Who Are We?

"...O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? - Romans 9:20

I would like to share a few brief thoughts on this particular verse today.  We hear a lot of people today questioning God as to why He permitted this or permitted that.  We also hear questioning God, even among Christians, as to why God did something a particular way or why He did not do something.

The Bible says in Romans 11:33 "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!"  How can anyone scrutinize God?  On what grounds can we as His creation justify scrutinizing God as legitimate?  Think about what the Lord is saying here through the Apostle Paul.  Are we serious?  Are we really going to scrutinize and question how God governs?

Before we decide that we are going to question God and before we decide that we know best, there are some realities that we must be willing to face first.  Do you and I realize how small and insignificant we really are in the grand scheme of things?  Do we realize that we are not even able to comprehend our own lives?  We can't comprehend or even begin to understand our own shortcomings, our failures, why we are so drawn to sin, or why certain things in our life hold such a grip over us.  In light of all of these things, how are any of us in a position to question and scrutinize God?

The reality is that when we begin to question and scrutinize God in this manner that we are committing sin.  We are never promised that we will always understand why the Lord does things a certain way or why He permits certain things to happen, but we are promised that Jesus Christ will walk with us through it all every step of the way.  In the end, when we are spending eternity worshiping at the feet of Jesus Christ, none of these things will even matter or ever enter into our thoughts.

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, help my today to not question why, help me to not to scrutinize Your governing of this world's affairs.  Help me Father in childlike faith to simply trust You with all my heart and soul.  Forgive me for the many times that I have sinned against You in my lack of faith when I questioned and scrutinized You.  Give me the strength to always look to You Lord!  In Jesus name, Amen!

The Deception Of Satan

"Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went forth, and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am he. And Judas also, which betrayed him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground. Then asked he them again, Whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you that I am he: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way: That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none." - John 18:3-9

Many of us are familiar with this passage of Scripture in John 18. Our Lord is in Gethsemane praying as Judas is on his way with a band of officers to betray the Lord. I want to just take a few minutes to show how powerful Satan can be when it comes to deceiving people.

In verse 4 Jesus asks the officers whom they seek and they answered that they were seeking Jesus of Nazareth. Our Lord answers them and says "I am he." The Bible tells us in verse 6 that as soon as Jesus said "I am he" that the officers went backward and fell to the ground. Then Jesus asks them again whom they seek and they tell him they seek Jesus of Nazareth. Our Lord says to them "I have told you that I am he." It is very important to note that Jesus uses the words "I am he" because the words "I AM" are very significant to the Jew. In the book of Exodus when Moses asks God who shall he say sent him to the children of Israel to deliver them from bondage, God tells Moses to tell them I AM hath sent me unto you. Jesus Christ by saying "I am he" was proclaiming His deity to the officers. Notice in verse 6 that when he spoke those words all of the officers went backward and fell to the ground. According to many commentators there were probably anywhere from 500 to 1,000 men that were in that band of officers.

Here is the thought that I want us to ponder on for a few minutes. Think about what has just happened in verse 6. Anywhere from 500 to 1,000 men have just fallen backwards to the ground after Jesus said the words "I am he." We have just seen the power and deity of Jesus Christ in this act yet there is no affect on the band of officers. In fact Christ asks them again whom they seek, then they give the same answer, and Jesus tells them a second time "I am he." Just think about how powerful Satan can be when it comes to deceiving people. Here we have people that were eyewitnesses to the deity of Christ and yet there was no change or affect on their lives recorded in Scripture.

It is the same in our society today. Even with many Christians we underestimate the power of Satan when it comes to his ability to deceive. Satan is more powerful than we give him credit for many times. Even Michael the Archangel did not try to take on Satan directly, he said "The Lord rebuke thee." The Bible tells us that even Satan is transformed into an angel of light. Adam and Eve and personal and intimate fellowship with the Lord everyday in the Garden of Eden and they both were deceived by Satan. We are no different than Adam and Eve or the band of officers when it comes to Satan's ability to deceive us. I pray that we will not allow Satan to deceive us when it comes to things in our spiritual lives.