Have you seen, or possibly experienced the prank when someone loosens the lid on the salt shaker so that when the victim attempts to use it, the entire container is spilled onto their food? (hopefully you weren’t the prankster)

In a similar way, one of the tricks the devil uses to draw us away from God is to manipulate something good into something sinful. We take healthy hobbies and interests and make them our priorities (our god’s) raising them above the importance of God in our lives. We turn good stewardship of God’s natural wonders and put them above God who created them. We take healthy proper intimacy and turn it into pornography. The list can go on and on. The devil can manipulate almost any good thing into something bad that pulls us away from God.

Peter writes in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” We need to keep a close watch of our thoughts and actions to make sure we are not being manipulated and led away from God.

Dear Lord, protect us from the devil’s deception. Help us keep our focus on You, thinking and acting in ways that will bring glory to you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

CS Lewis the great Christian author, wrote an interesting novel that highlights this manipulation and deception, called The Screwtape Letters. It is written as a series of letters from a senior demon mentoring a junior demon in the art of this manipulation and deception. I would recommend the audio version narrated by Joss Ackland, the English actor. His heavy accent makes the character sound so sinister.

You probably know people who are thankful all the time, they never forget to tell, the waiter, cashier, bank teller, and everyone they encounter, thank you. Do you notice that these people tend to be generally happy and content as well? When you have a thankful perspective, is it very difficult to complain or feel sorry for yourself, because it contradicts the thoughts of thankfulness on which you are focusing.

Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” TLB

When you are thankful to God for your current situation, it demonstrates your faith and indicates that you accept that where you are today is where God wants you to be, for now.

Dear Lord, Thank you for all that we have in this life, our family, friends, and possessions. Most of all, however, thank you that you have saved us so we can live on with you when this physical life is over. Help us to never stop being thankful for all you have given us. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

In modern times people use the expression “keeping up with the Jones’,” to describe how people worry about how they compare to someone else, whether their income, the car they drive, size of their house, position at work, or many other ways. Our human perspective makes us believe that winning these “competitions” makes us “better.”

However, God tells us through Paul’s writing in Galatians 6:4, “Let everyone be sure that he is doing his very best, for then he will have the personal satisfaction of work well done and won’t need to compare himself with someone else.” TLB

Our motivation should not be the competive spirit, it should be the satisfaction of doing and being our best. God has made us each unique, and gave us unique skills, talents, interests, and personalities. He tells us that the important thing is to do our best with them.

Dear Lord, thank you for the unique people you have made us. Help us make the most of what we have, and in doing so, we give glory to you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

What does it really mean to be a Christian? First it means we accept that we need forgiveness and repent of our disobedience to God (sin). We say the Creeds, which outline what we believe as Christians, “I believe in God the Father Almighty…..I believe in God the Son who died and rose to save us… and I believe in the Holy Spirit.” Also, when we become Christians, we begin our journey of changing from being led by our human wants, to being led by God’s will.

This change takes place because we accept the Holy Spirit. We can only believe what we say in the creeds because the Holy Spirit works in us. Paul writes in Romans 8:8-9, ” That’s why those who are still under the control of their old sinful selves, bent on following their old evil desires, can never please God. But you are not like that. You are controlled by your new nature if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that if anyone doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ living in him, he is not a Christian at all.) TLB

We are Christian and we are also human; as a result, we have a battle going on inside us. The battle is between our human desires and God’s will. The more we surrender our lives to the Holy Spirit inside us, the better we become at following God’s will rather than ours.

So Christians are those who have asked for God’s forgiveness, accepted the Holy Spirit into their heart, and can therefore believe Jesus Christ gives them eternal life. As a result, they live their lives by God’s direction and can experience the Joy and Peace of God’s will.

Dear Lord, Thank you for giving us your Holy Spirit to live in us and connect us with you. Help us surrender more fully to do your will and experience the Peace and Joy it provides. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

The bible uses the word “grumble” to describe complaining. Shortly after God brought the Israelites out from slavery in Egypt, and miraculously parted the Red Sea, the people grumbled, or complained, to Moses, about not having water, God solved it, they complained about not having food and God miraculously gave them manna and quail. God heard their complaining and gave them what they needed. You would think that they would get the message and realize God was there to support them if they only asked. However as a result of their behavior and lack of their faith and obedience, God turned what would have been a short journey to the Promised Land into a 40 year struggle, and none of the adults ultimately were allowed to enter the Promised Land.

Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 10:10, “And do not grumble, as some of them did—and were killed by the destroying angel.”

We “grumble” too. When we are complaining, “grumbling” and feeling sorry for ourselves, we are showing a lack of faith. We are indicating that we don’t believe God has a plan for us or cares about us. It shows also that we don’t believe God listens to our prayers, or that he doesn’t have the power to help us with our situations. Obviously that is not how we are to act and think.

When we are tempted to complain and feel sorry for ourselves, instead, we should stop and remember to ask God to help us; trusting in him, then waiting in peace for the answer to our prayer. Psalm 84:11 says, “For Jehovah God is our Light and our Protector. He gives us grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from those who walk along his paths.” TLB

Dear Lord, at times you let us struggle to strengthen us and teach us. At those times, rather than complaining and feeling sorry for ourselves, help us ask for your help to get us through our struggle, and have faith in you answering our prayer. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.