A Look at the Book #280

The Devotional


What does Papa “J” Say?

The wisdom of God has a specific endowment that the wisdom of man does not have. Do you know what that blessing is? The wisdom of man will often produce riches, but the Wisdom of God produces riches along with righteousness, huge difference! Proverbs 8:18

The discussion on grace is interrupted. Hopefully we will get back to the grace of God soon, but I thought it necessary to say some things about Spiritual Warfare since it seems that I am in the thick of it. The truth is as our pastor put it on Wednesday that the Church of Jesus Christ is at war. If you go to church and believe in Jesus Christ as your LORD and Savior then you are at war with the devil and his fallen angels. The Church of Jesus Christ consists of people who are called out of the dead fallen world of Satan. Being called out they are placed by God Himself in the kingdom of the Son of His love. Colossians 1:9-14. Many of us do not understand this warfare and become victims of spiritual misconduct, and others who know something about this war can become casualties too. Also, believers can be caught up in helping the devil destroy another believer and not even know what they are doing. All said, lets take a look at Colossians 1:13. Notice that the words used by the apostle Paul are, past tense. This means that when a person is saved by the grace of God, that person is immediately translated from the power of darkness into the kingdom life, in Christ. God is not a war with the lost soul, John 3:16 and Ephesians 1:4-10 proves this. Satan does not contend with the lost soul either since these souls are already dead in the power of darkness and eagerly work for him. Ephesians 2:1-3. More to come.

The Gospel of John

John 18:15-18 Do you claim allegiance to the gospel of God, are you a follower of Jesus Christ and have you done battle with the enemies of Christ? If you are saved then your answer would be YES! The battle to stay pure is a battle that is ongoing. Peter, in these few verses reveals the character of our heart in the heat of any moment in Christ. It is when we are confronted with a decision to follow Him or to deny Him.

It is possible to stay pure in these moments, there is another person present in these verses who is seldom mentioned in the context of denying Christ. That disciple is John the writer of this gospel. What is unique is that John did not deny his Savior, John even knew Caiaphas and boldly went into the courtyard while Peter stood at the door of the courtyard. Saved men and women do not have to fear, God has equipped them with His armor. Ephesians 6:10-20

Fear blocks the door of opportunity to enter, fear is a response to spiritual warfare, it is rejecting the power of God to overcome the advance of the enemy. Peter is not alone in scripture on this issue, you remember Elijah who ran from Jezebel, 1 Kings 19:1-10 and if these men of God can buckle under the advance of the enemy so can you and I. Please note: John did not buckle under the weight of the enemy. We will see the results of these two warriors of God in John 21 in a few weeks.