The Adversary and The Advocate

“If the devil comes to you and you get into an argument with him, he will beat you; for he is a very ancient lawyer, and he has been at the business for so many ages that you cannot match him. Send him to your Advocate! Refer him to the Wonderful, the Counselor! Always shelter beneath this fact: ‘My times are in His hands. I have left the whole business to Another, and I cannot dishonor Him by meddling.’ Satan knows the Christ too well to go to Him—he knows the taste of His broadsword, of, ‘It is written’ (Mat 4:4, 7, 10). He will not contest with Jesus if we leave Him to plead the causes of our soul!”–Charles Spurgeon, Sermon 2205 

Stand Strong!

But Mordecai bowed not. Esther 3:2

THERE was stern stuff in this old Jew. He was not going to prostrate himself before one so haughty and so depraved as Haman, albeit that he was the king's favourite. To be the only one in a city office that does not laugh at the questionable story; to stand alone on shipboard against the gambling mania; to refuse to countenance cleverness which is divorced from cleanness, and genius which is apart from goodness — this is to do as Mordecai did in the gate of the king's palace.

Only God can give this power, since of ourselves we are as reeds shaken by the wind. Sooner might a single ear of wheat resist the breeze that bends all its companions in the same direction, than we stand alone, whilst all our associates bow, unless God Himself enable as. But God is prepared to enable us. Listen: "I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." But the mistake we are so apt to make is to brace ourselves up by resolution and firm determination, in anticipation of some impending struggle. To do this is to fail. Live in Christ, look up into his face, derive from Him strength for the moment and at the moment; and often wrap about thee that exceeding great and precious promise, "I will make him to become a pillar in the temple of my God; and he shall go no more out; and I will write on him the name of my God." Oh to stand pillar-like amid men, bearing up the temple arch of truth, and inscribed with God's name, whilst the crowds go and come on the pavement beneath!

"Greatly begin! though thou have time
But for a line, be that sublime —
Not Failure, but low aim, is Crime!"

-F. B. Meyer,  Our Daily Homily

NOW is the Victory!

In her classic book The Chrisitian’s Secret of a Happy Life, Hannah Whitall Smith challenges her readers to settle on this one fact:

“…that Jesus came to save you now, in this life from the power and dominion of sin, and to make you more than conquerors through His power.”

The emphasis is on the word NOW. Too many Christians are looking forward to being freed from the hold of sin in the future when the liberty of salvation is NOW. Sin will always have a hold on us as long as we believe it can.

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Embrace this truth that the apostle Paul shares in Romans 6: “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” Start living like you are saved NOW! Enjoy the victory!

Take Heed

Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. 1 Chronicles 21:1

David had stood strong against human enemies but found himself weak when fighting against the spiritual enemy. Even the most strong and seasoned Christian can fall. 

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 1 Corinthians 10:12 NKJV

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

Undercover or Overcomer?

One of the greater promises of the New Testament is the victory verses of 1 John 5:4-5

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.  Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Without a doubt, God wants those that embrace His Son to be victorious over sin and the world.  That leaves me to ask this question:

If God's desire is for his children is to be victorious, then why are so many Christians living a defeated life? 

 The answer appears to be in these two words: Our faith -- or the lack of faith!  Many professing Christians are not living a triumphant life because they are trying to live a hidden life.  They are not overcomers because they are undercover!  You cannot tell a difference between their life and a nonbeliever's life -- Not in their talk nor their action nor their demeanor! They are secret agent Christians.  Without the occasional Sunday morning church service, they blend in with the world and do not walk by faith ( 2 Corinthians 5:7).

Ask any sports coach how important it is for his team to believe they can win, and he'll assure you that it is very important.  To conquer temptations and live above the world, you must believe you can win.  An alcoholic will never beat the addiction if he or she doesn't believe they can. A Christian never experience the abundant life without believing he or she can do so. 

Take hold of the promises of God's word and stop hiding.  Live by faith the promises. Because:

 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.  1 John 4:4 (NKJV)

Magic Pill?

Beware of being deceived into believing that Christianity is some kind of a magic pill that immures you from all problems. Christianity does not inoculate you from troubles or temptations but it does enable you to overcome them.

"The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say, 'O God, forgive me,' or 'Help me.'" ~ Billy Graham

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” -God (2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV)

If you enjoy these little tidbits of wisdom, please check out Pastor Jim's book, For His Glory: A Kaleidoscope of Wisdom. 
  

Yes! You Can!

Do not let the devil or the world deceive you into believing you are trapped or predestined to a certain way of life. God has the power and he will grant the grace to change you and any state of affairs you may find yourself. There only two requirements. You must be willing to change and seek by faith his help.

A small note: The role of a good Bible believing and Bible practicing church can be a great source of encouragement. 

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. -Philippians 4:13

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: -1 Peter 5:8

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THE FAIL NOT

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 1 John 4:4

And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? Exodus 3:13

[Moses] was afraid of the Israelites as well as of Pharaoh: he knew how hard it is to get even your friends to believe in you.

Now, if God has sent you and me with a message it is not for us to say whether others will believe it or not. We cannot make men believe. If I have been sent by God to make men believe, He will give me power to make them believe. Jesus Christ didn’t have that power; it is the work of the Holy Ghost; we cannot persuade men and overcome skepticism and infidelity unless we are baptised with the Holy Ghost and with power.

God told Moses that they would believe him, that he would succeed, and bring the children of Israel out of bondage. But Moses seemed to distrust even the God who had spoken to him.

Then the Lord said, “What is that in thy hand?”

He had a rod or staff, a sort of shepherd’s crook, which he had cut haphazard when he had wanted something that would serve him in the desert.

“It is only a rod.”

“With that you shall deliver the children of Israel; with that rod you shall make Israel believe that I am with you.”

When God Almighty linked Himself to that rod, it was worth more than all the armies the world had ever seen. Look and see how that rod did its work. It brought up the plagues of flies, and the thunder storm, and turned the water into blood. It was not Moses, however, nor Moses’ rod that did the work, but it was the God of the rod, the God of Moses. As long as God was with him, he could not fail.

This word of wisdom is taken from Moody, Dwight Lyman. Men of the Bible

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RIDICULE is a mighty weapon!

But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?  Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.  Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity: Nehemiah 4:1-4

RIDICULE is a mighty weapon. “What do these feeble Jews?” said Sanballat. “Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?” “Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall,” said Tobiah the Ammonite. But Nehemiah was wise. He paid no attention to them. He just looked to God for grace and comfort: “Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity: and cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.” Young man, if you wish to be successful in this world, don’t mind Sanballat or Tobiah. Don’t be kept out of the kingdom of God or out of active Christian work by the scorn and laughter and ridicule of your godless neighbors and companions. (Today's Wisdom Tidbit is adapted from D.L. Moody's book Men of the Bible)

Are the Dagons of Your Life Falling Down?

Dagon* was fallen upon his face to the earth before the Ark of the Lord. 1 Sam. v. 3.

THE idols of the heathen represent demons who are their accepted gods, just as the Ark was the symbol of the presence of Jehovah. In the one case there was a material representation of the demon; but in the case of the Ark there was only a throne, the Mercy Seat; and no attempt was made to represent the appearance of the God of Israel. When placed in the Holy of Holies, the Shekinah** shone between the cherubim; this alone spoke of the Divine Spirit who filled the apparently vacant throne. When the effigy of the fish-god was confronted by the Sacred Ark, it was as though the demon spirit and the Divine Spirit had come into contact, with the inevitable result that the inferiority of the one ensured the crash of its effigy to the ground.

What a lesson this must have been to the Philistines — similar to that given Pharaoh in the plagues of Egypt, and with the same object of leading them to see the superior greatness of Jehovah! How great the encouragement to Israel — to know that God could defend his superiority! And how striking the prognostication for the future, when all the Dagons of the world shall be broken before the symbol of Divine power and love! 

Bring the Ark of God into your life. Set it down in your heart, and forthwith the Dagons which have held sway for so long will one after another succumb. "The idols He will utterly abolish." Let Christ in — that is the one need of the soul; and let Him take full possession of you. Then He will do his own work. Darkness cannot abide light; nor the defilement of the Augean stable the turning in of the water of the river. -F. B. Meyer, (1847-1929) ,Our Daily Homily

Find Victory in these Wisdom Tidbits!

*Dagon: a Phoenician and Philistine god of agriculture and the earth: the national god of the Philistines. From Hebrew Dāgōn, literally: little fish (Source: Dictionary.com)
***Shekinah: (Hebrew) the presence of God on earth or a symbol or manifestation of His presence. 

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