Satan

The Lion King

So, I think it is safe to say that “The Lion King,” is one of the greatest movies ever. If you don’t agree, well I don’t agree with you lol. But in all seriousness, there are some Biblical truths in there that I thought were worth sharing.

The first is about Scar. He was such a great villain I wanted to punch him from the moment he first opened his mouth. Anyhow, he is like Satan, and like Scar, Satan’s main goal is to build his own kingdom and destroy God’s people. Consequently, if we are not careful, we can be like young Simba, who on more than one occasion got tricked by his lies and deception, thinking he wanted to help us, when in reality, Satan is trying to kill us (John 10:10). But you know what? Praise God, because Satan’s end is in the fiery pit, just like Scar who in addition to the fire got eaten by hyenas. So I encourage you to know God’s truth so you can be protected by the deception of the enemy, even from the mouths of those closest to you. Afterall, Scar was Simba’s uncle. Just as Mufasa saved Simba from death, Jesus gave up his life to save us, but our Jesus is so much greater than Mufasa, because death couldn’t hold him.

Another truth is about the favorited song “Hakuna Matata,” which means no worries for the rest of your days. You know what, Jesus taught us not to worry, but to pray and trust God to do what He does. So when we reach the pinnacle of our walk – when our faith is so strong that minimal things even phase us or take us off our groove, because we understand the sovereignty and faithfulness of the God we serve and our prayer life is where it should be – that song should be our anthem. As I heard recently, if we pray as much as we worry, we would not have reason to worry at all. Hakuna matata, it is possible, we just have to believe it, that when problems come, we can rest in the peace and promises of God, and do what we can and leave the rest up to Him.

Probably my favorite song of the whole movie is “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” and as I was listening to the lyrics earlier I couldn’t help but think of God’s love for us. Simba’s lines are are follows: “So many things to tell her, but how to maker her see the truth about my past? She’s turn away from me.” Those very lines are why many are reluctant to come to Christ, they feel their past condemns them forever and Christ wouldn’t accept them. That’s the whole point of God’s love, that in spite of our sin and mess, no matter how big or small, He knows it all and is waiting to forgive us, wanting us to come home. The next lines of the song by Nala are just as powerful: “He’s holding back he’s hiding, but what I can’t decide. Why won’t he be the king I know he is, the king I see inside?” Beloved, that is what God has said to us, why do we hold back from Jesus? Why do we hide? He doesn’t care about your past, he sees your purpose. That’s what it’s about. Your history does not at all determine your destiny. There is a king or queen inside of you and the world is ready and eager for you to take your place. God sees you on the inside and what you can become if you allow don’t hold back or hide from Him, and allow Him to work in you. He chose you and he chose me for reasons I couldn’t tell you, but I do know that he has an awesome plan and purpose that He wants you to wake up to and impact this world for his glory. That’s why Satan tried to take you out or mess you up mentally and or emotionally, he knew, like Scar, your destiny when you forgot or never learned. For now is the time to remember.

Which brings me to my last point. Probably the most prominent line in the whole movie was when Mufasa’s cloud apparatus appeared to Simba in the field and he said these words: “Remember who you are. You are my son and the one true king. Remember.” This is the point of it all, the whole meaning of living on purpose. We should speak and act like the sons and daughters of the God of the Bible; everything we say and do should reflect God our Father.

When you acknowledge and remember who you are, you should walk and talk different. You should live in victory and boldness, persistently striving to fulfill your purpose in life. So I encourage you, if you have been tricked by the enemy, get up and run home; if you have fallen and slipped out of your walk, stand up and run to His arms. Remember who you are, you are his son, his daughter, the one he died for. Remember. Then act like it.

Weapons with a Purpose: Fight

Two Edged Sword

So in working with the youth band, I ended up doing a series on the weapons we have to fight the enemy that are sure to work: his blood, your testimony, his word, and your praise. These four have the ability to do serious damage to the schemes of the enemy.

His Blood: Revelation 12:11 tells the story of the fall of Lucifer. He was kicked out of heaven, fell on Earth and has brought destruction ever since. However, in this verse we learn that we overcome him by the blood of the Lamb. First and foremost, we must realize the power of the blood. It saved us and now protects us from the enemy’s schemes. Because of the blood, we are no longer guilty in front of God. This passage calls Satan the accuser; he regularly goes to Heaven and questions the things we do, trying to convince God that we are not His. But then God looks at us, but the blood of our defender makes us not guilty; we are free from the bondage of sin. So live in victory, knowing that you may mess up, but we are God’s children forever and He will never leave us. Nothing can separate us from His love.

Your Testimony: Revelation also mentions another weapon that defeats the enemy – our testimony. I often come across people that are reluctant to share their testimony, because they are ashamed, or they feel that it is insignificant. However, I am here to tell you that sharing your testimony of how God has delivered you or sustained you or kept you is a mighty way of defeating the enemy. When you walk and talk, and embrace the power of God and what He has done in your life, you break the chains of Satan, not only you, but someone else can be encouraged just by hearing what God has done for you. Don’t be afraid of your testimony.

His Word: Ephesians 6:17 specifically calls His Word the sword in the armor of God. The greatest example of this, is Jesus himself. He conquered Satan when he was tempted in the wilderness (Luke 4). Each time Satan tried to make him fall, Jesus responded “it is written,” and eventually the Devil left. Satan is the father of lies so when he comes for us, even as an angel of light, when we know and understand the Word for ourselves, that is the fail proof way to make the Devil flee.

Your Praise: 2 Chronicles 20:12, 18-20 tells the story of King Jehosophat. The Israelites were facing and army they could not defeat, nor did they have a clue as to what to do. Thus Jehosophat went to God and simply worshipped God and commanded the people to do the same. During their worship, God himself fought for them and they were victorious against their enemies. The same goes for us. Many times there are obstacles and things in our lives that are too big for us to handle. But, the sure way to confuse the enemy is to go to God and worship Him in the midst. Joshua also did so in Jericho; they praised God and the walls came tumbling down. So the encouragement is to use a great weapon that is often times down played or overlooked: praise. Praise and worship is so critical, because it’s a defense mechanism, and it gives us the power to stop the giants and enemy in their tracks.

Know that greater is He who is in you than He that is in the world (1 John 4:4), and if you forget, you still have these four weapons to literally destroy your baddest enemy, Satan and his demons. Be encouraged and fight. Satan knows God has an amazing purpose for you and wants to hinder and destroy it every opportunity he gets. Fight. We have the victory.

Desire

So yesterday, I went to church and the message was on the story of the temptation of Jesus (Luke 4). I loved most how Jesus went through this to prove his humanity, and desiring to show us that we can live victoriously, even in the face of dire trials and temptation. However, the catch is being full of the Spirit. Even as Christians, we still go through things, we still are put in adverse situations, even though it may not be out fault. Yet, this story proves that we can be conquerors.

The particular temptation we looked at in the sermon yesterday, was the first, the personal temptation, of Jesus in the wilderness. Satan had probed Jesus to turn the stone into bread, being as though Jesus was hungry from not eating 40 days. Still, Jesus said no and replied “it is written…” The sin in this situation wasn’t turning stone into bread; he hadn’t eaten in so long and it can be assumed he desired to eat. However, being in a close relationship was God, he knew it was not God’s timing, and blatantly going against God’s timing is the sin. Our flesh is a monster, still, our God is greater and we can fight the temptation of self, of the flesh, no matter how practical the temptation may be, and lets be honest sometimes we want it bad, real bad…but just as Jesus was in the wilderness, we are more than conquerors (Rom 8:37).

Furthermore, it was a great reminder to me that life is full of desires and things we want, and they aren’t all bad or sinful. However, we have to understand that God has a time for everything. It gets hard to wait, especially when you have your mind made up and planned the who, what, when, where, and how. Still, as it is written, we may have our own plans, but God orders our steps and it is His purpose that will prevail and it will always be greater than expected  (Prov 16:9, 19:21). He knows the desires of our hearts, and will give them to us (Ps 37:4). Yet, we must delight in Him and His will first, so that we can know His voice when the answer is yes, no, or wait. Your desire may in fact be good, but I pose the question, is the timing bad? That’s answer can only come from God Himself, so don’t get discouraged. He wants to bless you, and truth be told, He already has. Talk to Him…What is He saying…to you?…