Satan Is A Liar !

“Now thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere. For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other a fragrance of life leading to life.”  
2 Corinthians 2: 14-16

General Douglas MacArthur once said: “One of the most important rules of war is to know your enemy”

You need to know, first of all, who you are fighting. Satan! He’s the thief who has stolen your identity and distorted your self-image. If we are unaware of Satan’s schemes and lies we will be ineffective in the Spiritual warfare that is promised to come our way.

“Lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.”
2 Corinthians 2: 11

You need to uncover Satan’s deceptions in your own thoughts and beliefs, and then replace those lies with the powerful truth of God’s Word.

Satan loves to distort the truth and convince you to believe it. From the moment you were born, he's worked to try to convince you that you are unloved, unwanted, insignificant, and worthless. Why? Because if he can get you to believe the lie, you will never be confident enough to do want God put you on this earth to do. When we believe the lies of Satan, it has a destructive effect on our personal lives.

The specific results of these false beliefs and their resulting actions vary from one person to the next. But one thing is certain; these lies do have a negative effect on the life of the believer. You will always behave in a manner consistent with how you see yourself. If you see yourself as having no value and no worth, then you’ll make decisions that agree with that perception.

Most of us are unaware of how thoroughly Satan has deceived us. He has led us blindly down a path of destruction, captives of our inability to meet our standards consistently, and slaves of low self-esteem.

Satan will use whatever situation he can to instill a poor sense of self-worth. Why? If you don’t value yourself, no one else will either. We assume we’re not valuable because of our past failures and the negative words spoken over us. So we behave in a way consistent with how we see ourselves, the way we dress, act and talk are a direct reflection of how we feel about our own worth.  And we don’t expect God to really bless us or use us in any meaningful way.

Satan has shackled us in chains that keep us from experiencing the love, freedom and purposes of Christ in our life.

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” Colossians 1: 22

Do you realize that from the time you were born Satan has had a plan to stop you from the plan of God in your life? It’s not a coincidence, it’s strategic and on purpose. Why? Because he does not want you to fulfill God’s plan for your life!
 
However, God has always had a special work for us to do, He tells us as much in Jeremiah 1:5
 
“Before I made you in your mother’s womb, I chose you. Before you were born, I set you apart for a special work.” 

Thank you Jesus! God wants to use you. He has a special plan and purpose, an assignment, for you to fulfill during your time on this Earth.

Although we all will continue to experience the fear of failure to some degree, we must realize that as Christians, we have the power provided by the Holy Spirit to lay aside deception in our thinking and be renewed in our minds by the truth of God’s Word.

“But this is not the way your learned Christ, assuming you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off the old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds”  Ephesians 4: 20-23

Thankfully God has a solution for the fear of failure. He has given us a secure self-worth totally apart from our ability to perform. We have been justified, or placed in right standing before God, through Christ’s death on the cross, which paid for our sins.

GOD’S ANSWER: JUSTIFICATION
This means that God has not only forgiven me of my sins, but has also granted me the righteousness of Christ. Because of justification, I bear Christ’s righteousness and I am, therefore, fully pleasing to the Father.

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through Him also we have access by faith, into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”  Romans 5: 1-2

God transferred our sin to Christ and His righteousness to us. 2 Corinthians says,
“He made Him who had no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”    Amen and Thank you Lord!!

Justification carries no guilt with it, and has no memory of past transgressions. Christ paid for all of our sins at the cross, past, present and future. We are completely forgiven by God!

“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”  Hebrews 10: 17

By giving righteousness to us, God attributes Christ’s worth to us. The moment we accept Christ, God no longer sees us as condemned sinners. Instead, we are forgiven, we receive Christ’s righteousness, and God sees us as creatures that are fully pleasing to Him.

God desires for those of us who have been redeemed to experience the realities of his redemption. We are forgiven and righteous because of Christ’s sacrifice. Therefore we are pleasing to God in spite of our failures. This reality can replace our fear of failure with peace, hope and joy.

Failure need not be a millstone around your neck. Neither success nor failure is the proper basis of our self-worth. Christ alone is the source of our forgiveness, freedom, joy and purpose.

“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”  1 John 5: 4-5

Therefore, always remember this friend’s, you are deeply loved, completely forgiven, fully pleasing, totally acceptable, and complete in Him.


God Bless and Press On
Larry

More Like HIM

"But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord,the Spirit."  2 Cor. 3:18

Becoming more Christ-like doesn't mean losing your individuality. God created the characteristics that make you unique.  Christ-likeness is about transforming your character, not your personality.  Paul writes: "Take on an entirely new way of life - a God fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces His character in you."   Ephesians 4: 23-24 

Every time you forget that character, not comfort, is God's first priority, you become frustrated and wonder, "Why is all this happening to me?"  "Why doesn't God do something about it?"  Abundant life isn't the absence of adversity, it's growth in the midst of it.  As the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like Him.  You say, "Yes, but how does this happen in real life?"  Through our choices - we choose to do the right thing, then trust God's Spirit to give us the power, love, faith and wisdom to do it.

Since His Spirit lives inside us, these things are available for the asking.  But when you ask God and He tells you what to do, you must obey Him.  When Israel stood at the river Jordan, its flood waters receded only after they stepped in.  Obedience unlocks God power!  God waits for you to act on His instructions.  You can't wait until you feel capable or confident; You must move ahead in your weakness, doing the right thing in spite of your fears.  That's how you cooperate with the Holy Spirit, and how Christ-like character is developed in you.

Spiritual growth could be compared to a seed, a building, and a child.  Each requires our participation.  When planted, seeds must be watered, fertilized and protected.  When built, buildings must be maintained.  When born, children must be cared for, taught and disciplined.  Getting the idea?  Now, effort has nothing to do with your salvation, but it has everything to do with your spiritual growth.  

Paul explains our three responsibilities in becoming like Christ:
1. Deciding.  "Everything connected with that old way of life has to go.  It's rotten through and through.  Get rid of it!" (Eph. 4:22 TM).  We must decide each day to let go of our old ways.

2. Renewing.  "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." (Rom. 12:2).  The Greek word for "transformed" is "Metamorphosis", which describes the amazing way in which a caterpillar morphs into a butterfly.  It's a picture of what happens when we spend time in prayer, feed on God's Word and allow Him to direct our thoughts.  As we take on the beauty of Christ's character, we begin to grow and soar to new heights.

3. Clothing. We must clothe ourselves each day with the character of Christ.  "How do I do that?" you ask.  By developing new habits.  Your character is made up of the sum of your daily habits.  What you do, you become!  So, "Put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" (Eph. 4:24 NIV).  To become Christ-like you must commit yourself to doing these three things. 

To make us more Christ-like, God will use His Word, other people, and difficult circumstances.  God's Word provides the truth we need to know, God's people provide the support we need to grow, and difficult circumstances provide the environment we need to show Christ-likeness. 

If you apply God's Word, connect regularly with other believers, and learn to trust God in every situation, you will become more like Jesus.  Count on it; it will happen!  You say:

1. "Some days I wonder if I'll ever get there."  Spiritual maturity is neither automatic nor guaranteed.  It's a gradual, progressive development that will require commitment and discipline. 

"This will continue until we are...mature, just as Christ is"  (Eph. 4:13)

Even when you falter and fail, God will be faithful to you.  He is committed to your spiritual growth as long as you are!

2. "Sometimes I wonder If I've chosen the right career."  All of us have times of doubt and confusion.  Don't worry about it.  God's more concerned about your character than your career, because you'll take your character into eternity with you. 

The Bible says: "Don't be so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.  Instead, fix your attention on God.  You'll be changed from the inside out...Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to it's level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you" (Rom. 12:2 TM).

Every day you must make a decision, a counter-culture decision to focus on becoming more like Jesus.  As you do, God's indwelling Spirit will make it happen!

God Bless and Press On
Larry

Taken from my daily devotions in;
"The Word For You Today"

Let The Redeemed Say So!

PROCLAIM HIS NAME AND                                                            SHOUT IT FROM THE
  WHAT HE HAS DONE 4 U!!!                                                             MOUNTAIN TOPS!!!

                                                                       

 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him.”                    Ephesians 1: 7-10

One afternoon as I was stopped at a stop light I noticed three homeless men on the side of the road.

The first man was sitting on a bus bench. The second man was standing about fifteen feet away from that same bus bench, holding up his bicycle with one hand, and holding up the third man with the other. The third homeless man was so drunk that he could hardly stand up on his own.

I watched as the two men standing tried to have a conversation, and the drunk man kept bobbing and weaving. I noticed the second man gesture with his head towards the bus bench, telling his buddy to go sit down. You see that bench represented a place of safety for the drunk, at least he wouldn’t fall down and hurt himself or stumble out into the street and get hit by a car.

The second man attempted to help the drunk over to the bench to sit him down. However he had his hands full already with the bike and as he attempted to walk him over the guy fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, through this entire episode, the first homeless man just sat on the bench and watched, not moving as much as a finger to help. You see he had already found his place of safety and rest, and he wasn’t about to leave it to give a hand to anyone.

The man of compassion looked over to the man on the bench, and upon seeing he was not going to receive any assistance from him let his bicycle go and grabbed for the fallen man, picked him up and moved him to the bench.

Redemption; (Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary): To recover ownership of, by paying a sum; to save from sin.

Redeemed; Apolutrōsis (Gr): (Vine Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words), Not from the consequences of the transgressions, but from the transgressions themselves.

If you have been redeemed, who did you belong to? (ownership)

A. Whose Were You?

1. From the beginning, you belonged to God, the Bible says;

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.” Eph. 1: 3-4

“For those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the first born among many brothers. And those whom He predestined He also called, and those whom He called He also justified, and those whom He justified He also glorified.” Romans 8: 29-30

Glorify: to do honor to, resulting from a good opinion of.

2. You were then lost in your sin; fell short of the glory. You belonged to the enemy.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  Romans 3:23

“All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has layed on Him the iniquity of us all.”  Isaiah 53:6

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”  Ephesians 2: 1-3

We all had to or will one day have to come to that place where we make a decision to follow Christ, to surrender to Him or not!

3. Some may still be there.

“About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk not solid food.”  Hebrew 5: 11-12

B. Whose Are You?

“In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until w acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory.”  Ephesians 1: 13-14

1. You are God’s own possession.

2. Sealed by the Holy Spirit.

A total of three times in the New Testament we read about the believer being sealed with the Spirit.

a. 2 Corinthians 1:22 “Who has also sealed us and gave us the spirit in our hearts as a pledge.”

b. Ephesians 4:30 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

Key Thought:
A seal was a stamp, a mark of ownership, a mark of approval. God the Father seals us by His Spirit and says, ‘this man or this woman, belongs to me, and I stand behind him, I recognize him or her as my very own.

The only two epistles in which we read of the sealing of the Spirit are in Corinthians and Ephesians.

Corinth and Ephesus were great centers of the lumber industry in ancient times. A raft of freshly cut logs would be brought from the Black Sea and notice would be sent out to the different lumber firms that the raft was in the harbor. These firms would send their men out and they would look over the logs and make their selections. They would put down a little pledge money and then cut a certain wedge upon each log that their firm agreed to take. This was called a seal.

These logs might not be drawn from the water for weeks, but each one was sealed by the mark of the firm that had purchased them. As the logs reached their destination down the river, the various lumber companies would be there to select their own logs, determined by the special mark that had been put on them, and finally pull them from the water.

We, as Christians, also have been sealed. And when that appointed time comes, and the Lord Jesus comes to take His own to be with Him, that will be the day of the redemption of His purchased possession.

C. Who Are You?

“In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the beloved.” Ephesians 1: 4b-6

“even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved, and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”   Ephesians 2: 5-6

"Not because of who I am, but because of what He’s (Jesus) done,"
"Not because of what I’ve done, but because of who He is!"
"You told me who I am -- I am Yours."

1. You are a child of God (the king). Romans 8:16

2. You are a fellow heir of Christ. Romans 8:17; Galatians 4:7

3. You are His workmanship. Ephesians 2:10

4. You are holy and blameless. Ephesians 1:4

5. You are Christ’s friend. John 15:14

6. You are complete in Him. Colossians 2:9-10

7. You are God’s fellow worker. 1 Corinthians 3:9

8. You are an ambassador for Christ. Ephesians 5:20

9. You are the righteousness of God in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21

Psalm 28:1 says, “The righteous are bold as a lion.”

In what area do you and I need to be bold?

D. What Is Your Obligation As One Of The Redeemed?

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;” 2 Corinthians 5: 17-18

Definition:
Reconcile; To re-establish a friendship between, To settle a dispute, to bring about peace, To make compatible.

Now that we’ve established who we are what are we to do next?

We need to share what God has done for us. The great and mighty works we’ve seen. And how others can have this same life of blessings, for you are an ambassador for Christ. 2 Corinthians 5: 20-21

Conclusion: The Word of God says;

1. “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings of good things.”  
     Romans 10:15


2. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”  
     Matthew 5:9

We are called to proclaim His goodness toward mankind, especially those who are His.
We are called to bring our fellow man to a place of peace with God – reconciliation
So have courage, be bold, and let God use you today!

God Bless and Press On
Larry

What Shape The World Is In

"For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools,"  Romans 1:21-22

We all can look around us and see the evidence of intelligent design, thus an Intelligent designer or Creator. We live in a world where more and more people refuse to recognize the reality of God.  People want to put their heads in the sewer until some tragedy befalls them and then they blame God and wonder why He allowed it to happen.

In light of the recent tragedy in Tucson Arizona and the many other atrocities the we've experienced as a nation in the last decade and longer, I thought it timely to share this e-mail that was circulating back in early 2002. I believe that the message is something we once again should seriously consider.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the early show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" (regarding the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001).

Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response.  She said "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.  And being the gentlemen He is, I believe He has calmly backed out.  How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

In light of recent events...terrorist attacks, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said okay.

Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school... the Bible says 'Thou shall not kill, thou shall not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself,' and we said okay.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem.  we said, 'an expert should know what he's talking about,' and we said okay.

Then someone said teachers and principals better not discipline our children when they misbehave.  The school administrators said no faculty member in this school better touch a student when they misbehave because we don't want any bad publicity, and we surely don't want to be sued, and we said okay.

Then someone said, let's allow our daughters to have abortions if they want, and they won't even have to tell their parents, and we said okay.

Then some wise school board members said, since boys will be boys and they're going to do it anyway, let's give our sons all the condoms they want so they can have all the fun they desire,and we won't have to tell their parents they got them at school, and we said okay.

Then some of our elected officials said it doesn't matter what we do in private as long as we do our jobs.  Agreeing with them, we said it doesn't matter to me what anyone, including the President, does in private as long as I have a job and the economy is good.

Then someone said let's print magazines with pictures of nude women and call it wholesome, down-to-earth appreciation for the beauty of the female body, and we said okay.

And them someone else took that appreciation a step further and published pictures of nude children and then further again by making them available on the Internet, and we said okay, they are entitled to their free speech.

Then the entertainment industry said; let's make TV shows and movies that promote profanity, violence, and illicit sex.  Let's record music that encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic themes.  And we said its just entertainment, it has no adverse effect, nobody takes it seriously anyway, so go right ahead.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out.  I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell.  Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in our schools and work place. Are you laughing?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us that what God thinks of us.

Pass this on if you think it has merit.  If not just ignore it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in!

"And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."  John 3:19-21

  
God Bless and Press On
Larry