One of the Devil's Hangouts

727 Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 24:24 Then the king said to Araunah, "No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. 25 And David built there an altar to the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD heeded the prayers for the land, and the plague was withdrawn from Israel. I don't mean to give Araunah a bad rap here, but he reminds me of the devil. Look where he is hanging out! At the threshing floor! This is one of the devils' favorite places to hang out, in order to put our faith to the test by sifting. Remember Peter in Luke 22:31? “And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.” It was the devil's hope that he could separate Peter from the love of Christ, by making him think that Jesus couldn't possibly forgive him for his sin. Remember Job? Same kind of deal, the devil put Job through all sorts of trials hoping to shipwreck his faith and separate him from the love of God. When Jesus went out to the wilderness, He too was sifted by the prince of this world with the three temptations of lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life. In all three, he sought to get Jesus to take the easy way out! “No need to be hungry Jesus, turn these stones into bread.” “Bow down to me now and I will give you all the kingdoms of the world!” “Make a spectacular show of Yourself by safely jumping off the top of the temple.” There's no need for you to suffer and die on the cross, you can have it all now!” And he wasn't done yet, he came at Jesus again in the Garden of Gethsemane tempting him to find an easier way out. Araunah offers the threshing floor to David at no price, an easy way out, but David says, “I will not offer up anything that costs me nothing.” And the Son of God said the same thing for our sake as well. You see there are no shortcuts. The wages of sin is death, and someone had to pay the price, and because Jesus didn't take any shortcuts, you and I have been handed the gift of eternal life. What kind of love is this? How can you say no to this Man who out of sheer love for you, said no to the shortcuts and paid the full price of your sins? Are you being sifted? Tempted to ditch the faith? Learn from Job and Peter and hang in there knowing that nothing is able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom 8: 39

Satan is on A Leash

712 Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 2Sa 24:1 Again the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, "Go, number Israel and Judah." This is puzzling and fascinating at the same time. God's anger was kindled and so He moves David to take a census. Here's the thing about a census. It required a tax on the people that were being counted. Ex 30:12, 13 says, "When you take the census of the children of Israel for their number, then every man shall give a ransom for himself to the LORD, when you number them, that there may be no plague among them when you number them. 13 "This is what everyone among those who are numbered shall give: half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (a shekel is twenty gerahs). The half-shekel shall be an offering to the LORD.” Please note that it is imperative that this census include a tax. If the tax isn't levied and collected, the leader is inviting a plague to come upon the people. With that said, I also find it interesting that in this reading, we are told that “God moved David” to take the census, but in 1Ch 21:1 we read, “Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel.” So which is it? Did God move David or Satan? The best answer is God allowed Satan to act and then ultimately used it for His glory. It is similar to the situation in Job. The devil asked permission of God to sift Job through trial and tribulation and got it, (with God imposed restrictions) Job 1:12, “And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person." Ultimately God was glorified in the situation. We know that Satan also desired to sift Peter with trial and tribulation Lu 22:31 And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 "But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren." Take heart from these passages, especially when you feel like Job or Peter knowing that Satan is on a God-ordained leash, he can only go as far as your loving Father allows!