Category: Satan and Policy of Evil

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing #3

Friday, December 5, 2025

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:5-8 KJV).

The third verse of the classic Christmas carol highlights today’s Scripture.

“Mild He lays His glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them spiritual birth.
Risen with healing in His wings,
Light and life to all He brings,
Hail, the Sun of Righteousness!
Hail, the heaven-born Prince of Peace!”

Jesus Christ was literally the perfect example of living in fellowship with Father God. He did not make Himself the issue but rather glorified His Father who had sent Him. Yea, He said to His Father, “Not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). What was Father God’s will? Check Hebrews 10:1-10. It was for Jesus to become a human that that human body die on that awful cross for our sins!

As our King James Bible says, “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Modern versions so butcher this passage, saying Jesus Christ “did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing.” Blasphemy!)

The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). That man may die and live through Him, Jesus Christ died. That man may die and live through Him, Jesus Christ resurrected. There is no greater name than the Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:10)! Friends, let us join the angels in praising Him!

What Child Is This? #4

Tuesday, December 2, 2025

“O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms” (Psalm 95:1,2 KJV).

The final verse of the classic Christmas carol highlights today’s Scripture.

“This, this is Christ the King,
Whom shepherds guard and angels sing:
Haste, haste to bring Him laud,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.”

As the shepherds and angels gathered around Baby Jesus’ manger, we can only wonder what immense joy filled their hearts. In that world of old—plagued by the same basic problems of our modern world—He was a Beacon in the dark and a Solace in the misery. They undoubtedly sang right in the midst of all those farm animals! They were so thrilled to see God working in their presence. They were now standing before His baby crib!

Sinners today are greatly encouraged—yea, urged—to come by faith to God’s Son, Jesus Christ, right this moment. They are not to come by faith to His crib, for He is no longer a Baby. Rather, they are to come by faith to His cross, where He gave up that life for us! “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). What we need to do is rely exclusively on Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork, His shed sinless blood and His resurrection, as sufficient payment for our sins.

As with Jesus’ birth, for those who do not want to see anything, they do not see anything. Those who see are people who want to see. It has nothing to do with God hiding anything from anyone. What did Jesus tell the Jews? “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:17).

Although Jesus Christ is not physically here today, we can still haste to bring Him laud. We can praise Him highly in a public context. First, we can believe on Him and His finished crosswork. Then, we can tell others how they too can be saved through Calvary!

What Child Is This? #3

Monday, December 1, 2025

“But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20,21 KJV).

The third verse of the classic Christmas carol highlights today’s Scripture.

“So bring Him incense, gold, and myrrh,
Come, peasant, king, to own Him.
The King of kings salvation brings,
Let loving hearts enthrone Him.
Raise, raise a song on high,
The virgin sings her lullaby
Joy, joy for Christ is born,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.”

While commonly assumed the wise men came to visit Baby Jesus in the manger in Bethlehem, a careful study of Matthew chapter 2 shows us that they met Jesus in Joseph’s house in Nazareth, when He was as much as two years old (verse 16). The Bible never specifies “three” wise men or three “kings,” either. Regardless of their number, these wise men, Gentiles from the East, came to Jerusalem looking for Israel’s King. Upon hearing the wise men, King Herod and all of Jerusalem were “troubled” (verse 3). Israel should be ready to receive her Messiah-King, but she is not. Gentiles are seeking Israel’s King, and they, the Gentiles, are ready! How odd!

The wise men learn that Israel’s Messiah was born in Bethlehem-Judah (verses 4-6), but a “star” (angel) leads them to Nazareth (verses 7-10). Verse 11: “And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.” Jesus is a King, so the wise men have brought gold to Him. They have brought Him frankincense because He is a Priest. Myrrh has been brought to Him because He is a Prophet. Gentiles treat Israel’s King with more respect than Israel does!

Nothing has changed today. Some reject Jesus Christ while others accept Him. The songwriter, as does this author, urges people to accept Him!

What Child Is This? #2

Sunday, November 30, 2025

“And they [the shepherds] came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds” (Luke 2:16-18 KJV).

The second verse of the classic Christmas carol highlights today’s Scripture.

“Why lies He in such mean estate,
Where ox and ass are feeding?
Good Christians, fear, for sinners here
The silent Word is pleading.
Nails, spears shall pierce Him through,
The cross He bore for me, for you.
Hail, hail the Word made flesh,
The Babe, the Son of Mary.”

It was just as the angel of the Lord had told them. The Saviour, Christ the Lord, the King of Israel, was indeed born in Bethlehem, but not in a palace. The shepherds found Him lying in a trough, a structure out of which farm animals ate! How odd!

There were just so many things about Jesus’ nativity that did not make sense in the human mind. Firstly, a virgin had conceived and borne a child. Secondly, the God of creation had confined Himself to a tiny body that could be held in human hands. Thirdly, that the King of Israel had been born in a stinky, dirty barn and His crib was literally a trough. Lastly, that Someone so important did not have thousands of people flocking to His crib. Strange!

As the shepherds left Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus, they spread the news about what they had heard and seen. The Bible says that this audience “wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.” They could not fathom how it was possible, either. Even today, the natural (lost) mind of man not only struggles with, but outright refuses, to believe the simple truths of the Bible. They rather rail against and reject that which they do not understand, than acknowledge that they do not know everything and the God of the Bible is wiser than they are. To accept those truths would mean validating how Jesus Christ came to live that He would die for us sinners.

Yet, some hearers believed!

In Every Thing Give Thanks

Thursday, November 27, 2025

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 KJV).

Dear saints, take a moment this Thanksgiving to learn a valuable lesson from the Holy Scriptures!

God wants “all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3,4). To be “saved” here means you have been rescued from the penalty of sin (hell and the lake of fire), and that you have a home in heaven, because you have trusted the death, shed blood, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as sufficient payment for your sins. To “come unto the knowledge of the truth” is when a person who has trusted Christ, begins to understand why God saved him or her, and how God will use him or her for His glory. Although soul salvation is instantaneous, spiritual maturity is a life-long process (that is especially true regarding handling difficulties, the grace way!).

It is human nature to avoid difficulties and stress, to flee them, rather than confront them. This self-preservation is advantageous, particularly in “life or death” situations. However, running from troubling circumstances is not the way God has designed our life in Christ to function. Today’s Scripture says, “In every thing give thanks,” not “For every thing give thanks.” We do not thank God for our troubles; we thank God while we are enduring those troubles. This is tough, I know, but it takes time for us to learn it. Even the Apostle Paul had to learn this.

“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:11-13).

Be thankful in every thing. God’s grace is sufficient for you, dear saint, in all of life’s circumstances. When you learn this, you are “[coming] unto the knowledge of the truth.”

*Excerpted from our Thanksgiving 2012 Bible study with the same name. That study can be read here or watched here.

You may also see, “What are our spiritual blessings in Christ?”

The Clever Axe #6

Tuesday, November 25, 2025

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15 KJV).

Observe the following: “The forest was shrinking, but the trees kept voting for the axe, for the axe cleverly convinced the trees that his wooden handle made him one of them.” While written about duplicitous politicians, it is also practical instruction for religious leaders and about religious leaders.

A deacon board was considering a pastoral candidate for their local church. Hearing his responses to questions, one solitary deacon doubted the man’s spiritual reliability, but, outnumbered, he ultimately joined his colleagues in unanimously endorsing and installing the pastor. Within three years, that “minister” permanently destroyed the assembly with his false doctrine. Though three decades have passed, my community and my family have never been the same; yes, that was our church (!). By the way, when I was much older, I interviewed that lone deacon. Looking back on those events, he realized his reluctance to accept the self-serving candidate was justified. The other deacons were Bible babies, having no real spiritual sense and totally unqualified to judge men for the ministry.

“Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure” (1 Timothy 5:22). This refers to ordaining men to serve in the ministry (cf. 1 Timothy 4:14). We should not be swift in aligning ourselves with pastors and teachers, hurriedly appointing people as our spiritual leaders and/or supporting them before we know what they really believe and are really doing. Remember, the child focuses on the axe’s harmless wooden handle, but the adult notices its sharp iron head. We must have a mature view about hazards, physical and spiritual.

Wolves wearing sheep’s clothing also involved false pastors, false prophets, and false shepherds in Jeremiah 23:1-40 and John 10:1-18. Israel’s false teachers failed in their job to guard the nation against Satan’s errors. Likewise, most of our pastors and teachers have failed us miserably in this regard for the last 20 centuries. Paul wrote, “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant” (1 Corinthians 14:37,38). In the midst of error (Acts 20:28-31), grace principles, Romans to Philemon, are the key to spirituality and safety (Acts 20:32).

The Clever Axe #5

Monday, November 24, 2025

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15 KJV).

Observe the following: “The forest was shrinking, but the trees kept voting for the axe, for the axe cleverly convinced the trees that his wooden handle made him one of them.” While written about duplicitous politicians, it is also practical instruction for religious leaders and about religious leaders.

Remember the “grievous wolves” of Acts 20:28-32 are the “ravening wolves in sheep’s clothing” in today’s Scripture. Philippians 3:2 has something similar: “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.” These Jewish false teachers (cf. Titus 1:10,11) have mutilated their physical bodies with a circumcision that has no corresponding faith (spiritual circumcision). It is empty religion. They bragged about how, for example, God originally gave the Scriptures to Israel, so only Jews (who knew Hebrew) could properly interpret the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament); they also preached Law, not Grace.

Furthermore, in the context of today’s Scripture, the Lord warned preaching in His name was not necessarily good. Matthew 7:21-23: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

We see more “clever axes” in 2 Corinthians 11:3,4,13-15: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him…. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”

Let us summarize and conclude this devotionals arc….

The Mighty Man #8

Wednesday, November 19, 2025

“Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually” (Psalm 52:1 KJV).

Let us see how Psalm 52 can teach us something about the past, the present, and the future….

Re-read the rest of Psalm 52, verses 5-9: “[5] God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah. [6] The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him: [7] Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness. [8] But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. [9] I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.”

As David the Psalmist had faith in JEHOVAH God, so we ought to trust the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as David was said to be like “a green olive tree,” so we have spiritual life and access to Father God through Christ: “For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father” (Ephesians 2:18). We the righteous should not fear the so-called “mighty man”—those who fight against the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, for He is the true Mighty Man and our victory in Him is certain. “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:57,58).

Similar to how David praised God in the midst of trouble, so our Apostle Paul did and we should too: “Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (2 Timothy 4:17,18).

The Mighty Man #7

Tuesday, November 18, 2025

“Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually” (Psalm 52:1 KJV).

Let us see how Psalm 52 can teach us something about the past, the present, and the future….

While we should always make distinctions between Israel and the Body of Christ, and differentiate between prophecy and mystery, we would also do well to notice similarities. For example, take Psalm 52. It is not to or about us, but it is for our learning. Certain principles are true no matter where we are on the Bible timeline: these are “transdispensational” or “intradispensational” truths.

Re-read Psalm 52:1-4: “Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually. The tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.” Did you notice the evil man, someone working against the God of the Bible, someone conspiring to lie and commit sin, someone not depending on the God of the Bible? This man is doomed to destruction. He trusts in temporary material wealth; “mammon” is his god, and it is impossible to serve God and money (Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13). We should not repeat his sins, as the Lord through our Apostle Paul affirms.

“Charge [Command] them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;…” (1 Timothy 6:17). “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;…” (Colossians 3:9). “That no flesh should glory [brag] in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:29-31). “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

Let us go back to Psalm 52 to see David the believer’s viewpoint….

The Mighty Man #6

Monday, November 17, 2025

“Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually” (Psalm 52:1 KJV).

Let us see how Psalm 52 can teach us something about the past, the present, and the future….

Read the final two verses of Psalm 52, verses 8 and 9: “But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.” The simile of “a green olive tree in the house of God” is the Jewish believer (David) enjoying spiritual life and access to the God of the Bible by faith. JEHOVAH God’s justice will enforce His righteousness—punishing the wicked and delivering the righteous from the harmful plans of the wicked. The saint simply has to praise and trust in the LORD, for the LORD will take care of the problems in due season (just as He eliminated David’s enemies, Doeg and Saul, when the proper time arrived).

In Psalm 10:1-11 (a parallel passage to Psalm 52), there are haughty, unpunished evildoers quite busy carrying out their wicked plans—especially during the end times, and particularly the Antichrist and his helpers. Observe how that Psalm ends: “[14] Thou [God] hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite [avenge, repay] it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless. [15] Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none. [16] The LORD is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land. [17] LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear: [18] To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.” Like David in today’s Scripture, this unknown Psalmist awaits the glorious coming and reign of King Jesus Christ.

Now, let us see whatever we can learn from Psalm 52 as pertaining to us….