Love Letter

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” Hebrews 4:12

It is critical for believers to have a solid understanding of their faith. Believers at times, have a tendency to view salvation as a commodity and because of this reason a meaningful relationship is never truly established with the very One who created us. True believers stand firm in the good and bad times because their faith has a deep-rooted foundation, a solid rock that is Jesus Christ and His Truth.

As Christians, we often times look to other things searching for answers when things go awry. Scripture tells us “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.” Psalms 118:8. Sometimes we are discouraged from turning to or studying the Bible because we begin to think that it is just a book. We often forget that it is a love letter to us from God and represents the mind of Christ.

I read a story of a young woman who began to read a book but laid it down too soon, finding that it was dull and hard to read. Not long afterward, she met a man and fell in love. As they spent time together, she found that he was the author of the book she had so quickly given up on and began to read it again. This time she read it cover to cover with much interest and enthusiasm.

Why now did she find it so interesting? It was because she knew and loved the author. It is the same with God. When we come to know Christ and His Word, the Bible will become exciting and alive to us. We begin to recognize that it is His personal message written just for us and our understanding of it will change everything. Knowing and loving God and allowing His truth to take root in our hearts will give us the firm foundation we need to stand against the storms and temptations that come our way.

You are Invited

You are invited to enjoy a life filled with worry, confusion, misery, hatred, anger, bloodshed, poverty and injustice.

Suppose you received a beautiful invitation with your named so exquisitely written across the front with those words written inside? Would you accept such an offer? Would these words entice you? How many of us would see it as an outrageously disturbing invitation? I think it is safe to assume that we all seek to live a life that is free of such pain and discouragement yet many of us find ourselves caught in the middle of this very place. We do not purposely choose this kind of a life but we oftentimes surrender ourselves, if even only for a moment, to the invitation presented by Satan. He is unyielding with the attacks and quite relentless to get his way. Every day we find our minds bombarded by every weapon he has at his disposal.

We are engaged in warfare-a battle that rages every day and does not end. We can choose to put on the the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18) and stand fast on His Word but we will not put a complete stop to the end of this war. As long as we are living, our minds will remain Satan’s battlefield. Most problems arise from our thinking patterns and this is where Satan finds the most victory. He entices with the lure of what we will gain and what will feel good not showing us the harm or injustice that it will bring.

Eve gave in to the first temptation and ate of the fruit from the tree of life. Satan used the appeal of being like God to entice her with the fruit. Just imagine if he had said, “Eat of this fruit and you will bring to yourself and everyone else complete misery and anger and hatred and so on.” I feel certain that Eve would have run the other way if presented with that kind of an offer, but instead he promised her that she would be like God and know good and evil, which is so much more appealing and quite clever. Satan did not tempt Eve to do something bad but instead said it in such a way that what she heard sounded good. The true appeal of evil is not to do harm but instead to gain something.

Satan’s temptation worked on Eve and she lost the very first battle of the mind but because we have the power of the Holy Spirit living within us, we can win!

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

1 Corinthians 10:13