With death, domestic violence, sibling rivalry and race issues etc on the increase during this lockdown, there will be more and more bitterness, and long term unforgiveness and resentment in our society. Bitterness is an extremely destructive force. It can seep into the depths of your heart if you choose not to forgive someone.
Scripture tells us that if we choose not to forgive others, it will even hinder our prayers. Thank God that He has empowered us with the power to forgive and release bitterness! It all begins with a choice. You may have been through unfair situations, but it’s not over until God says it’s over. God always has the final say. He is a God of justice, even today during these hard times. He sees every wrong that’s ever been done to you, and every unfair situation, and He will make it right. Trust Him!
Today, If you will stay in faith and choose to forgive, God will make your wrongs right. He’ll bring justice into your life. Your attitude should be, “it may have been unfair. They may have done me wrong, but I refuse to get bitter. I know my time is coming.” Choose forgiveness, honour God and walk in complete freedom in every area of your life!
“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.”
(Ephesians 4:31, NIV)
Pray With Me Yahweh, today I refuse bitterness. I refuse to allow the past or present to keep me stuck. Father, take away my negative feelings towards others. Please help me right now to forgive those who have hurt me. God, I pray blessings on them, that they would come to know Your truth and their lives will be changed. In faith I thank You for setting my heart free, in Jesus’ Name! Amen.
As we lockdown and isolate, our goal will be to focus on what we have to do and things which are enjoyable. The scripture talks about how God has given us the power to enjoy what is allotted and appointed to us. That simply means that you have the power to enjoy your life. You may have success, money, friends or a good job, but if you put God in your life, you are going to enjoy more. God has uniquely designed us to run our race.
Don’t be tempted to compare yourself or wish you had what someone else has. You shouldn’t think, “if only I had their talent”¦” No, if God wanted you to have that talent, He would have given it to you. Instead, take what you have and develop it. Make the most of it. Don’t think, “if only I had her looks”¦” No, God gave you your looks. That’s not an accident. The life you have has been perfectly matched for you so enjoy and stay focused.
Today, you’ve got to do your part and get excited about your life, isolation or not. Be excited about who you are whose you are – your looks, your talent, your ability, your personality. When you’re passionate about who you are, it brings honour to God. Then God will breathe in your direction, and the seeds of greatness in you will take root and begin to flourish! Remember God has given us the power to enjoy what is allotted and appointed to us.
“Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage.”
(Ecclesiastes 5:18, NKJV)
Pray With Me Yahweh, I thank You for giving me the gifts, talents and abilities to enjoy life and accomplish Your will, even in these difficult situations. God, today, I will put my trust and hope in You, knowing that You have equipped me for the destiny You have for me, in Jesus’ Name! Amen.
Despite the storms, the Christian should be enthusiastic and excited because of the gift of the Holy Ghost which lives inside of them. The word “enthusiasm” comes from the Greek word “entheos.” “Theos” means God. When you’re enthusiastic, it simply means you are full of God. When you get up in the morning you should be excited about your future, recognising that today is a gift. Go out with a spring in your step, pursue your goals and be passionate about life, because God has breathed into you His Spirit.
Studies tell us that people who are enthusiastic seem to get better breaks. They’re promoted more often and people love being around them. That’s not a coincidence. When you’re full of spiritual passion and enthusiasm, you have the favour of God. God didn’t breathe His life into us to drag through the day. He didn’t create us in His image, crown us with His favour, and equip us with His power to just go through the motions of life.
Today, you may have had some setbacks, the wind may have been taken out of your sail because of this current situation, but this is a new day! God wants to breathe new life back into you, so you’ll get your fire back, your passion back, the wind will start blowing once again. When you’re in agreement with God, He will cause the winds of favour to shift in your direction!
“You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace”¦
(Isaiah 55:12, NIV)
Pray With Me
Yahweh, thank You for allowing me to see another sunrise, another day, and have another opportunity to praise You and pursue the dreams You’ve given me. God, help me to stay filled with enthusiasm, joy and passion, so I can serve You with my whole heart in everything that I do for You, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
During this time of lockdown, many of us spend time looking at old photos of treasured times with family or with friends. You probably enjoy showing those photos to others and sharing those special moments. But have you ever thought about having a picture of God in your house? It may not be in a frame on the shelf.
Today’s scripture tells us that when we love others we are creating a picture of God. We are showing others what He looks like because God is love. God wants us to know Him. He wants to reveal Himself in and through us. He wants us to display His love and share it with others like we do with photos. 1 Corinthians 13 tells us what love looks like it’s patient, kind, gentle, and so much more.
Today, know that you are never more like God than when you are loving others. Love never fails. Always remember, the greatest thing you could ever have or do is love — that is a true picture of God. Everything else will fade away, but His love is a picture that will last forever!
“No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us.”
(1 John 4:12, NLT)
Pray With Me ahweh, I thank You today for showing me Your love which lasts forever. Father, help me to love others the way You love them, so that my life can be a picture of You to all those I come into contact with, in Jesus’ Name! Amen.
The real question you must ask yourself is “what are you willing to do to live a life of victory?” In order to live the life of victory God has promised, you have to be very selective about what and who you give your time and attention to. You have to recognise which thoughts to ignore, which comments to ignore, and sometimes, which people to ignore. Every “battle” that comes across your path is not a battle that you’re supposed to fight. Many battles are simply distractions by the enemy to try to get you off course. If that battle is not between you and your God-given destiny, it’s a battle you should ignore.
Have you heard the saying mind your own business? Many people get thrown off course because they are always trying to straighten everyone else out, or win their approval. But if that’s your focus, you are wasting valuable time and energy that you should be using to pursue your dreams. Don’t get involved with things that don’t concern you, turn away from distractions! You don’t need the approval of everyone around you, you only need God’s approval!
Today, realise, it’s very liberating when you don’t have to fight every battle. You don’t have to straighten people out. You don’t have to pay somebody back for what they may have done. Instead, focus on what matters, focus on God and His Word. Remember, in order to stay focused and live in victory, you may have to be selective about what and who you give your attention to, so you can live in peace and happiness all the days of your life!
“Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way.”
(Psalm 119:37, NKJV)
Pray With Me Yahweh, thank You for ordering my steps. Thank You for planning good things for me. Father, help me to discern the things, people and battles I should ignore. God, help me to avoid distractions that will rob me of my victory and happiness, as I focus my heart and mind on You today, in Jesus’ Name! Amen.
Early in the morning on Sunday I was awaken suddenly by an incident that made me very upset. Every day, we have opportunities to get upset, frustrated or offended. Maybe you had plans that didn’t work out, or someone was rude to you at the supermarket, or at the office. Maybe you were doing something that should have taken one hour and it ended up taking three.
Life is full of frustrations, but even though we can’t always control our circumstances, we can control our reaction. I heard somebody say, “life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond.” We should go out each day with a positive attitude, full of hope and expecting God’s favour. But at the same time, we should recognise that most days are not going to go exactly as we plan. Remember, we were created to live in peace. Peace is our position of power.
Today, if you get stressed because you got off schedule, or upset because your child wouldn’t eat his breakfast, or frustrated because somebody offended you, what you’re doing is giving away your power. Instead, make the decision to release those offenses and disappointments so you can live in peace, and enjoy the day as the blessing God prepared for you!
“Good sense makes a man restrain his anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression or an offense.”
(Proverbs 19:11, AMPC)
Pray With Me Yahweh, today I release all my care, concern, offence and disappointment to You. Father, I will do my best to keep the peace, even when life gets out of control and I get frustrated and angry. God, I won’t give away the power of peace that You have blessed me with. Help me have the right attitude at all times. I look forward to today knowing that You are with me, leading me into victory, in Jesus’ Name! Amen.
You may know that Google is tracking you, but most people don’t realize the extent of it. Luckily, there are simple steps you can take to dramatically reduce Google’s tracking.
But first, what exactly are they tracking? When you search on Google, they keep your search history forever. That means they know every search you’ve ever done on Google. That alone is pretty scary, but it’s just the shallow end of the very deep pool of data that they try to collect on people.
What most people don’t realize is that even if you don’t use any Google products directly, they’re still trying to discover as much as they can about you. Google trackers have been found on 75% of the top million websites. This means they’re also trying to track most everywhere you go on the internet, trying to slurp up your browsing history!
Most people also don’t know that Google runs most of the ads you see across the internet and in apps — you know those ones that follow you around everywhere? Yup, that’s Google, too. They aren’t really a search company anymore — they’re a tracking company. They are tracking as much as they can for these annoying and intrusive ads, including recording every time you see them, where you saw them, if you clicked on them, etc.
But even that’s not all”¦
If You Use Google Products
If you do use Google products, they track you even more. In addition to tracking everything you’ve ever searched for on Google (e.g. “weird rash”), Google also tracks every video you’ve ever watched on YouTube. Many people actually don’t know that Google owns YouTube; now you know.
And if you use Android (yeah, Google owns that too), then Google is also usually tracking:
Every place you’ve been via Google Location Services.
How often you use your apps, when you use them, where you use them, and who you use them to interact with. (This is just excessive by any measure.)
If you use Gmail, they of course also have all your emails and contacts. If you use Google Calendar, they know schedule. There’s a pattern here: For all Google products (Hangouts, Music, Drive, etc.), you can expect the same level of tracking; that is, pretty much anything they can track, they will.
Oh, and if you use Google Home, they also store a live recording of every command you (or anyone else) has ever said to your device! Yes, you heard that right (err”¦ they heard it) — you can check out all the recordings on your Google activity page.
Essentially, if you don’t tell them not to, they’ll track pretty close to, well, everything you do on the internet. In fact, even if you tell them to stop tracking you, Google has been known to not really listen, for example with location history.
You Become the Product
Why does Google want all of your information anyway? Simple: as stated, Google isn’t a search company anymore, they’re a tracking company. All of these data points allow Google to build a pretty robust profile about you. In some ways, by keeping such close tabs on everything you do, they may know you better than you know yourself!
The result of all that tracking is that Google uses your personal profile to sell ads, not only on their search engine, but also on over three million other websites and apps. Every time you visit one of these sites or apps, Google is following you around with hyper-targeted ads, trying to influence your behavior.
It’s exploitative. By allowing Google and other social media giants like Facebook to collect all this info, you are allowing hundreds of thousands of advertisers to bid on serving you ads based on your sensitive personal data. Everyone involved is profiting from your information, except you. You are the product.
It doesn’t have to be this way. It is entirely possible for a web-based business to be profitable without making you the product — since 2014, DuckDuckGo has been profitable without storing or sharing any personal information on people at all. You can read more about Gabriel Weinberg, CEO & Founder, DuckDuckGo and their business model here.
The Myth of “Nothing to Hide”
Some may argue that they have “nothing to hide,” so they are not concerned with the amount of information Google has collected and stored on them, but that argument is fundamentally flawed for many reasons.
Everyone has information they want to keep private: Do you close the door when you go to the bathroom, or cover your windows when it gets dark? Privacy is about control over our personal information. We don’t want it in the hands of everyone, and certainly don’t want people profiting on it without our consent or participation.
In addition, privacy is essential to democratic institutions like voting and everyday situations such as getting medical care and performing financial transactions. Without it, there can be significant harms.
On an individual level, lack of privacy leads to putting people into a filter bubble, getting manipulated by ads, discrimination, fraud, and identity theft. On a societal level, it can lead to deepened polarization and societal manipulation as we’ve unfortunately been seeing multiply in recent years.
You Can Live Google Free
Basically, Google tries to track too much. It’s creepy and simply just more information than one company should have on anyone.
Thankfully, there are many good ways to reduce your Google footprint, even close to zero! It might feel like you are trapped in the Google-verse, but it is possible to break free.
Lets start with Social Networks.
Societal is a free facebook and twitter alternative that does not use adverts or sell your data. “societal is part of a federated network. That means there is no one single entity that is in complete control. The basic idea is you join one instance and you can subscribe to people on your instance and to people in other instances. This develops into a large network of different communities all linked together into a huge distributed network of social connections which gives you a lot of freedom over your data.” Click here to Join
Secondly, just switching the search engine for all your searches goes a long way. After all, you share your most intimate questions with your search engine; at the very least, shouldn’t those be kept private? If you switch to the
If you’re unfamiliar with DuckDuckGo, they are the leading provider of privacy protection tools to help you seamlessly take back control of your personal information online.
I’m Sure you’ve heard the Bible text “faith without works is dead.” implying that If we don’t put our faith into action, it’s not really faith, it’s just nice ideas. You see, when God truly does a work in our lives, it affects everything about us. It affects our words, our thoughts and our deeds or actions.
How do you know someone is generous? By their generous deeds. How do you know someone is kind? By their kind deeds. How do you know someone is loving? By their loving deeds. How do you know someone is a Christian? By their Christ-like deeds. Can people tell by your actions that you belong to God? We all have areas where we can come up higher, but as believers in Jesus, we can be confident that God is at work in us.
Today, know that God is faithful and will complete what He started. As we invite Him to search our hearts and minds, as we surrender every area of our life to Him and put our faith into action, He will finish His perfect work in us!
“And I am praying that you will put into action the generosity that comes from your faith as you understand and experience all the good things we have in Christ.”
(Philemon 1:6, NLT)
Pray With Me Yahweh, thank You for changing me, for making me more like You. Father, I invite Your love to do a work in my heart, so that I won’t be someone who just talks the talks, but also walks the walks, reflecting You in every deed that I do in, Christ’s Name! Amen
Growing up, all I heard from family and close friends was that I looked and behaved like my father. From my walk to my talk I reflected him. When we reflect something, we are exhibiting its likeness.We are displaying its characteristics. Like a mirror, the Bible tells us that we should reflect the character and likeness of Jesus. We should have His same walk and talk.
That may sound impossible; after all, Jesus was the Son of God. But remember, when we accept Him as our Lord and Saviour, the Bible says, “we become sons and daughters of God,” too. We become empoweredby the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. That means we have the same power, the same spirit of humility, the same strength, and the same love on the inside. We are equipped to do what He did. What did He do? Scripture says that Jesus went arounddoing good and bringing healing to others; physically, spiritually and emotionally.
Today, open the door for God to work in your life. Humbly invite Him in. Let that be your goal today–open your heart to Him, Let His mind be your mind, so you can reflect Him in your attitude and actions!
“Have this same attitude in yourselves which was in Christ Jesus [look to Him as your example in selfless humility].” (Philippians 2:5, AMP)
(Philippians 2:5, AMP)
Pray With Me Yahweh, right now I invite You to dwell in my thoughts, heart and attitude. I choose to follow Your example and bring good to others. God, help me be a pure reflection of Your love in everything I doand say, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
Growing up, all I heard from family and close friends was that I looked and behaved like my father. From my walk to my talk I reflected him. When we reflect something, we are exhibiting its likeness.We are displaying its characteristics. Like a mirror, the Bible tells us that we should reflect the character and likeness of Jesus. We should have His same walk and talk.
That may sound impossible; after all, Jesus was the Son of God. But remember, when we accept Him as our Lord and Saviour, the Bible says, “we become sons and daughters of God,” too. We become empoweredby the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. That means we have the same power, the same spirit of humility, the same strength, and the same love on the inside. We are equipped to do what He did. What did He do? Scripture says that Jesus went arounddoing good and bringing healing to others; physically, spiritually and emotionally.
Today, open the door for God to work in your life. Humbly invite Him in. Let that be your goal today–open your heart to Him, Let His mind be your mind, so you can reflect Him in your attitude and actions!
“Have this same attitude in yourselves which was in Christ Jesus [look to Him as your example in selfless humility].” (Philippians 2:5, AMP) (Philippians 2:5, AMP)
(Philippians 2:5, AMP)
Pray With Me Yahweh, right now I invite You to dwell in my thoughts, heart and attitude. I choose to follow Your example and bring good to others. God, help me be a pure reflection of Your love in everything I doand say, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
While in Kenya recently, I was looking for a new African printed garment. I wanted something I hadn’t seen before. Do you need a new garment today? I’m not talking about an African or a physical garment. I’m talking about what’s covering your mind and emotions.
Question to ponder: are you clothed with despair and disappointment? Are you wearing “heaviness?” If you’ve gone through a hurtful situation, the Bible says there is a time to grieve, and it’s important to release that hurt to the Lord. But the Bible also tells us that God wants to give us a garment of praise, instead of a spirit of heaviness and despair. Hallelujah!
Today, are you letting the garments of yesterday weigh you down and hold you back? It’s time for a new garment. The garment of praise is light and filled with peace and joy. Don’t carry those heavy burdens around anymore. Choose to forgive those who have hurt you, and praise God for what He’s doing in your life today. If nothing else, start praising Him for the beautiful sunrise. Praise Him for restoring you, even if you don’t see it yet. Just like this verse says, you will be as strong and secure as a tall oak tree, displaying His splendour all the days of your life! Make praise a garment and wear it daily.
Provide for those who grieve”¦a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendour.
(Isaiah 61:3, NIV)
Pray With Me Yahweh, I thank You today for my new garment of praise. Father, I come to You today and ask that You take off my old garments of despair and heaviness. God, please make me new. Give me the boldness today to display my garment of praise wherever I go, so that Your glory and splendour may be seen in all areas of my life, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
To the typical every day Christian, the Cross is a symbol of victory. But this Good Friday just like when Christ died, doesn’t feel good at all. We reflect on Jesus’ death on the cross, and think of the suffering He had to go through. Then we turn our attention to today, with thousands of our loved ones dying daily because of a deadly virus, this Friday doesn’t feel good, or like we are in a position of victory.
When we think about the cross and our current situation, it may look like evil has triumphed over goodness, the powerful over the powerless, but that’s not the truth. Jesus’ death on the cross was actually good overpowering evil. Jesus was triumphing. When He cried out, ‘it is finished’ (some translations say ‘it is completed’), He didn’t mean, ‘I’m finished, My cause is defeated.’ Far from being crushed, Jesus triumphed over the powers of darkness. Hallelujah! In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities, as well as all their evil antics. He shamed them publicly, physically and spiritually by His victory over them, and He changed how we could relate to God. No longer would we be bound by sin and shame; instead, He paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we could be right with God. Love triumphed over the law. The Bible says “and three days later the empty tomb proved Christ had won the victory over death”.
Today, on this Good Friday, Christ’s victory over evil on the cross gives us hope that evil won’t win. Covid-19 will not determine the end of this world, or who will be in the resurrection. Whatever we’re facing, we know we can be victorious, because Christ was victorious. We’re overcomers because He has already overcome. Christ says, ‘in this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world’ (NIV). Sin, shame, and struggles won’t overcome us, because He has already overcome them all. So, this Good Friday, let’s remember that the cross and death wasn’t the end — Jesus rose and because He did we can.
‘In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world’
(John 16:33 NIV).
Pray With Me Yahweh, on this Good Friday give Your people Your peace, that we may shine brightly in this dark and evil world. Father, grant us the courage to live faithfully even in the midst of hard times. Let our fear of You be the beginning of wisdom, rather than allowing the fear of the world to drive our actions. God, help us to embrace our heavenly citizenship, and live confidently in the midst of a world that needs to know You. Show Your mercy and heal those who are suffering. Most of all God, come. Restore the world You have made and make all things new. God, on this Good Friday, please grant us your goodness. We pray that Your will would be done, in Christ’s most Holy Name! Amen.
After Boris Johnson the British Prime Minister was admitted to intensive care on Monday night, it made me think about all the dreams and successes of our youth that won’t be fulfilled. What are you doing to bring your dreams to pass today? Are you getting prepared? Do you have clear direction? Are you taking the necessary steps of faith? Accomplishing dreams and success is intentional.
You may not know what steps to take right now, but God has a good plan for your life. If you’ll do your part to seek Him and begin to make plans to succeed before it’s too late, God will guide you. He will direct your steps. He will make dreams come true. You don’t have to vaguely go through life unfocused. God wants to show you His plan. He wants to pour out His blessing, direction and favour on you, and see you living a life of victory.
Today, make plans to succeed, take no thought about tomorrow. Write down your goals. Make time to evaluate where you are in life. Evaluate your finances, your career and your relationships. Don’t go another day, week or month without having a plan for your future. Daily evaluate how you’re spending your time, money and love for family and friends. If you’ll go beyond dreaming and start making plans to succeed, trust God’s promises that He’s going to direct your steps, He will lead you down the path of success and purpose in all areas of your life — beginning today.
“The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.”
(Proverbs 16:9)
Pray With Me
Yahweh, I can’t stop thinking about those lives and loved ones that have been lost, and all those dreams that have gone in this world. Father, help me to see clearly the plan You have for me today and every day. Help me get focused and prioritise my spiritual dreams and purpose. God, I submit every area of my life to You, and trust that You are working behind the scenes for my good. God, after seeing what is happening in this world, I have decided I can’t waste another moment outside of Your will. Order my steps Lord and comfort those that mourn, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
In September 2019, Chuck Pierce prophesied that a ‘Massive Plague-Like Invasion’ Will Test Us Through Passover.
Again in January 2020, at the ‘Starting the Year Off Right Conference,’ God spoke again that there would be a massive plague-like invasion that would test us through Passover. I did get several comments and certain rebuttals for repeating that our nation would go into some sort of major trial through April. I believe that we are seeing this not only in this nation, but throughout the nations [of the world] at this time in history.
As God’s kingdom people, we must always hear what the Spirit of God is saying to the Church.
Susan Stanfield, who has worked here for 40 years, shared with us that the Lord told her to gird up your loins for spring storms ahead. I believe this is what God is saying to all of us. However, if we would gird up our loins, we would end up doing exploits!”
Your Time to Climb:
“God says, ‘I am releasing a new level of faith within My people! What you did not see in the last season you will now begin to see. You will now begin to see and ascend in a new way. Reach up and climb the waterfall before you. As you reach up, a stairway will form to where I am taking you.
Climb what I have set in front of you! Climb what I have set in front of you! Although the enemy has laughed and said you will never get to the top and through the next door, this is your time to climb the stairs I have placed in front of you. I am already behind that door at the top of the stairs and laughing at your enemy.
In this season of overcoming joy, begin to release your laugh and experience My freedom that will enable you to overcome. Even though you may feel you are at the point of absolute failure and defeat, My angels will help you ascend, step by step, and cause you to keep pressing forward.
I am opening a new portal in the heavenly realm and assigning new angels to help escort you up into the heavenly places and back onto the earth. I stand in the heavenlies and laugh, and I cause you to stand in the earth and laugh at your enemies. For at this time and this season, I will cause you to laugh at your enemies as an overcoming and victorious spirit rises within you as you have not had in times past.
There is a new source of wind in the earth. This movement is not just My breath that is going forth, but the wind created by the wings of My angelic hosts. I am releasing a unique host to create winds to blow away occult coverings, and to bring forth winds of refreshing and rain from the atmosphere.
There are things I am beginning to shake within you that will cause a new breath to come into you. As you ascend, you will be positioned on My new trajectory of advance.”
For inspiration and motivation, please visit: TheGodBlog.org
As the doctors came in yesterday to share the bad news with the family, all the faces were solemn. After he delivered the bad news gasps, shouts of “no”, swearing and anger filled the room. The spirit prompted me to pray for peace, quoting Matthew 4, I stated “peace be still” in my prayer. No matter what may be going on around you today, you can still live in peace. Scripture encourages us not to let our hearts be troubled. In other words, don’t meditate on all the negative things in this world to the point that it steals your peace.
Today, if you have fear, worry or anxiety about anything, recognise that those feelings aren’t from God, because He has promised to give you a spirit of power, love and a sound mind. There is tremendous power in peace. When you are at peace internally, you can think more clearly. You can hear the voice of God more easily. You’ll make better decisions. Even your physical body responds to peace.
Remember, the enemy knows this, and his goal is to steal your peace. He tries to set you up to get you upset. But when you choose to receive God’s peace, then no weapon formed against you shall prosper! Hallelujah!
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
(John 14:27, NIV)
Pray With Me
Yahweh, thank You for Your gift of peace in my life. Father, I choose to receive Your peace in my heart and hold it close to me always. Despite what happens in life, I receive Your Word as truth and life to my heart and soul. God, I ask for Your healing hands upon the Prime Minister, his family and the thousands of others who have been unwell by this virus. God, I claim and receive Your promise of peace in our lives today, in Christ’s Name! Amen.
A common plot in TV courtroom dramas is for an innocent person to be on trail because they were framed by a clever criminal. Incredibly, this plotline is currently playing itself out in the COVID-19 pandemic! Scared and worried people — and even some Christians – are blaming an innocent person by asking, “If God is love and all-powerful why is he killing people with this virus?”
The straightforward answer is “He’s not. Satan is.”, but like a well written drama this solution might not be obvious. The clever criminal has crafted a shrewd strategy to divert attention from what he is doing by blaming God. Fortunately, we have the benefit of hindsight because the Bible has already been written. Looking into God’s word shows us the details of Satan’s scheme.
A Bold Approach
Before we start to describe this strategy it’s important to remember that Satan does not make small plans. Keep in mind that his original idea was to take over as God (Isaiah 14:14), so it should not be a surprise that anything coming from him would be done on a grand scale. His so-called greatest trick – convincing people he does not even exist – certainly falls into this category.
2 Corinthians 4:4 perfectly describes Satan’s strategy in a nutshell. It says that he blinds unbelievers to the glory of God so they won’t be saved. Later in this same epistle (11:3) Paul writes that he was concerned about how Satan could use this approach and trick followers of Jesus so that their “thoughts would be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”
Paul’s concerns proved to be well founded, because that is exactly what has happened. Many Christians think they have to prove to God that they love Him by enduring the terrible things God does to them. This comes from a mistaken understanding of verses such as Philippians 1:30 and Hebrews 12:1 that encourage us to endure hardship. It is important to note that these verses do not say that God is causing the havoc.
Discrediting A Key Witness
Blaming God for their troubles too often causes Christians to be angry with God instead of loving Him. “Why is God doing this to me?” is a common lament and echoes the words of Job. In fact, Job is the primary example people cite when they fall for Satan’s scheme of blaming God. But using Job as proof that God causes misfortune is wrong for a variety of reasons.
The fist mistake is thinking that God protected Job and then lifted this “hedge”. But this understanding comes from believing what Satan says in Job 1:10. To quote C.S. Lewis, “Readers are advised to remember the devil is a liar.” Jesus taught us this in 1 John 2:4. To paraphrase His words, Jesus said that Satan is not even capable to telling the truth (“the truth is not in him”).
Second, Job himself recants what he said about God causing his troubles! Sadly, few readers wade through the accusations of Job’s friends (and Job’s insistence on his righteousness) to get to the core of the book when Elihu begins speaking in chapter 32. They never get to Job 42:3 where Job admits he didn’t know what he was talking about! This comes after Job has an encounter with God and experiences His true nature.
A Perfect Strategy
Misleading Christians and others into blaming God provides a variety of benefits for Satan. First of all, we don’t blame Satan for what’s going wrong and so we don’t resist him (James 4:7). This allows Satan to continue hurting us. We submit to Satan and allow ourselves to be blinded to the glory of God and away from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. In other words, we behave in a manner directly contrary to Scripture.
But there’s something even worse than this. When we blame God for the problems in our lives and get angry at Him we are not about to turn to Him for solutions. We alienate ourselves from the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3). Of course, no one in this frame of mind is going to tell others how much God loves them, or how He wants what is best for them like Jesus taught in Matthew 7:11.
This is a perfect triple play for Satan! Christians forget how much God loves them, get angry at Him and stop turning to Him to solve the problem. It is such an effective strategy that you almost have to admire how brilliant it is. Of course, nothing about Satan is admirable, and looking at what he is doing gets me pretty angry at Satan for hurting so many people in this way.
Satan Hurts, God Heals
The entirety of Scripture points to the simple truth that God is good and that He does good things. However, there is a particular instance in the Bible that has direct relevance to the current situation we face with the COVID-19 pandemic. This incident demonstrates the absolute truth of Hebrews 4:15 which says that Jesus knows and has experienced all of our fears and weaknesses.
The incident is recorded in Matthew 8:3 where Jesus touches a leper and cures him of the disease. Keep in mind that lepers had to keep themselves away from others in order to avoid spreading the illness. This was so important that even touching a leper made you ceremoniously unclean (Leviticus 5:3). Jesus knew the fear of infectious disease and yet He touched a leper.
It’s important to remember that Jesus was fully God and fully human. It’s easy to dismiss this incident in light of His Divinity, but think about it for a minute in terms of His humanity. It’s also important to keep in mind that the leper in this incident came to Jesus, knelt before Him, and stated clearly that he believed in Jesus’ ability to heal him. This is a great example of how we can approach God!
“You are not alone.”
In fact, the actions of the leper in Matthew 8:3 are a perfect example of the instruction given to us in Hebrews 11:6. We are to approach God in faith. This means believing He is who He says He is instead of believing what Satan says. We are to believe He rewards those who come to Him in this way, rather than thinking He wants to give us a disease. Remember that Isaiah 5:20 very clearly says that evil is not good and that good is not evil.
God is with us and is for us. This is an enduring truth that runs throughout Scripture. God helped Adam and Eve after they sinned (Genesis 3:21). He became man and died for our sins, restoring our relationship to Him when we could not do that by ourselves. Jesus is the perfect representation of God (Colossians 1:15), and we are well advised to look at how He healed those oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38.)
This overwhelming preponderance of evidence overwhelms the scheme of Satan which is intended to keep us away from the love of God. Fortunately, we have Romans 8:38-39 “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
There is one great central truth to be kept ever before our minds in the searching of the bible – Christ‘s crucifixion. Every other truth is invested with influence and power corresponding to its relation to this theme. The soul which has been overcome by sin can be endowed with life only through the work wrought out upon the cross by the Author of our salvation – Jesus Christ the son of God.
When Christ bowed His head and died on the cross, He bore the pillars of Satan’s kingdom with Him to the earth. He vanquished Satan. Amen.
Christ submitted to crucifixion, although the heavenly host could have instantly delivered Him. The angels suffered with Christ. God Himself was crucified with Christ; for Christ is one with the Father.
Those who reject Christ, those who will not have him direct them, choose to place themselves under the rule of Satan, to do his work as his follower. Yet for them Christ yielded up His life on Calvary.
He who died for the sins of the world remained in the tomb for an allotted time. He was in that stony prison house as a prisoner of divine justice. He was responsible to the Judge of the universe. He was bearing the sins of the world, and His Father only could release Him.
He identified Himself with our interests, bared His breast for the stroke of death, took man’s guilt and its penalty, and offered in man’s behalf a complete sacrifice to God. By virtue of this atonement, He has power to offer to man perfect righteousness and full salvation. Therefore, whosoever shall believe on Jesus as a personal Saviour shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Amen.
The price of man’s redemption has been paid by Jesus, and all he has and is should be sprinkled with the blood of the lamb, dedicated to God; for it all belongs to Jesus the one true and only living saviour.
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8.
Prayer
Almighty Father, Creator of the universe, I approach Your Heavenly Gates with a grateful heart. I bless Your Holy Name and submit the honor and praise that is due unto You.
Beautiful Lord, I was created in your image, fearfully and wonderfully made to be the light in this dark world.
Father please guide me in a plain path of righteousness according to Your will and glory. You are the Omnipotent Potter and I am the clay.
Shape me, mold me, use me and fill me each and everyday to become more like Christ.
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