The Greatest Gift is Love

1 Corinthians 13: 13, And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. NKJV

As Christians, our primary focus should be our personal relationship with the Father. Why do I say this? We have an adversary called the Devil that is just looking for an opportunity to attack our faith in Jesus. We can inadvertently open the door for Satan to pull us away from intimacy with Jesus through hurts... if we should place more importance on the gifts than on loving the Giver of those gifts. If you will meditate on the true purpose of a spiritual gift, you will soon realize that they were given to express God's love and grace to those who are in need of a touch from God.

We are ambassadors of God; we are also citizens of God's kingdom and are called to release the power of Christ into a fallen world. Jesus has commissioned us to go into the entire world and be witnesses to them of the power and the authority that we have as children of God in the name of Jesus. It is very easy to get caught up in the spiritual gifts and forget that we have an enemy who seeks to attack us so that he can discourage us from being salt and light in the world. Perhaps this is why the writer of Hebrews tells us to consider Jesus when suffering for the sake of the cross, lest we become discouraged in our souls and want to quit.

When Life Tumbles In, What Then?

Ray Pritchard

Job 1

When his wife died, he didn’t know at first how he would survive. Although he was a minister and had helped many others through times of crisis, now he faced his own personal moment of truth. How would he reconcile his own loss with the Christian faith he claimed to believe? What would he say to his own grieving congregation?

The year was 1927. The place, Aberdeen, Scotland. The man, Arthur John Gossip, pastor of the Beechgrove Church. He was fifty-four years old and at the height of his powers.

Historians tell us that he was humble and sincere, possessing a keen wit and deeply devoted to his family and friends. A bit of an eccentric, he sometimes scandalized his staid Scottish congregation by appearing in public with a floppy fisherman’s hat perched on his head. He was a man of strong opinions who never held back from expressing them to any and all who cared to listen. History also tells us that he was beloved as a pastor and preacher.

‘The Bible’ Stirs Controversy With Satan’s Resemblance To President Obama

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Deadline.com 



History‘s hit miniseries The Bible had its 3rd installment last night. It’s already been taken to task for its use of beautiful actors in all key roles. 
Now the project’s casting choice for the role of Satan has come under fire for the apparent resemblance of Moroccan actor Mehdi Ouazzani to President Barack Obama. 

Living by Faith-- It's a Lifestyle

"Endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." (2 Timothy 2:3)

Times of hardness are inevitable. You need to know that. It's true that we've been redeemed from the curse, and there's nothing Satan can do to reverse that, but he is going to challenge you on it.

So don't be surprised when things get tough. Times will come when you have to stand strictly by faith, when you'll have to speak and act as though what God says is true even when you can't feel it or see it happening around you. There will be times when everything looks terrible. That's when you must endure hardness as a good soldier.

OVERCOMERS

They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. Revelation 12:11

The only original disciple of Jesus spared from martyrdom was the Apostle John who experienced persecution in different ways. While exiled on the island of Patmos he was given the revelation of Jesus which he wrote down for the churches of his day—and ultimately for us too. He describes our enemy Satan and the cosmic spiritual battle he wages against us as disciples of Jesus. John also points out that Satan is especially angry as he realizes his time is short.

Checkmate?

“The King is the most important piece. When he is trapped, his whole army loses. The King can move one square in any direction. The main goal of chess is to checkmate your opponent’s King. The King is not actually captured and removed from the board like other pieces. But if the King is attacked (‘checked’) and threatened with capture, it must get out of check immediately. If there is no way to get out of check, the position is a ‘checkmate,’ and the side that is checkmated loses.”We all know what the game of chess involves. Now there used to be a painting in the Louvre art museum called "Checkmate", painted by Friedrich Moritz August Retzsch. It is now in private hands after being sold at Christie’s in 1999. This painting depicts 2 chess players, one is satan whom appears arrogantly confident, and the other player is a man who looks forlorn. If satan wins, he gets the man's soul.

Under Your Feet

"The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool." (Acts 2:34-35)

Even though Satan lost all his authority on this earth the day Jesus rose from the dead, for the past 2,000 years he's been running around as a spiritual outlaw--continuing to kill, steal from, and destroy all who will let him. But, he's not going to be able to do that much longer. 

There's coming a day when he's going to be put out of business completely. There's coming a day when the evil he's done here on earth will be put totally underfoot by the power of God.

Avoid Big Failures

"This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness." (Ephesians 4:17-19)

There's a subtle strategy Satan uses to take control of our lives. The Bible calls it lasciviousness and it means "to have no restraint."

Lasciviousness has been preached as being extreme immorality, but it doesn't start out that way. It begins with just a few seemingly innocent thoughts. Then those thoughts grow and grow until they begin to produce serious sin.

One afternoon as a nine-year-old boy, for example, I just yielded to the desire to curse. I knew better, but I did it anyway. I had a relative who was so good at West Texas cussin' that I thought he invented it. I was intrigued and I wanted to try it.

When I let go of all restraint and began to say those curse words, something evil moved in on my thinking that seriously affected me for some 20 years. A law was set in motion. As a result, my flesh gradually became boss over my entire being.

If Jesus Couldn’t Sin, Why Was He Tested?

J. Vernon McGee

It was impossible for Jesus to sin. In Luke 1:35, Mary was told “that holy thing” that will be conceived by the Holy Spirit is the Son of God. He was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners” (Hebrews 7:26). 


It is rank heresy to say that Jesus Christ could sin or that He had any sin in Him. He was in all points like we are, except for one: He was not contaminated with sin.

Jesus was not tempted to see if He would fall. He was tempted to show that He could not fall: "The prince of this world comes, and has nothing in me" (John 14:30). 


After He had lived a life down here for thirty-three years, Satan came with this temptation, a temptation that appealed to man's total personality—the physical side, the mental side, and the spiritual side of man.

The Lord Jesus could not fall, and the testing was given to demonstrate that He could not fall. If He could have fallen, then any moment your salvation and mine is in doubt. 

What Is the Unpardonable Sin?

Clay Jones


The blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is called the "unpardonable sin," a sin that will never be forgiven. The very possibility of even committing it often haunts many Christians. Indeed, as an insecure high school sophomore I once thought that I had committed the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit-and I became depressed. Clearly, our own mood and emotional outlook can affect how we listen to Scripture. In the four decades since, I've encountered many Christians who feared that they had committed the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and I've always been glad to tell them that they had not.

What Is Jesus Doing Now?

Pastor Colin Smith

  

He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because... Hebrews 7:25

Many Christians have a good understanding of what Christ has done for us in the past through His death on the cross, and of what He will do for us in the future when He comes again in power and in glory. They are clear about what Christ has done for us yesterday, confident about what He will do for us tomorrow, but confused about what He is doing for us today.

Christ died to save you, but He also lives to keep you. It is through Christ's continuing work of intercession that we are sustained through every pressure, kept through every temptation and eventually brought into glory.

Christ prays for you

He always lives to intercede... Hebrews 7:25

This means that Jesus speaks to the Father on your behalf. He represents you and brings the specific needs that you have, and the particular situations that you are facing, before the Father.

There is a beautiful illustration of this in the Gospels. Jesus knew that Peter was going to come under great pressure after He was arrested. He had already told Peter, "Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times." But Peter was sure that he was up to the challenge, confident that he could rise above that kind of failure.

Then Jesus said to Peter, "Satan has asked to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail" (Luke 22:31). Notice Jesus didn't say He had prayed that Peter would not fail, but that Peter's faith would not fail. God can use our failures as well as our triumphs. Jesus was saying, "Peter, you are going to come under great pressure. The enemy is going to attack you. But I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail."

That's exactly what happened. Jesus was arrested, and Peter was afraid and embarrassed. Satan really worked him over, and he failed big time. That might have been the end of Peter's story, but it wasn't. The reason? Christ had prayed for him, and His prayers always get answered.

That's why when Peter hit his lowest point and blew his testimony, his failure becomes an opportunity to discover the mercy of God. On the third day, Peter was among those who came to the tomb and discovered the risen Lord. A few days later, his faith renewed, the Lord restored Peter and commissioned him for ministry.

Seated on the throne

Such a high priest meets our need-one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Hebrews 7:26

Now we are not to think of Jesus on His knees in heaven, agonizing in prayer on our behalf, as He did in the Garden of Gethsemane. He is seated on the throne in the position of authority, and His word is the angels' command.

Jesus Christ, your great High Priest, is aware of every circumstance of your life. Nothing escapes His attention. He speaks with authority in the presence of the Father, and His word releases the resources of heaven for the pressures and temptations you face today.

I wonder what Jesus is praying for you right now... That your faith may not fail? That you will be sustained under a great burden? That you will face up to an issue of sin and deal with it? It is marvelous to know that Christ intercedes for you. He will bring you through every circumstance of life. He lives for that very purpose.

That's this week's LifeKEY!

Colin S. Smith

This LifeKey is based on the message "Intercession," from the series, "Unlocking the Bible in Hebrews & James," preached on November 18, 2001.  

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