After the garden incident with Adam and Eve, God wasn’t going to let us stay separated from Him. Even though things got worse (the great flood in Genesis 6) before they got better (when God began calling people to walk with Him, starting in Genesis 12), God has been on a constant pursuit of a love relationship with His creation. Our enemy Satan, however, has been on a pursuit of a hate relationship. This leaves us with a couple of options.
[BTW, you can download a PDF version of this devo here.]
1. Digging In (God, Show Me!)
Read the passages below and look for two things:
- Mark references to our enemy, Satan, with a pitchfork. Mark phrases that describe a lifestyle controlled by the enemy with a frowney.
- Mark references to anything God and Jesus do for us with a smiley.
John 10:9-11
9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Ephesians 2:1-11
1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
2. Taking It Inward (God, Teach Me!)
Looking at what you marked, list below the things you learn about our enemy and about a lifestyle controlled by him. Then list the things that God and Jesus want to do for us.
| Enemy and Enemy Lifestyle | What have God/Jesus done for you? |
No Brainer Question: Based on these verses, who has your best interest in mind?
So why do we tend to believe the enemy (and cave to his temptations) instead of trusting God?
3. Putting Into Practice (God, Change Me!)
What has your life been more like—the enemy list or the God list?
Who would you rather follow: the one who wants to keep you dead in your transgressions or the one who can give you life…and give it abundantly? You choose.
Take a moment to read from your Bible a similar decision in Deuteronomy 30:1520.
[You can download a PDF version of this devo here.]