Tag / love of God

by In Light Of The Cross

Satan’s Biggest, Fattest Lie Ever!

Tarpon Springs 001

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

In the late 1860s in the United States, shortly after the Civil War, which abolished slavery, a former slave owner is loading sacks of vegetables onto his wagon near the town square. Across the street he sees his former slave and yells out to him, “Get over here and load these bags onto my wagon now, boy!”

The former slave, with flashbacks of being beaten and abused for disobeying orders in the past, runs over to the wagon and starts loading the bags.

The former slave master has no power over the slave now. Yet the freed slave has become a slave again, only because he believes a lie. There is no power or authority behind the former master’s threats or commands. Truth is, the slave is free now, if only he will stop believing in lies.

The former slave should not feel stupid. For 1260 years a religious organization manipulated and controlled most all of Europe, only because the ruling monarchs fell for the lies of this organization.

“If you do not give us your offerings you will burn in hell for all eternity.”

Lie!

“If you do not do what we tell you, you will not go to heaven.”

Lie!

Yes, this organization used force and it tortured and burned people at the stake, but it was only possible because the rulers fell for these lies! Fact is, they had no authority, and thanks to the Reformers, the truth set them free even amidst the torture racks and the stakes.

Satan had to lie to Eve because lies are all he has. He can’t force us to do anything. First he suggests that God has said they could not eat from any tree. “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” Genesis 3:1 Even today, Satan always suggests that God is very strict and won’t let us do anything.

“You can’t have any fun” is what Satan likes to suggest. This is a lie.

Jesus says, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

Satan goes on to suggest that they will not really die for  eating the fruit. This is a twofold lie. Not only does his suggestion lead to spiritualism, it also suggests there are no real consequences for disobedience. Yet Satan’s biggest lie was when he told Eve, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods…” Genesis 3:5 Here Satan suggests that God is withholding something from them which would enhance their happiness. The lie implies that God does not really care for their welfare, and maybe Satan cares more about them than God does. That is why he is so “kindly” offering them this forbidden fruit.

If you think about it, most all of our sin and disobedience is motivated by this one lie, that God does not really care for us.

When you really believe God loves you, Satan’s lies have no power!

Let’s take a brief look at the Ten Commandments in the light of God’s love.

“I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  Exodus 20:2”

Fact is we are free. Just like the former slave who fell for the lies of his former master, we are free unless we believe Satan’s lies.

  1. When we believe God really loves us, we will have no need for any other god. We believe God loved us so much He gave us His only begotten son. No rock star, sports team, girlfriend or boyfriend has ever loved us as much as God does.
  2. When we really believe in God’s love we will worship Him. We don’t need to worship anyone or anything else. We don’t need to worship money or a PHD degree. My sense of significance does not come from worldly accomplishments or honors. I am significant because God loves me!
  3. When we really believe God loves us, we will not be Christians in name only, thus taking His name in vain. We will be true Christians.
  4. When we really believe God loves us, we will rest our faith in God’s love and not try to save ourselves by our own works. I don’t need to work on the Sabbath to put bread on my family’s table. God loves me and my family, and He will not let us go hungry.
  5. When we really believe God loves us we will love those who represent God to us. Once when I was ten I was at my grandmother’s house. While there I back talked to my mother. My grandmother told me never to talk that way to my mother, not because she was bigger than me, or the boss of me, but because she would die for me. My grandmother said, “you don’t talk that way to someone who would die for you.” I honor my parents because they love me. They may not always be right, but they always love me, so they always have my respect.
  6. When we really believe in God’s love we won’t be threatened by other people or feel the desire to eliminate them. Daniel did not need God to kill the lions or even remove them. He just needed God to close their mouths. God loves and protects us just like He did Daniel. There was no reason for Daniel to hate the lions or the men who threw him in the den, when he knew God loved him and protected him.
  7. When we believe in God’s love we will be happy with the family God gave us. Just because God gave my friend a beautiful wife does not mean He loves me any less. If God thought a beautiful wife would truly make me happy He will give me one. “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” Psalms 84:11
  8. When we believe in God’s love, we won’t need what is not ours. “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. Psalms 23:1
  9. When we believe in God’s love we won’t be afraid of the truth. We won’t feel the need to live a lie, when we find that the truth is, God loves us unconditionally, and everyone who is of God loves us unconditionally. We won’t feel the need to be something we are not.
  10. When we believe in God’s love we won’t want what other people have. We will want other people to have what we have which is Jesus! When Paul stood in his chains and prisoner clothes, before King Agrippa, in all his worldly splendor, Paul told him I wish you could be like me, except for these chains. (see Acts 26:29) Paul did not need what the king had. The king needed what Paul had which was Jesus!

During the Dark Ages, a religious leader who claimed to represent God on earth made a German ruler stand out in the cold three days, begging his forgiveness before the religious leader finally forgave him. (See Great Controversy, pp. 57-58) This was a gross misrepresentation of God. In Luke 15:20 we see what God is really like, as represented by the father who runs out to greet the prodigal son, while the son is still far away. This religious leader’s claim to represent God, while making it hard for the German ruler to find forgiveness is the greatest of Satan’s lies during the Dark Ages.

Satan’s biggest lie is not about the immortality of the soul. It is not about the change of the Sabbath to Sunday. Satan’s biggest and deadliest lie is that God does not love you and will not forgive you. This is why the first angel takes the everlasting gospel into all the world, and breaks the spell of this terrible lie. Every lie of Satan is founded upon the foundation of the lie that God does not love you. Once this lie is exposed every other lie of Satan falls, which is seen in the second angel’s message “Babylon is fallen!” All of Satan’s other lies collapse when we realize we are loved.

After the three angels comes a fourth angel in Revelation 18:1. When this angel comes the whole earth is lightened with his glory. It is the light of God’s love. Satan’s lies which have caused the world to experience the Dark Ages, have been removed and the world is lightened with the truth that God is love.

 

You can study this week’s Sabbath School lesson here.

by In Light Of The Cross

Personal Evangelism and Witnessing

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

Friday’s section of this week’s SS lesson states: “One truth received into the heart will make room for still another truth.”—Ellen G. White, Testimonies for the Church, vol. 6, p. 449. In what sequence should the truths we hold be presented in order to be most effective in our outreach? Why should Christ’s substitutionary death always be at the forefront of all that we teach?

I would like to answer the last question first. I would like to do so by sharing a passage from the book “Gospel Worker’s which has made the greatest impact on the way I do my ministry.

The sacrifice of Christ as an atonement for sin is the great truth around which all other truths cluster. In order to be rightly understood and appreciated, every truth in the Word of God, from Genesis to Revelation, must be studied in the light that streams from the cross of Calvary. I present before you the great, grand monument of mercy and regeneration, salvation and redemption–the Son of God uplifted on the cross. This is to be the foundation of every discourse given by our ministers.–Gospel Workers, p. 315.

We are not saved by doctrines. We are saved by God’s grace. God reveals His love in each and every doctrine, in hopes that we will love Him too. Satan tries to skew Bible doctrine in hopes of skewing our concept of God’s love and thus make us not want to accept Him. This idea is what motivated me a few years ago to design the “In Light of The Cross” Bible study guides, which illustrate the love of God, and the cross in each doctrine, which is particularly relevant to Seventh-day Adventists. They are available free online in both English and Spanish. My passion is to promote the cross of Christ in everything I do.

Now to answer the first question,  about in what sequences certain truths should be presented. Speaking from personal experience over the years, when giving a series of personal or group Bible studies, I always begin with the Gospel Presentation. I want people to  make a decision to accept Jesus into their lives and have the hope of eternal life. The second presentation I give is on the Bible. At the end of this study I ask people to go by the Bible and the Bible only. This way, if someone later says they don’t have to follow a Bible teaching, because their pastor or friend said it was not important anymore, I remind them they made a decision to go by the Bible and not by what their friends say. The third study I do is on Love and Obedience, or trusting and obeying. In this study I ask people to make a decision to follow the Bible because we love Jesus. This way, if people later say they don’t have to follow a certain Bible teaching because “it’s not a salvation issue,” I remind them that the reason we obey the Bible is because we love Jesus, and not just to get to heaven. After those three studies, my sequence of Bible truth is based on each particular person and what is relevant to them.

In each study I want to encourage my Bible student in their personal relationship with Jesus. I am not looking for a quick baptism to make my numbers look good. Frankly it is not about me. I want to encourage my Bible student in a personal relationship with Jesus. The purpose of my personal and group Bible studies is to be relational. A foreign missionary now pastoring in Tennessee once told me, “small groups don’t work in America, because we are more concerned about being right then we are about being relational.” I knew exactly what he was talking about. With exceptions, a lot of American evangelism has been little more than telling people “I’m right you’re wrong!” That is not how Jesus won the hearts of people.

Jesus saw in every soul one to whom must be given the call to His kingdom. He reached the hearts of the people by going among them as one who desired their good. He sought them in the public streets, in private houses, on the boats, in the synagogue, by the shores of the lake, and at the marriage feast. He met them at their daily vocations, and manifested an interest in their secular affairs. He carried His instruction into the household, bringing families in their own homes under the influence of His divine presence. His strong personal sympathy helped to win hearts. He often repaired to the mountains for solitary prayer, but this was a preparation for His labor among men in active life. From these seasons He came forth to relieve the sick, to instruct the ignorant, and to break the chains from the captives of Satan.  It was by personal contact and association that Jesus trained His disciples.- Desire of Ages, p. 151

I am not downplaying being right. Jesus was always right, but He was also always relational. His agenda was to meet the needs of the people and not use them as pawns and numbers in meeting the goals and expectations of the church. Jesus did not call me to be a car salesman, pressuring people to “buy” Jesus before the end of the year so I will have a great report for the year. We must be patient with our personal and group Bible studies. We want to be right, but we also want to be like Jesus, and take time to be relational.

by In Light Of The Cross

Revelation 12; Casting Satan Out of Our Hearts And Homes

I am writing today from the beautiful Tampa Bay area.

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.  Revelation 12:7-9

I do not think the war in heaven was fought with machine guns and army tanks. I believe it was a war of the minds. Satan, who was full of himself was trying to create and ego in the other angels as well. I don’t know, but I can imagine him coming up to another angel and saying, “That was a wonderful job you did on that project God gave you. Did He give you any special recognition for it?” The other angel replies, “Well no, I did not really need any….” Satan interrupts, “Oh that is too bad. You did such a wonderful job. You know, if I was God I would have thrown a huge banquet in your honor.” And thus, Satan began the war of the minds, attempting to make the angels think he cared more about them than God.

God could have eliminated Satan right then and there, but if He had, we would be serving God for fear of being wiped out too, instead of out of love. God had to allow Satan to grow into the weed that he is so that all could see later, why Satan had to be eliminated.

In the Lord’s prayer we pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” In heaven Satan was cast out along with all his lies. When we pray “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we are giving Michael permission to throw Satan and all his lies out of our hearts, homes, churches and even communities.  If God can cast Satan out of heaven He can also cast Him out of your heart and home!