Spiritual Nuggets

To Ponder (06-29-2008)

66. People who think God will always look upon one with favor and blessings are grossly deceived. Many Scriptures can be cited, including the following one:

I will forsake my house, abandon my inheritance; I will give the one I love into the hands of her enemies. My inheritance has become to me like a lion in the forest. She roars at me; therefore I hate her. (Jer 12:7,8)

NOTE: God is able to both love and hate the same object at the same time. He is infinite and unlike us mere creatures. Remember this about God’s infinite love.

67. If you are faithfully serving God and are a serious problem for the devil’s kingdom of darkness and lies, then the devil and his cohorts certainly know about you. This is shown regarding the demon’s speaking in Acts 19 about Paul, the greatest example Christianity ever produced:

One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. (Acts 19:15,16)

Many church goers, even pastors, are not known in this way by the devil, especially since they are actually servants of the devil themselves.

68. There are various amazing conversions to Christianity in the New Testament. Certainly, Paul’s was the most noteworthy. Others were not so glorious, but still wonderful. Perhaps another amazing conversion, if a conversion at all, happened to Demetrius, who was an idol maker from Ephesus. He also caused a riot in opposition to Paul’s message to protect his lucrative but ungodly business:

A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in no little business for the craftsmen. He called them together, along with the workmen in related trades, and said: “Men, you know we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.” When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Soon the whole city was in an uproar .... (Acts 19:24-29)

If the same person, then it seems Demetrius actually got saved at a later point:

Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true. (3 John 1:12)

Could it be? Did he really get saved? We can’t be certain, but it is possible.

There will be many surprises in the kingdom. Many won’t be there who we thought would and some will be there who we never thought we’d see. Maybe the one-time Ephesian idol maker will be one. That would be great.

69. The devil is very good at deceiving people. To do so he must communicate his destructive lies as coming from God. Many authoritative claims have come our way from false teachers in our hour, which is not unlike how it was in first-century Christianity. Back then it was believed that a particular graven image of a female pagan deity fell from heaven:

The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Men of Ephesus, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to be quiet and not do anything rash.” (Acts 19:35, 36)

Paul and his companions were not phased by such authoritative and unbiblical claims and neither will we be if we get Scripturally grounded in the New Testament message for ourselves. That image could not have fallen from heaven since it promotes disobedience to God, who gave us the Bible.

70. We often think of the Lord Jesus as being God in the flesh, which is Biblical. Just as factual is the concept that Jesus was truth in the flesh. Imagine that—truth incarnate. Does truth anger people? If you know how Jesus’ ministry went, the answer is a quick yes. In fact, truth angered people to the place where such truth-rejecters wanted to kill Jesus and did.

Let’s learn from that. Truth will often anger sinful people, but it still remains vital. We must learn the truth to benefit. Truth is always a blessing, even though it can also be very disturbing at times. If you deny this, ponder how a sick person learning the truth from a medical doctor can save a life, but at the same time also be very disturbing to learn about his physical condition.

Only God’s truth can save a soul. Moreover, the only source of God’s truth is the Bible. Dear reader, do you really know its eternal message? Your eternity depends upon it. Please read it for yourself, believe what it says and put it into practice for your own good and those you will influence.

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