SELF-CENTERED VS. GOD-CENTERED

Matthew 16:23
You are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's

The apostle Peter is a glaring example of the struggle between self- and Christ-centered living. Only moments after Peter confessed the fundamental truth that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:13-16), he found himself in league with the powers of darkness. Having just blessed Peter for his noble confession, Jesus announced to him and the other disciples the suffering and death which awaited Him at Jerusalem. "And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, 'God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You'" (verse 22).

Jesus responded: "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interests, but man's" (verse 23).

Jesus' memorable rebuke seems mercilessly severe. But the fact that He identified Satan as the source of Peter's words describes precisely and appropriately the character of the advice Peter tried to give: "Save yourself at all costs. Sacrifice duty to self-interest, the cause of Christ to personal convenience." Peter's advice was satanic in principle, for Satan's primary aim is to promote self-interest as the chief end of man. Satan is called the "prince of this world" because self-interest rules the secular world. He is called the "accuser of the brethren" because he does not believe that even a child of God has a higher motive than self-service. You can almost hear him hissing, "All men are selfish at heart and have their price. Some may hold out longer than others, but in the end every man will prefer his own things to the things of God."

That's Satan's creed, and unfortunately the lives of all too many Christians validate his claims. Satan has deceived them into thinking they are serving themselves when in fact they are serving the world, the flesh, and the devil. But the Christian worldview has a different center. Jesus confronts our humanistic, self-serving grids and offers the view from the cross. Only from this center can you escape the bondage of the one whose sole intent is "to steal, and kill, and destroy" (John 10:10).

SEEING BLESSINGS IN THORNS

"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me" (2 Cor. 12:7).   Have you ever had something in your life you wish was not there? If God gave you one wish, perhaps it would be to change that one thing. Perhaps it is the source of pain or challenge in your life. You seek God continually for relief from it, but He seems strangely silent. Paul also experienced an ongoing burden that he called a "thorn in [his] flesh." Bible scholars have speculated as to what this thorn might have been, but no one knows for sure. We do know that it was so hurtful to Paul that he asked God on three different occasions to remove it from his life: To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12:7-10). Paul had a great calling on his life. The revelations and faith experiences that God gave him would have been too much for any man's humility. So God, in order to insure His investment in Paul's life, allowed this man a thorn in his flesh to help him maintain a humble, godly perspective. Perhaps God has given you such a thorn designed to allow you to place greater trust and reliance upon Him. Ask God to reveal to you the blessing of the thorn He has placed in your life. The bloom of a rose is beautiful, but the thorn of a rose produces only pain. Thorns hurt us yet they humble us. That is the blessing of thorns.

POWER AND AUTHORITY

"He [Jesus] called the twelve together, and gave them power and authority over all the demons" ~ Luke 9:1 

 

Jesus gave His disciples both authority and power over demons. What's the difference? Authority is the right to rule; it's a positional issue. A policeman has the right to stop traffic at an intersection because of the position of authority represented by his badge. Similarly, Jesus gave His disciples His badge to carry. They had the right to rule over the demons because of their position as followers of the One to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given (Matthew 28:18).

 

In contrast, power is the ability to rule. A policeman may have the authority to stop traffic, but he doesn't have the physical ability to do so. If he tries to stop traffic by his own power, he will probably get run over. However, if you move a 20-foot-square cement block into the middle of the intersection, it may not have any authority to make cars stop, but it certainly has the ability to do so!

 

No good manager would delegate responsibility to his underlings without also delegating authority to them and equipping them with the ability to get the job done. Jesus charged His disciples with the responsibility to proclaim the kingdom of God. Had He not also given them authority and power in the spirit world, the demons would have just scoffed at their feeble attempts and sent them running for cover (as they did the seven sons of Sceva in Acts 19).

 

The truth is that, while in yourself you don't have the ability to resist Satan and his demons, in Christ you do . The Israelites looked at Goliath fearfully and said, "We can't fight him." But young David looked at Goliath and said, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?" (1 Samuel 17:26). The army saw Goliath in relation to themselves and trembled; David saw Goliath in relation to God and triumphed. When you encounter the spiritual enemies of your soul, remember: "Be strong in the Lord [your authority], and in the strength of His might [your power]" (Ephesians 6:10).

 

Prayer: Thank You, Father, for Your authority and power. Help me view my circumstances in light of what You can do, not according to what I can't do.

GOD VERSUS MAMMON

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." (Matt 6:24 NKJV)

 

The New Testament contains 2,084 verses dealing with money and finance. Sixteen of Jesus' thirty-eight parables deal with money. The reason Jesus spoke so much about money was because He was always trying to see where a person's loyalty resided. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matt 6:21 NKJV). He said a person could not serve two masters. Instead, he will love one but hate the other.

Many people believe money is synonymous with mammon. This is incorrect. Mammon is an Aramaic demonic spirit that was worshipped as a false god by the Philistines. Mammon desires to be worshipped, have influence, and control of peoples' lives to require love and devotion through the use of money. Money is simply the instrument by which mammon seeks to have power.

Any spirit that opposes God seeks to influence people through deception. It wants to gain loyalty and love without you knowing it has done so. The primary lie behind the spirit of mammon is that money contains power. It encourages people to place disproportionate value on money because of the power it has to influence and control others.

The symptoms of being controlled by the spirit of mammon are revealed when we allow our activities to be governed by the amount of money we have instead of God alone. It makes us believe one's provision is his/her employer, spouse, investments, or other money source. So, when we allow money to rule the choices in our lives we have yielded to the spirit of mammon. This leads to other problems as Paul writes to Timothy:

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." (1 Tim 6:10)

Today, ask God if you have been influenced by the spirit of mammon. If so, renounce it and place your total trust in Christ as your source for all provision.