Part 11 (2/2)
Jesus instructs us to ”. . . stop being perpetually uneasy (anxious and worried) about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; or about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life greater [in quality] than food, and the body [far above and more excellent] than clothing?” (v. 25).
The first thing you need to remind yourself of is that you are living in disobedience when you allow anxieties to fill your mind. Jesus says, ”Don't do that.”
Second, remind yourself that when you worry, you're looking at the wrong things. In school, most of us were shown pictures that were optical illusions. If we looked at a picture one way, we saw a woman's face. If we looked at it differently, we saw a rose.
Think of that as a mindset. If you focus on Jesus and His loving arms stretched out to you, you live in peace. You know He's with you, and if He's with you, He will also take care of you. If you focus on the other picture, you see only problems, defeats, and discouragement. It really does depend on where you concentrate your attention.
The enemy knows that if he can feed your mind often enough and long enough with the wrong things, he can make you think about and feel only the wrong things. For instance, instead of being thankful that the Lord has been with you through many dark and troublesome times, you can begin to ask, ”How did I get here anyway? What am I doing in this fix? If G.o.d really loved me. . . .”
That's not the end of it. Once the devil starts to win in the area of poisoning your mind, he moves on, and before long, you're repeating Satan's words-words that not only tear you down, but also hurt and tear down others. Then Satan has a double victory-he's trapped you, and you've influenced others.
Jesus said to the people of His day, ”You offspring of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil (wicked)? For out of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man from his inner good treasure flings forth good things, and the evil man out of his inner evil storehouse flings forth evil things” (Matthew 12:34-35).
Those are strong, powerful words. They remind us that the devil starts with a whisper-just the smallest word of doubt in your ear. If you listen, his words get louder and you hear more things. Soon you unconsciously listen for his misdirection.
That leads you to speak the words in your heart, whatever they are. Once you speak, you move into action. You not only spoil your own relations.h.i.+p with G.o.d, but you become instruments to churn up doubts and fears in others.
There is only one way for you to win: Refuse to listen to Satan. As soon as you hear such words, you need to say, ”Satan, the Lord rebuke you. Stay out of my mind.”
Lord Jesus, thank You for Your words that remind me of the importance of my thoughts and my words. Please, I ask in Your name, fill my heart with such an abundance of peace and joy that the enemy can never infiltrate my mind. May my words reflect Your presence in my life. Amen.
67.
Seek G.o.d, Not Gifts In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night. And G.o.d said, Ask what I shall give you. . . . [Solomon said] So give Your servant an understanding mind and a hearing heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and bad.
-1 KINGS 3:5,9A A friend confessed to me one day, ”Instead of seeking G.o.d's face, I've been guilty of seeking G.o.d's gifts. Too many times I have been more excited about what He does for me than I've been about seeking His face and rejoicing in who He is.” She went on to say that she craved the blessings and wonderful things G.o.d did in her life. The Lord had used her in praying for the sick and had opened doors for her to minister to people.
We've all known ministers of the gospel who were truly blessed and used by G.o.d. We also know some of them who had great downfalls. What happened? I don't know all the details, but I know enough about Satan's tactics that I can explain the pattern.
G.o.d raises up servants-G.o.dly people who truly desire to serve Him and help others. They become successful, and perhaps that's when Satan first attacks them. He reminds them of who they are and how greatly G.o.d has used them. (Satan sometimes tells the truth to lead to a lie.) He encourages them to become even more successful or famous-whatever their weaknesses, he plays on those.
If they don't rebuke the evil voice, they soon push forward and seek greater spiritual gifts. They want to be the best-known healers in the world or the greatest evangelists. Too often, they don't hear G.o.d's quiet voice or sense His sadness as they push forward.
Before long, they want what G.o.d gives, but they don't really want G.o.d. That's one of Satan's oldest tricks. He tried to accuse G.o.d of bribing His followers. In the first chapter of Job, G.o.d called Job blameless and upright, one who feared G.o.d and shunned evil (see Job 1:8b).
”Then Satan answered the Lord, Does Job [reverently] fear G.o.d for nothing? Have You not put a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have conferred prosperity and happiness upon him in the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has, and he will curse You to Your face” (Job 1:9-11) Of course, we know that Job didn't give in to the devil. He had truly sought G.o.d and not His gifts. The book of Job tells of one hards.h.i.+p and trial after another, including the devil using his friends to plead with him to give up. Job never did quit because he sought G.o.d more than he sought His gifts.
By contrast, think of King Saul-Israel's first king. He was tall, handsome, and chosen by G.o.d. He could have been a great leader, but he allowed Satan to win the battle over his mind. Later, Saul was so possessed by evil spirits that he needed young David to play his lute to calm the troubled spirit. At the end of his life, Saul went to a witch for an answer because he knew G.o.d had departed from him. That's a man who yielded to the devil. He sought gifts and power more than he sought G.o.d.
Our heavenly Father delights in giving His children good things-but only if you seek after Him first. In the verses above, when Solomon asked for wisdom, G.o.d not only gave him wisdom but he commended him for not asking for long life or riches. And because he didn't ask for those things, G.o.d said, ”I'm going to give them to you anyway.” That's the generous way the Lord works. When you seek Him, He gives generously; when you seek only His gifts, you may receive those gifts, but you will also get an empty life. Or worse, you may allow Satan to advance.
Great and all-wise G.o.d, forgive me for looking at the wrong things. Help me to seek You, to yearn only for You and how I may please You. I want You to use me to serve You, but most of all, I want to know that my life pleases You. I ask for Your help, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
68.
D.V.
Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a city and spend a year there and carry on our business and make money. Yet you do not know [the least thing] about what may happen tomorrow. . . . You ought instead to say, If the Lord is willing, we shall live and we shall do this or that [thing].
-JAMES 4:13-15 He told me that he and his wife were missionaries to Chad, Africa, and then he said, ”We plan to return in January, D.V.”
I didn't know what D.V. meant, but I didn't say anything.
As he described his evangelism program for the interior of the country, he kept saying, ”D.V.”
Finally, I asked, ”What does D.V. mean?”
”It's a Latin phrase I learned in school, and it means a great deal to me,” he said. ”It stands for Deo volente, which means G.o.d willing.”
As we talked, I realized how seriously he meant D.V. He said he had great ideas about things he wanted to see happen in Chad, but more than that, he wanted to be sure his ideas were in line with G.o.d's. ”When I say, D.V., that's a reminder to me-it's my way of saying, 'This is what I'd like. Is it okay with You, Lord?'”
The missionary was totally in line with the words from the book of James, and I loved his humble att.i.tude. He didn't worry about the future, but as he looked ahead, he said, ”I like to remind myself that G.o.d is the One who decides.” He noted that far too many Christians plan their lives by what they want to do. It's as if they say, ”Okay, G.o.d, this is what I'm going to do. I hope You're okay with that.”
James calls that boasting! ”You boast [falsely] in your presumption and your self-conceit. All such boasting is wrong” (4:16).
G.o.d calls us to live-here and now-but to live one day at a time. There are a lot of boasting people out there-they decide what they want and expect everything to run smoothly. That can be a trick of Satan, as well. If he can get them to focus on tomorrow or next year, they don't have to deal with the problems in their lives right now. They can live in a world of only good things that will take place in the future. Isn't that like driving a car down the highway and ignoring what's right in front of us because we're focused on the traffic signal five blocks ahead? We're setting ourselves up for a wreck.
None of us knows what's ahead. We can think and plan, but it's up to G.o.d to make those plans happen. Few people seem to know how to live each day to the fullest. That means to live in the now and to enjoy life as it is. If we look ahead, we do so and say, ”G.o.d, show me Your will so that I don't boast or race ahead of You.”
Jesus promised us a life of abundance (see John 10:10). But we can't enter into that abundance if we're not giving our lives fully to Him. Don't spend today planning tomorrow and avoid the issues that confront you now. That is one of Satan's oldest tricks-to plan for tomorrow and to ignore today.
My heavenly Father, please help me live today. Whether I actually say the words D.V. or not, remind me that Your will is more important than anything in my life. Help me not to allow Satan to get me thinking so much about tomorrow that I fail to live today in a way that pleases You. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
69.
Casting Our Cares upon G.o.d Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of G.o.d, that in due time He may exalt you, casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.
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