Satan's Con

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.”

~Colossians 3: 1-4

Life is cheap. Murder, suicide, abortion, human trafficking, prostitution, drugs, gambling... Life has been cheapened to an all-time low. Listening to the news is the most depressing thing, and sometimes, I have to shut it all down because I can’t bear it. I have to seek those things that are above and set my mind on them because the things of this earth are vile. I have to remind myself that no matter what the world around me looks like, it’s a cheap fake ruled by satan and his minions, and it won’t go on forever.

Everything God has done, satan has manufactured a fake counterpart. Everything God says is good, right and pure, satan twists for his own evil purposes. What God says don’t do, satan says won’t hurt you. What God says to do, satan calls a burden to hold you down. God made love and satan turns it to misery. And the saddest part is, since Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we continue to fall for the lie.

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all (Colossians 3:5-11).”

Seeing that we are all unable, on our own abilities, to put away evil and walk in righteousness, God came to earth as Jesus Christ as the perfect sacrifice for sin. His love for us is so great that He gave Himself completely, so we don’t have to believe the lie and follow satan to hell. We can try to be good, to be righteous, to do the right thing, but we will fail time after time unless Christ is working within us. None of us are righteous, none of us seek God, we are worthless (Romans 3:10-12) on our own. It is only when we seek God, when we accept Christ as our Savior, that we can rise above satan’s con and be the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).

“Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the Name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him (Colossians 3:12-17).”

Read 1 Corinthians 11-16; Weekend reading 2 Corinthians 1-13

© 2018 Marie McGaha