How Can I Resist Evil?

Every one of us has either experienced evil, witnessed evil, or heard of the evil that exists in the world. The question is, why? Ephesians 6:11-12 states that there is a spiritual being who in active rebellion against God and this spiritual being has the leadership of many demons like himself. "For our struggle is not against the flesh and blood, but against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

The very first words of the Bible,"In the beginning...", tell of the creation story; yet there is more 'behind-the-scenes' details to the story. There is a spiritual battle of our souls. A God of love longing to bring us back into His arms and the devil doing everything to keep us from running to God.

So why should we believe that the devil exists?

The most reasonable answer is the world itself. Take a look around. We are in constant battle between good and evil. The desire to serve others vs the desire and abuse of power; being filled with joy vs emotions of anger and hurt; forgiveness vs grudges; happiness and self-control vs the loss of mental control.

While we cannot necessarily see the spiritual world, the Bible does have clear evidence of the existence of evil and of the devil throughout both the Old and New Testament. Many of the authors of the Bible urge us to protect our minds and hearts from being overtaken by the 'dark side' - often in very subtle yet powerful ways. Some of us admitted that it is actually easier to link evil with the devil than good with God. When we experience good things in life, we often assume that we deserved it, rather than believing that God deeply cares about us.

Nicky did warn us that it is dangerous to disbelieve in the devil because when unaware, it becomes difficult to protect ourselves against the evil tactics. On the other hand, it is extremely dangerous to have an unhealthy interest in the devil. There are millions of people attempting to yield the evil powers through voodoo rituals, weegie boards, and Satanic cults, which easily overtake one's physical, mental, and emotional states.

So what are the devil's tactics?

Doubt:
From day one, Satan has used doubt in an attempt to give us permission to walk away from God. He caused Adam and Eve to doubt God's promises and the same is true today: he makes us think we are mising out, but inall reality, we miss out when we aren't following God.

Accusation:
I am sure that we have all experienced the emotions of guilt over something we know we should not have done. But Satan also likes to make us feel guilty even prior to an inappropriate thought or action. Satan will often plant a tempting thought in our minds and then accuse us for thinking it. However, it is important to know that temptation is different from sin. Temptation is from the devil and it only becomes a sin when we adopt the thought as our own and act upon it.

Temptations should not bring us fear, shame or guilt at all. In fact, James tell us to "consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds because the testing of your faith produces perserverance. Let perserverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete" (James 1:2-4). When you are faced with a temptation, rather than giving in, consider it to be a challenge that you can overcome and grow from.

What's our position?

Satan has been defeated by the cross and resurrection of Jesus ... but he is not yet destroyed (until Jesus returns). As Nicky said, it is like we are living between D-Day and V-Day. While the victory isn't official, Jesus is already victorious and all those who love and follow Him, share in the victory. Jesus also gave His disciples authority "to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you." With Jesus, there is no reason to live in fear.

How do we defend ourselves?


"Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes..." (Ephesians 6:11-17).



1. Belt of Truth - being grounded in truth will help us to counter Satan's lies (v. 13)

2. Breastplate of Righteousness - keeping your relationships right will protect the heart against guilt and condemnation (v. 14)

3. Boots of the Gospel of Peace - being involved in serve and being ready to speak of Christ (v. 15)

4. Shield of Faith - trusting God in difficult times...always. (v. 16)

5. Helmet of Salvation - win the battle of the mind to protect the mind against doubt and accusation (v. 17)
6. Sword of the Spirit - know your Bible...it's the only offensive piece of armor (v. 17)

Alpha Challenge:

1. Pray this week that you are able to guard your heart and mind against the devil's tactics. Pray that you can fight back - not with weapons of this world, but with good. Let's overcome evil with good.

2. Begin to act on what you have learned. Take one piece of armor and apply it throughout the day, or use it as a weekly focus.

How Does God Guide Us?

One of the most amazing truths is that God will guide anyone who is willing to follow. You don't need to be a problem-free person. Abraham was old; Timothy was too young; Moses stuttered; Jonah ran from God; Job went bankrupt; Peter denied Christ. It does not matter what 'issue' you think you have, God has and still can use EVERYONE. 

As Nicky mentioned, God guides us in 5 different ways:

1. Commanding Scripture

As we discussed last week, the Bible in general is a manual for life; however, it does not necessarily provide us with specific guidance for each person. Through intentional reading and praying, God often does speak to us through His book. Remember last week when Nicky shared his story about the one verse that kept showing up everywhere? A friend called him with the verse, his wife talked to him with this verse, and even a billboard sign showcased the verse. Some of us are beginning to experience similar situations of commanding Scripture.

2. Compelling Spirit

With any relationship, the more we know someone, the more easily we recognize their voice. The same is true of a relationship with Jesus: as as we get to know Jesus more intimately, we begin to recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit.

a) Prayer is, or at least should be, a two-way conversation. You pray about your requests and your concerns, but don't leave it at that. It's like expressing your symptoms to the doctor and then simply walking out the door without any advice or solutions. God is the ultimate doctor, so don't you want to hear what He has to say to you?

b) Desires: God gives us desires to do His good purpose. God's desires become our desires. We did discuss the different desires we have, and we each personally know that all our desires are not God-focused. The desires 'of the flesh', so to speak, are the ones we need to push away and ignore - not always an easy task!

c) Unusual Experiences: There are several instances where people experience visions, angels, and audible voices, and often times, when given by God, these are very specific guidances.

But no matter how we are compelled, we must always remember to test the 'voice'. We can know if it is God's voice when it aligns with the Bible, when it is loving, encouraging, and when it brings the peace of God. 

3. Common Sense

"Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all of this." - 2 Timothy 2:7. Whether in the day-to-day events or in the big decisions, God often guides us through our thoughts. Even in terms of our abilities, we each have gifts and talents that are unique to ourselves. It's through these simple ways that God also guides us. 

4. Counsel of Saints

In Burlington, and especially at Glad Tidings, we are surrounded by a community of Christians. Whether you are wondering who Jesus is and what Christianity is all about or you are a Christ-follower, there is a community of people (family, friends, church members) that are able to guide you. 

There is nothing wrong with seeking advice from people. In fact, this idea of advice from people is something that struck me. Over past years, I have been flipflopping in my view of who to go to for guidance. At first I always asked people and never even considered asking God; then I began to only ask God, and not people, for guidance since God is God and He knows best. But today, I realized that we can actually ask both God and people for advice - and that both are equally valid! Not that we can ask advice from simply anyone, but God has given us mature, trustworthy, Christ-focused Christians that are able to help provide guidance.

5. Circumstantial Signs

"In your heart you plan your course, but the Lord determines your steps." - Proverbs 16:9

If you commit your plans to God and trust His guidance, God WILL act by closing and opening doors in our life. But remember...BE PATIENT. God may make us wait for directions but His promises WILL happen.

Alpha Challenge:

1. Be open to God guiding you - push away those 'flesh' desires and listen to God.

2. Ask someone who is a trustworthy, mature Christian to mentor and guide you. 

Why and How Should I Read the Bible?

Fact: The Bible is the world's #1 bestseller. Every single year.

In fact, this is such a fact, that it is recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Perhaps the Bible is the best-selling book year after year because it is so powerfully impactful in our lives. Or perhaps because of our human nature to search for that relationship with a higher being. Or perhaps because Isaiah said that "The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever" (Isaiah 40:8).

Whatever your opinion is, Jesus does tell us that "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). Food is not enough; money is not enough; fame is not enough. No matter how little or how much we have, our natural craving for deeper meaning and purpose is evidence of a God that wants a relationship with us.

Revelation and Relationship

The Bible is just that: a manual for a life in relationship with Christ. Do you agree with Nicky that we are wired to have a relationship with God? Have you noticed that reading the Bible often confirms what you have been thinking? Have you experienced your conscience telling you not to do something? God is working in your life to have a relationship with you.

Now let's take a step back. Take yourself back to an evening where you saw the sun set with a beautiful array of colours. A stunning show of a lightning and thunder battle. A peaceful morning of the sun's glimmer on the lake. An understanding of the complexity of our genetic makeup. A miracle of the birth of a baby. Creation, the Bible tells us, reveals to us that God exists. It is the Bible, however, that reveals who God is.

The Bible is inspired by God and written by various different men across hundreds of years. The Bible isn't necessarily a simple book all about positive emotions. There are difficult issues to tackle - take suffering and death, for example; in the discussion of our experiences with reading the Bible, we all could express times where we did not understand the meaning of what we read or we did not understand God's actions. Yet for many of us, we can also recall times that reading the Bible brought us peace. This is because the Bible is His story, a story of God's love for us.

So is the Bible still relevant today? In our round-table discussion, we noted that the Bible helps us to learn who God is; it provides guidelines for living; it keeps us close in a relationship with God; it provides advice for life issues that we face today: money, relationships, temptations, etc.

But depending on our life experiences, we may view the Bible as a book of rules rather than relationship. But I encourage you to remember who God is: LOVE. As we discussed last week, He is the father and like any good-loving father, there are rules set in place because He loves us and wants to protect us. Believing in God and obeying his rules does not limit your freedom. If anything, it makes you more free because you can trust in God every step of the way.

This Week's Alpha Challenge:

1. Set a time in the day to read the Bible.

And when you are reading:

• Pray to God to speak to your heart.
• Ask yourself how the verse/chapter you read applies to you specifically.

2. Throughout your day, ask yourself: "Is God trying to speak to me? Is He trying to tell me something? Am I willing to listen?"

Why and How Do I Pray?

Every relationship flourishes through communication. While actions can speak louder than words, our friends, boyfriend/girlfriend, spouse, and children still love to hear with words how much we love them. When it comes to parents or a significant other, they love to hear how important they are to us, how much we depend on them, and how thankful we are for them. We love to see actions that prove it, but we also long for words that state it. 

God is the same.
He longs for us to communicate with Him. As we discussed, He knows what we are doing in life; He knows how we are feeling; He knows what our needs are. Our actions tell God how important (or not important) our God-Me relationship is. Just like a spouse knows what our little facial expressions mean, what sorts of silly habits we do, and what our individual quirks are, God knows everything about us. But He still wants to talk WITH us! What kind of relationship can you have if there is no communication?

Communicating with God is known as prayer. So what exactly does this involve?
Prayer is not just us asking God for help. When we pray, we are engaging in a two-way conversation with God, where He hears our prayers and where we can learn to listen to what He might have to say in response. 

God's response to prayer was a hot topic for our discussion. If God so badly wants us to communicate with Him, why won't He answer our prayers? We agreed that God's answers to our prayers can be "Yes", "No", or "Not Yet". The difficulty is that if a prayer is not answered, we tend to not know why. This comes down to trusting that God knows what is best for you. However, Nicky also points us to several verses that tell us our prayers may not be answered if there is:
- Unconfessed sin
- Unforgiveness
- Disobedience
- Wrong motives 
- Misunderstanding of God's will
- Wrong timing

Even if something works out that we prayed for, how do we know if it's God answering our prayers or simply coincidence that everything worked out? I think it really does depend on your outlook on life. I dare you to start heartfully praying for the little things in life. Do these prayers get answered? You may find that things in the world are aligning too well for it to be coincidence. Plus, what harm can there really be in praying a little? 

As we shared our personal stories together, some of us noted that some of our prayers did not get answered, and looking back, we are so thankful for that. Perhaps what we thought was best was not really in our best interest or in the best interest of others. Nicky reminded us that God's answer is always in love; He knows what is best for us. During our discussion, I thought of a line from a country song: "Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers." You can listen to it here: Unanswered Prayers: Video and Lyrics.

People do pray in different ways and Nicky Gumbel reminds us of who we are talking to when we pray. Some people pray, "Hey you, Jesus, my homeboy..." (just imagine the accent, I have actually heard this), and while I do not want to disrespect them, we must remember that God is God - perfect, holy, just, loving, compassionate. And when we pray, we are praying to the Father, through the Son, and by the Spirit. God deserves our utmost respect. At the same time, however, we should not paint God as being so holy that He is unreachable for us or unwilling to talk to us. Remember, when Jesus prayed, He prayed, "Abba", which means daddy. Think about when you were little (or maybe still now) when you called your father, daddy. Yes, we respect our father, but we still have that intimate relationship with him where we can depend on him and ask for help, knowing that he loves us deeply. The exact same is true for God. 


Therefore, we should be modelling Jesus' prayers. If you are not familiar with the Lord's Prayer, I suggest you look up Matthew 6: 9-13 - or the photo here. This prayer is a fantastic guideline for how we should pray, whether you pray it verbatim, break it down and expand, or use similar topics. Whether you have decided to just start praying today, or whether you have been praying for some years now, I suggest the following acronyms to help guide you.

Prayer Tips:

Adoration                             Praise
Confession                           Repent
Thanksgiving                       Ask
Supplication                         Yield


If you are up for a challenge, this is for you:
1. Start a prayer journal. Record your prayers and see how often God does answer your prayers.
2. Pray for the impossible. Be adventurous in your prayers - don't doubt what God can really do.
3. Be honest. God knows how you are feeling. Lay it all out, you'll be surprised at the results.



Photo Credit: http://angchronicles.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/lords_prayer.gif

How Can We Have Faith?

A common misconception is that believing in God makes you a Christian. Just believing that God exists, however, is not enough. A Christians is one who follows Christ, one who has "become a child of God" (John 1:12).

Ultimately, faith (believing in things not yet seen) rests on 3 pillars. I like to think of it as this:

1. The Word of God

• Trusting God's promises (unchanging and guaranteed) vs. Trusting our feelings (changeable and perhaps deceiving)
• God says: "Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in..." (Revelations 3:20)
• The promise of eternal life when you have faith in Him

2. The Work of Jesus

• God's forgiveness and salvation cannot be earned.
• God's gift is free, but it's not cheap: it cost Him His life.
• His sacrifice proves His love for us - free to receive it (John 3:16)

3. The Witness of the Spirit

• When someone becomes a Christian, the Holy Spirit comes to live in us
• He transforms us - our characteristics and relationships as we become more loving, patient, kind, etc
• He also convicts us and assures us that we belong to God

In our discussion on faith, we came to agree that the characteristics of our relationships with people are the same as with God - there is (or at least should be) love, companionship, committment, honesty. Our relationship with other people reflects our relationship with God. Where are you at? Do you notice qualities of love, patience, committment in your relationships?

Basing faith on the promises of God makes one's faith more stable than when it is based on our feelings. It is much more difficult to have strong faith when you are going through tough times. Our situations in life change, but the promises of God are just that, promises.Faith is trusting (and knowing) that God's got your back!

So when we base our faith on the promises of God and on the witness of the Spirit, is it arrogant for people to say they are sure they are going to heaven? Our discussion on this question led to the idea that thinking you are good enough (comparing yourself to others) will get you into heaven. But is that really true? A study shows that 90% of Americans think they are going to heaven while 9% are unsure. 90%! That's quite a high percentage, so are they being arrogant? Maybe it is more ignorance. Or a postmodern perspective of religious pluralism and relativism, the idea that many roads lead to God. As a group, we mentioned that trying to be "good enough" or trying to buy youself into heaven can't save you. Just remember what God says: He loves you; He is knocking at your heart waiting for you to open the door. It's free.

Why Did Jesus Die?

This week, we discussed one of the core truths of the Christian faith: the cross. Many people have heard of Jesus and of Christianity yet do not know how crucial Jesus' death is to the Christian faith.

Nicky Gumbel highlighted three key areas:

1. The Problem : Sin 

    I think we can all admit that we have made some serious mistakes in life. And it's extremely obvious from the things happening around us that sin is evident in our world. In our discussion on sin, we came to an agreement that sin is a thought or action that offends God. There are many people, however, that think that sin is the 'bigger' wrongs one commits (ie: murdering, stealing, etc). Even if we see ourselves as being good people compared to others who commit these bigger offenses, we "all have sinned", every single one of us (Romans 3:23). Nicky says that sin is not just a minor issue: it pollutes our mind and our body; it entices us into repeating the behaviours; it leads to death; it separates us from God.

As a group, we discussed the addictive and destructive nature of sin, noting that from personal experiences our sin can destroy ourselves and those around us. Sin doesn't self-contaminate, its effects spread like a contagious illness.

We quickly found out, though, that there may not necessarily be a distinct white and black line for what sin is. Take lying for example. Is a lie always a sin? Or can it be contextual? Is lying to a gunman about where the children hiding a sin? Perhaps it is our attitude that is the most important factor.
When we lie to someone, the action may look bad but if we are doing it to protect someone, is it still bad? Or when we are doing good deeds, our action may look good but if we are doing it to boost ourselves up, is it really a good deed?

2. The Solution: Cross

The most important truth of the cross is this: GOD LOVES YOU!
God loves each and every one of us. It doesn't matter who you are or what you have done. God still loves you. In fact, our sin is exactly why Jesus came as a substitution for us - because we have been separated by God and He wants us back. Jesus came to this world and suffered on our behalf. Why? Because "by His wounds, we are healed."

Nicky provided a helpful analogy of two friends who went separate ways, one becoming a judge, the other becoming a criminal. When the criminal appeared before the judge, the judge still had show justice and so he handed out a fine. However, he also showed his love as a friend and paid the fine for his criminal friend. The same is true for God: He is perfectly just and perfectly loving. Our penalty for sin is death, but He paid it for us so that we don't have to. Imagine if the criminal did not accept the money...the debt that he would owe. Imagine if we do not accept God's payment...the debt that we owe.

3. The Result: Freedom

God is love, but love never forces. Therefore, God the gift of forgiveness is offered to us, but we must receive it. And when we do, the pollution of sin is removed, the power of sin is broken, the penalty of sin is paid, and we are reconciled in a relationship with God.

In discussing God's forgiveness, we mentioned the external or internal changes that may occur as we are forgiven. Some people experience intense emotional relief while others have body sensations. But we did discover that forgiveness from God does not mean that we are simply let off from the consequences. There is a spiritual and a temporal aspect to our actions: we can be forgiven by God, but we may still have to deal with the earthly consequences. Let's say if I committed a crime for example and the justice system required me to be sentenced to 10 years in prison. God may forgive me in a spiritual sense, but I still am responsible for my actions and must pay the 10 years.


As we have experienced, "What is sin?" is not a question easily answered. However, the question "Why did Jesus die?" has a clear answer: God loves us.

I encourage you to take some time this week to think about the personal implications. This is not a simple topic so feel free to ask questions or post comments. The comment box is now open to anyone so I will get a notification if you post :)

Enjoy your week and I'll see you next week!

Who Is Jesus?

This week, Nicky Gumbel introduced us to the evidence about Jesus both within and outside the New Testament. There are tens (if not hundreds) of additional sources that mention Jesus, a fact that is new to many of us. Jesus' existence can proved from the variety of evidence; the difficulty for us is not necessarily agreeing with his existence, but agreeing with what he said and who he is. Can we really be sure?

 

Nicky said there are three realistic possibilities of who Jesus is:

     1) Lord (He said who he said he was)

     2) Liar (He lied about everything)

     3) Lunatic (He was insane, a madman)

 

We had a long discussion on who we think Jesus is to us. We even tried to put ourselves in Jesus' time, how would we react to him? Is it possible for Jesus to just have been a moral teacher? Could he have been a lunatic? If so, what does that mean for us today? Is believing Jesus is Lord a leap of faith or is there evidence for his claims? These are certainly not easy questions to answer, and I encourage you to read the Bible yourself to make your own judgment.

 

 

Nicky would say that there is sufficient evidence to support Jesus' claims:

1) His teaching (read the Sermon on the Mount - Matthew 5-7)

2) His works (the miracles Jesus performed)

3) His character (the way he lived and acted toward others)

4) His fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies (hundreds fulfilled; 29 fulfilled in 1 day!)

5) His conquest of death (we will explore this further next week)

 

In our discussion, we explored which of these evidences were the least and most convincing. For many of us, we agreed that the resurrection and empty tomb were the most difficult to comprehend and understand. Both Christians and non-Christians would agree that the resurrection is very mind-boggling! Next week's topic "Why Did Jesus Die" may answer some of the questions we have about this!

 

Feel free to comment or ask questions in the comment box or during next week's session.

Looking forward to seeing you all again on Sunday!

 

Image Credit: http://link.adventistconnect.org/discovery/TJ-new/TJ_Lesson1_View.html