DAILY DEVOTIONAL – August 12, 2019
“Guarding Against Smugglers”
Prayer: Heavenly Father, we have nothing more valuable than that of Your Son Jesus. He is the Word of God who took on our flesh to die in our place. You came here Yourself to be our Teacher and Leader, and You did not leave us here without direction once You rose from the dead and ascended back to heaven. You gave us Your Holy Word, the Scriptures, Your revelation to us. Help us to treasure, uphold and protect Your Word of life so that its Truth remains unvarnished in our preaching and proclamation of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:1-5
I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Devotion – “Guarding Against Smugglers”
The Kansas City Star newspaper reported of how someone used the Bible to try and minister to an inmate, in a manner that went against pretty much everything the Bible teaches. A woman posing as a nun came to visit an inmate in a Missouri jail. The woman tried to sneak the inmate marijuana and methamphetamines by sticking them into the binding of a Bible. Officials at the jail said they have seen many ways used to smuggle drugs to prisoners, but it’s the first time the Bible was the means chosen.
As incredible (and audacious) as that sounds, this woman was not the first to try and use the Bible to smuggle in harmful things. There are certainly those evil forces in the world that constantly try to destroy the Word of God by either attempting to literally destroy it, or nullify it by destroying its credibility as the Truth by smuggling in false teaching. This has gone on since the very first Words of God were given to Adam and Eve. The very first thing the Devil said in his temptation of Adam & Eve was, “did God really say?”
How important it is that we as people who entrust the very salvation of our souls to the eternal Truths that the Bible teaches, make knowing the Word of God a priority second to none. The Devil and this fallen world are relentless in their efforts to try and deceive us, smuggle their lies into our hearts and minds and bring destruction to the life of joy that we have in Christ.
Unfortunately, it is not just the outside world that despises and attacks Christ’s Church and seeks to destroy His Word. Scripture makes clear that while the Church exists in this fallen world, there are just as many threats to the Truth from within the Church itself, and the Apostles regularly warn of and combat these threats in their writings that we find in the Bible. For example:
The Apostle Peter warned of the reality of false teachers who use God’s Word to smuggle in their self-serving agendas. In 2 Peter 2:3, “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.”
How is the Bible misused and distorted specifically within the Church?
- Some abuse the Bible by using it as a means of defending personal sin or a sinful lifestyle.
- Others use the Bible as a billy-club to try and bully others into doing things their way rather than God’s way.
- Others abuse the Bible by using it to peddle some false doctrine…usually out of selfish ambition or self-righteousness. This is exactly what caused Paul to write the letter to the Galatian church, which is what makes up the book of Galatians in the Bible.
- Still yet, others use the Bible to manipulate and control others. Jesus warned against that very thing in Matthew 23:4 when he warns against the religious elite of the Temple saying, “For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. Everything they do is for show.”
To believe that anyone has everything figured out enough to never be deceived or have our faith compromised, is the very first step in being deceived and led astray. Lest we forget how susceptible we are, remember how Jesus chastised Peter in Matthew 16. Jesus just told His disciples how He must suffer and die for the sins of the world, and Peter said, “No way Lord! I will never let that happen.” Peter’s answer sounds pretty noble at face value in his desire to protect his Lord, but Jesus quickly reveals how even Peter was lead astray in his thinking. Jesus said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Left to our own wits and wisdom and strength, we stand no better chance against resisting the devil than Adam and Eve did. Our only defense against the devil is to retreat to the Lord in His Word and let it take up residence in our hearts and minds. James 4:7, “ So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you.” And as the Apostle Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 3:3, “The Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.”
God protects us from the evil one through His Word. This is why Jesus said, “if you truly are my disciples you will abide in my word.” In fact, when we witness our Lord Jesus Himself being tempted by the Devil for 40 days in the wilderness, we see Jesus combat every temptation of the Devil not with some divine miracle…but by recalling the precious promises of God His Father from Scripture itself. In response to every temptation the Devil threw at Him, Jesus replied by saying, “It is written…” and then quoted Scripture.
While the Lord continues to give us days in this life to enjoy His grace and forgiveness as sinful people, we are constantly bombarded by spiritual attacks and must always remain diligent in the Word of God, protecting the faith and salvation we hold so dear. Christ was tempted just as we are, yet He stayed perfectly faithful. Because of His faithfulness and because of His sacrificial death and resurrection, we know that we can rely on Him, through His Word, to guard our hearts and minds so that as Jesus promised, no one will take us out of His hands.
God bless all of you, and remember, that God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of tomorrow. Amen.
