21 July 2019
Two-Minute Features | 28 July 2019 | 14 July 2019

Satan Challenges What God Said, Part 1 (TMF:1180)

Friday, July 26, 2019
Peace to Live By: Satan Challenges What God Said, Part 1 (TMF:1180) - Daniel Litton
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       I also want to note that I’ve heard a few Bible teachers talk about how Eve had added to God’s command by adding the phrase, “You shall not touch it.” But we know that’s not the case because neither Adam nor Eve had sinned yet, so Adam didn’t add the phrase, and neither did Eve. Apparently, God had said it on another occasion, of which is not recorded for us. Genesis 3:4, 5 states, “But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” This is the underlying attack of Satan against God. There are four statements, four things, that he says here that are of critical importance, and they can help us greatly understand his tactics and how he works against us. Let’s break down this sentence phrase by phrase. Satan starts with the only part of what he said that is not true. That’s right, the beginning here is the only part of Satan’s statement where he lied. He said, “You will not surely die.”

God is Very Generous & Kind (TMF:1179)

Thursday, July 25, 2019
Peace to Live By: God is Very Generous & Kind (TMF:1179) - Daniel Litton
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       Genesis 3:2, 3 states, “And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” Notice that God had told Adam that he and Eve could eat of any tree in the garden—all but two of them, that is. That’s important because it shows God’s generosity and kindness. Indeed, God was very generous. He said they could eat of any of the trees, all of them, except the two he prohibited, the two that Satan so poignantly focuses on. And God is very generous with us today. He gives us great freedom as Christians to pick and choose many of the things we want in life. Yes, he has set perimeters, but he gives us tremendous freedom within those perimeters. As the Apostle Paul has told us, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17, ESV).

Satan Plays off of Our Sin Natures (TMF:1178)

Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Peace to Live By: Satan Plays off of Our Sin Natures (TMF:1178) - Daniel Litton
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       We understand that, in our current fallen state, we each have the sin nature, and Satan can play off of our sinful desire to want to fulfill all our desires, anything we want to do, regardless of what God has said. Now, he didn’t have that privilege with Adam and Eve, but he definitely has that privilege with us. Because we each have a fallen sin nature with fallen desires, Satan can try to play off of those desires. Really, if you consider it, it’s true that a lot of New Age thinking (though it’s not really ‘new age’) is based on the premise that we should fulfill all the desires we have in our bodies, in our flesh. We might also call this postmodern thinking. People don’t want to deny themselves anything really. If we are honest with ourselves, though, we know that way of living really doesn’t work. It’s just not reasonable to say one should fulfill all his or her desires. Some people have desires inside themselves where they want to hurt other people, for instance. And most of us would agree that those people shouldn’t fulfill those desires.

Is God Cheating Us Out of Certain Things? (TMF:1177)

Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Peace to Live By: Is God Cheating Us Out of Certain Things? (TMF:1177) - Daniel Litton
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       And, here again, we see another way by which Satan works. He gets us to think that God is cheating us out of certain things in life—that God is a killjoy. He wants us to believe and see God as a mean God who just doesn’t want us to have everything good. But we know that God only prohibits something if it will actually hurt us, or if the time isn’t right for us. He says both “No” and “Wait” because he wants us to experience good life. And good life includes prohibitions. We understand that, in our current fallen state, we each have the sin nature, and Satan can play off of our sinful desire to want to fulfill all our desires, anything we want to do, regardless of what God has said. Now, he didn’t have that privilege with Adam and Eve, but he definitely has that privilege with us. Because we each have a fallen sin nature with fallen desires, Satan can try to play off of those desires.

Questioning God's Trustworthiness (TMF:1176)

Monday, July 22, 2019
Peace to Live By: Questioning God's Trustworthiness (TMF:1176) - Daniel Litton
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       Theories of science like evolution are based on this one simple question. Instead of just trusting God, people want to question what he has said—to put it to the test and try to prove it to be wrong. You see, if you can undercut what God has said, and show him to have said something untrue, you undermine his whole foundation. If you could prove God wrong, then he loses his authority. Another tactic, though, that we see right off the bat here is that Satan pinpoints and focuses on that which God said the humans could not have. He is questioning God’s trustworthiness and kindness. In essence, Satan is saying, “But it’s not fair that God let’s you have everything but the fruit from the two trees of which he has forbidden it. He doesn’t want you to have that fruit because he is mean and cruel. God is holding back something good from you.” And, here again, we see another way by which Satan works. He gets us to think that God is cheating us out of certain things in life—that God is a killjoy.