Satan = Weak

Satan had it going pretty good up until about the time Jesus was baptized and received the Holy Spirit. Satan had plenty of Demons and they could live in anybody they wanted to with few restrictions. Satan had turned one of the 12 disciples (Judas) who would do whatever Satan wanted and Satan had received permission to test Peter who failed the test and denied Jesus three times. Satan did have a setback in his failure to induce Jesus to sin and his demons were starting to be exorcised. But he did have Judas in his pocket and was about to chop Peter’s legs out from under him hoping to destroy him with depression and inaction after his failure. Satan also was in control of the Chief Priest and the Jewish rulers and even though he hadn’t been able to tempt Jesus he was going to have the son of God… killed. So, all-in-all, Satan must have been pretty happy with himself. Little did he know that he was playing right into God’s hands and in killing Jesus allowed God to restore life to Jesus and hope to humanity and to limit Satan’s powers and effectiveness by the giving of His Holy Spirit to those who believed. Don’t be afraid of Satan we have God. Thank you God for what you did.

Homosexuality is a Sin

I see a lot of people on the media talking about different “brands” of Christianity… That there is a homosexual brand of Christianity that allows the active practice of homosexuality and the Bible is so vague about homosexuality that it could easily be interpreted one way or the other. The reality is that God’s position about Homosexuality is as clear as God’s position on murder. Romans 1:26-27… “… In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion” Could God have made his position on Homosexuality any more clear? This position about a homosexual “brand” of Christianity does not come from God but comes from the enemy of God. 2 Corinthians 11:14 “… for Satan masquerades as an Angel…” Don’t be fooled.

The Elephant in the Room

One of the last verbal exchanges Jesus had with Peter was when he told Peter he would deny him three times.

The last non-verbal communication Jesus had with Peter was when the rooster crowed and Jesus made eye contact with Peter. Message sent and received.

After Jesus’ death and resurrection Jesus meets with Peter again… nothing is ever said about Peter’s rejection of Jesus… directly. However, some of the last words Jesus directs toward Peter are found in John 21 where Jesus asks Peter three times “Peter do you truly love me”. Peter answers in the affirmative each time but is “hurt” that Jesus keeps asking the same question.

Jesus never said anything directly about Peter’s three fold denial of Jesus but I believe Jesus got the message across when he induced Peter to affirm three fold his love for Jesus.

Jesus is in Control

Jesus and the Jewish leadership had the same idea… the Jewish leadership planned to arrest Jesus and kill him at the Passover feast and Jesus planned to give himself up and die at the Passover feast.

Jesus was in complete control over the events that surrounded his arrest, interrogation and death. Jesus planned the exact day he was going to die… Thursday, the 14th day of Nisan (Jewish calendar), the day when the Passover lamb was to be killed for the sins of Israel would be the same day Jesus would be killed for the sins of the world.

Jesus knew the exact hour that he would die and instead of his life ebbing from his body and slipping into unconsciousness, Jesus with a strong voice announced his death, stating, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”. Then he bowed his head and died well before he was expected to die.

The Jewish murderers of Jesus thought they were in control of everything but instead were in control of nothing. Their efforts to preserve their political standing with the Roman government by eliminating Jesus would have the opposite effect. Forty years later in AD 70, God would send the Roman armies to annihilate the Jews in retribution for their rejection of Jesus. Remember… God is in control of everything.