Evil Will Deceive

This seems like a pretty simple concept to grasp, “evil will deceive”, and it is. But read that again and really take it in.

“⁴But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. ⁵For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” – Genesis 3:4-5 (ESV)

In some respects, did the serpent lie to the woman? The serpent used literal connotations to deceive. The woman was thinking of literal death and death from the life that she knew. The serpent used words to distort meaning, knowing that the woman would be deceived.

There are many other examples of this deception that I thought of this morning. Such as, is it really wrong to drive fast, other than the rules say don’t? What is so wrong about eating a few grapes at the grocery store without buying any, we need to taste them for ripeness, right? What is the big deal with shooting fireworks during a burn ban in the area, you have a water hose right there with you?

All of the above seem as though they might be innocent enough, yet they are being restricted by too many rules and/or regulations. If doing any of them, is anyone really hurt in the moment, are the really that bad? Yes, they are. Not because they will cause harm to anyone in the moment, but because they go against that which we know to be the rules.

When the woman was deceived into eating of the tree of good and evil, she knew the rules and they were not even that restrictive. The rule was two trees being forbidden, all others were acceptable to partake from and encouraged for sustenance. God had give instructions to abstain from these two trees only and that should have been enough. But the serpent was there to get her to do that one thing she was not to do.

This happens in my life all the time. I am deceived into doing the one thing that I am not to do. Whether it is diving into social media for an extended time, waiting to accomplish tasks until it is almost too late, or simply avoiding something with excuses as to why I am not able to do them (like exercising).

There is nothing that I can do to stop the deception that comes from evil. The serpent is going to be there working to separate me from God at every step of the way. But what I can do is know. I can know that the serpent is there. I can know that I will be deceived. I can know that defeating evil is possible. I can know that light overcomes darkness. I can know that when I have the Light of the LORD in me, I will overcome the deception and ultimately evil.

What deception are you experiencing in your life? Are you giving in to that deception? What if you were to recognize that you will be deceived and that there is a way to avoid it, and that way is through the Light of the LORD?

God Will and God Does

“¹⁸Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit fore him.” and “²¹So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. ²²And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.” – Genesis 2:18 & 21-22 (ESV)

I have shifted my study to the word “will” and read this morning in Genesis about the creation. All that God created/creates, He does so because that is what He said/says He will do.

There is deliberateness in His actions. There was a need for man to have a helper and so He made it so. He declared “I will” and then “He made”. He did because He said He would.

Here is the truth of God’s Word. When God says it, we can take it to the bank as it will pay out. I have trust in the truth of God’s Word and as I sit here in the mornings and study His word, I know that what I am looking at is right and true.

What is your belief in God’s Word? Do you trust that what He says, He will do? What if you did, and allowed God to show you the truth in His declarations to do something by doing them?

Overcome Thanks to God

“⁴Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” – 1 John 4:4 (ESV)

As Christians having accepted Jesus Christ as our savior, He is in us. As you see in the above verse, He is greater than those in the world. This lets me know that with Him in me, there is nothing that I cannot overcome. And the evil in the world is no exception.

There is evil there is good in the world. The evil is powerful and speaks to the world to which it listens. But the good comes from God and when good speaks whoever knows God listens. Notice the difference in the speaking and listening impacts. Those who know God listen to Him and those who do not know God, listen to the world.

“⁶We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” – 1 John 4:6 (ESV)

Thanks to God, we know the difference in truth and “error”. Even with minimal maturity in Christ as noted in verse four above, “little children”, we still are armed with Christ in our heart and lives to overcome. We know God and will listen to Him and those who are from God.

I have to remember though to remain in and with God. It is my daily consistent counsel with Him which gives me strength to overcome. When I am connected with God, I am connected with good and good overcomes evil, God overcomes evil and therefore I overcome evil. I overcome thanks to God.

What are you relying on to overcome? Are you relying on your own strength? What if you relied on the good that is in you thanks to God being in you as He is greater than all?

Overcome Through Maturity

Accepting Christ as my savior was great and certainly needed in my life, yet this is only the first step in overcoming the evil one. This morning I am in 1 John and have been reminded of the stages of Christian maturity.

“¹²I am writing to you, little children,

because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.

¹³I am writing to you, fathers,

because you know him who is from the beginning.

I am writing to you, young men,

because you have overcome the evil one.

I write to you, children,

because you know the Father.

¹⁴I write to you, fathers,

because you know him who is from the beginning.

I write to you, young men,

because you are strong,

and the word of God abides in you,

and you have overcome the evil one.”

– 1 John 2:12-14 (ESV)

First, you have the “children” who have just learned of Christ and are beginning their relationship with Him. They have no history with Him and only now have opened their eyes and are on the journey to spiritual maturity. This can be the young or the older that have found Christ as their savior.

Second, you have the “fathers” who have been in the faith for some time and are fully comfortable as they work through the world. These know that Christ is in control and have dedicated themselves to His mission in their lives each day for some time. Again, this does not have to be the older, but those who have spent valuable time with Christ for some time.

Third, you have the “young men” who have been learning in their relationship with Christ, and yet still find persecution at every turn. They are building their strength in Christ and every day will grow stronger and stronger to overcome the evil one. These again may be youthful or older, but they are in the growing phase of maturity.

The further along we get in our maturity, the more fluid will be our strength to overcome. It does not mean that we will not face persecution or challenges as the evil one is around every corner. It is the light of the LORD in us that will overcome the darkness and keep the evil one at bay. It is our maturity in Christ through His Word as we meditate on it day and night that gives us the strength and wisdom to overcome. Whether you are the “little child”, the “father”, or the “young man” it is always the time to continue in our growth to and into maturity in Christ through His Word.

“¹Blessed is the man

who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

²but his delight is in the law of the Lord,

and on his law he meditates day and night.”

— Psalm 1:1-2 (ESV)

Where are you finding your strength to overcome the evil one? Are you looking to yourself and believe that you have already arrived with the strength? What if you were to realize that you are still maturing and should look to continued growth and maturity through God’s Word?

Overcome Evil with Good

This morning as I continue my study of the word “overcome” I come again to the overcoming of evil as I did once before. I found that the darkness (evil) does not overcome the light of the LORD. And this morning I am reminded that we overcome evil (darkness) with good and that good is the LORD.

“²¹Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” and “²Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” – Romans 12:21 & 2 (ESV)

I know, again I quote verses in reverse order of their writings. Verse 21 tells of how to overcome but, without the context of verse 2 there is some lacking in what is good. I learned a lot of years ago that in the study of God’s Word, it is important to read before and after the verse of focus to fully understand the context so as to apply our lives to God’s Word as opposed to fitting Him into our lives.

I need good in my life to overcome evil. Where does that good come from except from the LORD. I have to be in His Word daily to understand just where He would have me go and what He would have me do. When I am focused on the will of God for and in my life, I am able to find the good in all things. With that good I will be able to shine bright for the LORD and the darkness will be cast away. Evil has no chance against the good that is Jesus Christ. And it is up to me to bring that good to the world always.

Now, I know that I will be beaten down from time to time. I have in my past felt as though I am not getting anywhere and that the whole world was/is against me. Lori and I have been in the situation where we feel as though God may not be with us. We felt as though the evil one was winning. But we keep with Christ, looking to Him for guidance and comfort and over time, He brings us through to the other side. We have overcome the evil as we have stayed with God and the good that He is. We have found ourselves better for coming through and overcoming.

“⁵I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5 (ESV)

God is good and good overcomes evil. For me I have to remain in Him and He will remain in me so that I can do all things.

How are you overcoming evil? Are you looking for the physical to break you free? What if you remained in God who is good and allowed Him to overcome evil?

Jesus did Overcome

Easter for us as Christians is the time to celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I am so joyful that His death was capped off with His overcoming that death with resurrection. Yet, this morning I was reminded that Jesus overcame before He died and rose again.

“³²Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. ³³I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:32-33 (ESV)

In this passage, Jesus is speaking with His apostles and explaining to them plainly who He is. He is giving them no doubt as to His deity and that He is not in need of anything from this world. He says to them in verse 33, “I have overcome the world”. This statement and interaction with the apostles comes before His death and resurrection. Jesus had been building up to this moment with them for some time and this was the beginning of His showing the world that He had overcome, but going to the cross as an innocent man and dying for you and me so that we would not have to die in our sin.

Jesus was hated. Where He was followed and celebrated for the work He was doing, He was looked at as a charismatic speaker who was taking the attention away from those in religious power. He was hated by them before they hated you and me as we were the followers and may still be swayed back.

“¹⁸If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. ¹⁹If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” – John 15:18-19 (ESV)

Jesus was not of the world and therefor was not under the rule of the world. He overcame the world well before His death and resurrection. Jesus knew however that we needed a more firm example of our acceptance and that He had overcome. So, He died, and then was raised again. I now can see with my eyes that He had overcome this world. Jesus is greater than all and was not constrained by this world, He ruled over it through His love for you and me and His sacrifice for us.

What is your view of Jesus overcoming the world? Were you of the thoughts that it was His death and resurrection where He overcame? What if you look at it from the perspective that He overcame and ruled this world and was crucified to demonstrate His rule over the world?

The Darkness Does NOT Overcome the Light

This morning I am shifting to study the word “overcome” and I begin in John as he speaks of the light that is the LORD.

“⁴In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” – John 1:4-5 (ESV)

When reading this verse and studying of the light of the LORD, it is clear to me that the darkness is a powerful thing. Darkness is all around. If we are not aware, darkness is even disguised as good. Take the example (I want to be clear in that this is an example of evil appearing good and should only be taken as such) of the Holocaust. Those on the side of Hitler believed that to make things better there needed to be a cleansing. When we think about things, a cleansing can be good, but as we know, in this instance it was not good and was filled with darkness. So, we have to be very careful with darkness as it is very deceitful and powerful.

But, there is one thing that will not be overcome by darkness and that is the light. In its simplest form, a lit candle, light provides the ability to see in the darkness. But, the light that is the LORD, is way more powerful. No matter the darkness that comes, the light of the LORD will not be overcome. Take the example above of the Holocaust. The darkness was destructive and powerful to the point that there was despair all around. But the light of the LORD won out in the end. The Nazis were defeated and that darkness was no more.

Make no mistake, darkness will continue to fight. Whether it is theft, drugs, murder, or even those things more subtle like turning attention away from the LORD. Darkness is not going to give up. But, we have the light that is the LORD on our side and He will not be overcome. He will root out the darkness so that all will see. We only have to open our eyes and see.

What are your thoughts on darkness and the light? Are you even aware of the power of darkness? What if you were, through your belief in the light, realized that darkness does not have a chance to win?

Qualities that Lead the Escape of Sinful Desire

“⁵For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, ⁶and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, ⁷and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.” – 2 Peter 1:5-7 (ESV)

And there they are, the qualities that I have to undertake each and every moment. I notice this morning that they begin with faith and build up to the quality of love. What a great quality to have. We have to love. After all, it is the top two commandments.

“³⁷And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” – Matthew 22:37-39 (ESV)

Jesus, when asked, identified love as the important part of those commandments and it is no wonder that Peter identifies it as one of the key qualities to escape sinful desire. But, it is not just about knowing the qualities, we are called to live them out.

“⁸For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. ¹⁰Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.” – 2 Peter 1:8-10 (ESV)

Peter lets known that the qualities, where having them is important, it is more important to live them out. And notice in the second half of verse 10 that “if you practice these qualities you will never fall”. This fall is not related to the experience of hardship or persecution, but that you will escape the trap of sinful desire.

“³His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, ⁴by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” – 2 Peter 1:3-4 (ESV)

So here we have it. Immerse into the qualities that are good, faith, virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love. They begin with faith and the pinnacle is love knowing that the top two commandments are rooted in love. When I am living these qualities daily, I am able to escape sinful desire and inherit the kingdom of God.

“¹¹For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” – 2 Peter 1:11 (ESV)

What are you doing to escape sinful desire? Are you looking to simply be good? What if you lived daily the qualities above knowing that they will keep you from sinful desire?

Own Desire Leads to Death

Wow Trevor, no holding back this morning are you. Well, it is the truth that hurts the most once it is realized.

“¹⁴But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” – James 1:14-15 (ESV)

And there you have it, no, I am not holding back, only presenting the truth as found in God’s Word. James is writing in this passage of the “Testing of Your Faith” (according to my English Standard Version). But, notice that here he is not speaking of testing, but tempting and when reading the full passage we find that indeed God does not tempt us, but our faith will be tested.

Back to the verses above, James tells us that we will be tempted, but that temptation comes from our own desires. When we are presented with the what the world offers, we are tempted to accept which takes our eyes off of Jesus. And when our eyes are off of Jesus, our hearts will eventually follow and we are led to sin. I ask the LORD daily to keep my hands and heart active with His work to avoid the wandering eyes that will see the temptations of the world and lead to sin.

As we see in verse 15 above, that sin that comes from the temptation of the world ultimately leads in our death. We will find ourselves focused on our own desire in the world and will lose ourselves to it.

“²⁴For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” – Luke 9:24 (ESV)

Jesus said that when we are in the business of our own lives, we are actually out of business. But as we give ourselves to Him fully we will be in business forever. I have to remember to desire the LORD and not the world as presented. I have to stay vigilant in my looking to Jesus or I risk giving into the temptation of the world which will lead to sin and will ultimately end in death.

What is it that you desire? Are you finding yourself tempted by the things of this world? What if you were to focus your desire on the LORD and His work to avoid the temptation of sin which will lead to death?

Desire Through Faith

“¹⁶But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.” — Hebrews 11:16 (ESV)

They is all of those who were righteous in the eyes of God, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah. There are/were of course many others who were considered righteous and all of them were fully faithful to the LORD. They gave of themselves fully for things that seemed impossible, as they knew in their hearts that they would be delivered at the had of God. Each of these desired something better, a heavenly better and knew it would be provided through their faith.

What a great testament to me these are. They demonstrate their full faith and devotion to the LORD and in return, they knew that He would provide. There was not expectation of how, only that He would. They placed full faith in the LORD to provide for their desire for better.

I have to use this in my own life. I have to remember to place my full faith in the LORD, knowing that He will provide. I cannot expect things to go as I plan them, only that they are resolved. I have to be open to how the LORD will provide and simply do the work he has assigned me and live in faith that it will lead to the provision for better.

What a great other view at the idea that I should only desire the LORD. In this instance, I am to desire better, but only as God sees fit for me and have full faith that He will indeed provide. My desire is rooted in the LORD and His plan for me. I can want for things and hope that they will come. But my desire should be in the LORD and for things that will be better in His sight and know that through my faith in Him, I will get the better as He sees fit.

What do you desire? Are you putting all your hope into something that you want? What if you placed all your hope and faith in God knowing that He will provide the better that He has in store for you?