Thursday, May 5, 2016
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan
has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you that
your faith may not fail:”
Hey Gang, do you think Satan would
like to sift you like wheat? Do we sometimes, or even often, place a
bull’s eye on our back as a target for Satan’s fiery darts? “But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail
and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 31-32).
If there was ever a time when we need
to heed the writer of Hebrews words it is now: “Therefore do not throw
away your confidence, which has a great reward” (Hebrews 10:35). If
you are a child of God, you are in a fierce war. In fact, you might even
go so far as to say you are in a life-and-death war. Satan has but one
goal, to destroy the faith of all of God’s elect. And the stronger your faith,
the more determined he is to sic his alligators on you.
If there is anything that gets his
dander up it is unshakable faith. I wish I could attest to the fact that
when you kick his can and stay firm on the Rock that is Jesus Christ, Satan
sees he has wasted his time and moves on – but he just turns up the heat.
Why? Because he knows when God’s
people, who are called by His name unite their hearts and humble themselves
before Him, pray from the depth of their hearts, seek a every growing deeper
relationship with Him and put away all of the bangles and beads that become
idols that separate us from Jesus, he(Satan) is in big trouble. ” Throughout
the Word we find that when we stand on the promises of God we gain
strength. We learn what Jesus truly meant when He said, ”Greater is He who is in you than he who is the world” (I
John 4:4.
Hey Gang, yes, the times are
tough. Everything that can be shaken is being shaken so that only
those things that cannot be shaken will remain (Hebrews 12:27-29), but
we are also challenged by Paul in his letter to Timothy, his adopted spiritual
son, “Fight a determined warfare, holding faith, and a good conscience”(1
Timothy 1:19).
The apostle Peter came under a
ferocious attack against his faith. His trust in Jesus so enraged hell
that Satan asked permission to ‘sift him’ to see if he would stand. Is
not Jesus’ words of tremendous encouragement in this day of woe? “But I
have prayed for you”. I have prayed that your faith will stand the test
and when you are converted, my mission for you is to strengthen your brethren.”
Maybe right at this moment you are
going through a terrible storm in your life. And the harder you try the
deeper the woe in your life. I can say, ‘been there and done that’ many
times throughout my lifetime. There have been many times when that storm
has raged within my heart and soul and many times when I have cried out, “Why?
Lord”?
In closing this Epistle I want to
share that God has given us a powerful weapon to use against Satan’s attacks on
our faith. The weapon? We are not to try and figure everything
out. We are to set our eyes on “the great cloud of witnesses” already
in glory who have made it through with their faith intact”. “Wherefore
seeing we also are encompassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us
lay aside every weight. And the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us
run with patience the race that is set before us” ((Hebrews 12:1).
What joy filled my heart when this verse finally sank into my understanding.
It is these times when we need to have
Luke’s words tucked away in our computer hard drive: “Now will not God bring about justice
for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over
them? I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly.
However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth” (Luke 18:7-8). We need to we make sure
our armor is in place, our lamps are filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit and
we have the Sword, the word of God in sharpened and secure in our hands.
Notice Jesus’ question here:
Will he find faith in his people as they endure days of darkness and
oppression? I wonder how many would endure, if He would ask such a
question today- in our nation that has chosen to ‘go its own way’. I
believe Jesus is asking, “Will the faith of the elect hold fast when the
shaking storms come?” The question each believer needs to ask, in this
day of shaking is “Will my anchor hold fast?” Or better, “Will I hold
fast to My anchor Jesus?”
I pray Father, in Jesus name,
all who receive these morning gramps’ messages are solid on the Rock who is
Jesus.
Blessings, Gramps
