The Promise Keeper vs the Father of lies

. . very great and precious promises . . . 2 Peter 1:4 If you would know by experience the preciousness of God’s promises, if you would enjoy them in your own heart, meditate greatly on them. There are promises that are like grapes in your hand: if you will squeeze them tightly, the juice will flow. Thinking over such holy words will often be the prelude to their fulfillment. While you muse over them, the blessing you seek may sneak up on you quietly. Many Christians, thirsting for a promise, have found its benefit gently distilling into their souls even while they were meditating on God’s Word. Then they rejoiced that God had laid that promise on their heart. But besides meditating on the promises, seek in your soul to receive them as the very words of God. Say to yourself, “If I were dealing with a person’s promise, I would carefully consider the ability and character of the one who had made the covenant with me. But with the promise of God, I shouldn’t fix my eyes so much on the greatness of the mercy (that would stagger me) as on the greatness of the Promiser (which will cheer me). “My soul, it is God, your God, God who cannot lie, who speaks to you. This word of His that you are now considering is as true as His own existence. He is the unchangeable God, who has not altered anything which has ever gone out of His mouth. He has never called back one single sentence of comfort. “And don’t ever fear that He lacks power—the God who made the promise is the God who made the heavens and the earth. He has all wisdom, and knows the perfect time to bestow His favors, for He knows w9hen it is best to give and when it is better to withhold. “Therefore, seeing that it is the word of a God so true, so unchanging, so powerful, and so wise, I will and must believe His promise.” If we meditate on God’s promises in this way, always considering the Promiser, we will experience their sweetness and obtain their fulfilment. - C.H. Spurgeon Morning and Evening 

"If We're Honest" Francesca Batistelli

Truth is harder than a lie
The dark seems safer than the light
And everyone has a heart that loves to hide
I'm a mess and so are you
We've built walls nobody can get through
Yeah, it may be hard, but the best thing we could ever do, ever do

Bring your brokenness, and I'll bring mine
'Cause love can heal what hurt divides
And mercy's waiting on the other side
If we're honest
If we're honest

Don't pretend to be something that you're not
Living life afraid of getting caught
There is freedom found when we lay our secrets down at the cross, at the cross

So bring your brokenness, and I'll bring mine
'Cause love can heal what hurt divides
And mercy's waiting on the other side
If we're honest
If we're hones

It would change our lives
It would set us free
It's what we need to be

So bring your brokenness, and I'll bring mine
'Cause love can heal what hurt divides
And mercy's waiting on the other side
If we're honest
If we're honest
If we're honest

Satan loves to hide, disturb, distort and destroy truth when it suits not his purpose. 

You have been lied to since birth.  Is one of his.

You were born that way. Another. 

You can't be better than you are.

You are just as much a loser as your old man. 

You aren't fit even to serve me.  You are worthless. 

They are just going to steal away your rights. You know, all those things you deserve, they want to take away from you. 

The list goes on.  The short list in the temptations of Christ are sometimes used on us as well.  

We aren't all that strong.  But in Christ I am.

The lies of Satan always seem to have a ring of truth.  Because that's his MO. His modus operandi.  He has had centuries to perfect being what Jesus called him...the liar and father of lies. 

For a great portion of my life I listened to the lies because honestly I wasn't walking with Jesus as I should have.  I was in a pit of despair that I never believed that I was going to get out of.  When the Psalmist writes of being in the pit...I could certainly relate.  All this while being a believer?

Yes. 

Look at Peter after he fulfilled what Jesus said was going to happen. He was beyond distraught. Who knows he might have been close to giving up on the rest of his life.  He couldn't handle his colossal pain and failure.  The one he said was the Son of God he rejected not once but many times.  He was ready to just go off and return to fishing.  

Then Jesus found him.  

As Jesus found me.  

As Jesus wants to find you if you'll but open the door.  It matters not, believer or unbeliever, we often are on the other side of a door from Jesus. For the believer it's after He has come into our hearts and is going through the rooms within.  We go before Him and quickly close a door to a room we are afraid to let Him into. 

For the unbeliever it's just letting Jesus in at all.  It's getting past the lies. Past the pride issue that says we don't need Him.

Past the issues saying He caused your pain and problems. You're mad at God because of what He allowed to happen that hurt you so much.  Lies of course.  Twisted bits of truth.  Anything to keep you from learning or knowing the real truth. 

Dear reader Satan doesn't care if he kills you as long as you never find out the truth of God's love for you. He doesn't care if you are dead inside even while you are alive physically.  That's exactly what he wants of you.  To have no hope.  We live in a world these days craving some form of hope.  To the extent people are saying they would give up their rights to obtain something that resembles normalcy.  Literally they would make a deal with the Devil if it would help...but they wouldn't come to Christ because of the lies sewn by Satan. 

Jesus is God. Truth.

The Father is God. Truth. 

The Holy Spirit is God. Truth. 

Jesus came, lived a sinless life. 

Was crucified on a cross for all the sin of mankind, including yours. 

He arose 3 days later conquering sin, death and the grave. He now sits at the right hand of God the Father. Awaiting the word to come and receive to Himself all who have called upon Him for Salvation. 

Truth, truth, and more truth. 

Salvation is free. Truth.

Forgiveness of sin is in Christ. Truth.

Only Christ can forgive sin. Truth.

Only in Christ will you ever find the peace and hope you are looking at the world to give. Truth.

God in all 3 of His persons has always kept every promise they have ever made. Truth.

Salvation is free. Truth.

Satan will twist and deny everything mentioned as truth that you read today. 

He wants to be worshipped and served by mankind because mankind was made to worship and serve God. Truth. 

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.  Truth.

Reality isn't just what you perceive it to be. Regardless of what you are told or see.

In the Old Testament Elijah prayed that his servants eyes would behold what he could not otherwise see.  The Army of God. 

You do not see what Daniel was told was why the Lord was delayed in answering his prayer.  That there is a war raging for the souls of man. Truth.

Only by coming to Christ will you be safe.

You stand alone if Christ is not in you. 

The promise Maker says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.  If anything happens to a believer, the next heartbeat finds them in the presence of Jesus.  Truth.

For the unbeliever the next heartbeat finds them in Hell.  Truth.  Death was conquered for all mankind but you still choose your destination. Truth.

My friend time is running out.  I haven't yet heard a sermon on the rest of what 'the days of Noah' was like.  It's not just that people were marrying and being given in marriage.  It was that Noah was indeed involved in a ministry to reach the lost. He was always out preaching when he wasn't building the Ark. Noah tried for over 100 years to tell people.  Nobody took him seriously until the waters were too high to survive.  Many, if not all, cried out for the Lord to save them.  Billions drowning  one after another.  Was God being mean or evil in this?  By no means. He already knew who accepted Him.  Just as it is now.  Jesus knows who will say yes to Salvation and who won't...and even their reasons why.  He won't return until the last person to be saved prior to the Rapture is saved.  

It could even be you. 

Jesus keeps His promises. In every day in every way.  Hope isn't found in stimulus money or politics. It's not found in organizations.  It's found in Christ. 

Today is your day to learn what truth really is.