The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. [John 10:10-12 (ESV)]
In a cartoon drawn by Paul Noth, an enormous political billboard overlooks a pasture inhabited by a flock of sheep. Looking up at the picture of a grinning wolf in coat and tie saying, “I am going to eat you!” one sheep tells another, “He tells it like it is.” Would that all politicians were so forthright!
While the cartoon was political commentary by Noth, the sheep and wolf reminded me of Scripture’s many analogies likening us to sheep and Satan to a predator like a wolf. Unlike that wolf, however, Satan would never be so honest as to openly announce his intention to devour us. Like many politicians, he distorts, deceives, and betrays us for his own purposes.
In Matthew 4:7-10, we read of Jesus being led into the wilderness to be humbled and tested. For forty days Jesus fasted and, during that time, Satan visited Him. Like a politician who, knowing the people’s hunger, promises a chicken in every pot, the tempter reminded Jesus that, as the Son of God, He could turn the stones under his feet into bread with just a word. Satan was tempting the hungry man to act independently of God and use His own power to ease His hunger. Jesus, however, responded by citing Deuteronomy 8 and telling Satan that God let Israel hunger so they would know that man doesn’t live by bread alone “but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Satan then took Jesus to the highest point of the Temple where, like a true politician, he offered only a half-truth. Omitting a few words and misapplying God’s promise, he quoted from Psalm 91 that the angels “will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone,” and dared Jesus to jump. The Lord again responded with words from Deuteronomy that, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” [6:6] God is to be trusted rather than tested!
Finally, Satan took Jesus to a mountain peak and promised to give Him all the nations of the world if Jesus would kneel and worship the evil one. Like many a politician, Satan was promising something that wasn’t his to give—God the Father already had promised Jesus the kingdoms of the world! Countering Satan’s offer to take a shortcut and sidestep the cross, Jesus quoted the words from Deuteronomy prohibiting idolatry.
Satan tested Jesus by offering Him ways to take the easy way by misusing His power but, every time he did, Jesus refuted the tempter’s deceitful words with Scripture. There is power in the word of God that even Satan cannot deny.
Unlike the sheep in Noth’s cartoon, our shepherd has not left His flock defenseless; He’s given us the sword of God’s Word. Perhaps, it’s time to sharpen up our blades with some Bible reading so that, when we’re tempted, we too can say “It is written…!” It was Thomas Jefferson who said, “A well informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.” Those words apply to the citizens of God’s kingdom, as well; when we know the truth, the enemy can’t bamboozle us with his lies.
“How was work today?” asked the wife in the Born Loser comic strip (drawn by Chip Sansom). Her husband answered, “Horrendous!” adding, “It feels so good that it’s over, I’m almost glad it happened!” Having had times when my prayer was simply, “Lord, just get me through this!” I understand. Sometimes, life seems so challenging and exhausting that we’re willing to settle for merely getting through it. That, dear friend, is setting the bar far too low. God has better plans for us than just getting by and none of us are born losers.
When told that the gifts the Holy Spirit gives us are unique for our specific ministries, we get nervous. We already have a career, didn’t sign up for seminary, and aren’t interested in being ministers. While being a minister/pastor/priest is a vocation, the ministry is the work of every Christian. No matter what our professions, we are all called to minister and that doesn’t necessarily mean pastoring a church. It means serving God and His people in Jesus’ name, which is where those spiritual gifts come in. God is not about to send us off empty-handed.
Joe Btfsplk was a character in Al Capp’s Lil’ Abner comic strip. With a last name that sounds likes what’s known as a “raspberry” or “Bronx cheer,” the poor man had a dark cloud of perpetual bad luck hanging over his head. Btfsplk no longer appears in the comics but I think his dark cloud of misfortune has settled over the head of a dear friend I’ll call JB (in honor of Capp’s luckless character). Since JB’s retirement, if something could go wrong, it has and, as soon as one challenge resolves, another one appears. When I saw the photos from his most recent mishap, JB looked as if he’d been tossed around in a giant rock tumbler filled with broken glass and boulders.
Several years ago, two friends joined the ranks of widowhood within a week of one another. Because her husband surrendered to cancer several months earlier by stopping all treatment, one woman was not surprised when she joined the club. The other woman, however, went to bed a wife and awoke the next morning to find herself a widow. Despite his looking the picture of health, her husband, having suffered a fatal stroke while she slept, lay dead on the kitchen floor.
Psalm 119, the longest of the psalms, is a song in praise of the Word of God. Since we don’t read this psalm in its original Hebrew, we fail to appreciate its intricate construction. Each of its twenty-two sections begin with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in sequence. Each of the eight verses in those twenty-two sections begin with the letter that introduced it. For example, the first word of the first section begins with alef, as do the next seven verses. In the second section, every line begins with beth. The psalm continues that way up to the 22nd (and last) section where every line begins with the final letter of the Hebrew alphabet, tav. 
Devotions of the Heart 