Is Satan Spamming You? by Ryan Duncan

 Is Satan Spamming You?

by Ryan Duncan

Then Jesus said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship The Lord your God, and serve Him only.'" - Matthew 4:10

"This stock is about to take off!" ... "You won’t believe this Miracle Pill!" ... "Hello, I am a Nigerian Prince" ... These are only a few of the emails that have ended up in my spam folder. We've all received them, those obnoxious messages that try to trick you into sending money or personal information to some unknown source. All spam email follows the same design. First, they open up by preying on a person’s fear, insecurity, or general discontent. After that, they propose a simple solution, an easy win for the reader, which convinces the reader to put their trust in something very untrustworthy.

Thankfully, most computers now come with software to filter out the phony emails. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for everyday life. I’ve found Satan often uses the same tactics as these spam mails whenever he wants to attack a human being. First, he takes advantage of your worry, your self-image, or something else in your life. Then he offers you something that might fix the problem, but in truth, only makes things worse. These temptations will always be present in life, but Jesus offers us a powerful reassurance in Matthew 6 that equips us to defend ourselves.

"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.” Matthew 6:25-29

Many people have taken this verse to mean that as long as we trust in God, nothing bad will happen. Not so. We live in a fallen world, and bad things are always going to happen. What this verse does promise is that no matter what we face in life, God will always be there. Sometimes in the healing we desperately prayed for, other times in the shoulder we cry on.

Whatever roads our lives take, Christ is there to provide for us. Don't allow Satan to fool you with the offer of an easy fix, don’t let fear and despair dictate your actions. God is there, and he will help you.

Intersecting Faith and Life: As a Christian, you are not alone in your struggles. Find support in a small group or an accountability partner.    

Further Reading
Zephaniah 3:17

Consider the Source / Chuck Swindoll

Consider the Source

by Pastor Chuck SwindollScriptures: Psalm 54:1–3

Imagine David wilting under a bush or slumped in a cave, pouring out his feelings in Psalm 54, begging the Lord for help. The first three verses are a prayer with emphasis on the enemy. The spotlight then turns to the composer's divine defender as the next two verses form a picture. The last two verses are words of praise as David focuses on his own history with God.

The Enemy

Save me, O God, by Your name,
And vindicate me by Your power.
Hear my prayer, O God;
Give ear to the words of my mouth.
For strangers have risen against me
And violent men have sought my life;
They have not set God before them. Selah. (54:1–3)

Verses 1 and 2 appear differently in the Hebrew Bible than in our English rendering. Literally, they read: "O God, save me . . . . O God, hear my prayer."

Normally, the verb appears first in the Hebrew sentence, but in this case, each cry for help begins with "O God . . . " By rearranging the normal word order, David emphasizes his utter dependence upon God. And the emphasis is further strengthened by the repetition of His name, "O God . . . . O God . . . "

We discover immediately an example in David for when we find ourselves under attack or emotionally distressed by people: Pray first! Don't wait! Ask for His strength and stability. Normally, we pray last, don't we? Instinct almost compels us first to fight back. We retaliate or develop resentment for the one who makes life miserable.

Observe that David requests deliverance and vindication on the basis of two things: God's name and God's power.

Throughout the Old Testament, God is called by at least twelve different names, each one highlighting a particular aspect of His character. As David called to mind God's attributes, he settled on the Lord's power—His omnipotence. When attacked by people, our imagination tends to stretch the truth; we begin to think our enemies have unlimited power. David found comfort in the reminder that God is more powerful than anyone or anything in the universe.

David went on to describe his problem in detail.

For strangers have risen against me,
And violent men have sought my life;
They have not set God before them. Selah. (54:3)

He gives his enemies two descriptive names: "strangers" and "violent men." The first refers to the people living in the region of Ziph. Normally, people are known by their heritage. For example, the Moabites are descendants of a patriarch named Moab. The Amalekites were descendants of Amalek. But the Ziphites were of unknown origin. The term "strangers" comes from a Hebrew word that means "to scatter, disperse," characterizing them as random people known only by their current place of residence. David struggled to understand why these strangers would bother to take sides in his dispute with Saul, why the Ziphites would become spies.

I mention this because I may be writing to someone as innocent as David was, but perhaps you, too, are being "spied upon," sold out by people who have no known motives to betray you. It is a frightening experience to be falsely accused, especially when the accusations come from strangers. It makes you wonder if the whole world has turned against you.

It's even worse when the enemy is someone you once trusted as a friend! "Violent men" refers to Saul, whom David once served as both musician and soldier, and Saul's troops, whose mission was to bring back David's head. Other than roughly six hundred loyal soldiers, David had no support, either in Israel or among Israel's neighbors.

David further states that his enemies did not have God set before them. The Lord didn't prompt their insidious actions; fulfilling the will of God was not their motivation. They acted in self-interest without regard to "right" or "wrong," which brings up a very practical point. When people turn against you, and you are in the right, it's like being kicked by a mule. Consider the source! You were kicked by a creature whose nature is to kick.

In another psalm, a composer observes that resisting God's will is not only futile, it is to invite one's own destruction. "Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?" (Psalm 2:1 ESV) he asks. He took comfort, not only in the futility of their attacks, but in the realization that they opposed God. It's hard to take personally the attacks of someone who opposes the almighty Creator! So, when you're wrongly treated, consider the source. They have not set the Lord before them. He doesn't energize their actions. In the words of Psalm 46, "Cease striving." Relax!

Verse 3 concludes with that command, "Selah." Pause to consider the wisdom of David's perspective in the first three verses of Psalm 54.

December 2 / C.S. Lewis

 There was the charm, as we went on, of running out into evening sunlight, but still in a deep gulley – as if the train were swimming in earth instead of either sailing on it like a real train or worming beneath it like a real tube. There was the charm of sudden silence at station I had never heard of, and where we seemed to stop for a long time. There was the novelty of being in that kind of carriage without a crowd and without artificial light. But I need not try to enumerate all the ingredients. The point is that all these things between them built up for me a degree of happiness which I must not try to assess because, if I did, you would think I was exaggerating.

But wait. ‘Build up’ is the wrong expression. They did not actually impost this happiness; they offered it. I was free to take it or not as I chose – like distant music which you need not listen to unless you wish, like a delicious faint wind on your face which you can easily ignore. One was invited to surrender to it. And the odd thing is that something inside me suggested that it would be ‘sensible’ to refuse the invitation; almost that I would be better employed in remembering that I was going to do a job I do not greatly enjoy and that I should have a very tiresome journey back to Oxford. Then I silenced this inward wiseacre. I accepted the invitation – threw myself open to this feather, impalpable, tingling invitation. The rest of the journey I passed in a state which can be described only as joy.

From Present Concerns

Present Concerns: Journalistic Essays. Copyright © 1986 by C. S. Lewis Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Used with permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

December 2 / Daily Blessings

Daily Blessings

“He did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” - Rom 3:26

Every created thing, every finite intelligence, must sooner be annihilated, than Jehovah can sacrifice, or allow the slightest tarnish to come over any one of his eternal attributes. Yet God can be just, infinitely just, scrupulously just, unchangeably just—and yet, preserving his attribute of justice unchanging and unchangeable, he can still be “the justifier of those who have faith in Jesus.” The way by which this was effected will take a countless eternity to understand, and a boundless eternity to admire and adore.

But what is meant by the expression, “the justifier?” “The justifier” means, that God can count man as righteous, can freely pardon his sins, can graciously accept his person, can impute to him righteousness without works, and can bring him to the eternal enjoyment of himself. And who is the character that he thus brings to himself by justifying him? “those who believe in Jesus.”

What simplicity, and yet what sweetness and suitability is there in the gospel plan! Say it ran thus, “That he might be just, and yet the justifier of him that works, that pleases God by his own performances, that produces a righteousness satisfactory to the eyes of infinite purity.” Who then could be saved? Would there be a single soul in heaven? No; such a sentence as that would trample down the whole human race into hell. But when it runs thus, “That this is the mind and purpose of God, that this is his eternal counsel, which cannot pass away; that he is ‘the justifier of those who believe in Jesus,’-the poor, the needy, the exercised, the tempted, the distressed, and the perplexed, that believe in Jesus, that look to Jesus, that lean upon Jesus, and rest in his Person, blood, righteousness, and love for all things; that these are justified, that these are pardoned, that these are accepted, that these are graciously received, and saved with an everlasting salvation,”-how sweet, how suitable, does the gospel that declares this become to the living, believing soul!

Reaching Perfection / Streams

 Reaching Perfection

Perfect through suffering - Heb 2:10

Steel is iron plus fire. Soil is rock, plus heat, or glacier crushing. Linen is flax plus the bath that cleans, the comb that separates, and the flail that pounds, and the shuttle that weaves. Human character must have a plus attached to it. The world does not forget great characters. But great characters are not made of luxuries, they are made by suffering.

I heard of a mother who brought into her home as a companion to her own son, a crippled boy who was also a hunchback. She had warned her boy to be very careful in his relations to him, and not to touch the sensitive part of his life but go right on playing with him as if he were an ordinary boy. She listened to her son as they were playing; and after a few minutes he said to his companion: “Do you know what you have got on your back?” The little hunchback was embarrassed, and he hesitated a moment. The boy said: “It is the box in which your wings are; and some day God is going to cut it open, and then you will fly away and be an angel.”

Some day, God is going to reveal the fact to every Christian, that the very principles they now rebel against, have been the instruments which He used in perfecting their characters and moulding them into perfection, polished stones for His great building yonder. —Cortland Myers

Suffering is a wonderful fertilizer to the roots of character. The great object of this life is character. This is the only thing we can carry with us into eternity. … To gain the most of it and the best of it is the object of probation. —Austin Phelps

“By the thorn road and no other is the mount of vision won.”

Our Sovereign Anchor By Cissie Graham Lynch

 

Our Sovereign Anchor By Cissie Graham Lynch This year, people are craving the distraction of the holidays after a rather grim year for our country and the world. Most of us have sat in disbelief over how much the world has changed over the last 20 months. But we can rest in the assurance that God doesn’t change. I was reminded of this while listening to one of my grandfather Billy Graham’s sermons on SiriusXM: “The Bible says that certain things will never change—the laws of nature will not change; spiritual laws will never change. “In all these centuries, God is still the same. He is unchanging in his holiness. There’s no impurity in God, no sin in God: ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’ ” (Revelation 4:8). What a comforting promise.  READ MORE

TODAY’S PRAYER Dear God, You are the solid rock on which we stand. Thank You for never changing. We know we can trust You to guide us and to keep us, now and forevermore. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Looking for God / Max Lucado

 

Looking for God

Click below to listen to today's devotional

LOOKING FOR GOD - December 1, 2021

With the passing of years, Henry’s life had changed. His children were grown. The neighborhood was different. He was unhappy. He asked his minister if he was unhappy for some sin he’d committed. “Yes,” the wise pastor replied. “The sin of ignorance. One of your neighbors is the Messiah in disguise, and you have not seen him.”

With time, Henry saw things in people he’d never seen. When others spoke he listened. After all, he might be listening to the Messiah. The bounce returned to his step. His eyes took on a friendly sparkle. He said, “All I know is that things changed when I started looking for God.”

Now, that’s curious. The old man saw Jesus because he didn’t know what he looked like. The people in Jesus’ day missed him because they thought they did. How are things looking in your neighborhood?

The Law and the Gospel / Oswald Chambers

 

The Law and the Gospel Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. JAMES 2:10 The moral law does not consider our weaknesses as human beings; in fact, it does not take into account our heredity or infirmities. It simply demands that we be absolutely moral. The moral law never changes, either for the highest of society or for the weakest in the world. It is enduring and eternally the same. The moral law, ordained by God, does not make itself weak to the weak by excusing our shortcomings. It remains absolute for all time and eternity. If we are not aware of this, it is because we are less than alive. Once we do realize it, our life immediately becomes a fatal tragedy. “I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died” (Romans 7:9 ). The moment we realize this, the Spirit of God convicts us of sin. Until a person gets there and sees that there is no hope, the Cross of Christ remains absurd to him. Conviction of sin always brings a fearful, confining sense of the law. It makes a person hopeless— “…sold under sin” (Romans 7:14). I, a guilty sinner, can never work to get right with God— it is impossible. There is only one way by which I can get right with God, and that is through the death of Jesus Christ. I must get rid of the underlying idea that I can ever be right with God because of my obedience. Who of us could ever obey God to absolute perfection! We only begin to realize the power of the moral law once we see that it comes with a condition and a promise. But God never coerces us. Sometimes we wish He would make us be obedient, and at other times we wish He would leave us alone. Whenever God’s will is in complete control, He removes all pressure. And when we deliberately choose to obey Him, He will reach to the remotest star and to the ends of the earth to assist us with all of His almighty power.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS An intellectual conception of God may be found in a bad vicious character. The knowledge and vision of God is dependent entirely on a pure heart. Character determines the revelation of God to the individual. The pure in heart see God.

The Greatest Event in Human History / Adrian Rogers

 The Greatest Event in Human History

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”Isaiah 9:6

Seven hundred years before the first Christmas, Isaiah dipped his pen in golden glory and wrote these words about the coming Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ. The child being born speaks of His virgin birth. The Son being given speaks of His eternality—He has been the Son of God, with the Father, through the ages.

Some years ago—you may remember it—man first stepped onto the moon. The President of the United States said, “The planting of human feet upon the moon is the greatest event in human history.”

No, the greatest event in human history was when God came to Earth and planted His feet here. We call that the incarnation—Almighty God stepped out of  Heaven, the ivory palaces, into this world of woe, and put His feet upon this earth. And thatis the greatest event in human history!

Share this with someone you know today: The first Christmas, God sent a package to earth, a gift of deity wrapped up in humanity. What a marvelous thing this is. It’s supernatural. Never forget this: Jesus is God in human flesh. 

Winter in the Soul / Alistair Begg

 

Winter in the Soul 

You have made summer and winter. 

Psalm 74:17

My soul, begin this wintry month with God. The cold snows and the piercing winds all remind you that He keeps His covenant with day and night and serve to assure you that He will also keep that glorious covenant that He has made with you in the person of Christ Jesus. He who is true to His Word in the revolutions of the seasons of this poor sin-polluted world will not prove unfaithful in His dealings with His own well-beloved Son.

Winter in the soul is by no means a comfortable season, and if it is upon you just now, it will be very painful to you: But there is this comfort, namely, that the Lord makes it. He sends the sharp blasts of adversity to nip the buds of expectation. He scatters the frozen dew like ashes over the once fresh green meadows of our joy. He dispenses His icy morsels, freezing the streams of our delight.

He does it all; He is the great Winter King and rules in the realms of frost, and therefore you cannot murmur. Losses, crosses, heaviness, sickness, poverty, and a thousand other ills are of the Lord’s sending and come to us with wise design. Frosts kill harmful insects and restrain raging diseases; they break up the clods and sweeten the soul. O that such good results would always follow our winters of affliction!

How we prize the fire just now! How pleasant is its cheerful glow! Let us in the same manner prize our Lord, who is the constant source of warmth and comfort in every time of trouble. Let us draw near to Him, and in Him find joy and peace in believing. Let us wrap ourselves in the warm garments of His promises, and keep working, unlike the lazy man who refuses to plow because it is too cold; in the summer he will have nothing and will be forced to beg for bread.

We Need Our Church Community / ODB

 

We Need Our Church Community [Let us] not [give] up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but [encourage] one another. Hebrews 10:25 READ Hebrews 10:19–25 I grew up the firstborn son of a Southern Baptist preacher. Every Sunday the expectation was clear: I was to be in church. Possible exceptions? Maybe if I had a significant fever. But the truth is, I absolutely loved going, and I even went a few times feverish. But the world has changed, and the numbers for regular church attendance are not what they used to be. Of course, the quick question is why? The answers are many and varied. Author Kathleen Norris counters those answers with a response she received from a pastor to the question, “Why do we go to church?” He said, “We go to church for other people. Because someone may need you there.” Now by no means is that the only reason we go to church, but his response does resonate with the heartbeat of the writer to the Hebrews. He urged the believers to persevere in the faith, and to achieve that goal he stressed “not giving up meeting together” (Hebrews 10:25). Why? Because something vital would be missed in our absence: “encouraging one another” (v. 25). We need that mutual encouragement to “spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (v. 24). Brothers and sisters, keep meeting together, because someone may need you there. And the corresponding truth is that you may need them as well. By John Blase What are the top four reasons you either go to church or don’t go? How does knowing “someone may need you there” make you feel about meeting together? Heavenly Father, as I meet with others to worship and praise Your name, help me to also encourage others in Your name. Forgive me when I overlook the latter because I’m too preoccupied with myself. Learn more about the importance of church.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT The letter to the Hebrews was written to Jewish believers in Jesus who, due to persecution and hardship, were in danger of drifting from the faith. Therefore, it makes sense that the author would remind them of the confidence they could have in Christ, for it provides an antidote for their doubts. The New Bible Commentarysays, “The word translated confidence is found in four important contexts in Hebrews (3:6; 4:16; 10:19; 10:35). Fundamentally, it’s a confidence of free and open access to God . . . based on the unique sacrifice of Jesus (by the blood of Jesus).” As a result, the believers were encouraged to embrace the confidence that they were truly part of God’s “house” (3:6), to enter God’s presence confidently in prayer (4:15–16), to enter God’s presence in worship (10:19), and to maintain that confidence in living out their lives (10:35). Bill Crowder

December 1 / Wisdom from the Psalms

Psalms 140:11
Let not an evil speaker be established in the earth: evil shall bunt the violent man to overthrow him.

The committee was worried. They had elected a new chairman who was becoming vocal about some very unpopular ideas. People were getting the idea that the committee endorsed these ideas, just because the new chair so freely shared them. Some of his ideas were quite biased and offensive. Quick action was being taken to replace him, but the damage done was almost too great to measure.

The words of our mouth are powerful weapons. We can do great good by a few well-placed words, or we can wreak total destruction. The words of an evil person spread like a cancer. However, the words spoken by righteous men and women can be our greatest source of healing. Be careful how you speak, for you hold great power and responsibility within your words.

 

Prayer: Guide the words I speak, Lord. Spice them with Your love and concern. Make my speech a joy to others, not a burden. Steer me away from evil, I pray. Amen. 

How to Give with a Cheerful Heart / Senior Living

 How to Give with a Cheerful Heart

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. - 2 Corinthians 9:7

A pastor once recounted how, as a child, his mother sent him to pick a quart of raspberries. Reluctantly he dragged himself to the berry patch. His afternoon was ruined for sure. Then a thought hit him. He would surprise his mother and pick two quarts of raspberries instead of one!

Rather than drudgery, his work had now become a challenge. He enjoyed picking those raspberries so much that fifty years later, that incident was still fresh in his mind.

His job hadn’t changed, but his attitude did. Instead of focusing on the hard work of picking berries, he focused on how he could use his time to bless his mother. And it was this change in perspective that made his job so much easier.

Many Christians today see giving as a task or a chore that they check off a list so they don’t get in trouble. Sadly, because this is their perspective, they miss out on the joy that comes by contributing to God’s purposes.

But what if, instead, you thought of giving with the end goal of supporting God’s work in mind? You see, when you give, you bless others and you show God’s love to those who need it. Giving is not about putting a little money in the offering plate, it’s about being an active part of God’s work here on earth. And when you see it that way, you can’t help but to give cheerfully!

Prayer Challenge:

Ask God to give you a Kingdom perspective when it comes to giving. Pray that when you give, you would do so with His purposes in mind and because of that, you would give cheerfully.

Sunlight on Our Path / David Jeremiah

 

Sunlight on Our Path If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 1 John 1:6   Critics use the word dark to describe movies, television shows, comic books, songs, and other forms of entertainment that are troubling, evil, or depressive. In the same way, we sometimes say about someone, “He’s in a dark place right now.” That’s biblical terminology; the apostle John frequently spoke of light and darkness. The entire world—apart from God’s people—is in darkness, groping for direction and hope. But the followers of Christ have sunlight streaming onto their paths and have no need for night vision goggles.

Recommended Reading: 1 John 1

If there’s a dark spot somewhere in your heart or habits, confess it to God and ask Him to bleach it from your system. When we get to heaven, we’ll be sinless, spotless, and blameless in all our ways. Until then, we work each day to stay on the pathway of light. The Bible says, “But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18).   If God had wanted us completely out of the world, He could have taken us home to heaven at the time of our spiritual birth….We are to shine as light in the world system’s darkness. A. W. Tozer