Daily Devotional For Monday, April 22, 2024

Wow, where did the weekend go? It seems that I was just writing the devotional for Friday and now here is Magnificent Monday’s Devotional Message. One of the shortcomings all of us may to have is we tend to undervalue and take for granted the blessings we have and not fully understand and appreciate them. For example, just a few weeks ago we celebrated Easter. Most Christians see the cross as God’s redemptive work over sin and evil. They typically describe the cross as a place where our sin is forgiven. And they would be right, but in the words of Paul Harvey, here’s the rest of the story.

When Jesus said from the cross, “It is is finished” (John 19:30), what Jesus did on the cross was more than just forgive us our sin. “It is finished” was a victory shout of a war that was finally over spiritually. What war? What victory? The cross is where Jesus defeated the devil and his authority over our lives — our bodies, souls, spirits and minds. Though the devil still can influence us and tempt us, he no longer can have dominion over us, And not only did what Jesus do on the cross give us that victory to share in with Him’s death, Jesus fulfilled God’s promised words to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden when sin entered the world  of Genesis 3:15c, “The future child of Adam will crush your head (the devil’s head).”

What a crush that was. So not only did God on the cross crush our enemy the devil, God sees to it that the devil and his demons will one day receive the justice due them. Look at Revelation 20:10, “The devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (ESV). On and at the cross the devil and his demons lost. 

Please do not misinterpret me. I am in no way suggesting that we ignore the devil and his demons. What I am suggesting is that we need to be praising God more for this victory. For example, Tuesday, May 8, 1845, marked the official end of WWI in Europe. It was celebrated all over Europe and America. We call if VE Day. It was to celebrate that on the day before, May 7, 1945, Germany and the Axis powers signed an unconditional surrender to the Allies. From the start of the war in 1939, 6 million dead Jews later, and 250.000 US troops killed in the fighting in Europe, America could finally celebrate that is war in Europe was over and celebrate we did.

Then a few months later on September 2, 1945, Japan surrendered on the deck of the USS Missouri to the United States that the war in the Pacific front was over. And if you look at pictures from those days, celebrate we did. We lost 111,606 troops lives in defeating Japan. Between the war in Europe and the Pacific, a lot of soldiers died to secure our freedom today from tyranny and fear of future threats. The Bible tells us that ⅓ of the angels rebelled with the devil against God in heaven at one point and were cast out. Though the Bible does not give us an exact number, the Greek terms that are used refer to hundreds of thousands of angels rebelled. They were cast out and are now demons today.

Think about this. It took only one man’s life to defeat all of them on the cross. David writes this in Psalm 108:13, “With God we will gain the victory, and He will trample down our enemies” (NIV). And boy did He. When was the last time you celebrated and thanked Jesus Christ for the victory of the cross? Maybe take the day you gave your life to Christ and use it as a celebration to Christ’s victory for you.

Niccolò Machiavelli was a Renaissance era philosopher, politician, and writer. His writings greatly influenced modern political science. The following is an edited excerpt from The School of Life’s YouTube video on his views.

“Machiavelli believed that to be effective, political leaders needed to be ruthless and tyrannical, not empathetic and just. His book, The Prince, is a short manual of advice for princes on how not to finish last. And the answer was never to be overly devoted to acting nicely. and to know how to borrow every single trick employed by the most dastardly, unscrupulous and nastiest people who have ever lived. Machiavelli knew where our counter-productive obsession with acting nicely originated from: the West was brought up on the Christian story of Jesus of Nazareth. (He was) the very nice man from Galilee who always treated people well.

But Machiavelli pointed out an inconvenient detail to this sentimental tale of the triumph of goodness through meekness. From a practical perspective, Jesus’ life was an outright disaster. This gentle soul was trampled upon and humiliated, disregarded and mocked. Judged in his lifetime and outside of any divine assistance, he was one of history’s greatest losers” (Source: The School of Life, “Machiavelli’s Advice For Nice Guys,” YouTube (Accessed 9/3/21).

What Machiavelli misunderstood is that this gentle Lamb that was slaughtered, became the Resurrected Lion that when He roars, knees bow, tongues confess that He is King of kings and Lord of Lords and all bow in His presence. What Machiavelli perceived as weakness and defeat on the cross, it was really strength and a victory. And what some perceive as impossible, the defeat of sin, was a victory for anyone who gives their life to Christ. Consider the following Bible verses:

• 1 Corinthians 15:57, “But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ: (NLT).
• 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. (10) That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (NLT).
• Romans 8:35-37, “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (36) (As the Scriptures say, `For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.’ (37) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us” (NLT).
• Romans 8:37,  "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (ESV).
• Romans 5:18-19, “Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. (19) Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because One other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous” (NLT). 

Today and this week find time to thank Jesus Christ for His victory for you. Take time to celebrate that victory with other believers. If you can’t remember the exact date of your salvation, pick a day near the time you can remember. Mark on and in your calendar to remind you to celebrate Jesus’s Christ victory for you. 

Scripture To Meditate On: 1 John 4:4, “But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world” (NLT).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, thank You for defeating sin, evil, the devil and his demons and death on the cross. It is just like the old hymn says, “There is victory in Jesus.” I just want to celebrate not just that victory, but You Jesus who secured it for me and to anyone who will call on the name of the Lord. I love You, Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside — Pastor Kelly