A few weeks ago my pastor spoke on Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. He made a comment that was excellently profound to me. He said "The devil always promises things he cannot make good on. He cannot fulfill his promises." In context he was talking about Satan offering Jesus the world if only He would worship him. The point was that Satan will tempt us with good things he is actually unable to give us. Those good things are not his to give. Very helpful to remember.
However, what really struck me was that same truth on the flip side of the coin: The horrible things that Satan promises to do to us he cannot do either. He cannot make good on his promise to shame, kill, destroy, defame, devalue, or snatch away from the Lord. Those wounds which he promises to inflict are only his to do as the Lord sees fit. It is not in his power to do anything to me that my loving, heavenly, sovereign Father has not willed.
Thank you for that Lord. Keeping that in mind gives me the confidence to resist Satan and to flee from him. No matter what he threatens me with, You are still in control and nothing that is not for my good can befall me.
Listen to the sermon here. Or, if I'm technologically hindered here and that link didn't work try going here and scroll down to the August 31st sermon. And then, because my readers are so keen, I know you will want to go back and listen to the first two sermons in that trilogy.
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1 comment:
I had never really considered this 'flip side'. Those words struck me too...that his promises are empty. I am going to go back and listen to the sermon again. Thanks for the reminder. :)
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