devil

They say,”God allows sickness to teach us something.”

/ Joan C. Thomson / Leave a comment

I know of no New Testament scripture (since we “followers of Jesus” are people of the New Covenant) that even hints at this. The only one that is remotely close is John 9:3, the account of Jesus saying of the man born blind, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” Jesus immediately healed him. The work of God in this man’s life was his healing, not the blindness!

Jesus said that the devil comes to kill, steal and destroy but he (Jesus) came to give abundant life—not a lesson from sickness! (John 10:10)

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. I John 3:8

No, God permits sickness and other things that are of the devil to come into our lives so that we can fight it! That’s what the “full armor of God” is for (Ephesians 6:11-18). That’s what the “gifts of the Spirit” are for (1 Corinthians 12:7:11).

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4,5

When sickness comes your way, don’t embrace it—fight it!

Note: Of course, no teacher wants to let a “teachable moment” get by without using it for teaching. God certainly makes use of every opportunity, but why not be open to his teaching while you’re in health?!

But what about Paul’s “thorn in the flesh?” Read about it here: https://urbanlegendsbible.com/?s=thorn+in+flesh

They say, “Everything that happens God’s perfect will, since he’s sovereign.”

/ Joan C. Thomson / Leave a comment

Yes, God is sovereign—ruler of all but that does not mean that everything that comes into our lives is good or from him.  The Bible makes it clear that we have an enemy, Satan who would like to “devour” us (1 Peter 5:8) and who comes to “steal, kill and destroy”. (John 10:10)  We are to resist the devil and he will flee,” (James 4:7) If the things of the devil are good and God’s perfect will, why is it that we are instructed to resist and “put on the full armor of God” (Ephesians 6:10-18), which includes a shield to “quench the fiery darts of the devil”?  We would be resisting God’s will!

No, God in his sovereignty allows these works of the devil to come through so we can fight them off (Judges 3:1-4)! We’re to fight the devil not people! (Matthew 5:39)!

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12

They say, “You’ve got to yell at the devil.”

/ Joan C. Thomson / Leave a comment

“You’ve got to yell at the devil to let him know you’re mad so he’ll know you mean it!”

No.  Man’s anger doesn’t serve God. (James 1:20)  It’s the authority and name of Jesus that cast out the devil. Jesus “drove out the spirits with a word” (Matthew 8:16) Nothing fancy or loud, most likely “Out.” Some demons though, Jesus said, need extra prayer for a person to drive them out—not extra noise or anger. (Mark 9:28, 29) Simply “resist the devil and he will flee.”

Perhaps more importantly are some little-known Scriptures that emphasize our need to respect celestial beings—even the devil.

Jude said, “In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand…” Jude vs 8-10

Peter said, “Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord. But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand.” 2 Peter 2:10, 11

So, it’s not a good idea to teach children cute songs that mock the devil such as the one saying, he “can sit on a tack.”

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