ABOUT  TEMPTATIONS (Part 2)

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Rom 11:33).

When Potiphar’s wife asked Joseph to lie with her, the devil in her that was instigating the strange lust wanted to eclipse Joseph’s destiny. He wanted to truncate not just the young man’s life but also the extended salvation plan that God had in store for the Jewish race.

This was not the first time, and this would not be his last. Many centuries later, he tried it again with a certain Israelite judge named SAMSON. This time, he succeeded.

Or so it seemed.

Sometimes, God has a way of messing up the devil’s mess.

If Satan had looked at Samson’s life after Delilah, he must have really thought he had him there. He didn’t just tempt Samson; he actually succeeded and got him blinded, literally. But clearly, GOD AND SAMSON had other things in mind. Samson turned around in the end and wiped out a great deal of the devil’s people in the process.  The plan to push Samson into oblivion didn’t succeed because, clearly, his story is set in scriptures for all eternity.

However, it is not simply the fact that Samson is mentioned in the Bible that’s the big issue here, but WHERE he is mentioned. Samson is mentioned in the book of Judges, and also somewhere in the New Testament; in Hebrews chapter 11, OF ALL PLACES!

Hebrews 11 is a listing by the Holy Spirit of the names of great people of faith that are worth emulating. He mentioned Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joseph... and in the end, He said, “And what shall I say more? For the time would fail me to tell of ... SAMSON”.

I can imagine the devil’s heart skipping a beat the first time he saw that.

SAMSON?

Satan really went to great lengths to bring Samson down. He probably assigned special demons for his case. We know Delilah was not just any prostitute; she was, for all purposes and intents, a hired assassin. If that’s what we see in the physical we can infer even more was going on in the spiritual realm.

“And all that effort for what?” (Says the devil), “To have his name listed among the spiritual giants of the Old Testament?”

Hebrews 11:32 is probably one of the most frustrating verse for the devil.

If you are blessed, you are blessed. The devil CANNOT have the final say in your destiny. When he thinks he has done his worst, then comes God to do His best. Never let the devil trick you into thinking he has destroyed your destiny; (he doesn’t know it anyway, he just has an idea).

Do not let him deceive you into believing you have sinned beyond recovery, or that you have really disappointed God this time, (it’s impossible to ‘disappoint’ an omniscient being in the first place).

Be like Samson, believe and know that God still loves you and will receive you back. God will turn every mess into something so beautiful, the devil will have to bang his head on the nearest wall.

Remember Hebrews 11:32!

AMEN.

We’ll continue on these thoughts tomorrow.

More Blessings Await you today, you’ll not miss them in Jesus Name.

GREG ELKAN

ABOUT  TEMPTATIONS (Part 1)

The devil is wicked. No, scratch that.

The devil is VERY wicked.

He has no iota of good in him. When he looks at a man, all his thoughts are geared towards hurting, destroying, and bringing that man down.

I say this because one day I was thinking about the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. It’s on oft-repeated tale about the Master’s wife trying to seduce a dedicated slave. The Bible says, “She kept begging Joseph DAY AFTER DAY, but he refused to do what she wanted or even to go near her”.  Gen 39:10 (CEV).

Why Joseph? He was not the only man in that large house. Potiphar doubtlessly had other male slaves in that house who would be more than happy to oblige her, so why would she keep insisting to sleep with Joseph?

I was somewhat bothered about this until one day it occurred to me that, though there were dozens of male slaves in that house, only Joseph had a throne in his DESTINY! Joseph may have been a slave, but sitting inside him was the ruler of Egypt! Potiphar’s wife may not have been able to know this, but the devil inside her that was instigating her lust definitely knew.

If she had said to Joseph, “Come lie with me, no one will ever know”, she would have been absolutely right. NO ONE WILL EVER KNOW!

Potiphar wouldn’t know

The slaves wouldn’t know

The Egyptians wouldn’t know

And yes, YOU AND I too wouldn’t know

She was right, Joseph’s destiny would have closed up there and then and his bones would be part of the sands of Egypt today.

The glorious story of Joseph moving from slavery to being the de facto ruler of Egypt that we read about would never have occurred and we probably would never have known anything about him, at least that was the plan.

The devil is very wicked.

“Don't give the devil any opportunity to work”. Eph 4:27 (GW)

“So place yourselves under God's authority. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you”. Jas 4:7 (GW)

“Put on all the armor that God supplies. In this way you can take a stand against the devil's strategies.” Eph 6:11 (GW)

“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”.  (1Co 15:57)

“Now thanks be unto God, who always causes us to triumph in Christ”.  (2Co 2:14)

AMEN.

We’ll continue on these thoughts tomorrow.

More Blessings Await you today, you’ll not miss them in Jesus Name.

GREG ELKAN