The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"God Alone"
"When we trust and submit ourselves to our Heavenly Father and His will, we walk in the truth, 'Thou art God alone.' This is truth, reality, and peace for created beings."
Is Satan an actual god? Or are human beings gods in some manner?
"The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not" (II Corinthians 4:4).
"I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High" (Psalm 82:6).
The answer, of course, is that the devil and human beings are not actual gods. "There is one God… Thou art God alone" (I Timothy 2:5; Psalm 86:10). Scripture, however, refers to created beings in such terms because Satan has deluded himself and the human race into believing we can "be as gods, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). Thereby, we act as gods because we misperceive delegated authority by God as innate authority originated by ourselves. The Lord who exists as "God alone" therefore references devils and humans in terms of "gods" as a facetious mocking of the notion's insanity.
"Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision" (Psalm 2:1-4).
Born again believers are not beyond the temptation to unwittingly view ourselves as gods. Every time we succumb to the temptation to follow the desires of our flesh rather than the will of God, we act as if we are gods who know that which is best for our lives. This is never the case, but our emotions, thoughts, and physical sensations possess strong inclinations to tempt us otherwise. "The flesh lusteth against the spirit" (Galatians 5:17). Consider the insanity of such delusion: the God who loves us so dearly, whose "understanding is infinite," and who does all things well, promises to perfectly guide us through life and eternity. Our flesh, however, presently remains responsive to devilish, human, and worldly temptations that perceive something other than God's will to be best for us. How can such complete lunacy be appealing to even believers? Only because the ancient devilish lie still abides in our fleshly consciousness, "Ye shall be as gods."
Interestingly, we also unwittingly act as if we are gods whenever we give in to controlling and paralyzing fear. Instead of trusting in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus as our promised provision and protection, we rather view ourselves as required to independently overcome the challenges of life. Deeply within, believers know the insanity of such delusion. By definition, we have entrusted all matters of challenge to God. "What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee" (Psalm 56:3). Our flesh, however, still bears "the law of sin" inherited from Adam, a law that tempts us to act as if alone (Romans 7:22; Genesis 3:5). Thereby, the temptation challenges us in a particularly cunning fashion, enticing us to face trouble solely by our own devices. This results in a fear of insecurity that actually begins with a prideful delusion that we must by ourselves confront the trials of life apart from God's promised presence, guidance, and provision.
When we trust and submit ourselves to our Heavenly Father and His will, we walk in the truth, "Thou art God alone." This is truth, reality, and peace for created beings. There is none other because no other gods exist than the one living and true Lord of Scripture. We must plant this truth as deeply as possible in our hearts and minds, which leads us to overcome any temptation to perceive our Lord as less than He is, and ourselves as more than we are. Yes, God is God. There is no other.
"There is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him."
(I Corinthians 8:6)
Weekly Memory Verse
Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others."
(Philippians 2:4)
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