitic language and behaviour, and acts of terrorism, won’t trouble him – in fact he is probably using this group to help him do the devouring. Then there are people who accept that he exists but who don’t cause him any difficulties because of disinterest or even acceptance. As I write this, it is coming up to the season of Halloween and the shops are full of scary outfits and pumpkins. The devil loves it because these people are just advertising his presence. And that leaves God’s children, the “born-again” believers who are willing and spiritually resourced to take the fight to the devil’s kingdom and tell people in his bondage about how to get free. That’s us pilgrims. As an aside, there are many Christians who don’t bother the devil very much at all. Christians who perhaps warm a pew in a church service on a Sunday every few weeks but do little else in God’s Kingdom. Hmmm…

When Jesus came to this world, He became a prime target for the devil. After all, if he could get the Son of God to sin then that would be a major coup. In Luke 4:1-2 we read, “Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry”. Jesus was both human and divine, man and God, and the devil tried to tempt Him through His humanity. We can read the three subsequent temptations of Jesus in the next few verses in Luke 4. In Hebrews 4:15 we read, “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin”. And that’s the point. I’m sure Jesus suffered many temptations in His short life here in this world, but he withstood them all and never sinned.

The devil will always find a point of weakness in us, and will try and exploit it if at all possible. But we pilgrims need to stand firm in our faith. We note that Jesus used Scripture verses to counter the devil’s accusations, and so must we, by making sure we are using the Bible well. It contains all the resources we need to be able to withstand the devouring tactics of the enemy.

Father God. We pray for Your protection from the attacks of the enemy and deliverance from evil. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Be Strong

Posted on by korgrocker

“We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves.”
Romans 15:1 NLT

‭Paul continues to write about the importance of considering others, particular other Christians. But we pilgrims know that, of course. But what about ourselves? Are we the “strong” people in this verse? Believers strong in the faith and able to withstand shocks in times of stress and difficulty? People who are not impacted by what others say or do in our presence? In Matthew 24:9, Jesus said, “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me”. Or would we react as Jesus described in the next verse – Matthew 24:10, “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other”? A thought that must put fear into the heart of even the strongest believer. 

But I think Paul was making the point that the strength we have in God, through our faith relationship with Him, transcends all the mayhem and temptations that surround us. Another believer behaves in a way we think inconsiderate or even sinful, but we are not affected in ourselves by that. Instead we look for an opportunity to gently and lovingly help the other person. Paul wrote in Galatians 6:1-2, “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ”. 

Being “strong” as Paul expects, applies to our own behaviour. We are strong enough to control our lives so that what we do is not to please ourselves but to be pleasing to others. We pilgrims do not behave in a way that will have a negative impact on a fellow believer. We watch our speech, and the words we use. We are careful with the relationships we foster. The way we act in our families is beyond reproach. We make sure our emotions don’t take over our lives, particularly when we are provoked. 

Paul wrote about the tools we have at our disposal to make sure we can in fact be strong believers. Ephesians 6:10, “A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power“. And Paul goes on to list the items of spiritual armour that God has supplied. We can read about them in Ephesians 6. We must also realise that the perhaps overly sensitive brother or sister will be fighting their own battles against the forces of darkness that Paul wrote about. Those evil spirits in heavenly places. We are all on a journey through life, slaying our own “dragons” on the way. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit walks with us, helping us to stand firm, strong and unmoved in the face of the enemy’s onslaught. At the end of Jesus’ temptation, we read in Luke 4:13, “When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came“. A strong believer will find that the enemy and his minions will leave us if we stand firm. But we mustn’t forget, he’s always on the prowl, looking for an opportunity to oppress us some other time. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 16:13, “Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong“.

Dear Father God. We thank You that we are on the winning side, strengthened by You and Your Spirit, that lives within us. We stand firm in our faith, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The Second Death (2)

Posted on by korgrocker

“But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practise magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulphur. This is the second death.”‭‭
Revelation‬ ‭21:8‬ ‭NIVUK

“But as for the cowards and unbelieving and abominable [who are devoid of character and personal integrity and practice or tolerate immorality], and murderers, and sorcerers [with intoxicating drugs], and idolaters and occultists [who practice and teach false religions], and all the liars [who knowingly deceive and twist truth], their part will be in the lake that blazes with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Revelation‬ ‭21:8‬ ‭AMP‬‬

In the last blog we unpacked what God was saying about the cowardly and the unbelieving. And we now move onto to consider the “vile” and “the sexually immoral“. Other translations use words such as “corrupt”, “abominable” or “dirty-minded“. The Amplified version of Revelation 21:8 expands the meaning to include all those, “who are devoid of character and personal integrity and practice or tolerate immorality”. 

Sexual immorality is often seen as a grey area, depending on, or influenced by, societal attitudes, liberal theologians, or just downright ignorance. Many have a “if it feels good just do it” attitude. Thankfully we have the God-view as recorded in the Bible. A good place to start is perhaps 1 Corinthians 6:18-20, “Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realise that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honour God with your body.” Earlier in 1 Corinthians 6, we read this, “Don’t you realise that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality”. Some try and rationalise their behaviour by saying that society has changed since the First Century, and the restrictions and attitudes that were the norm then don’t apply today. The old philosopher, Solomon, writing in Ecclesiastes, noted, “History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new.” (‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭1:9-10). The Biblical teaching about sex, morality and ethics is just as valid today as it was two thousand years ago. 

Sadly today we have some of our churches and denominations embracing sexual attitudes and customs that are directly in contravention with Biblical teaching. “We have to move with the times”, they say, and in the process they consign themselves to obscurity and, ultimately, the fires of hell. And our political leaders are even introducing legislation that directly opposes the morals and practices that are deeply embedded in our Christian faith. God’s words to John in Revelation 21:8 make it very clear that those who choose to select the Scriptures they like and reject those that they don’t, thus trying to justify their sinful behaviour, will be heading for the second death. 

God also mentioned to John about the fate awaiting “murderers“. I can hear many breathing a sigh of relief because they have never murdered anyone. But before they adopt the moral high ground, Jesus too said a few words about murder. We read them in Matthew 5:21-22, “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.” It’s not just the act but also the attitude, the thought, that constitutes murder. 

We pilgrims must always honestly and soberly assess what we are thinking and doing. It is so easy to get sucked into societal thinking and end up diluting the purity of our faith. Whether it is sexual temptations or murderous thoughts, we must be remember the warning Peter included in his first epistle, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭5:8). We all have our weaknesses. We must bring all our thoughts and deeds under God’s spotlight and allow the Holy Spirit to help us “stand firm…” in our faith. 

Dear Father God. Again we thank You for reminding us of the things we must avoid. We thank You for Your grace and patience. Please help us to “Stay alert” as Peter advised. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.