April 10, 2020 CAC Living Water Devotional :- OUR DEFEATED FOE
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LIVING WATER CAC DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE
Friday, April 10, 2020 – Good Friday
OUR DEFEATED FOE
Read: Hebrews 4:1-12
Hebrews 4:1-12 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.
For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.
For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world.
For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.”
And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.”
Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience,
Again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”
For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on.
So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God,
for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
MEMORISE: For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
EXPOSITION
How do we triumph over the devil in everyday life? Frist, we need to recognise that the devil is a defeated foe. The Son of God came to undo the work of the devil (1 Pet. 3:8). The crucifixtion of Christ, which looked like a great victory for Satan, turned out to be a great triumph for God, because it was on the cross that Jesus took our sins away.
The devil had thought he was stopping God’s eternal redemptive programme/plan. However, his limited knowledge, being not omniscient, worked against him. He had forgotten that he would bruise the heel of the seed of the woman, but that the seed would crush his head (Gen. 3:15) Had he know he was the only fulfilling Scriptures by instigating those people to hurry Jesus to the cross, he wouldn’t have done possessed Judas to betray Jesus. He missed it to his own eternal damnation. Glory be to God. Hallelujah!
God laid our sins on Christ, so that when our Lord bowed His head and said, “it is finished”, He was referring to the plan of redemption and salvation. Then, we are to resist the devil. If we resisit him, Scripture says, he will flee from us. Jesus overcome the devil not by argument, but simply by quoting Scripture (Jas. 4:7, 1 Pet. 5:8,9). That is why it is so important to learn and memories the Scripture on daily basis, as Christians, because the Bible is our daily manual for living, and source of great power to silence the devil and keep him where he belongs (cf. Rom. 16:20).
Thanks to God for this great immeasurable victory He has given us in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:57). Neither should you reject this great Gift of God nor should you joke with it (Heb. 2:3)
PRAYER POINTS
1. Divine empowerment to defeat Satan through the power of the Word of God, is my portion today, in Jesus name.
2. I confess it loud and clear that by the mercy of God, I will not fall by the way side, in Jesus name.
3. Lord, by the same power of Yours that shocked the devil on Calvary, let him be shamed, defeated and the enemies of Your gospel be heard no more in this nation, in Jesus name.
EXTRA READING FOR TODAY: Joshua 21:22 & Acts13