Know Your Enemy
Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 4
Focus Verses: 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 "If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. Satan,
who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t
believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News.
They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the
exact likeness of God."
Ever since God cast Satan out of heaven he has been trying to destroy God's greatest part of creation. People are God's greatest creation. Satan does not have unlimited power like God, but he does have certain abilities. Paul says Satan is the god of this world. When we look at the mess this world is in today, there is no doubt that Satan has something to do with this. Satan will one day lose his power when Jesus returns to set up His Kingdom here on earth.
But for now, Satan does his best to blind the minds of unbelievers from seeing and hearing the truth. Satan has a deep hatred for God, and he will do anything possible to keep people from having a loving relationship with God. The Bible also calls Satan the father of lies. Satan has the ability to make lies look like truth. This is where believers need to be careful. Satan will try and get you to doubt something that you know by mixing truth with lies. We can know what is truth if we will continue to read God's Word. You can tell the difference between truth and error when you test it against God's Word the Bible.
So let's be aware of who our enemy is. The way to win this battle is to know God's Word as well as the tactics of the enemy.
Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
Friday, January 30, 2015
Saturday, January 24, 2015
Don't Cause Another to Stumble
Don't Cause Another to Stumble
Scripture Reading: Romans 14
Focus Verse: Romans 14:21 "It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak."
There are activities mentioned in the Bible that are clearly wrong. You should not steal. You should not commit adultery and so forth. These activities are as clear to understand as easy as telling the difference between black and white. We all know right from wrong. But there are other activities that we would call gray areas where it is not as clear if an activity is right or wrong. In doing something, we should question the possibility of causing a brother to stumble.
What if a believer in Christ drinks some alcohol? There are at least two problems I see with you doing this. First, the one who drinks has the potential of becoming an alcoholic. Second, if a young person new in their faith sees a Christian drinking, so they feel it is okay for them to drink. Then if they became addicted to alcohol, you would be responsible for that person living a wasted life. They will have stumbled.
Therefore we would do well to choose our activities carefully. You don't want to do anything that would bring criticism against yourself, the church or Christ. What we do affects others. We should not only be concerned with the opinion that God has of us, but we should also be concerned with the testimony of our lives. Today let's examine our lives and see if there is anything that would cause another to stumble and fall.
Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
Scripture Reading: Romans 14
Focus Verse: Romans 14:21 "It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak."
There are activities mentioned in the Bible that are clearly wrong. You should not steal. You should not commit adultery and so forth. These activities are as clear to understand as easy as telling the difference between black and white. We all know right from wrong. But there are other activities that we would call gray areas where it is not as clear if an activity is right or wrong. In doing something, we should question the possibility of causing a brother to stumble.
What if a believer in Christ drinks some alcohol? There are at least two problems I see with you doing this. First, the one who drinks has the potential of becoming an alcoholic. Second, if a young person new in their faith sees a Christian drinking, so they feel it is okay for them to drink. Then if they became addicted to alcohol, you would be responsible for that person living a wasted life. They will have stumbled.
Therefore we would do well to choose our activities carefully. You don't want to do anything that would bring criticism against yourself, the church or Christ. What we do affects others. We should not only be concerned with the opinion that God has of us, but we should also be concerned with the testimony of our lives. Today let's examine our lives and see if there is anything that would cause another to stumble and fall.
Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
Monday, January 19, 2015
God is Concerned
God is Concerned
Scripture Reading: Mark 8:27-38
Focus Verse: Mark 8:33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
The Bible tells us that God is concerned with many things. But what do you think concerns God the most? The Lord is concerned that His will is done on earth just as it is in heaven. This includes your obedience, making disciples to build His kingdom. That is why it is important that we tell others about God's love for them.
God is concerned with the promises that He makes to us. Does God hear our prayers? Yes, that is one of His promises. Sometime it may seem that God doesn't hear us. But God always listens to us. He sometimes doesn't answer our prayers the way we want. Because He always knows what is best for us.
Peter thought that he knew what was best, even better than Jesus. But Jesus told Peter, "You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns. So many times our human concerns get in the way of what God is concerned with. Today let's make God's concerns our concerns.
Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
Scripture Reading: Mark 8:27-38
Focus Verse: Mark 8:33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
The Bible tells us that God is concerned with many things. But what do you think concerns God the most? The Lord is concerned that His will is done on earth just as it is in heaven. This includes your obedience, making disciples to build His kingdom. That is why it is important that we tell others about God's love for them.
God is concerned with the promises that He makes to us. Does God hear our prayers? Yes, that is one of His promises. Sometime it may seem that God doesn't hear us. But God always listens to us. He sometimes doesn't answer our prayers the way we want. Because He always knows what is best for us.
Peter thought that he knew what was best, even better than Jesus. But Jesus told Peter, "You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns. So many times our human concerns get in the way of what God is concerned with. Today let's make God's concerns our concerns.
Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries
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