The World's Seduction
The world system is at odds with God because Satan nurtures it. It’s a system designed to give us pleasure and distract us from God.
The world system is at odds with God because Satan nurtures it. It’s a system designed to give us pleasure and distract us from God.
At just the right moment, precisely as God had arranged it, and in keeping with a plan that He formed before the foundation of the world, the Messiah entered the scene of humanity.
How easy for us to make a promise, say words of intention, yet which may only be of as much substance as the air it took to utter it. Once spoken, promises carry a weight that may be difficult to bring to full term and delivery.
Linking the two natures together in one personality, housed in one unique body, the God man Jesus was born. No less deity, no less humanity, in one person, in one body, forever.
God has been at work in human history. Over the passing of time He arranged a set of events that would lead ultimately to the beginning and to the continuation of humanity for as long as He chooses.
God doesn’t rush. Carefully and sovereignly He works to reveal His glory. From the morning sunrise, which slowly spreads its rays across the face of the earth, to the unfolding of His plan in each of our lives, God takes His time to achieve His will. How unlike us! We are impatient, anxious, and impulsive, wondering why things haven’t happened as quickly as we wish.
On that first Christmas, the divine Son of God took His first human breath as He entered humanity as one of us. The moment of Jesus’ birth was an event like none other in history, and it changed the world forever. Its appeal was...and still is...irresistible!
When we live God’s way, we experience the Fruit of the Spirit in good times and bad. Because it’s a supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit, this fruit is not tied to things of the world, emotions, health, or anything else.
Joy—it makes people wonder at your secret. Yet joy is no secret to the trusting Christian. When we choose to grow closer to God, resting in His character and provision, joy spills over into our lives so that others can’t help but notice.
It is correct to say God wants me happy. But He doesn’t want us to value it above other things or base our happiness in superficial temporary circumstances. God built us to desire happiness but He wants us to find it in relation to Him.