Category Archives: spiritual warfare

The Bible has some Hunger Games, too (Part 2)

Posted by Steve on

This is a two-part blog series I wrote for Awaken City that I wanted to re-title over to my blog as well!

I started this blog mini-series by looking at the beginning of Jesus’ temptation, and I’m going to complete it by looking at the end.  There’s a huge amount of wisdom that we can gain from the middle, but I’m just focusing on the two things that have most recently caught my attention in my own journey through the scriptures, because if the Holy Spirit is teaching us something, we secure it and steward it by sharing it!  So…here it goes!

In Matthew 4:3, Satan unsuccessfully challenges the very statement God proclaimed just three verses earlier.  He tries again, and still fails.  He shifts his tactics in the third temptation, suggesting that his way of attaining what was promised to Jesus was better than God’s way, but still Jesus stood fast.  And after Jesus overcame all the temptations that Satan threw at him, something incredible happened in verse 11: “Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and ministered to him.”

I’ll take that any day!  (And the great thing is that through Jesus, we all can!)

There’s something powerful about the word “ministered.”  The Greek word used here is diakoneō, which means “to serve, wait upon, or minister,” which is basically exactly what the translation says—but that’s not the cool part.  The cool part is the other places in scripture where this same Greek word is used.  In Matthew 8:15, it describes Peter’s mother-in-law serving a meal.  In Luke 10:40, it describes Martha’s cooking.  In Luke 12:37, it describes a master waiting on his servants reclining at the table.  In Luke 17:8, it describes a servant preparing supper for his master.  In John 12:2, it describes Martha bringing food to the dinner table.

What’s so powerful about the usage of this word is that it very frequently describes serving a meal, and that’s precisely what Jesus is longing for prior to Satan’s temptations.  It doesn’t say so specifically, but I have a feeling that the angels actually brought Jesus meals, just like they did for Elijah.  And it’s at this point that Jesus experiences the same thing David did hundreds of years earlier: “Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.”  Jesus shared this principle with his followers through the parable of the prodigal son—the things the son went looking for in the city were the very things the father gave him when he came home.  God wants to grant our desires, develop our dreams, and answer our longings.  He’s a good father!  We simply have to cling to His words—even when Satan tries to challenge them—and He will bring it all to pass.

We all get “hungry” at times.  There are times when we feel weak.  But when we choose to be faithful in the process, we find favor in the payoff…and just like Jesus, it will be precisely what we were longing for in the beginning!

The Bible has some Hunger Games, too (Part 1)

Posted by Steve on

This is a two-part blog series I wrote for Awaken City that I wanted to re-title over to my blog as well!

I spoke a few weeks ago at Awaken City Church on how to renew our minds.  The full message is available here, but I wanted to expand on something that we didn’t get to spend much time on: the temptation of Jesus, found in Matthew 4:1-11.  There are a few points I’d like to make on this passage, but the first is this:

As I mentioned on Sunday, there are many places in the Bible that seem unnecessarily obvious.  One of those places is verse 2: “After fasting for forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”

Sometimes I get hungry every 40 minutes…so I can only imagine the rumbles and roars coming from Jesus’ empty stomach.

But as always, even the most obvious statements of the Bible contain some very deep truths.  Many people focus on the fact that Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted.  That was the reason Jesus was led there; to face temptation.  But verse 2 shows us that before the Spirit allowed Jesus to be tempted, He made sure Jesus knew he was protected.  Before Satan is able to come along, Jesus goes forty days and forty nights without any food, and THEN he becomes hungry—which means Jesus experienced forty consecutive days and nights in a row knowing that God was providing for him and protecting him, and that he really was in need of nothing.  That’s what enabled Jesus to pass up the bread that Satan suggested in the first temptation.

Before God allows any hardship to come our way, He provides us with proof that we can handle it with Him.  The Spirit wasn’t being evil by leading Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted; He was providing Jesus with an experience that proved God’s strength to him after he forfeited his own place as God.  And the Spirit wants to do the same thing with us: He wants to provide us with the opportunity to know God’s faithfulness, and then experience how much power there is to overcome the kingdom of darkness simply by having faith in what we’ve already experienced.

So when you face temptation, think back to what God has already made known to you.  You may not be there randomly; God may be setting you up to experience the unstoppable victory that’s released every time you buildyour faith for the future on His favor in the past!

Forgetting Who We’re Fighting

Posted by Steve on

I’ve grown up as a forgetful person.  I never wanted to be; I didn’t consciously decide to be (or if I did, I’ve forgotten).  But the fact remains that I have been known to forget things.  I even spent most of this last year having forgotten my age (seriously, you can ask my wife—she’s had to correct me on it frequently)!  And I am getting better, to be sure…but I still am forgetful from time to time.  We all are!  Some of us are far more forgetful than others, but none of us remember everything we need to.  Often, we have an easy time remembering the things we don’t really need to remember, and a harder time remembering the things we do.  But thankfully, Jesus has given us a Helper—the Holy Spirit—to remind us of the things that are most important.

One of the things I’ve been reminded of by the Holy Spirit lately is something that the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus: “We are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”  That verse has some major implications that we can be very prone to forget!  That means that despite the arguments we may have had with our spouse, they’re not the enemy.  Despite the grudges we may have been holding against our co-workers, they’re not the enemy.  Despite what we might think about the things our friends have been doing, they’re not the enemy.  Despite the disobedience your kids may have shown lately, they’re not the enemy.  There’s all sorts of conflicts that can come up in our relationships, and all sorts of ways that we can choose to respond…but no matter the circumstance, they are not the enemy!

I’m not attempting to make excuses for people’s choices, condone ungodly behavior, or imply that conflict is the devil’s doing.  We are all responsible for our own choices, and despite the popular saying, the devil can’t make you do it if you’re in Christ—he can only try and convince you that you should do it.  People need to be held accountable, and our choices—good or bad—always have effects.  What I am saying is that even in the midst of conflict…even in the midst of poor choices…even in the midst of hurt…we’re not fighting against people.  We may think they’re being stubborn, or stupid, or unrealistic, or insubordinate—and they may be, actually—but it’s Satan’s mission to steal, kill, and destroy.  It’s God’s mission to redeem, restore, and reconcile.  We have been given a ministry of reconciliation, and not of judgement!  And while consequences will need to be dealt with, and relationships will need to be managed, and conversations will need to be had, they ought to all be part of reconciliation.  We have an enemy.  It’s just not each other.

What did Jesus say to do to the ones we’re not getting along with?  Love them.  Pray for them.  Go the extra mile with them.  We may not like them, but we’ve got to love them!  And love doesn’t boast; it’s not proud; it’s not self-serving.  Arguing to “win” totally misses considering others as better than yourselves, and believing that the first shall be last and the last first.  Healthy conflict has redemption as a goal, rather than victory.  So as you go throughout your week, interacting with all sorts of people, remember: they’re not the enemy.  They’re providing you with an opportunity to see the redemptive power of God at work in your life.  And experiencing that is something you can’t forget.

Heaven offers only one Psychology course

Posted by Steve on

It is incredible how active God is.  I haven’t written a new post in awhile, and it is astounding to think about how much has happened to me and in me and through me since the last post!  So, in an effort to reconnect to this ministry, I’ve been reading over a number of my past blogs.  (Yes, I view this blog—regardless of how many readers there are not—as a ministry.  Recognizing God’s ability and giving Him room in every area of our lives, from serving the needy to doing the laundry, is the first step to seeing His hand at work in all places and at all times.)

The most shocking part of all this is not that I’m writing a new blog after five months of inactivity, but that as I read over my previous posts, I felt incapable of keeping it up.  Now, I don’t think my writing is all that spectacular, or that I’ve ever had a “gold mine” of wisdom…but I was actually intimidated by myself.  I’ve set a standard (it may be low or high, but either way, there is one), and regardless of where that standard was, I didn’t feel like I measured up.

Wait—huh?

How can I possibly not measure up to myself?  What kind of weird identity conundrum have I worked myself into here!?

I’m no psychologist, but this is a perfect opportunity to address the fact that Satan loves to mess with our self-image.  If he can convince us that we don’t measure up (as a friend, as a spouse, as a leader, as a team player, or even as a blogger), then we effectively hand him the keys to all the influence we have.  Believing that you’re not good enough, or have somehow been disqualified, is like letting the enemy call the shots on what God is able to accomplish through you.  He might suggest that we compare ourselves to our siblings, or our friends, or our role models; he may even try to get us to compare our current self to our old self.  He points out all the great things in every place we look…until we look in the mirror, and then he turns it all around.

But there’s good news: Satan only has that ability when we agree with his suggestions and give him some space.  He’s really just a guy behind bars—a dog on a leash—and gets only what he can convince us to give him.  If we hold onto what God says through all of the enemy’s suggestions, Satan gets no say in what happens next.  And when God’s hand is in something, there’s no telling what incredible good will come of it!

So instead of allowing discouragement and fear to keep me from writing again, I decided to remind myself of God’s promises: that He is always moving me forward toward a greater level of goodness (Ro 8:28); that He is at work in me to complete all that He’s begun (Php 1:6); that His word is never wasted and always reaps a result (Is 55:11); that His ability goes far beyond my imagination (Eph 3:20); that His power is far more trustworthy than any rationale I can come up with (Col 2:8); that with Him, I can do anything (Php 4:13); that He values me and chose me to be a part of His work in the world (Eph 2:8)…just to name a few.

You won’t find much issue of “measuring up” after you soak your soul in things like that.

There will probably be far more reasons to drop down and fall back than to rise up and press forward.  We tend to be far too easy to scare.  But God is never outnumbered, and he’s never out-gunned.  So when the guy behind bars threatens you for your identity, just call in the warden; because the longer you hold on to God’s promises, the more He proves that he’s made them to YOU…and He’s not ever going to change them or take them back!