Lord, Is It Warfare? Week 4, Day 2

-
If you have not purchased your own copy of this devotional, Lord, Is It Warfare?, I want to encourage you to do so (Used books on Amazon start @ 0.42).  Not only is there an opportunity to interact in a personal journal with your own notes but the guide is designed in such a way as to encourage you to mark up your Bible.  Today’s entry is a little shorter than usual simply by the nature of the assignment that was given.  Following are my own reflections.

-This world was not always in the condition that it is in now.  It once was a perfect paradise that hosted God and His creation of Adam and Eve and the host of things that filled the world.  In a single moment, the unity of God and His creation was shattered by the wily snares of the serpent.  He tempted Eve and she fell to an unimaginable state. 

-The Genesis 2-3 account covers the fall of man.  God gave some instructions to Adam:
  • You can eat freely from any tree except one.
  • You cannot eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  If you do you will die. 

-These instructions are very basic and very simple to follow.  However, for all of God’s instructions, the serpent had some tactics that he used to destroy Adam and Eve.  His tactics were shrewd!  Notice what takes place with them: 
  • There was a craftiness about the approach of the serpent.
  • The serpent said, “You can’t eat from any tree in the Garden.”  By making this statement, he made the whole Garden with its trees to be off-limits to Eve.  He added to what God had required.  That is the story of religion at some point in all of our lives.  The devil will seek to add something to what God has desired to do. 
  • The nature of putting doubt in Eve’s mind caused her to doubt.  She began to relent and waffle on what God had told her.  This is the way that questions work!  We can know what God has said but when we are questioned by the devil, we can waver because we lose our confidence in God’s commandments. 
  • The serpent removed the penalty for sin when he told her that she would not die.
  • The serpent made a promise that he could not keep when he said that if she ate the fruit, she would be like God. 
  • The serpent’s temptations caused her to look at the tree in a way that she had never seen it before.  It became good for food, instead of poison to kill.  It was a delight to the eyes instead of a closed gate of entry.  It became something that could create a sense of wisdom when she did not realize it would destroy the innocence of mind that she had known before the Fall.

-The same trick is true now that was used then. The work of the tempter is to get us to doubt what God has said.  If he can do anything to get us to doubt what the Scriptures have to say, then much of his battle is completed. 

-The following references allow us to see that the Bible is the Word of God.  Psalm 19 and Psalm 119 are chapters that make powerful statements about the Word of God.  When you cross-reference this with Proverbs 30:5-6 we can see that this Book is set apart from any and all the other books in the world.  
  • Scripture alone is sufficient for man’s needs (2 Tim. 3:16-17; Isa. 55:11; 2 Peter 1:3-4).
  • Scripture is inerrant (Psalm 12:6; 119:140; Prov. 30:5a; Jn. 10:35).  Be careful that you do not allow some “enlightened” mind to come along and cause you to doubt the veracity and the integrity of Scripture. 
  • Scripture is infallible (2 Tim. 3:16-17).  This means that it is a perfect guide for a Christian to place his confidence in.  All Christians ought to read it and they should demand that their pastors preach the Word clearly!  The Word of God is true and trustworthy.
  • Scripture is inspired (2 Tim. 3:16; 2 Peter 1:20-21).  It is to be preached (Deut. 18:18; Matt. 1:21; 2 Tim. 4:1-5).

-Lastly, I am passing linking some old Barnabas Blog entries that deal with Scripture and its importance and why it should be preached in churches. 

Resources for reading the Bible and MP3 downloads of theBible.
Resources for reading the Bible—Different Translations.
Resources for reading the Bible—Scripture Memorization.

Thanks for reading. . .


More tomorrow. . . 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Characters from Pilgrim's Progress -- Evangelist

-
Image
Returning to John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress , I want to look at another one of his characters.  This book over the years has been one I return to regularly and read various scenes from because even though it was written in 1678 still has a profound grip on presenting human behavior in an incredible way.  It was recommended to me by Brother Harrell in Bridge City a number of years ago.  It is rare to dig into this allegory about a man on a path toward the Celestial City and not come away with some spiritual benefit. The next character to assess is a man named Evangelist.  This character shows us the impact that a godly pastor/preacher/teacher can have on one traveling the Christian path.  It is compelling how that Bunyan begins the book by telling us that it is a story of a man who is walking through the wilderness of this world.  If ever there were a phrase that could sum up what we are doing as we walk out the Christian life, it would certainly ha...
Read more

Characters from Pilgrim's Progress -- Valiant for Truth

-
Image
There are aspects of John Bunyan’s famous allegory Pilgrim’s Progress that have more details as you read on through the second portion of it concerning Christian’s wife and children who flee from the City of Destruction.  As their story unfolds, we read about some events that Christian went through but is not as detailed in the first half of the story as he is relating a first person account.  The story told by one of those characters in the second half is who I want us to visit with now.  The character is Valiant for Truth.  What a powerful name that Bunyan picks out for this young man, this young soldier, this young minister.  Bunyan is playing off Jeremiah 9:3 where the weeping prophet notes that there are some who aren’t valiant for the truth.  One of the chief characteristics of John Bunyan is pointed out by Charles Spurgeon and it is observed very clearly in this segment of the allegory.  Spurgeon noted that in reading all of Bunyan’s works an...
Read more

OSTINATO RIGORE

-
Image
Leonardo da Vinci was a man who marked the world far beyond his lifetime.  He made some valuable contributions to the hometown he grew up in.  But it was his drawings that would outlive him.  The principle behind electric doors that are present at department stores was one of his ideas.  The principle behind the lamps and bulbs that have the ability to operate with varying degrees of power was another of his ideas.  I am certain that most people are familiar with his drawings of what he called “flying machines.”  These drawings would be proven true later on as the field of physics and the study of aerodynamics developed.  While some would categorize da Vinci as a genius, from various biographies it is clear that da Vinci had a gifted mind but it was not what many would classify today as an exceptional one.  So what was it that separated da Vinci from the rest of his fellows both in his time capsule and those beyond it?  It was a princi...
Read more