Jesus treated us much better than we deserve.
He made us acceptable to God and gave us the hope of eternal life.
Zephaniah 3:17
The Lord your God wins victory after victory and is always with you.
He celebrates and sings because of you, and he will refresh your life with his love.”
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
This morning, a friend of mine posted this on Facebook:
Ok, so here's the deal…Satan REALLY hates me. He's a thief, a liar, and the lowest of low. He'll use any of his cohorts; anxiety, imperfection, depression, oppression, regret, fear, doubt, loss, pain, apathy, indifference ...to SNUFF out my light. Be on the lookout… because if you've said “YES!” to God, you better believe he'll come for you too!Clearly, she is dealing with some serious challenges… as are all of us at one time or another. So these two verses… one from the New Testament and one from the Old Testament, both bring us a message of hope. Jesus treats us much better than we deserve and makes us acceptable to God. We have hope of Eternal Life because of Jesus. AND…God wins victory after victory and is always with us! God actually sings because of us and refreshes us with His love.
Satan cannot stand it when we give our heart to God. He absolutely despises even the thought that we belong to God and are protected and reinvigorated by His love and care. So he uses all of his cohorts to TRY to snuff out our light…just as my friend said. But the all-important filled-with-hope-and-and-comfort GOOD NEWS is that Satan can never win when we belong to God!
As we close out this year, I am sure that there have been moments of joy and peace in your life in the last twelve months. But I am also fairly certain that many have experienced a time when you felt like the devil was coming after you. I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions, but I am resolving to put on God’s full armor this year… to remind myself often of His presence - and His unending love and care. When Satan sends his cohorts to try to snuff out my light, I’ll stomp my foot and tell him to “Get lost!” As the old hymn says, “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness”… and I know that He is covering me in both.
I pray that you will end this year – and enter the next – with hope… the hope of always being acceptable to God through Jesus… the hope of God’s victory after victory – and his unending presence in your life… and the ultimate hope of Eternal Life with Him in heaven someday. Resolve to make 2014 a year of HOPE…refreshed with God’s love and armed against Satan and every one of his cohorts. God bless and keep you… Happy New Year!
©2013 Debbie Robus
