The devil Made Me Do It!

“Can satan read our minds?” someone once asked. “It sure feels like it,” was my reply.

Yes. It certainly feels like it. Virtually every Christian knows the feeling, but Paul corrects that type of thinking. He begins in Romans 7:7. There Paul explains that the Law, the Commandments, the Rules to which we are exposed not only show us what we should and should not be doing. They also trigger in us a strong desire to do what we’re told to NOT do. As everyone knows, there is nothing like being told to not do something to make us really want to do it.

Why is that? Some people excuse their behaviours by saying, “The devil made me do it.” Paul points us somewhere else for the answer. He continues in verses 14 - 25 -

"I know that all God's commands are spiritual, but I'm not. Isn't this also your experience?" Yes. I'm full of myself - after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary. But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge. I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question? The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different.”

Did you notice? Nowhere in these verses is satan mentioned as the origin of our temptation. Nowhere is he blamed for putting wrong thoughts into our heads. Why? Because in this case, satan isn’t the problem. When evil and vile thoughts spring to mind, it isn’t satan’s fault. When good intentions are challenged in our minds by doubts, it isn’t satan that’s mucking about in our heads. When you pray for forgiveness and another voice says that you don’t deserve it, that’s not satan.

Are we changed as Christians? No doubt. Are we free from slavery to sin? Absolutely. Are we free from our sinful nature drawing us or tempting us to sin? Sadly no. We don’t need to blame others for our faults. Nor do we need to pretend that satan is putting wrong thoughts into our heads. We are hardwired to do that all on our own. It’s our nature. It’s the character type into which we were all born. That is why Jesus came on a rescue mission to earth. We are hopelessly lost and unable to pull ourselves out of the crevasse of sin into which we’ve fallen. Jesus came to give His life so that we could be brought safely home. Jesus brought us freedom from sin, Freedom from guilt, Freedom to live in paradise with our Creator. God is great and God is good.

Just back from a wonderful holiday in the Rockies. Travelling with five kids under six is a bit of a trip in itself. Nevertheless, God is an awesome God and the Universe declares His handiwork. In hindsight, the holiday was essential to bring to my awareness what a colossal waste of time it was to go deep into the black hole of the atheist mind-set; not to mention ignoring my family. What a waste of energy. What a waste of effort when I could have been doing almost anything that would have been more profitable. Even this blog, now seems clearly to have been placed way too high on my priority list. At any rate, that’s going to change, from this day forward.

Jesus

Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the Child of a peasant girl. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty, and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.
He never wrote a book.
He never held an office.
He never owned a home.
He never had a family.
He never went to college.
He never put His foot inside a big city.
He never travelled two hundred miles from the place where He was born.
He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness.
He had no credentials but Himself.
He had nothing to do with this world except the naked power of His Divine manhood.
While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him.
He was turned over to His enemies.
He went through the mockery of a trial.
He was nailed to a Cross between two thieves.
His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth while He a dying - and that was His coat.
When He was dead He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Such was His human life - He then rose from the dead.

Two millennium have come and gone and today He is the Centerpiece of the human race and the Leader of the column of progress. I am within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that One Solitary Life.
James C. Helfey.

Jesus

“I marvel that whereas the ambitious dreams of myself, Caesar, and Alexander, should have vanished into thin air, a Judean peasant, Jesus, should be able to stretch His hands across the destinies of men and nations. I know men, and I tell you the Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I myself have found empires. But upon what do these creations of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded his empire upon love, and to this very day millions would die for him.
Napoleon Bonaparte

What Would You Do If You Were God?

Jesus brings to the world of violence, hatred and sorrow something that is incomprehensible to virtually everyone, believer and non believer alike. When it comes to the problem of evil, a problem that oozes from every pore of our worldly existence, the overwhelming majority of people would say that the solution is to simply do away with sin, to do away with evil. After all, God could do this if He chose to do so. In fact, Jesus promises that there will indeed be an end to evil at some point in the future. For now however, His plan includes something entirely original.


Jesus doesn’t bring freedom from evil. Jesus doesn’t abolish evil. Jesus came with the express purpose of transforming evil from something destructive to life, to something that can, through the power of God, revolutionize one’s life and one’s character. This was first seen in the crucifixion of Jesus. The crucifixion, something that satan intended to destroy Jesus, was instead used by Jesus to destroy the power of sin and satan, and to make a spectacle of satan and his followers.

From that point onward, the transforming power of Jesus has been available to anyone who believes in Him as Lord and Saviour. Examples of this revolutionary use of evil is seen where people have been caught up in totalitarian governments. This transformation has been seen in the lives of prisoners, the ill and the dying. It is available to the slave and the free, the rich and the poor, to male and to female. Jesus doesn’t ignore sin. He changes the ability of sin to corrode and destroy us.

That is why, as 1st Corinthians 15:55 says, "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" That is why, in relation to this victory over the power of death, believers can say from experience, “We do not grieve as those who have no hope.” 1st Thessalonians 4:13.

Kids

My grandson’s dad raises horses. For his third birthday Wyatt was given a horse. One day Wyatt was walking around outside eating an apple. A neighbour came up to him and said, “I understand that you have a horse.” Wyatt looked at him and said, “No sir. It’s an apple.”

Breaking News:

Police in Elbow, Mississippi report that a 5 year-old girl has gone missing from her home. Tabitha Roberts, portrayed by her parents as “Not very nice,” was last seen about four months ago. “It dawned on us this morning, stated the father, Nicky Roberts, “that this kid ain’t coming home.” Melissa Roberts, the girls aunt, who did not want to be identified . . . . . . . . oops, the girl’s aunt, who did not want to be identified stated that as soon as the parents figured out that something might have gone wrong they finished their breakfast, tidied up the living room, did the dishes, swept the floor and immediately called the police. Tabitha’s mom, Rene Roberts said that Tabitha was last seen wearing “Something blue I think. It was either the top or possibly jeans. It’s been so long, who can remember? She was riding her bike. I’m pretty sure of that.”

If anyone knows the whereabouts of Tabitha, who is described as “kinda funny looking, with scraggy hair and a wonky eye,” they are encouraged to call police pretty soon. Police say that although Tabitha isn’t gorgeous, and even though she doesn't possess a pleasant personality like most missing little girls, they are probably going to look for her anyway. According to Police, if there are any people who don’t have anything better to do, and who would like to volunteer in a search for Tabitha, they are more than welcome to organise some kind of a group and go do that.

In other News . . .