Sometimes the enemy may send people into our lives to try to take us off the course God has us on. “And He spake that saying openly. And Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned about and looked on His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.” - Mark 8:32-33...Today's blog entry deals with not being deceived.
In the verse that preceded the verses I mentioned above, Jesus speaks of his death and resurrection. “And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”- Mark 8:31. Upon hearing this, Peter began rebuking Jesus. He did not want Jesus to die, however Jesus knew that it was necessary for Him to die in order for Him to bring salvation to mankind, and He rebuked Peter. On the outside looking in, someone who didn't fully understand the situation, may have thought to themselves, “why is Jesus rebuking Peter, Peter doesn't want to see Him die, isn't that a good thing”. However Jesus was looking at the big picture, and He knew that what Peter was saying was not from God, but rather from Satan.
“And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” - 2 Corinthians 11:14
It's important that we do not allow Satan to deceive us. He may not always attack the way that we expect him to. He's the father of lies (see John 8:44), and he has many different ways of carrying out his deception. One example people may think of, is a person that has recently gotten saved and has really been growing in their walk with God. They have gotten established in a good church and have been faithfully attending for the few months they have been saved. Then all of a sudden they start hearing from old friends they haven't heard from in months/years trying to pull them back into their former lifestyle. An outsider (that is a born again Christian) looking at a situation like this could obviously realize that the newly converted Christian should not go back to their former lifestyle. They should continue to live for Christ.
On the flip side, lets revisit that scenario again, with a different set of circumstances. The person has recently gotten saved (we'll say they've been saved for about 3 months). They've been growing in their walk with God, faithfully attending church. And then they come across some church going people that they went to high school with. The church going people are happy to hear that their former classmate is saved, and began to try to convince their former classmate to leave the church they are currently attending, and join their church. They begin to talk about how their Church is bigger, and has more activities for young people, etc. The newly converted Christian decides not leave the church they have been attending because they feel like it's God will for them to stay. On the outside looking in, it may not be as obvious to an outsider to figure out which decision is the best. Someone who does not fully understand the situation could think to themselves “we'll hey if the church is bigger, and has more activities, then that's were they should be”. However, the important thing to look at, is that if it's God's desire for that person to stay at the church they were at, then that's what they should do. There could be a number of reasons why God has that person where they are.
And while I used the analogy of church in this blog entry, it applies to life in general (jobs, marriage, geographic location, etc) So as we live our lives, let's seek God with all our heart, and ask Him for discernment. Never let someone else pressure you into making the wrong decision. A person could have good intentions (like Peter did with Jesus), yet if they are trying to get us to do something that is not in God's will, we shouldn't do it.
“And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” - Mark 8:34
In the verse that preceded the verses I mentioned above, Jesus speaks of his death and resurrection. “And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.”- Mark 8:31. Upon hearing this, Peter began rebuking Jesus. He did not want Jesus to die, however Jesus knew that it was necessary for Him to die in order for Him to bring salvation to mankind, and He rebuked Peter. On the outside looking in, someone who didn't fully understand the situation, may have thought to themselves, “why is Jesus rebuking Peter, Peter doesn't want to see Him die, isn't that a good thing”. However Jesus was looking at the big picture, and He knew that what Peter was saying was not from God, but rather from Satan.
“And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” - 2 Corinthians 11:14
It's important that we do not allow Satan to deceive us. He may not always attack the way that we expect him to. He's the father of lies (see John 8:44), and he has many different ways of carrying out his deception. One example people may think of, is a person that has recently gotten saved and has really been growing in their walk with God. They have gotten established in a good church and have been faithfully attending for the few months they have been saved. Then all of a sudden they start hearing from old friends they haven't heard from in months/years trying to pull them back into their former lifestyle. An outsider (that is a born again Christian) looking at a situation like this could obviously realize that the newly converted Christian should not go back to their former lifestyle. They should continue to live for Christ.
On the flip side, lets revisit that scenario again, with a different set of circumstances. The person has recently gotten saved (we'll say they've been saved for about 3 months). They've been growing in their walk with God, faithfully attending church. And then they come across some church going people that they went to high school with. The church going people are happy to hear that their former classmate is saved, and began to try to convince their former classmate to leave the church they are currently attending, and join their church. They begin to talk about how their Church is bigger, and has more activities for young people, etc. The newly converted Christian decides not leave the church they have been attending because they feel like it's God will for them to stay. On the outside looking in, it may not be as obvious to an outsider to figure out which decision is the best. Someone who does not fully understand the situation could think to themselves “we'll hey if the church is bigger, and has more activities, then that's were they should be”. However, the important thing to look at, is that if it's God's desire for that person to stay at the church they were at, then that's what they should do. There could be a number of reasons why God has that person where they are.
And while I used the analogy of church in this blog entry, it applies to life in general (jobs, marriage, geographic location, etc) So as we live our lives, let's seek God with all our heart, and ask Him for discernment. Never let someone else pressure you into making the wrong decision. A person could have good intentions (like Peter did with Jesus), yet if they are trying to get us to do something that is not in God's will, we shouldn't do it.
“And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” - Mark 8:34