Be Aware of His Schemes!

Psalm 83
A song. A psalm of Asaph.
“1 O God, do not remain silent;
    do not turn a deaf ear,
    do not stand aloof, O God.
2 See how your enemies growl,
    how your foes rear their heads.
3 With cunning they conspire against your people;
    they plot against those you cherish.
4 “Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation,
    so that Israel’s name is remembered no more.”
5 With one mind they plot together;
    they form an alliance against you.”

The psalmist is crying out to God to help the people of Israel with their enemies.  He describes them as a “calculating”, “cunning”, and “ever plotting” against His people.  Notice they assume that if their enemies are plotting against them, they are plotting against God too.  Since Israel is one nation under God, what their enemies are doing to them, is to God as well.  And this is part of their reasoning to cry out for God to deliver them for the sake of His Name.

It strikes me, as God’s people today, we have both foes on the earth and in the spiritual realm.  There are people calculating right now against the Christian church, that they might destroy it.  And we are reminded that our spiritual enemy, the devil, is described as “cunning” and “baffling”, always looking to destroy God’s people and their relationship with Him.

1 Peter 5:8 says it this way,
 “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

As a believer in Christ as you seek to follow Jesus and bring in His kingdom, you will encounter spiritual resistance.  He knows a discouraged and beaten-down Christian is an ineffective Christian. So how do we prepare ourselves for the battle?  Paul uses this theme in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians, when he teaches on the importance of forgiving a brother or sister in Christ. 

He says, “Do not be unaware of the devil’s schemes, so that he might not outwit us.”  2 Corinthians 2:10-11


So, we do not have to be afraid of the evil, because of the Spirit of Christ lives within us. But we also should not be unaware of his schemes. Like the Israelites called out for God to protect them for the sake of His name, we should do the same!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Acts 22 - Paul Sees the Light

Image
6  “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.   7  I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me,  ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’  8  “‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.  “  ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth,  whom you are persecuting,’  he replied.   9  My companions saw the light,  but they did not understand the voice  of him who was speaking to me.  10  “‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked. “  ‘Get up,’  the Lord said,  ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do. This is the famous story of the apostle Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus.  Paul was going there to persecute Jewish Christians and throw them into prison and he meets Jesus is a spectacular way.  Not only is he blinded by a briliant light, but he hears the Lord's voice audibly.  And the Lord asks him, "Lord, Lord why are you persecuting me!"  Paul thought he was serving the Lord, but he was persecuting him b
Read more

2 Timothy 4 - Fight the Good Fight! Finish the Race!

Click Here to Read or Listen to 2 Timothy 4 4 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. Paul gives a closing charge to Timothy. First of all, he is to preach the word. God's Word speaks to all situations and seasons. The Word of God will sometimes correct us. Our lives can get of out alignment with God's will as outlined in
Read more

Hebrews 6 - Have You Graduated From Elementary School of Faith Yet?

Click Here to Read or Listen to Hebrews 6 6 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so. The author once again picks up with the theme of moving on to Christian maturity.  He teaches them to move on from the "elementary" teachings about Christ. What does he mean by that?  He gives clues by citing repentance, faith, cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, and teaching on the judgment and resurrection from the dead. We might call these the basics of the Christian faith. If you read through the Apostle's Creed, which our church confesses in our 8am service, it contains many of these core doctrines.  Click here to see the Apostle's Creed Written Around “When we consider the
Read more