Two different thoughts popped out at me today as I went through our Spoken Word Bible Reading Plan! The first came immediately on reading Psalm 14. Verse 1:
1 The [empty-headed] fool has said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable deeds; there is none that does good or right.
I used to be deeply concerned with having a way to reach those who call themselves atheists, until I saw this verse and Romans 1:20-22:
20 For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification], [Psalm 19:1-4] 21 Because when they knew and recognized Him as God, they did not honor and glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. But instead they became futile and godless in their thinking [with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and stupid speculations] and their senseless minds were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools [professing to be smart, they made simpletons of themselves]. AMP
You see, atheists claim that they don't believe in God. The TRUTH is that GOD does not believe in atheists! In fact, those verses in Romans prove to us that God KNOWS that they KNOW! They simply refuse to acknowledge Him, because then they are faced with the responsibility of a decision. Knowing that they REALLY do know that there IS a God releases me to simply share the glorious Gospel with them at every opportunity! When I share the Gospel I am sowing the seeds of God's very own Word and He says THIS about THAT in Isaiah 55:11:
11 So shall My word be that goes forth out of My mouth: it shall not return to Me void [without producing any effect, useless], but it shall accomplish that which I please and purpose, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. AMP
God's Word sown in love will produce in the lives of those with whom we share it! When we do our part, we give Holy Spirit exactly what He needs in order to draw them into a saving knowledge of JESUS! The other thought that I had came from reading, in Matthew 14, of how JESUS reacted to His cousin John's death. His immediate reaction was to get alone with His Father. Verse 13a:
13 When Jesus heard it, He withdrew from there privately in a boat to a solitary place.
OUR immediate reaction to evil circumstances and situations MUST be the same! Refuse to sit with others and have a 'pity party', but get alone with Holy Spirit and the Word of God and allow Holy Spirit to BE Who He is called to be to you, your Comforter! John 14:16-17:
16 And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever — 17 The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart), because it does not see Him or know and recognize Him. But you know and recognize Him, for He lives with you [constantly] and will be in you. AMP
Holy Spirit will first of all comfort you, then He will empower you to attack the enemy where it hurts him the most! Let's look at what resulted from the time that JESUS spent with His Comforter! The rest of verse 13 says this:
13b But when the crowds heard of it, they followed Him [by land] on foot from the towns.
When JESUS came ashore and saw those people, His response to them was pure LOVE in action! Verse 14:
14 When He went ashore and saw a great throng of people, He had compassion for them and cured their sick.
You can bet that was a kick in the face to the enemy, but JESUS did not stop there! He went on to perform one of the greatest miracles that the people had yet seen! Verses 15-21:
15 When evening came, the disciples came to Him and said, This is a remote and barren place, and the day is now over; send the throngs away into the villages to buy food for themselves. 16 Jesus said, They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat. 17 They said to Him, We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish. 18 He said, Bring them here to Me. 19 Then He ordered the crowds to recline on the grass; and He took the five loaves and the two fish, and, looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and blessed and broke the loaves and handed the pieces to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they picked up twelve [small hand] baskets full of the broken pieces left over. 21 And those who ate were about 5,000 men, not including women and children.
Feeding the 5000+ people, with much left over, was truly a kick in the teeth to the one who had tried to tempt JESUS Himself with bread (Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4)!
Let's make it our determined purpose to react to everything the way that JESUS did! This will exalt JESUS, expose the powerlessness of the enemy to the power and presence of God, and will drive away the spirit of grief whose plan it is to drive you into depression and away from that very power that exposes the enemy! HALLELUJAH! We CAN because JESUS DID! AMEN! Here is Hillsong with a very old and very powerful song called "This Is How We Overcome":
Shalom in Him!
