Wednesday, March 23,
2022
Speaking in parables (metaphorical messages) Jesus compared
the Kingdom of God to the way God created the tendency to grow in the natural world. Mustard seeds are tiny; they quickly grow
into a tree big enough for a bird to build its nest. Yeast causes growth to a little pile of
dough.
But wherever God has created good, evil is certain to twist
in the opposite direction. When we moved
to North Carolina 22 years ago our little ½ acre was mostly untamed, with large
trees – mostly pines, cedars, and poplar.
Some of the trees were already dead; wild vines had wrapped the living
trees when they were smaller and sucked the life out of them. They looked impressive, tall, and stately but they were rotted, ready to fall.
This is Satan’s characteristic stock-in-trade; it is his
unchanging nature to deceive and pervert. Satan made his entrance on the stage of world
drama by deceiving Eve in the garden; that serpent has never/will never change.
Scripture tells us he will pay the ultimate penalty for
his rebellion:
This great
dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the
whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels. Then I heard a loud voice shouting
across the heavens, “It has come at last—salvation and power and the Kingdom of
our God, and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to
earth—the one who accuses them before our God day and night. Revelation
12:9-10
In other parables Jesus taught us about life, death, and
learning to live a Godly life in His kingdom.
That living must continually be awake and aware, because every good thing
God created has an evil counterfeit-lure stalking us in the shadows. This is why, with all the wonderful teaching
Jesus offered of the good things in God’s wonderful creation, He balanced the
picture with reality-101 – the caution we must have about the pitfalls of
temptation, sin, and the Devil’s way:
Look, I am sending
you out as sheep among wolves. So be as
shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.
Matthew 10:16
For You Today
There’s an old
saying about how to be wise in dealing with others:
Trust, but Verify
As believers, we are to trust God, and test the
spirits[1]. We must heed the lesson Adam and Eve were
handed…Satan NEVER tells the truth!
You chew on that as
you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!
[1] Title image: Wikimedia Commons Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©
[1] See 1 John 4:1
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