We will wrap up our review of the lesson today by touching on the last areas of my message. We finished off on Monday with a look at three characteristics of both God and Satan. We will start with the bad dude.
1. Satan is the "Father of Lies"
John 8:44 says in part: "He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.".
How can you tell when Satan is lying? Whenever he opens his mouth! Anything that is contrary to God's Word, or His leading is of Satan.
2. Satan is a thief.
John 10:10a says: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy".
Nothing that Satan does is for your benefit! He has a mission, and that mission is to bring you down. To render you ineffective, to crush your spirit. He wants to blind the eyes of nonbelievers. He wants to make Christians fall and fail. His sole purpose in life is to destroy you. Why do we go along with him so often? Why do we leave the protection of God?
3. Satan is a roaring lion - who wants to eat you!
1 Peter 5:8 says: "Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.".
I don't know about you, but I don't go and pet lions. They are killers and that is what they do. Yet far too often we all "cozy up to" sin and treat it like it is something that won't hurt us. Mainly because Satan disguises the fact that he is a lion! But the fact remains the same - his sole purpose is to bring you down.
We then looked on the other side and observed three characteristics of God.
1. God is love
1 John 4:8 says: "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."
Chapter 4 is a beautiful description of what God's love really looks like. Take a minute and read it now. We spent a LOT of time on God's love a couple of days ago, so I won't get super in depth today.
The only thing I want to touch on this is - God IS love. It doesn't say God can love, or sometimes loves. By definition God = love! His picture should be in the dictionary!!! If he IS love, and He loves us, that love will never change! It is so foreign to us to experience total unconditional love here on earth - but that's what God gives to us!
2. God disciplines us
Hebrews 12:7-12 (look it up!)
Wait a second, discipline is a good thing??? It is in the fact that if He doesn't discipline us, then we aren't His sons and daughters!
Are you never convicted of sin? Are you OK going along with the flow of this world? If you never confront Satan, maybe it is because you are going in the same direction that he is!
God's discipline is a good thing! It means that we are legitimate children. Discipline also corrects little problems and steers us away from making big ones.
3. God is a planner - with a great plan for you!
Jeremiah 29:11-14a (look it up!)
This is my life passage. God has comforted me and blessed me with the assurance that He has a plan and purpose for my life. And that plan is not just one of mulling around, or being a lifeless robot. No! He has a plan that will give me hope and a future! Also the promise is that He will be found by us if we seek him with all our heart. If we make God a priority, and search for him like buried treasure - we will find Him!
SO WHAT???
If we really stop and think about the differences between God and Satan, they are laughable! If we stepped back and unemotionally looked at the hard facts and data, you would have to be extremely foolish to choose Satan over God.
But we rarely look at things unemotionally don't we? We also have two natures living inside of us - our old nature (sin) and our new nature (Holy Spirit).
Just like a pet dog, if you feed the puppy - it will grow big and strong! Which nature are you feeding? Which one are you allowing to grow? My challenge to you this week is to look at these verses and really ask yourself if the sin that you allow to grow in your life is really worth it. To ask yourself if being 50% committed to God is enough.
Don't be fooled, my friends, Satan is a thief, killer, and destroyer - it's who he is and what he does. Run from him, not to him. Stop playing with sin like it's a little kitten, it's really a roaring lion that will eat you first chance it gets.
The sign says, "Free Cheese". That might be true, but what you will get as well is the trap....
Remember, half truths are lies - and Satan is the Father of them all.
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