Help us, Lord, to "give a friendly welcome" (Hebrews 11:31). What a
difference the friendly welcome makes! It's the word of encouragement
that makes us feel loved. It's the act of kindness that lets us know
that love is more than words. Lord, You are our Father. Help us to be
like You - "when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had
compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him" (Luke
15:20). What amazing grace! Before the confession of sin - "Father, I
have sinned... " (Luke 15:21), there is the friendly welcome. It's Your
grace that inspires our confession of sin. It's Your grace that leads us
into the joy of Your forgiveness. It's not only joy for us. It's joy
for You - "my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is
found. And they began to celebrate" (Luke 15:24).
We thank You, Lord, that our determined enemy - Satan - is Your defeated enemy. To us, the devil seems so powerful. In Your eyes, He is defeated - defeated by Jesus, our crucified Saviour and risen Lord. Jesus has triumphed over Satan. He has won the victory for us (1 John 3:8; Hebrews 2:14-15). Lord, Your Word says, "Resist the devil and he will flee from you" (James 5:7). Will he really flee from us? He flees from Jesus - but, surely, not from us? Have we not forgotten something? - Jesus won the victory for us. He gives His victory to us. Help us to resist the devil - in the victorious Name of Jesus. He will flee from us. Why? Because Jesus is Lord over Satan. It's not us he's fleeing from. It's Jesus. When the devil comes 'knocking on our door', help us to send Jesus to the door - and send him packing!
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