Bible Reading: Isaiah 13-17
Isaiah 14:13-14For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Satan wants God's seat. That is the bottom line. When he came to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the events of Isaiah 14 had already taken place. He lied to them saying they could be like gods. That is what he wants as well. He wants to be like God. Isn't it interesting that Satan would say he wanted to be 'like' the most High. Why didn't he say he wanted to be greater than God?
The reason is in the very nature of God. He is the Greatest. Even the most sinister villain of all cannot conceive in his evil mind anything greater than God. The title "Most High" says it all! This is who God is - he is the Highest.
This is why Satan wants his worship and why we must worship God alone. It is incredibly foolish to worship anything lesser than the Most High. There are an infinite number of idols of lesser degree. They are not creators. They cannot redeem the soul. So why would anyone want to give them worship? It does not make sense.
Even in the setting of his throne, Satan could only set his sights on getting it above the stars of God. It didn't even enter into his diabolical mind to set a throne higher than God's throne. There is no higher place! All he could do was try and usurp God's authority. He couldn't even dream of being greater.
The Bible says:
John 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
The Father is seeking worshippers. So is Satan. He wanted the worship of Jesus!
Matthew 4:9-10 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
The answer from the mouth of the Son of God is the answer of every true Christ follower and worshipper - worship the Lord thy God! Don't allow the lesser to grab your attention. The Father is seeking worshippers. Let's be those worshippers who try with our limited understanding and faltering lives to give all of our worship to the One True and Living God - Jesus Christ!
In Christ,
Rody
Monday, July 16, 2012
Friday, July 6, 2012
The Lord is able to give thee much more than this
Bible Reading: 2 Kings 14; 2 Chronicles 25
2 Chronicles 25:6-9 He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel for an hundred talents of silver. 7 But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for the Lord is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim. 8 But if thou wilt go, do it, be strong for the battle: God shall make thee fall before the enemy: for God hath power to help, and to cast down. 9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this.
Amaziah, king of Judah started out good as a king. However, he apparently was not a man of prayer because he did not ask God's counsel before making decisions. He was going to war against Edom and he hired 100,000 men of Israel to go and fight with him.
It was not God's plan for Judah to make covenants and partnerships with the apostate Israel. When God sent the prophet to Amaziah he told him that God was not with Israel. He warned him that he would fall if he went into battle alongside Israel.
Amaziah's question was about the bottom line. What about the money he had paid to hire them? The man of God's answer is very important.
"The Lord is able to give thee much more than this."
In the economy of God, it is not about earning. It is not about acquiring. It is about receiving! God gives and he is able to give more than you can imagine.
The Bible reminds us of this in the New Testament.
1 Corinthians 4:7 For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?
What do you have that you did not receive? We are the recipients of God's grace. We ask for the things we need and God is the giver of good gifts. He is able to give us not only what we need but above and beyond all we could even imagine. Jesus says:
Matthew 7:7-8 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
However, the Bible reminds us that a right heart and right motives are necessary when we pray to God.
James 4:2-3 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
As followers of Christ, we need to know that he is the giver and we are recipients of his grace. The Lord is able!
Ephesians 3:20-21 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
In Christ,
Rody
2 Chronicles 25:6-9 He hired also an hundred thousand mighty men of valour out of Israel for an hundred talents of silver. 7 But there came a man of God to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for the Lord is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of Ephraim. 8 But if thou wilt go, do it, be strong for the battle: God shall make thee fall before the enemy: for God hath power to help, and to cast down. 9 And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this.
Amaziah, king of Judah started out good as a king. However, he apparently was not a man of prayer because he did not ask God's counsel before making decisions. He was going to war against Edom and he hired 100,000 men of Israel to go and fight with him.
It was not God's plan for Judah to make covenants and partnerships with the apostate Israel. When God sent the prophet to Amaziah he told him that God was not with Israel. He warned him that he would fall if he went into battle alongside Israel.
Amaziah's question was about the bottom line. What about the money he had paid to hire them? The man of God's answer is very important.
"The Lord is able to give thee much more than this."
In the economy of God, it is not about earning. It is not about acquiring. It is about receiving! God gives and he is able to give more than you can imagine.
The Bible reminds us of this in the New Testament.
1 Corinthians 4:7 For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?
What do you have that you did not receive? We are the recipients of God's grace. We ask for the things we need and God is the giver of good gifts. He is able to give us not only what we need but above and beyond all we could even imagine. Jesus says:
Matthew 7:7-8 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
However, the Bible reminds us that a right heart and right motives are necessary when we pray to God.
James 4:2-3 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
As followers of Christ, we need to know that he is the giver and we are recipients of his grace. The Lord is able!
Ephesians 3:20-21 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21 Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
In Christ,
Rody
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
A noise of chariots
Bible Reading: 2 Kings 5-8
2 Kings 7:6 For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.
The Syrians had the Israelites hemmed in and there was a terrible famine in the land. Because of a lack of supplies, the inflation was astronomical. There was very little food and people were getting desperate.
The king of Israel thought it was the fault of Elisha, but Elisha said that it would all end tomorrow.
2 Kings 7:1-2 Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. 2 Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
As the Israelites sat inside the walls of the city, the Syrians were camped outside besieging the city. Four lepers sat outside the gate and the finally decided that it would be better to go and see what was happening in the camp of the Syrians than to perish sitting outside the gate of Samaria. When they came into the camp of the Syrians, they found them all gone and the camp and all their goods abandoned.
It turns out that in the night, the Lord had made them to hear the sound of chariots and they assumed the Israelites had hired another army to come and rescue them. The truth of the matter is that God miraculously delivered Israel by causing them to hear something that wasn't there!
God can do anything. Even when it seems that there is no way, there is a way. God can make a way. Trust him!
In Christ,
Rody
2 Kings 7:6 For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us.
The Syrians had the Israelites hemmed in and there was a terrible famine in the land. Because of a lack of supplies, the inflation was astronomical. There was very little food and people were getting desperate.
The king of Israel thought it was the fault of Elisha, but Elisha said that it would all end tomorrow.
2 Kings 7:1-2 Then Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the Lord; Thus saith the Lord, To morrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria. 2 Then a lord on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
As the Israelites sat inside the walls of the city, the Syrians were camped outside besieging the city. Four lepers sat outside the gate and the finally decided that it would be better to go and see what was happening in the camp of the Syrians than to perish sitting outside the gate of Samaria. When they came into the camp of the Syrians, they found them all gone and the camp and all their goods abandoned.
It turns out that in the night, the Lord had made them to hear the sound of chariots and they assumed the Israelites had hired another army to come and rescue them. The truth of the matter is that God miraculously delivered Israel by causing them to hear something that wasn't there!
God can do anything. Even when it seems that there is no way, there is a way. God can make a way. Trust him!
In Christ,
Rody
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