And the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it. (John 1:5 NET)
What a wonderful promise! Jesus is the light, and no matter how hard Satan and his demons try, they will never master Him, or us. When we believe in Jesus, His light enters us and we become invincible against the attacks and lies of the devil. It’s such an easy concept to understand but challenging to put into practice. When we find ourselves in challenging situations where we are tempted to doubt God and our faith — and these times come to us all, no one has perfect faith all the time — only a stubborn, unyielding determination to see God’s promises come true in our lives can pull us through. At these moments feelings and emotions have to be sacrificed, and reason-based faith in God’s word has to prevail. Is this hard? You bet it is, but it’s the only way out of doubt and fear.
You might have noticed that some versions of the Bible use “comprehend” instead of “master” in this verse, and maybe John intentionally used this particular Greek word to convey a double meaning. I think it’s very possible. How can Satan comprehend the light, our love for God, His love for us in spite of our weaknesses and failures, or our ability to use the power and authority that we’ve been give to overcome him? The climate in the kingdom of God must be a mystery to all the spirits in the kingdom of hell; where we base our lives on love, faith, truth, joy, and hope, their lives consist of hatred, doubt, lies, bitterness, and negativity. Even when we are speaking to each other about the things of faith, demons must be mystified by our conversations. Because our words are filled with light they must cause their ears great pain, and their meaning must seem like nonsense to them. How could we trust in God merely out of a desire to obey and please Him? We must have an ulterior motive, there must be something we want to get out of Him... When our actions and thoughts are full of God’s light, Satan and demons are left confused and disappointed, unable to comprehend, and unable to defeat us.
Remember, “all things work together for the good” of those who live by faith in the Lord Jesus and are filled with His light. The darkness has already been defeated, we just need to keep that in mind and ensure that we are continually in the light.
“If people want to boast, they should boast about this: they should boast that they understand and know me. They should boast that they know and understand that I, the Lord, act out of faithfulness, fairness, and justice in the earth and that I desire people to do these things,” says the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:24 NET)
Jeremiah lived at a crucial time in the history of the people of God, very much like our time. Israel, the northern kingdom, had already been conquered and its people led off to exile, and Judah, the southern kingdom, along with Jerusalem and the Temple were next. Though Jeremiah challenged people to turn from their rebellious, idolatrous ways and turn to God, they ignored him and were eventually conquered too — one of the saddest moments in Israel’s history.
Isn’t it amazing to think that the people who had walked through the Red Sea on dry land, who had marched around the walls of Jericho and seen its walls collapse, turned their backs on God and were run out of the Promised Land that God had given them? Unbelievers overran their cities because they had become even greater unbelievers!
The remedy to this sad condition, which could so easily happen to us today, is to boast in God, not in ourselves. We should not be infatuated with anything in life — possessions, money, fame, power, beauty, family, love life, careers, health — because none of these things can save us. Though people all around us judge themselves by how much money they earn, what car they drive, their beauty, or the people they know, we need the wisdom and courage to be different. Our boasting should be about how we understand and know God, the Creator of the Universe, the One who can truly make a difference in our lives.
How can we boast about what we’ve accomplished when the air we breathe and the bodies we inhabit are free gifts from God? Real happiness and joy, true success and power come from acknowledging God’s greatness and our total dependence on Him. We cannot, under any circumstance start boasting about ourselves, because if we do we will be committing the same sin that Lucifer committed, and our end will be the same as his. Just as God is faithful, fair, and just, He is looking for people who manifest the same qualities and who gladly, generously boast about His goodness and power. The more we do, the more blessed we will be.
For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. (John 3:16-18 NET)
This is probably the most well known promise of the Bible, along with Psalm 23 — a powerful, compact summary of the gospel that is the basis for our belief in God. It is a passage that comforts the saved, warns the lost, offers indisputable proof of God’s love for humanity, and teaches that God’s aim is to offer eternal life not condemnation. Though many of us know this verse by heart, these concepts are so deep and life changing that we need to periodically return to them for comfort and strength.
Some versions of the Bible offer a misleading translation of this verse that reads “only begotten Son”, which makes it seem as though at some time in the ancient past the Father gave birth to the Son, which is wrong. “One and only Son” is a much clearer translation, but we could also think of Jesus as unique, or one-of-a-kind. Isaac is similarly referred to as Abraham’s only son, when in fact Ishmael was born before Isaac, and another six sons followed after Sarah’s death, but we know that Isaac was the son of the promise, the only son of Sarah, and so he was one-of-a-kind. Though we are all God’s children when we believe in Him (a belief that is followed by obedience and the new birth), we are not God’s sons and daughters in the sense that Jesus is. He is the Son, but both He and the Father and the Spirit are eternal; they had no beginning and will have no end; they have always existed and will always exist. This doesn’t make sense to our finite minds because everything we know has a beginning and an end, but that shouldn’t worry us because if God really is God and we are His creation, it makes sense that we would not have the capacity to completely understand Him, just like a lump of clay cannot comprehend what goes through the mind of the potter that is shaping it. In fact, the thought that we cannot comprehend God is comforting.
This promise is proof of God’s limitless love for us. If we believe that Jesus died on Calvary, we cannot question God’s love. Only someone with a supreme level of love, compassion, and intelligence would be able to do such a thing. Though He was holy and perfect, and we were sinful and flawed, the father still had His Son go through with His sacrifice because he knew it was the only way any of us could be saved. The penalty for our sins was death, and so Jesus suffer the death penalty on our behalf in order to set us free and give us authority over the devil. Only God could come up with such an amazing plan.
Now each one of us has a choice to make. Throughout the Gospel of John, the author presents choices, and here he contrasts death and eternal life, being saved and being condemned. The choice is ours. God will not save everyone because he has given us free will to choose the life that we want to live. If we choose to surrender our lives to Him, we will be saved, but if we choose to live for ourselves, we will be lost forever. God wants us to be saved, wants it so badly that He allowed Jesus to die in our place, but He will not force anyone’s choice. Let’s choose well, and help others to do the same.
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. (James 5:16 NET)
This verse often confuses people who wonder if it means what the Catholic church teaches about making ritual confessions to a priest before sins can be forgiven. Not at all. James is writing here about how we need to be humble and quick to admit our mistakes, even to ask forgiveness from each other when needed; for times that we treat each other unkindly or unfairly, or even inadvertently cause each other any kind of harm. This command keeps us constantly aware that we are imperfect, even though we all strive to please God daily. It also helps us to constantly cleanse our minds and emotions of negativity so that the devil can’t get a foothold in our lives. The promise that corresponds to this command is that we may be healed. That shows us that many sicknesses are actually rooted in unforgiven or hidden sins that need to be brought into the light, confessed and eradicated. A healthy, uncontaminated spirit, creates a healthy vibrant life.
The second promise here is priceless. We have all wondered at times if our prayers were ever heard or if we would ever get an answer from God. This is the secret to powerful and result-filled prayers: earnestness, and righteousness.
An earnest prayer is one that is both sincere and urgent. Those lazy prayers made before you drop off to sleep, or before you hurriedly bite into a burger for lunch don’t quite qualify as earnest. It’s the prayers you make from the depths of your soul, those yearning prayers for what you know is right and in line with God’s promises, are the prayers that are powerful and effective. Hannah prayed this way when her moanings were confused with the sound of drunkenness. Hezekiah prayed that way when he turned his face to the wall and cried before God. Elijah prayed that way for fire to be sent from heaven to prove who was the only true God. Unfortunately too few Christians pray with sincerity and urgency, but just pray robotically instead because few actually know what faith is.
Along with earnestness, is being a righteous person. Not a perfect person, but a righteous one, who makes serving and obeying God the top priority in his or her life. A righteous man or woman has no problem sacrificing their flesh to please God. They are not the type of person who quickly uses the excuse “well, I’m only human,” when they allow their flesh to take over. They hate sin, and though they are sinners, they are quick to repent. A righteous person, also lives by faith, which means that they quickly take hold of any opportunity to determine that God’s power will be revealed. If a fear attacks, they attack back by faith in the promises of God, and they see immediate results.
These qualifications to being able to have prayers of great power and wonderful results are available for all of us today, if we want. It’s a shame that so few actually practice this kind of faith, when it’s within the reach of all of us. Let’s start making some prayers of power this week, and share how God is changing you.
“I tell you the truth, people will be forgiven for all sins, even all the blasphemies they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin” (because they said, “He has an unclean spirit”). (Mark 3:28–30 NET)
Whenever Jesus was about to say something of particular importance, he would preface it with “I tell you the truth,” which means that today’s promise is an important one.
Every once in a while someone will ask about the unforgivable sin, or be afraid that they have inadvertently committed it. Though one of God’s greatest attributes is that He forgives anyone, anything, the Bible does refer to an unforgivable sin, and this is one of the passages that mentions it.
Throughout the Bible we have examples of people who were forgiven for terrible sins and terrible pasts, and subsequently accepted as children of God. This is an intrinsic part of who God is — merciful and compassionate. Rahab was a Gentile prostitute living in Jericho (a city destined to be destroyed along with all of its inhabitants), but she was saved, was accepted as an Israelite, and married into the royal line of David, and the Lord Jesus. Moses murdered a man in a fit of anger, but years later was chosen to lead God’s people out of slavery and to the Promised Land. Paul was a religious fanatic that had murdered Christians, but became one of the greatest pastors of the first century church. And we could go on and on to speak about Gideon, Hannah, Matthew, Simon the Zealot, Peter, Mary Magdalene, Zacchaeus, and the prostitute who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and then anointed them with expensive perfume.
All these people had blasphemed God and yet were forgiven, transformed, and used in a mighty way by Him. Blasphemy is defined in the dictionary as the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God, and every one of the people above did this, and so have each of us. So what is so serious about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?
Anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit is treating that Person of the Trinity whose job it is to convince us of sin and to be our counselor, as if He were nothing. Without God’s Spirit we cannot be saved. If you repent of sin, you are only responding to the Spirit’s voice. If you go to church, read the Bible, or pray, you are responding to His encouragement. The Holy Spirit is at work in unbelievers and believers alike, always long before they are ever aware of His presence. If you are encouraged by a pastor’s message, it is the Spirit that guided him with what he said and warmed your heart to those words. So if a person rejects the Holy Spirit and considers Him useless, he is rejecting God’s attempts to reach out to him.
But clearly, the unforgivable sin is not one single act of defiance; it is a continual state of willful rebellion. The tense of the original Greek of “they said” at the end of today’s promise indicates continual action, not a single act. This is great news because all of us have blasphemed against the Holy Spirit at some point in our lives, but we are forgiven when we finally stop and start to respect His guidance.
What I’d like you to understand from today’s passage, is the extreme importance of the Holy Spirit. Rejecting Him dooms us for eternity, but being humble to His voice and working to make our lives a dwelling place for Him brings countless blessings from now through eternity. Don’t be quick to blame God for your problems and misfortunes, rather, trust that He has your welfare in mind and that His plan is much better than yours. Let’s trust the Holy Spirit, especially when we don’t have all the facts and don’t understand how things are going to turn out. As long as He is leading us, we can be sure that our future will turn out great.
Give freely and become more wealthy; be stingy and lose everything. The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. (Proverbs 11:24-25 NLT)
This teaching is sprinkled all over the Bible, in both Old and New Testaments. Give and it shall be given unto you. You reap what you sow. God loves a cheerful giver. Teachings on giving possessions and time, love and effort, the surrender of our wills and the sacrifice of our flesh – all of these reveal the nature of God and His love for us. God is the most generous, gracious and giving being that exists. So when we, in our small limited ways, begin to live in a spirit of generosity to Him and to others, we join in His Spirit too. We become like Him, and His Spirit draws close to us.
Those who feel a pang of resentment every time giving is mentioned, are those who don’t understand that God plans to refresh them. Why would God do that? Because those who truly give in a godly manner, are refreshing others. They give time and love and compassion, so they have refreshed Jesus Himself without knowing. They give offerings and tithes and enable God’s House to remain open to help suffering people, so they have refreshed total strangers by their generosity. God is obligated to fulfill His promises, and so He joyfully finds ways to refresh everyone who joins in His Spirit of giving. You never lose.
It’s no mistake that the promise begins, “give freely.” There are plenty of givers, even givers of large amounts. But they don’t necessarily give freely. Hearts can be bound up in grudges, resentment, or concern about how they will appear in the eyes of others. They may give wishing that God wouldn’t ask so much from them. They may have given with doubts in the past, nurtured negative attitudes, and then concluded that God doesn’t really keep His promises because the refreshing doesn’t happen. The cycle can continue for years of religiously giving with a heavy heart, yet never falling into step with the Spirit of God.
How sad it is to have refreshing available to you, but all you find is a dry parched land. The promise even says that the stingy lose everything. If you have never given generously to God, begin now with a free and unburdened heart. If you have been a tither, an offering giver, and a giver of your time and energy but have seen nothing returned to you, examine your heart and motives. Clean out whatever is blocking your blessings, because this promise is meant for you to begin experiencing today, this week!
Our loving and generous Father enjoys giving refreshment and relief to His children. Give freely with that faith, exactly as you need Him to give to you, and watch just how freely He will respond.
But no one is able to enter a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can thoroughly plunder his house. (Mark 3:27 NET)
The “strong man” in today’s promise is Satan, or the chief demon working in a person’s life, and Jesus tells us that if we want to take back what he has stolen from us, we have to tie him up. Clearly Jesus has the power and authority to do that, but do we? Does the run of the mill, sincere but inexperienced Christian have the power to tie up the devil and take back the health and family and peace that the devil has stolen from him? Absolutely! The promise of being able to thoroughly plunder the house of Satan and demons is not just for the Lord Jesus, but for all of us.
Several hundred years ago an Irish politician in the British Parliament (Edmund Burke) was one of a few members of Parliament that supported the American Revolution. Though it made him unpopular with his colleagues, he felt he had to stand up and support the revolutionaries in the new world, fighting for their freedom, and is credited with a very true saying: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Though he meant this in a purely political way, this applies perfectly to our spiritual life. All the devil needs is for no one to oppose him, no one to tie him up, for no one to rebuke him. And sadly, most Christians find themselves in this group of people. If their bosses treated them unfairly at work they would complain and fight for their rights; if a waiter at a restaurant got their order wrong and brought them a dish they did not order, they would insist on another; if their cable company was over charging them they would become indignant and demand their money back; but these same people, many times, do not have the courage to confront the devil and his demons who have robbed them blind their entire lives.
Whoever ties up Satan has to be stronger than him. Jesus implies that He came into the world for this very purpose—to enter the house of the strong man and seize his possessions—but this is also our purpose in life. The first step in tying up Satan is to understand that he and his demons have attacked and robbed us, and then to get angry and indignant at the state of our lives. The second step is to understand that we have the authority and power to tie up the devil and thoroughly plunder his house. Because we believe in Jesus, are following Him, and trust that he destroyed Satan at the cross… we have this authority. But authority has to be used, otherwise it is useless, and that is the third step.
When this passage speaks about stealing the strong man’s property and plundering his house, Jesus is not teaching us to be thieves, or to take what is not ours. He is teaching us to take back what the devil took from us. The house that we are to thoroughly plunder is our own lives. God wants us to take back the control of our lives from the devil and surrender them to Him. When we do this, we are not stealing anything, we are taking back what is rightfully ours and putting Satan and his demons in their place.
We have been given this mission in life. God’s amazing power is at our disposal. We have the power to tie up the devil and his demons. Let’s be good people who do something, who triumph over evil!
