Praise the Lord
for this new day. We are blessed with "Autumn Rains". It has been raining most
of the night. The parsonage has an aluminum roof. The sound of rain on a metal
roof is music to my ear. Looking at the calendar we are just two months from
Christmas Eve. I have been listening to Christmas music for more than two weeks
now. Some of you have written back saying that you have started listening to
Christmas music too. This is, in the words of John Wesley, a "Holy
Habit".
We will gather
for mid-week fellowship and study this evening at 6 PM followed by choir
practice at 7:30 PM. One of the members of the church and I spent some time this
past Monday visiting a beautiful person who is on hospice care. It was a time of
prayer and praise. The woman is believer in Christ our Lord. She shared with me
that she met her husband in a hospital where he was patient. It was love at
first sight. Their romance was fast and furious. They have been married for 53
years. He husband is by her side 24/7. They share a great devotion, great love,
and great fidelity.
When we are
weak and frail, the enemy can come to discourage us. I would like to remind
myself that life on earth is not a playground. It is a battleground. It is
written “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion…” (1 Peter 5:8).
Lions are very large cats, second in size only to the tiger and weighing up to 500 pounds. A single lion can take down prey up to three times its size. For such a large animal the lion is incredibly stealthy. Lions are a picture of strength and ferocity, a great adversary of the animal kingdom. So it makes sense to picture Satan as a prowling lion.
Our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion…he’s not just sneaking up on us. He roars and tries to scare us. He tries to destroy the church by speaking his lies from beyond the hedge. He tries to make us tremble with his deceptive words. It is written, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you” (v. 7). Anxiety can be a paralyzing experience. It is fear out of control. “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (v. 8). “Resist him, standing firm in the faith…” (v. 9). We are to renew our trust in God especially in these difficult times.
When it comes to pain or suffering it often feels as if no one could possibly know what we are feeling. The devil would love for us to believe that no one knows what we endure. It feels as if we are all alone and that our suffering is entirely unique to ourselves. The church in Peter’s time suffered outright persecution for their faith. But even they thought that they were the only ones experiencing this.
Peter replied, “…you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (v. 9). If we look around and are completely honest each of us realizes that our family issues are not unique, our health issues are comparable to the misery of others, and our other problems have been shared by many people. Suffering is universal. What we need to keep in mind is that there are two plans. The devil’s plan is to break us through suffering. God’s plan is to shape us and mold us into Christ’s image through suffering. Pain is the crucible for faith’s power.
We are reminded “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen” (10-11). God has not forgotten us and the battle is only temporary. The God of all grace who has given us so much will not abandon us now at the moment of his final victory. After we have suffered a little while he will restore us. Last Sunday we looked into the life of Job. The Lord restored him beyond measure. For those who are believers in Christ this life, likewise, has a"JOYFUL END".
Lions are very large cats, second in size only to the tiger and weighing up to 500 pounds. A single lion can take down prey up to three times its size. For such a large animal the lion is incredibly stealthy. Lions are a picture of strength and ferocity, a great adversary of the animal kingdom. So it makes sense to picture Satan as a prowling lion.
Our enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion…he’s not just sneaking up on us. He roars and tries to scare us. He tries to destroy the church by speaking his lies from beyond the hedge. He tries to make us tremble with his deceptive words. It is written, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you” (v. 7). Anxiety can be a paralyzing experience. It is fear out of control. “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (v. 8). “Resist him, standing firm in the faith…” (v. 9). We are to renew our trust in God especially in these difficult times.
When it comes to pain or suffering it often feels as if no one could possibly know what we are feeling. The devil would love for us to believe that no one knows what we endure. It feels as if we are all alone and that our suffering is entirely unique to ourselves. The church in Peter’s time suffered outright persecution for their faith. But even they thought that they were the only ones experiencing this.
Peter replied, “…you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (v. 9). If we look around and are completely honest each of us realizes that our family issues are not unique, our health issues are comparable to the misery of others, and our other problems have been shared by many people. Suffering is universal. What we need to keep in mind is that there are two plans. The devil’s plan is to break us through suffering. God’s plan is to shape us and mold us into Christ’s image through suffering. Pain is the crucible for faith’s power.
We are reminded “And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen” (10-11). God has not forgotten us and the battle is only temporary. The God of all grace who has given us so much will not abandon us now at the moment of his final victory. After we have suffered a little while he will restore us. Last Sunday we looked into the life of Job. The Lord restored him beyond measure. For those who are believers in Christ this life, likewise, has a"JOYFUL END".
Martin Luther
struggled with depression and doubt during his lifetime but he battled on in the
faith. This is what Luther wrote on 1 Peter 5: "Peter would, with his
admonition, make Christians bold and confident to resisting the temptations of
the devil and defending themselves. He would not have us feel terrified or
despair before Satan, even though that wicked one press us hard through the
instrumentality of the world and of our flesh, as well as by his direct
onslaughts. We are not to fear though he seems too strong for us and though
surrender to his prowess seems inevitable. We are to have a manly heart and
fight valiantly through faith. We must be assured that if we remain firm in the
faith we shall have strength and final victory. The devil shall not defeat us.
We shall prove superior to him. We have been called of God and made Christians
to the end that we renounce the devil and contend against him and thus maintain
God’s name, God’s word and God’s kingdom against him. Christ our head has
already in himself smitten and destroyed for us the devil and his power. In
addition, he gives us faith and the Holy Spirit whereby we can wholly defeat
Satan’s further wickedness and his attempts to overthrow us. A Christian should
bear all this in mind, I say, and learn to experience the strength and power of
faith, so will he not yield to temptation and enticement from the evil one."
(Martin Luther)
In his hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is our God", he wrote this victorious line:
"And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us: The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, For Lo! His doom is sure – one little word will fell him."
In his hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is our God", he wrote this victorious line:
"And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear, for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us: The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, For Lo! His doom is sure – one little word will fell him."
In
Christ,
Brown
A Special
Thanksgiving Worship;
Saturday, November
17, 2012
Location: First
United Methodist Church, 53 McKinley Ave., Endicott
Sponsored by: Union
Center United Methodist Church
Speaker: Dr. Dino
Pedrone,
President, Davis
College, Binghamton,
Special Music :
Worship Band of Davis College,
Organist : Yancey
Moore
Pianist: Aric
Phinney
All are welcome. For
Information call: 607-748-6329
or
607-748-1358
