Is Satan Behind Your Facebook Page?..... By Topher Haddox

Is Satan Behind Your Facebook Page?
By Topher Haddox

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.” ( Psalm 19:14)

I believe that social media can be an effective platform for the spread of the gospel. There are plenty of Christ-centered resources in the online community that I use on a daily basis to help me grow spiritually. But if we’re honest, we probably spend a small portion of our time advancing our spiritual growth, while the rest is spent on aimless scrolling. We spend hours a day consuming endless information, pictures, and videos without any safeguard for our minds. For Christians, I’ve found that this is dangerous territory. This potentially turns the mind into an open plain, with Satan prowling through the grass like a lion, waiting to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) 

Here are four ways the enemy tries to devour you through social media:

Satan wants your marriage.

It starts with a like here, and a like there. She’s only a friend. You justify the innocent interaction of the like button because it doesn’t cross any solid lines. You gradually push the boundary line further and further back. Maybe the likes and comments lead to private conversations. Remember, sin is never satisfied with the amount of you it has.

Sooner or later you are hiding conversations from your spouse. Before you know it, you’re involved in a mental, perhaps even a physical affair.

Satan wants your pure thoughts.

We live in a pornographic culture and it is almost impossible to avoid while scrolling. Couple that with the ease of giving into lustful thoughts and it’s a disaster for holy living.

Satan will whisper that it’s okay to look because there’s no harm. Who’s going to know? It can be your little pet sin. But it won’t stop there.

Keep your heart pure and fixed on the Father. Get rid of anything that might hinder that. It’s absolutely worth it, and deadly if you don’t.

Satan wants your time.

Psalm 1 tells us the blessed man meditates day and night on the Word of God. How can we know what to pray unless we meditate on His Word? How can we read the Word, much less meditate on it day and night if we’re constantly scrolling through social media? We’re simply choosing the pleasures of this world rather than spending time with the God of the universe. It’s that simple.

Because we’re not pursuing God like we should, we get bored and are attempting to fill the void with constant entertainment.

Satan wants your worship.

Social media can train us to worship the idol of self. We essentially create mini shrines of ourselves, striving for praise via the almighty like.

You can’t be self-absorbed and have compassion for others. If the enemy can keep us distracted by keeping our faces buried in a screen, then we won’t be able to see the hurting world around us. We certainly won’t be missions-minded if we’re consumed with our own lives.

In 1 Corinthians 10:31, Paul tells us to glorify God in whatever we do. This includes social media. We can either wield Facebook for God’s glory, or Satan’s.

Resurrection Culture Part 1.....Denison Ministries

 Resurrection Culture Part 1

Denison Ministries

Weekly Overview:

We serve a God of powerful transformations. All throughout Scripture God takes those whom the world deemed the lowest, the hopeless, and the helpless and uses them to change the world. You are not beyond transformation. God longs to break off that which inhibits you from experiencing fullness of life. He longs to heal you, deliver you, and set you free. May your life be forever changed as we spend time discovering God’s heart for transformation.

Scripture:“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” John 11:25

Devotional:    

Through the resurrection of Jesus, we have been given the opportunity to live life in a new way. Romans 6:4 says, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” The power of the resurrection is not just over our deaths, but over our lives. God didn’t just pay for our freedom for all of eternity, but for right now—for this very moment. He’s calling you and me to live a resurrected lifestyle. He’s ushering us into a resurrection culture.

Romans 8:9 says, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 even says, “From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Your life is changed because of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Because Christ rose from the dead, you have been raised from spiritual death.

Too often we are content to live our lives apart from the present reality of new life in Jesus. Too often we are satisfied living according to the flesh when we have been given a whole new way of living according the very Spirit of God who dwells within us as believers. Romans 8:1-2 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” We have been freed from condemnation through the new law of the Spirit ratified by the death and resurrection of Christ. “There is therefore now no condemnation.” Let that sink in for a minute. Through the grace of God, not by anything you could ever do, you have been freed from condemnation. The only one who could ever truly condemn you is now your heavenly Father. You are the child of the only Judge, and he has offered you continual and uncompromising pardon because of his love for you.

And past being pardoned from condemnation, Romans 8 tells us that we have now been crowned as co-heirs with Christ. Romans 8:16-17 says, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.” Because of the life we have been given in the Spirit, we are “fellow heirs with Christ.” I’m not sure we even fully understand all that means for us. So often we live as if we are forced into submission to the world. We live according to the principles of the flesh rather than life in the Spirit. You have been freed from slavery to sin. You have been freed from the condemnation of the world. Christ defeated the enemy at the cross, and through him you have obtained total and complete victory. You are now crowned with Christ and given his authority to see heaven come to earth through your life.

And most importantly, Romans 8 concludes by telling us of the incredible love available to us in our resurrection and victory with Christ. Romans 8:37-39 says, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” There is nothing you or anyone else could do to separate you from the love of God. Through Christ’s resurrection, you have been offered unchanging and unshakable love. Living life in the Spirit is living with the constant knowledge that you are and will forever be loved.

Spend time today allowing the word and presence of God to stir up your desire to live according to the Spirit rather than the flesh. We’ll look tomorrow at how we can practically live this new life available to us, but for today simply allow God to reveal his unceasing love for you.

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the life available to you in the Spirit. Allow your desire to walk in fullness of life to be stirred up by God’s word.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2

“The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.” Romans 8:16-17

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39

2. Reflect on your own life. Where are you still living your life according to the flesh? Where do you feel condemned or unloved? Where do you feel conquered rather than a conqueror?

3. Ask the Lord to guide you into life in the Spirit today. Life your live with a renewed mind according to God’s word.

As you go throughout your day, know that you have the choice to live your life differently. You are not bound by the way you’ve lived your life in the past. There is “newness of life” available to you every single day through the power of the Spirit working in you as a believer. Yield to the Spirit’s leadership and live in light of the freedom purchased for you by the death of Jesus.

Extended Reading: Romans 8

What Good Is Grief?.....JODI HARRIS

 What Good Is Grief?

JODI HARRIS

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Matthew 5:4 (NIV) 

It was early fall when I pushed my nearly empty shopping cart through my favorite superstore, grabbing a handful of groceries. I eyed the tiny, pumpkin-themed newborn clothes and the brightly colored board books, remembering days long gone when my boys were littles.

There I stood, with some coffee creamer and laundry detergent in the otherwise empty cart that somehow represented my empty heart. I wanted to scoop up all things tiny, curl up in the baby section and gently rock myself in the fetal position until someone called security. Nothing prepares a mama for the empty-nest season of life. And the superstore had no sympathy.

Ten months before, the new year had brought an unexpected move away from our two college-aged sons, and those tiny infant clothes brought fresh waves of sadness and sorrow, reminding me of grief I didn’t want to feel.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I wasn’t ready to let them go. And no one had told me it would hurt this bad. That first night away in the hotel, I lay in bed bawling, begging God to please let us go home. To please put my family back together. My wailing exhausted me as I settled into sleep.

The year 2020 brought loss for many, and how hopeful we were to turn the calendar page to 2021, anticipating hope of new beginnings and healing. But many of us suffered even more heartache as days rolled into months.

I don’t do grief well. I do my best to avoid pain that threatens to swallow me whole if just one tear slips down my cheek. I want to bury it deep and look on the bright side of things. To consider the goodness of God in healthy checkups, daily provisions and warm beds. But if the goodness of God dwells only in those things, why are the most joyful people I know the ones who have suffered the greatest loss?

Could loss have something to teach me about His goodness, too, if only I am willing to pause and consider this grief that gathers in my chest?

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4)

Blessed? The word “blessed” in our key verse means favored by God. Nothing about grief and loss makes me feel divinely favored. Instead, I wonder what I’ve done to deserve such pain.

And what about comfort? I pause and reflect on the nights I’ve surrendered to my tears, allowing grief to break me open and empty me out. I’m reminded it was then that God rushed in to fill me with more of Himself.

On those nights, He picked me up and swaddled me tightly as I wept and wailed. He sang over me in my darkness while I kicked and screamed like a colicky infant who refuses sleep.

But until we surrender to the struggle, relax into rest and settle into the sovereign way of God, we cannot heal. In my season of suffering, I didn’t know this yet.

Over time, my soul softened sooner during these bouts of grief, and it was then I began to experience God’s goodness and deep comfort.

When we give space to grief, it becomes the doorway to deeper fellowship with Him, an invitation into a most holy place saturated with His love, peace and compassion. Grief awakens a hunger for heaven, where all will be made right.

And maybe most beautifully of all, grief leads us to the heart of God, where we find not only His comfort and healing but His very presence.

Lord, thank You for Your favor and the gift of grief in times of loss. May we learn to seek Your presence more, knowing You will comfort us abundantly as we surrender to Your sovereignty. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. 

The Believer's Journey to the Cross.....Dr. Charles Stanley

 The Believer's Journey to the Cross

Dr. Charles Stanley

John 12:23-27

We all know that Jesus walked the road to Calvary, but did you know that believers also journey to the cross? We've all been positionally crucified with Christ, but those who hunger for Him participate in a deeper experience of this reality. Jesus lovingly takes their hand and leads them to the cross. Even though this is the last place anyone wants to go, it's the only way to partake of God's best for our lives.

The trip to the cross is not one you take with family and friends. It's a lonely journey with just you and Jesus. He strips away everyone and everything you've depended on so that you'll learn to rely only on Him. While we're at the cross, He uncovers layer after layer of self-deception until we begin to see ourselves as He does. Soon our self-centeredness, inadequacy, and failures are laid bare.

The cross is a place of brokenness, but it's necessary because there's no other way we'll ever bear fruit. If we hang onto our lives and refuse to take this journey, we'll be like a grain of wheat that is never planted and never grows. But those who willingly die to themselves will produce an abundance of spiritual fruit. The only way Christ can live His life through us is if we've allowed ourselves to be crucified.

God doesn't want you to be content with just your salvation. There's so much more He desires to give you and accomplish through you. Are you willing to take the road to the cross with Him? Yes, it's painful, but the rewards in this life and in eternity far outweigh any suffering you will experience.

Easter: All That Matters vs. All I Live For.....By: Shawn McEvoy

 Easter: All That Matters vs. All I Live For

By: Shawn McEvoy

He has risen, just as He said. - Matthew 28:6, NIV

What would I ever do if someone I knew came back from the dead? Especially if he had said he would, and if he had spent a couple nights in a grave already?

Seriously, what would I do? What would you do? Wouldn't I blab to everyone I know - and most people I don't - about this miraculous event? Heck, I tell everyone when I'm feeling under the weather or when I saw a good movie.

Then factor in that the same guy was now telling us that because of what he had done, none of the rest of us would ever have to suffer death. What's more, simply by believing what we had seen, no matter our background, history, race, or education, we could restore our long-lost connection with the Almighty, and live forever.

Man... unfortunately, I'm having a hard time conceiving what I would do. Or, even if I can conceive it, I can't quite believe it, because honestly, I have seen this, I do believe this, and yet my daily reaction to it doesn't exactly line up with The Acts of the Apostles.

Has the news of a resurrected savior really become passe?

Why don't I want to read Acts?

What am I afraid of?

That I'll be rejected?

(He who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit (1 Thess. 4:8)).

That I won't be powerful enough?

(God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline (2 Tim. 1:7)).

That the good news isn't relevant enough?

Salvation and the message of the resurrection, the miracle of born again-ness, is a salve to all wounds.

This Easter I'll join choruses like "He's Alive" while pondering and praising the miracle, but when it comes time for the next day of my life to begin, a day and a life that means nothing if not lived for my Savior, it'll be all about me again and my troubles and making my way and who cut me off and what I have to get done and who I don't like and what can we complain about today.

Yuck.

I want this Easter to be real. Because I did see it happen (so to speak; the resulting spread of those who ran to the corners of the earth to tell the story with no regard for personal safety is traceable to this day), it is real, and I'm cheating life and people God loves if I'm not shouting those facts from every corner and rooftop I can find. Everything else is just window dressing; "Christian living" is often just how we pass all our extra time in this country where so many of our basic needs are so easily met, and where we can cordon ourselves off from each other. What matters in life?

That there is life, and...
how it came about that there might never be death, but...
there are still dead men walking.
Really, why else are we here if not to keep excitedly shouting the truth of the miracle as if we'd just experienced it with our own eyes yesterday?

Intersecting Faith & Life: For the longest time, I've felt a leading in my heart to launch out into a complete study of the book of Acts, something I've never fully done. For some reason, I continue to put it off. But in my quest this year to make Easter real, I'm beginning a study of what those who witnessed the resurrection couldn't keep themselves from going out and doing. Care to join me?

Further Reading

Acts 1:1

The Satisfaction of the Cross.....Rachel Olsen

 The Satisfaction of the Cross

Rachel Olsen

 "When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied."Isaiah 53:11 (NLT)

Devotion:

Approximately 600 years before Jesus was condemned to the cross, the prophet Isaiah foretold of the event. Open up and invite those words to penetrate your soul today:  

"See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted. Many were amazed when they saw him beaten and bloodied, so disfigured one would scarcely know he was a person. And he will again startle many nations. Kings will stand speechless in his presence. For they will see what they had not previously been told about; they will understand what they had not heard about.

Who has believed our message? To whom will the Lord reveal his saving power? My servant grew up in the Lord's presence like a tender green shoot, sprouting from a root in dry and sterile ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised, and we did not care.

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins! But he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed! All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the guilt and sins of us all. He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. From prison and trial they led him away to his death. But who among the people realized that he was dying for their sins that he was suffering their punishment? He had done no wrong, and he never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man's grave.

But it was the Lord's good plan to crush him and fill him with grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have a multitude of children, many heirs. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord's plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of what he has experienced, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins. I will give him the honors of one who is mighty and great, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among those who were sinners. He bore the sins of many and interceded for sinners." Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12 (NLT)

Approximately 2,000 years after Jesus hung on the cross, the passion of our Christ is still the power of God unto salvation. His suffering accomplished righteousness for us, and through it, both He and we are satisfied.

Dear Lord, may I realize afresh today what Your death and resurrection mean for me. Forgiveness … Freedom … and the ability to walk with You through this fallen world into eternity. May I always find my satisfaction in You and Your willingness to offer Yourself to me. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Don’t Be Alarmed.....By Jennifer Waddle

 Don’t Be Alarmed (Jude 17-18)

By Jennifer Waddle

“But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts.” Jude 17-18 NKJV

It never fails. I’ll be scrolling through my social media feed and come across a shocking statement about Christianity or the Bible, and instantly, I’m made aware of the hostility towards the things of God. By now, I ought to expect it, but it never ceases to alarm me. Can you relate?

Sadly, followers of Christ will continue to be alarmed at the mockery of God and His Word. However, Jude shared a great reminder for us. He said, “Remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time.”

Jude’s warning—written so long ago—still resonates with us today and reminds us that there is nothing new under the sun. Just as Christians in his day were faced with people who mocked the Lord, we too are seeing daily evidence of those who reject Christianity and everything we hold dear.

So what are we to do? In verse 3, Jude gave these instructions “Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.”

“Contend for the faith.”

That’s our assignment as we try to connect with people and remain steadfast in our faith. The truth is, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is under attack, and we must defend it by speaking the truth in love and using discernment as we associate with people on the World Wide Web.

If you’re alarmed by the voices of hostility on social media, try responding this way:

Respond with love for the person and hate for the sin.

Respond with truth from the Bible rather than the opinions of man.

Respond with the assurance that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Respond with the knowledge that one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Great discernment is needed when it comes to scoffers. There are times when you’ve said all that can be said, and it’s time to end the discussion. Especially when there’s a continual stream of disrespect, you’ll need stop the cycle of mockery by moving on to more productive conversations.

Hateful comments are bound to come, but instead of being alarmed at such things, let’s be spurred to contend for the faith. Stand firm on God’s Word. Let your “yes” be “yes” and your “no” be “no.” After all, your confidence is in Christ, and He will reveal His truth to all people. We are simply instruments of peace called to remain steadfast and contend for the faith that has been entrusted to us.