Articles
Not Today Satan!
Our world really is challenging to live in, isn't it? I had a scripture in mind today that I wanted to use to encourage us all to think about the fact that when we choose to follow Jesus, that rules out all else. Yet Satan wants us back, and that pull is strong, and at times difficult to resist. Difficult yes, impossible, NO!
Corinth was a place which had many of the same problems as Athens in the 1st century, it was ridden with idolatry and immorality to try and sum it up in a few words. The Apostle Paul is talking to Christians in Corinth and he reminds them of their history, the punishment suffered by their ancestors who turned their backs on God. He writes these words as part of his encouragement to Christian people to refrain from being like the world around them.
"You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the Lord’s jealousy? Are we stronger than he?” (1 Cor 10:21) Notice Paul doesn't say we 'shouldn't', he says we 'cannot'. It's impossible. We can't walk with God and the Devil. If we attempt to, we challenge God, and as Paul says, we "arouse the Lord's jealousy". And "God is not mocked." (Gal 6:7) No one makes a fool of God, He knows our true motives, and we can't tell Him what He wants to hear, and then do what we want to do. The only fool in that scenario is us!
Today, let us start each day choosing to drink of the cup of the Lord, and end each day doing the same. When it is the Lord we get our spiritual nourishment from, He supplies our needs, and helps us to overcome all temptation, because He is faithful, and will not let us be tempted beyond what we can resist, but He will provide a way of escape for us. (1 Cor 1:13)
