Day Thirty-Five:
1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
A few days ago I saw a post on a social networking site, and it reminded me that there are so many questionable practices going on in our world. The post specifically mentioned the demonic activity surrounding things like horoscopes, numerology, psychics, the use of sage and so much more. These are the more obvious ‘seducing spirits’ that Paul reminds us of in the previous verse. Other, less obvious false doctrines, might be preachers who seem to encourage abortions, same sex encounters and even same sex marriages, and many other obvious rejections of clear, biblical doctrine.
I don’t ever want to encourage anyone to believe something which is recognizably against the One we serve as practicing Christians. I hope that I will always be able to turn believers away from the demonic or satanic. I never want to risk my own faith by supporting a practice that is most assuredly evil in the sight of the God we serve, the God who is love, the God who is doubtless more than a little angry when His children are enticed by the very demonic spirits that He cast out of His home in heaven all those decades ago.
When Paul mentions these seducing spirits he is reminding all of us to search our hearts, our souls, our lives, for the inklings of dark habits, dark thoughts, dark natures that cleverly silence our need to obey the One who gave up heaven to come to earth and be the sacrifice for us who could never have been good enough to enter heaven where God abides forever and ever. Because He lived, died and came back to us after three days in the tomb, we can be certain that whatever happens in this life – through pains, sorrows and tears – there is always a light waiting up ahead, casting its beauty all through our hearts, remembering that it is love Jesus taught. But, also, He taught us to avoid the darkness that dims our light and even colors hope distraught.
I love Jesus more than words can say. Even when I praise with poetry and song, through day and night, through my life and my light – there is a yearning that reminds me, throughout this life and into eternity, despite all my spirit’s praising, I can never begin to arrive at the amazing that Jesus provided to each heart who hears His call and welcomes Him so that they’re forever His. Nothing and no one can ever bring satisfaction the way that Jesus love will. His love is the answer to every tear, each fear, the many years of anxiousness that reveal to us the need for a Savior who is forever giving – forever living, forever forgiving. He is our light, our heart, our prayer and our promise. He is our hope, our need, our life and our reason. He is the answer to every doubt. He leads us out of the shadows and into the spirit’s breathless gentleness. He is light. He is love. He is alive and He lives in us!
Without this Jesus who saved my soul, there is no way I would ever know what it means to love without an agenda, to give without expectations, to live for someone other than myself, to live for One who made the world and every soul who lives. Without this Jesus who created the heart, the soul, the music that rings throughout eternity, I would never know the joy of sensitivity, tranquility, serenity. I would never know the beauty that comes to those who believe without proof, the One who silenced every doubt when He came out of that tomb!
A Prayer & A Promise:
Dear Lord, There is a darkness that can destroy the light, a darkness that can silence the praise, a darkness that can leave doubt in its wake. I don’t want to go through the darkness but know that sometimes I will encounter that darkness because I’m living in a world that is edged in it, a world that confesses it, a world that is lost in its black. I live in a world that I hope to change by bringing the light of Your love wherever I walk, the light of Your hope wherever I smile, the light of Your grace in whatever I face. I hope that, when I give them JESUS, I give them the answer to this darkness that the whole world is so absorbed by. I hope, dear Lord, that – because of You – I can be a light in the darkness and a reminder that, through grace, through faith, through Jesus Christ, the living hope – there is a chance to emerge from the dark with a glow that reminds us all, love is alive and He abides inside those who believe in Jesus, the way, the truth, the life. Thank You, Lord, for giving us the chance to know You and grow to be the Christians that You knew we could be when You gave up Your life on earth to change the whole world.
The more I am in a position to be tried in faith with reference to my body, my family, my service for the Lord, my business, etc., the more shall I have opportunity of seeing God's help and deliverance; and every fresh instance, in which He helps and delivers me, will tend towards the increase of my faith. - George Muller
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