An Ocean of Lies
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Today’s Text Comes from:
Revelation 12:10b
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.
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NOTES FROM TODAY’S SCRIPTURES:
I read story about a man who took his little daughter camping by the ocean. He tried to get her to go into the water, but when she found out how cold it was, she refused. Then he got an idea. He built a fire, heated some water in a teakettle, and poured it into the ocean. The little girl figured her daddy had fixed it, and she ran into the water without any hesitation!
That was a harmless trick, but it illustrates how Satan works. He mixes a small amount of truth with an ocean of lies. Satan is called "the accuser of our brothers and sisters" (ver10b). He's the ultimate critic of God's creation, and accusation is one of his most effective tactics. When you sin, he's right there to condemn you. "You call yourself a Christian? Do you think God will hear your prayer after that? You shouldn't even be in a church!" He's such a hypocrite. When he is tempting us, he whispers, "Do it! No one will know!" And then after we sin he shouts, "You'll never get away with that!"
When Satan talks to you about God, he lies. That's why it's important to get the truth about God from the Bible. But when Satan talks to God about you, he doesn't need to lie, he just uses your sin against you. He is constantly studying humanity, looking for evidence to bring before the throne of God, trying to cause God to turn His back on us. For that reason, you must learn to distinguish between the conviction of the Holy Spirit that comes from God, and the accusations and condemnation of Satan. Those are two very different things.
A lot of people say, "Guilt is wrong!" No, it isn't. It can be very, very good, if it comes from the Holy Spirit, if God imposes it to bring us back to Him. But guilt can be very bad, if it drives us to despair and hopelessness. Then we've listened to the wrong voice.
When the Holy Spirit convicts you, He uses the Word of God in love and seeks to bring you back into fellowship with your heavenly Father. When Satan accuses you, he uses your own sin in a hateful way to drive a wedge between you and God. He seeks to make you feel helpless and hopeless.
Judas betrayed Jesus Christ, and he listened to the devil and went out and hanged himself. Peter also betrayed Christ but he looked into Jesus' face, and it brought conviction. Later, he came back into fellowship.
So stay out of that "ocean of lies."
The Holy Spirit, the "Spirit of truth" (John 16:13), will always lead you back toward God.
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Sunday’s Devotion
The Heart of God
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Today’s Text Comes from:
Ezekiel 19:1-2
"As for you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel and say, 'What was your mother? A lioness among lions!'"
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NOTES FROM TODAY’S SCRIPTURES:
God gave Ezekiel a lamentation with two sad pictures.
First, He described a lioness that had two cubs. The first cub turned to violence and was taken to Egypt. The mother waited, hoping her cub would return, but it never did. The other cub did even more damage. Because "of the sound of his roaring," everyone was "appalled" (v 7). Nations gathered against him. He was captured and brought to Babylon.
The second picture was of a vineyard owner who planted a vine by "abundant waters" (v. 10). But it was "plucked up in fury" and "cast down to the ground." It settled in the wilderness. Its fruit was dried. "Its strong branch was torn off," and it was consumed by fire (v. 12).
Both pictures describe something cherished and loved, with great potential that was never realized. In these pictures, we see the heart of God. He is like the mother of those two cubs. He had given them life and prepared great things for them. How He longed for them to turn back from their destructive lifestyle! But they never returned.
God also is like the owner of a vineyard who wanted His people to experience His rich blessings. But they turned away. Instead of abundance, they lived as "in a dry and thirsty land" (v. 13). In this lamentation, we feel how God was grieved. He mourned, as at a funeral. We feel His compassion, His pain, His loss.
These pictures help us realize how God looks at our lives. He is like the father of the prodigal, who eagerly welcomed his son back when he returned (Luke 15:11-32). This is the picture of our Father-sadly watching when we sin, hoping we will change our ways, always wanting the best for us, always waiting for us to return.
Prayer
Father, thank You that You love me and have a plan for my life. Help me to fulfill Your purposes for me. I want to return fully to You and bring You great joy. In Jesus' name. Amen
Extended Reading Ezekiel 19
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