“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)
Our most cherished moments of love and belonging here on earth, are but a glimpse of the fullness of Heaven’s love and security that will soon be our eternal reality. Likewise, our deepest joys we’ve experienced here, and our moments of precious, still-water like peace, are also a foretaste of our Heavenly Home. Heaven has cast its shadow to earth and we each get little tastes of how wonderful and glorious it is. If only it would last…
But Hell also casts a shadow and the world feels it personally. The mantra of Satan’s reign is to come to earth to kill, steal, and destroy, and his demonic realm works feverishly around the clock to see that this agenda is fulfilled. Just watching the news reveals the success of their efforts. How then, do we stay in the shadow of Christ, and His blessings, while we live in the presence of such pervasive, dark shadows? Scripture tells us what we need to do…
“So HUMBLE yourselves before God, RESIST the devil, and he will flee from you. COME NEAR to God, and He will come near to you. WASH your hands, and PURIFY your hearts, you double minded.” (James 4:7, 8)
Friends, we must humbly come to God with honest hearts, confessing our sins and the motives behind our actions. We “can’t give Satan a foothold (or opportunity) to wreak havoc in our lives” (Ephesians 4:27). We can feel offended that the Scripture refers to us as double minded, but that tendency is in us all to downplay the severity of the sin we see around us…” they’ll outgrow it,” or, “good thing God gives us grace,” as we make little compromises that open the door to the evil one. These days require that we be sober-minded and serious about these perilous times. It’s a spiritual war.
May we face each day standing on the promises of God, looking for His glorious appearing, and clinging tightly to Him and His precious Word. And may the Shadow of His mighty grace cover over you and give you peace.
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