Lord,
You speak Your Word to us. You call us to obedience. You say to us,
‘Obey My voice.’ Often, Lord, the story of our life is summed up in the
words: ‘They did not listen or pay attention. They did not obey’
(Jeremiah 11:7-8). Your Word is not just ‘something to think about.’
When You call us to obedience, we’re not to say, ‘I’ll think about that
later.’ ‘Now’ is the time for obedience to Your Word: ‘Obey now the
voice of the Lord’ (Jeremiah 38:20). Help us, Lord, not to put this off
until tomorrow. You’re looking for our obedience today: ‘Today, when you
hear His voice, do not harden your hearts’ (Hebrews 4:7). When, Lord,
we’re deeply involved in religious ritual – ‘burnt offerings and
sacrifices’ – , You say to us, ‘To obey is better than sacrifice’ (1
Samuel 15:22). Help us, Lord, to see that obedience involves our whole
life – not just ‘never missing a service’!
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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