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"Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

Month: February 2021

Biblical Submission…

February 27, 2021 /
Stephanie Montilla

“Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the Church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything” (Ephesians 5:22-23).

For the past few weeks, the overarching theme in my alone time with God has been His reveling that practically everything Jesus said, did, and how He commands us to live is counter-cultural. It often opposes and contradicts what society says is good or right. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not only compelling and transformative –it’s also confrontational. God’s Word confronts almost every societal norm and challenges the upside-down beliefs that spring up from them. Its fluid standards regarding love, success, modesty, femininity, sexuality, and marriage. It should be no surprise then that Lord commands believers’ standards to be different from those of the world. In the Book of Ephesians, we read that the Apostle Paul insisted on this: “I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking” –Ephesians 4:17.

And if anyone struggles to understand what Paul is saying, John makes this same message crystal clear listen: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions – is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” –1 John 2:15-17.

It is becoming more and more evident that sin is celebrated in our society. In contrast, hostility towards God, His people, and the things of God is on the rise. The world calls sin freedom and thus, celebrates it. Is it any wonder that those who follow Jesus Christ in this anti-Christian climate face so much resistance, hostility, and rejection? We live in a time where the majority rule holds sway over ever-changing societal norms of what is deemed right, and what is wrong. Where subjective feelings and opinions all too often superseded God’s Truth.

In my alone time with Jesus, I thought about the cost of both following and submitting to Him. The many ways in which His narrow path is vastly different from the wide-open road of the world. And it was during this reflective time that the Lord dropped the word “submission” in my spirit. And I began to question Him, “aside from submitting out of reverence for You, where else is submission commanded? Oh, yes – marriage!” At that moment, I didn’t understand why the Lord was speaking to me about submission within the bonds of marriage as I’m currently single.

But what eventually became clear to me was this: The place where we exercise biblical, counter-cultural behaviors is in our homes, specifically within our marriages. As a single, woman I’d never thought about submission in light of marriage. Then I visited the scriptures and found this passage in Ephesians 5:21-33 which states: “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church, his body, of which he is the Savior. As the Church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the Church— for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the Church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”

Talk about counter-cultural! In today’s climate, just the term “submission” alone invokes negative reactions and imaginings. And yet, we witness people submitting to one another daily. CFO’s submit to CEO’s. A child to its parents (Ephesians 6:1). And as citizens, we each must submit to law enforcement and governmental authorities. Jesus, the Son of God, submitted to God His Father (1 Cor. 15:28). The universe submits to Christ (1 Cor. 15:27; Eph. 1:22), and even demons submitted to the disciples (Luke 10:17).

Each of us must submit to someone or something in some capacity at some time in our lives.

The Lord showed me how it would be useful for me to come into a deeper understanding of biblical submission now, especially since I desire to become a wife someday. Serving my husband will be a form of submission, a way in which I will exercise honor and obedience towards Him. As I read and prayed, God opened my mind, enabling me to understand that the world’s practices and ideas concerning submission in marriage contradict those practiced in a genuine God-glorifying, traditional, biblical marriage. Before I had a relationship with Jesus, culturally speaking, submission meant a man having control over a woman. For me, the word submission was rooted in toxic, controlling, misogynistic, and outdated ideals. However, God and Scripture have taught me otherwise. And while it breaks my heart to imagine anyone in an unhealthy, controlling marriage – please know this: that was never God’s design for marriage.

The Lord intends marriage to be a loving, intimate, intentional, and God-honoring covenant.

And any marriage that genuinely glorifies God will require obedience to His authority. It also requires that a wife be willing to submit to her husband as he lovingly exercises authority over her. (In this, we witness the Bride, the Body of Christ, willingly offering herself to God; Christ, Head over His Body.) The woman’s submission to her husband and her husband’s loving-kindness towards her honors the Lord, and it serves as a model of service one to another. “Male and female he created them…” –Genesis 5:2. Each of the partners having a unique yet complementary role. “And the LORD God said, ‘it is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him’ –Genesis 2:18 From the very beginning, the Lord’s design for creation involved order and separation (heaven and earth, light and dark, morning and evening, male and female, etc.)

In an article on the “Focus on The Family” website, author Jeff Johnston sums-up this concept of biblical marriage beautifully:”

It is out of the diversity and distinctive separateness of male and female that we humans are called to not only reflect the image and likeness of God, but we also represent God in the stewardship of His good and wonderful creation (Genesis 1:28-29). Male and female also reflect God as they come together in unity in marriage and are joined as “one flesh” (see Genesis 2:23-24; Matthew 19: 3-6; Mark 10: 6-9; Ephesians 5:28-32). This coming together as one flesh is unique in that the sexual union brings forth new life that will also somehow look like God and bear the imago Dei. As we are “fruitful and multiply and fill the earth,” we spread God’s image around the world (Genesis 1:28).

Friends, biblical submission is not about control nor oppression. Biblical submission within marriage is rooted in God’s beautiful, divine, and unique order. It is the unifying picture of the Lord and His bride –the Church. While the heavens display God’s greatness, God chose humankind to bear His image; we each created in His image and likeness. And within the bonds of the covenant of marriage, we find the biblical model of divine order: love, servanthood, and leadership. God’s marriage order (God 🡪 male 🡪female 🡪 children) does not imply inequality or inferiority rather divine order –Ephesians 5:21-33. In biblical marriage, the Lord Jesus is its center. He alone reigns over each partner, and not one partner ruling over the other. Each then submits to Him, and each other, out of reverence and love for Jesus. “And further, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” –Ephesians 5:21.

Men are called to love their wives just as Christ loved the Church. Jesus gave His life for us, pursued us when we denied Him, loved us when we were unlovable; men are called to love their wives with this same kind of love! “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the Church— for we are members of his body” (Ephesians 5:25 – 28).

I don’t know about you, but that sounds to me like a remarkably high calling to me! Love is at the very core of this unique calling. Husbands are called to cleanse their wives, washing them in the Word, loving their wives as they love their own bodies. We are to love the Lord Jesus Christ with all our hearts, mind, and soul (Matthew 22:37). We are to love our enemies (Matthew 43:48). We are to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:39) – and for a husband, his closest neighbor is his wife. Both a wife and her husband are called to die to their flesh, their “me first” predilections – that doesn’t come naturally. It takes the power of the Holy Spirit at work in both partners. Submission is counter-cultural. Trusting your husband’s lead is counter-cultural. Loving your wife as God loves His Church is sacrificial; it too is counter-cultural—because biblical love in and of itself is, counter-cultural.

While the world may view biblical marriage as a woman yielding or giving up her individual liberties, it is instead embracing and submitting to the divine order God has established for her with the bonds of marriage. The obedient wife does not wait for orders. Instead, she tries to discern her husband’s needs and feelings and responds in love. When she sees her husband is weary, she encourages him to rest; when she sees him agitated, she soothes him; when he is ill, she nurses and comforts him; while he is happy and elated, she shares his joy. Yet such obedience should not be confined to his wife; the husband should be obedient in the same way. When she is weary, he should relieve her of her work; when she is sad, he should cherish her, holding her gently in his arms; when she is filled with good cheer, he should also share her good cheer. – St John Chrysostom, 4th Century AD

Friend, if you are single now, yet desire to be married one day, it’s never too early to learn God’s design for the covenant of marriage. And, if you’re married, re-membering His plan can serve as a refresher. A reminder that we need to die to ourselves daily. To be intentional within the bonds of marriage. And to submit one to another lovingly. As Christians, we have not been called to live as the world does. As Christians, we are called to follow and abide in Christ. To follow His will and ways, even if it makes us look upside down in the eyes of the world.

However, challenging it may be to follow the narrow path while living in this world—your soul will undoubtedly be filled to overflowing with joy and your heart at rest and satisfied when you do. As a former atheist, I can attest to this: the world will not satisfy the deepest longings of your soul–only Jesus Christ alone can do that. I’ve counted the cost and continuously find Jesus to be worthy. However counter-cultural it may be, are you willing to courageously accept Jesus into your life as your Lord and Savior?

What’s in Your Hand?

February 14, 2021 /
Kendra Santilli

Somewhere on the far side of the wilderness, there’s a heaven-meets-earth moment waiting for you. It’s just past the whirlwind of insecurity that can leave you feeling the sting of defeat. It’s beyond the doubts that tell you that there is nothing about you that could ever make a difference in this life because you’re just an average person.

But what if? What if I told you that the Creator of the universe wholeheartedly disagrees with you? What if He could take your most common attribute and make it extraordinary? God is not afraid of your inabilities; instead, He sees abilities in you—you never even knew existed. And so, it was with an unlikely character we encounter at the beginning of the Old Testament. His story a remarkable one, filled with redemption. Moses, a Hebrew turned Egyptian Prince born during a very hostile and oppressive time in Egypt’s history.     

Follow me as I paraphrase Moses’ story. I believe historical context is important:

…During Joseph’s reign in Egypt, he was second in command of all Egypt. Scripture tells us the Israelites prospered and multiplied while under his care. “…the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them”—Exodus 1:7. So much so that even after his death, they continued to thrive and flourish because Joseph had been so highly revered and regarded. The Bible informs us that the Israelites did far more than merely exist in this new land; they fully occupied it.

Now, fast forward 400 years. Joseph is long dead, and a new Pharaoh has been appointed. One who found Joseph’s legacy irrelevant, and the Israelites’ success in their small Egypt corner a threat to his rule. His response then—enslave them all. It’s extreme, I know. And, sadly, it only gets worse from there. To decrease the Hebrew population, Pharaoh ordered all the male babies be killed at birth.

Meanwhile, a humble yet audacious Hebrew woman gives birth to a son. And in her desire to save him from Pharaoh’s death decree, she sends him floating down the Nile river in a pitch-protected basket. And Pharaoh’s daughter was just a way downstream, bathing. Her handmaids were with her; they saw the basket and brought it to her. She was delighted, believing this was a gift from the gods! Little did she know that he would one day become the Hebrew God, Yahweh’s gift to His own people. She sends for a Hebrew slave to come and nurse the child, but the slave who comes ends up being the child’s mother.

Even amid oppression, God still showed kindness to his people.

After the child was weaned, he was sent back to Pharaoh’s daughter. She gave him the name Moses, and he grew up in Pharaoh’s palace. As you read in Exodus, skipping ahead, after a series of destiny-shaping events, Moses ran away from the palace to Midian, today’s Saudi Arabia. There he met his wife, worked as a shepherd, and started his family. All of that could have been his happily ever after, but God had other plans for Moses’s life. One day, this Egyptian prince-turned-shepherd led his sheep to the “far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God” –Exodus 3:1. In the perfect position for a heaven-touches-earth moment, Moses was all alone on the mountain, and he got that exact moment! We know that God manifested as fire burning within a bush, yet the bush wasn’t burning up—this mystified Moses. God had preserved Moses, allowing him to be rescued from the Nile by Pharaoh’s daughter, to now stand before this burning bush. And the same God that saved Him was now commissioning him to go and free His enslaved people, the Israelites, just as He had promised Moses’ great-great-grandfather He would do hundreds of years before. God says to Moses, “the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt” –Exodus 3:9-10.

Let’s pause here for a moment and figure out where we fit into this story.

From Joseph to Moses, the above events didn’t happen in a day, a week, a month, or even over a year’s time. Over the years and lifetimes, these events occurred by God having placed these men strategically into positions where He would equip them to lead His people out of the places and circumstances that oppressed them and led to their suffering. And so, He might do this same thing for you, too. Perhaps that’s where you fit into this story? You may feel like you’re on the “far side of the wilderness,” but God has not forgotten you there. Even as you read this, you’re just moving along, living your everyday life. And yet, right in the middle of your daily life, God might show up in a sudden, all-consuming, “burning bush moment” that will forever rearrange the trajectory of your entire life, turning your ‘just daily living’ into something extra-ordinary. Or maybe you may feel so content with your everyday life that you’re missing those burning bush moments that are right in front of you?

Back to the story, Moses is in front of the burning bush and is so confused about why God would ask him of all people to lead His people out of Egypt. He’s just an average shepherd, and remember, he had that series of unfortunate circumstances back in Egypt? He wasn’t sure how he would do any of what God asked of him without getting himself killed? Little did Moses know, something extraordinary was about to happen to him. Yet in that pivotal moment, the Lord asked the most seemingly random question: “The Lord said to him, ‘What is that in your hand?’ ‘A staff,’ he replied. The Lord said, ‘Throw it on the ground.’ Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, ‘Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.’ So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. Then the Lord said, ‘Put your hand inside your cloak.’ So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous[a]—it had become as white as snow. ‘Now put it back into your cloak,’ he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.” –Exodus 4:2-4; 6-7).

God used what Moses had. Moses didn’t need special equipment, a theology degree, or a select title. All he needed was obedience and loyalty to God. As you read on, Moses was not a fan of this idea of being used by God. He made excuse after excuse. He even asked God to send someone else. Yet in the end, Moses obeyed God; and his obedience led to an entire people’s freedom. It also led him to experience the glory of God in ways he never knew were possible. His obedience to the Lord led to his being used by God to transcribe God’s law for the people. Moses became one of the Old Testament’s most prominent leaders because of his obedience to God’s call.

Hebrews 11 tells us: “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt,not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.”

We often want to see remarkable things in our lives, yet we aren’t willing to act in simple obedience. We admire the faith of people who can keep their relationships with God even through the craziness of life. Those who can be joyful amid trials. Those who can still pray for the house seemingly beyond their means or for the job they didn’t think they’d ever get. Those who pray for healing and see it happen. Those who have a powerful walk with the Lord. We admire that faith, and we even want it. Let me remind you, “faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.” –Hebrews 11:1-2. Faith is not something to be attained; it is a lifestyle. As you obey the word of God, you grow in faith—your faith increasing as your obedience gets bolder.

I will ask you the same thing God asked Moses…

“What’s in your hand? What do you already have that God can use?” Ask God to help you to see the burning bush even within the ordinary. He is faithful to meet you right where you are, just as He did with Moses. God will introduce Himself to you. And, as you discover Him, I promise you’ll find that you have far more in your hand than you ever realized you had. God will use you in ways you never thought possible. And, if you’re here today and have never asked this God into your life, please, do it now. Let Him use what you have sitting right there in your hand…

Smoke & Mirrors

February 6, 2021 /
MaryEllen Montville

“Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and [physical and mental strength and ability] over all the power that the enemy [possesses]; and nothing shall in any way harm you” –Luke 10:19.

If indeed you are God’s child, why then is He allowing _____ to happen to you? Why has He permitted this to touch your life at all?

Satan is the great deceiver. And as such, he slithers into the life of every believer at one time or another, shamelessly whispering the above question, accusation really, in our ears, taunting us…

His intent? To plant baleful, hate-filled seeds in our hearts—Satan has a malignant hatred toward God and His people. Wanting nothing more than to utterly destroy, demolish, kill, if possible, our faith and hope in Jesus, His Truth, and promises. He is continuously tossing seeds of doubt everywhere, great mimic that he is; challenges these, concerning God’s goodness, ever calling it into question. Ever hoping some of his seeds will eventually take root in our hearts. Ever challenging a true believer’s immutable belief that we serve a good and loving God who desires only what is best for His children. I’ve intentionally chosen to repeatedly use “ever” here, that I might stress the point of Satan’s never-ending assault on you and me as believers.

Being made aware of this then, be all the more vigilant! You must never ever allow Satan unguarded access into your heart, child of God! “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” –1 Peter5:8.

So, what does that mean “to not allow Satan to have unguarded access into your heart?” And how do we stop him once he starts with his insidious whisperings? Hear God’s Word, believer and yet believer alike. “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” –2 Corinthians 10: 5. In layman’s words, in the Spirit, you snatch Satan by the scruff of his proverbial neck, and you command him, by the authority Christ has given you, to bow before and answer to, Jesus’ Blood!

Allow me to backtrack a bit here to lay a bit of a foundation…

Satan is not omniscient—he is not all-knowing. Unlike God, Satan does not have the power or ability to read and know your every thought. Neither is he omnipresent—able to be everywhere at once. Nor omnipotent—having absolute power. These traits, or characteristics, being omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent, belong solely to our God. Remember, Satan is a created being. And, as such, must ask God’s permission before he can so much as touch one single hair on the head of a Blood-bought believer. Anything that Satan is allowed to do or have access to in a believer’s life must first pass-through God’s hands.

Satan wants you and me to forget about that part—forget that he must-have God’s permission before he can in any way, touch a believer’s life. Each of the Apostles can attest to this. At some point, all of God’s elect will. Having been forewarned by Jesus, The Apostle Peter came face-to-face with this very Truth the night he denied our Lord. “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” – Luke 22:31-32 emphasis my own.

And though Peter’s sifting was indeed life-changing to say the least, perhaps nowhere in Scripture do we see this Truth of Satan’s being allowed to sift God’s people more strikingly, more clearly, than in the life of God’s servant, Job.

God dispels any questions we might have about Job’s character or his love for God within the very first sentence of this Book. One cannot say then, nor surmise that perhaps Job had sinned against God. That he had done some-thing that violated God’s law, denied him in any way, allowing the enemy legal access to come in and disrupt his life in any small or significant way. “In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil” –Job 1:1. Chapter One goes on to detail, in part, the conversation taking place between God and Satan concerning Job, this blameless and upright man. How is it God would allow Satan, suggest to him even, to sift Job? Hear God’s answer. “O house of Israel, declares the LORD, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay? Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel” –Jeremiah 18:6.

It is here, in these moments, friends, when, like Job, our faith must also travel that distance from our hearts to our feet that we might stand strong in the day of testing; confidently walking out that which we’ve boldly professed. Ever calling to mind that He alone is God, and He will always have His way in our lives. Faithful to finish the work He’s begun in us. “Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand” –Isaiah 64:8; Phil. 1: 6.

Satan was convinced that the only reason Job was so loyal to God was because God had placed a hedge of protection around him and everything He had given Job. And though God indeed did allow Satan to try Job, He also set exact parameters as to what Satan could and could not touch concerning him. “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger” –Job 1:9-12.

Let the reader have ears to hear; you have this same divine protection around you and everything God has granted you—if you are His child. As it was with Job, so it is with you.

God may well allow, even suggest Satan sift you. Yet know this: when God allows this, and if you walk with God long enough, He eventually will allow it—it will be for His glory and your good; just as it was for Jobs. Trust is built in the fires of adversity—so is dependence. Pride is removed in those same fires. Our wills are given knees there. We’re made ready and able to bend to God’s will, rather than stubbornly clinging to our own. Remember, we serve a loving Father. And that fundamental fact, His immutable character, is not determined by our flighty feelings—nor by what He may allow to happen in, or be taken from, our lives.

God is static in His eternal love for His children. “For the LORD disciplines the one He loves, as does a father the son in whom he delights “–Proverbs 3:12.

Psalm 94:12 calls blessed the one who the Lord allows to be tried. Listen: “Blessed is the man You discipline, O LORD, and teach from Your law…”

And so it was the Lord who permitted Satan to take the lives of all of Job’s children. All his livestock, his camels, and every other animal he had as well. His every servant save the three that survived to tell of the sudden calamity that had befallen all the rest! Talk about a fiery trial! Yet after all of this sudden and tremendous loss, listen to Job’s response to this testing. Pay attention to the level of faith Job displayed in his God. “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. –Job 1:20-22.

May this be our heart, my heart, in the day God might allow some fiery trial to visit our lives.

Friends, I’ve shared all of this to remind you that Satan has no power other than what is given him by the Only All-Powerful One—the Everlasting God! More, to remind you, child of God, that His Living, Breathing Spirit is alive in you and is exponentially greater in power than the power on short term loan to Satan from God. “For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children” –Romans 8:16.

Yours is a timeless power: his, only temporary.

Satan is a created being whose limited power exists in this world because it is useful in God’s overall plan for His creation. I’m reminding you also that Satan is a liar and the father of lies! Tirelessly chasing you down, pointing ever back towards who you once were, back towards whatever pit God pulled you out of, whatever foul hotbed of immorality from which God has cleaned you. All this, Satan’s wily tactics—smoke and mirrors, friends.

And yet, make no mistake; he is a skilled and crafty illusionist adept in his fangless attempts of convincing you that he is far more powerful, further reaching, more knowing, and able than he genuinely is—all that he might trip you up and take you out! And so dear believer, you must re-mind yourself than of your God-given authority! Become adept at wielding your sword—God’s Word. Becoming a quick draw of the phrase “it is written.” No more living on the defense. You have the power of God within you to tear down the works of the enemy through the power of Jesus’ Blood. You are a new creation—born again from above. Never forget that what is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Jesus’ Words, not mine. “Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life” –John 3:6.

In the end, friends, all ended well for Job. Just as it did for our brother, the Apostle Peter, when Satan had finished sifting him. Listen: “Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. After this Job lived one hundred and forty years and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. So Job died, old and full of days” –Job 42:12-16.

God will always have the final Word in the life of every believer—over every created thing. And, just as God has the power to use Satan to sift us that it might result in some new level of righteousness within us, God, in that same power over Satan, prohibits that ever-prowling lion from just randomly attaching His elect. “In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you. If anyone stirs up strife, it is not from me; whoever stirs up strife with you shall fall because of you” –Isaiah 54:14-15.

New friend, if you are here today for the first time or maybe it’s been a while since your last visit, but you’ve yet to ask this God who has the final Word over each man’s life into your heart as your Lord. I pray that you’ll ask Him in right now. Don’t allow Satan, that great illusionist, another day to rob you of all that God wants to so richly bless you with; starting with the greatest of His blessings, a relationship with Him. He’s knocking now; please answer. “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me” –Revelation 3:20.

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