May 16, 2022
“For I am the LORD, I do not change.” Malachi 3:6a
In the last days of the history of this world, those whose trust is in the God of Heaven are approaching the border of the Promised Land. But, unlike the beginning of our walk with Christ, the difficult race has too often been riddled with paralyzing fatigue. The enthusiasm at the beginning of the race has been replaced by drudgery. The overwhelming feeling of spiritual exhaustion makes the finish line seem just out of reach! We must remember—and remind each other—that God has not changed, and His plan is perfectly intact.
His sinless Son, whose name is called The Word of God (Revelation 19:13), has gone out into the world to demonstrate His power over sin, disease, and death. With every healing that He performed, He was reclaiming stolen “territory” from His archenemy. His words of forgiveness and restoration take back from the devil what has been stolen by nefarious means; His sublime preaching and conversations provide a corrected paradigm, lifting the hearers onto a higher plane of thought and mindset and changing the destiny of all whose hearts respond in faith.
For the people of God, the final stretch is always the most dangerous. Satan’s subtle strategies are at work to dull our spiritual senses and cause us to lose our focus on Jesus; all the while, he is slipping in a substitute, counterfeit “Jesus”, whose character does not match up with scripture.
The counterfeit “Jesus” falsely claims that the Ten Commandments were abolished at the cross. The real Jesus laid down His life to pay sin’s death penalty for us because God’s eternal law does not change. God is love, and the great principles of His law of love are consolidated in the Ten Commandments. They are exemplified for us in the life of Jesus. They are the foundation of the covenant with His people and the standard of God’s judgement. If God’s eternal law could be changed, Jesus need not have died! (see Jeremiah 31:33, Psalm 19:7-11, Romans 3:31; 8:3-4, James 2:12, 1 John 2:3; 5:3, Revelation 12:17; 14:12)
The counterfeit “Jesus” teaches that God does not care about our health and misuses New Testament scripture to imply that scavenger animals, specifically designated as unclean, suddenly qualify as food for humans. Another counterfeit teaching ignores the warnings against the use of fermented wine by claiming that Jesus turned the water into alcoholic wine at the wedding of Cana. The real Jesus replies to every temptation of Satan with, “It is written…” The word translated “wine” means the juice of the grape and can mean fresh or fermented, made clear by the context. (see Genesis 7:2, Exodus 15:26; 23:25, Leviticus 11, Deuteronomy 14, Psalm 84:11, Proverbs 20:1; 23:31-32, Isaiah 55:2; 66:4, 15-17, Luke 21:34, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:9-10, 1 Peter 2:11)
For as the rain comes down…to water the earth…that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:10-11
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Matthew 4:4