HE+ Came to DESTROY the Works of the devil ~ 1 John 3:8 ~ ADVENT 2022

 1 John 3:8

He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the SON+ OF GOD was manifested:

that HE+

might destroy the works of the devil.

The PROMISED ONE+ #3.... Advent Meditations 2015

HE+  was  PROMISED ! 

The LORD JESUS, 

The Promised ONE+,  

always keeps His+ Word.

Listen carefully to what occurred in the account recorded in Luke 10.

The Words of Our LORD:

LUKE 10:17 -21

And the seventy returned again with joy, saying,

LORD, 

even the devils are subject unto us 

through Thy+ Name !

18 And HE+ said unto them,

I+ beheld  the satan

as lightning fall from Heaven.

19 Behold, I+ give unto you

power (authority, Gk.)

to tread on serpents ..."ophis" ...

and scorpions,

and over all the power of the enemy:

and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

20 Notwithstanding in this rejoice not,

that the spirits are subject unto you;

but rather rejoice,

because your names are written

in Heaven.

21 In that hour JESUS

rejoiced in spirit, and said,

I+ thank THEE, O FATHER, 

LORD of Heaven and earth,

that THOU hast hid these things

from the wise and prudent,

and hast revealed them unto babes:

even so, FATHER;

for so it seemed good in Thy sight.

The "ophis" (Gk.) --- which is that same "serpent"  nachash ( Hebrew)  of Genesis 3:15 and the same "serpent" of Mark 16:18 ---   appears in this Luke 10 passage again when Our LORD JESUS CHRIST is telling His+ disciples about their authority over the spirits, after the 70 returned with astonished joy to HIM+.

Over and over again in His+ Holy Word, The PROMISED ONE+ tells us  that:

that ANCIENT serpent "ophis" , called the devil and satan ...

is going to LOSE THE FIGHT!

Revelation 12: 9 - 11

12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, 

that old serpent "ophis", 

called the Devil, and the satan, 

which deceiveth the whole world:

 he was cast out into the earth,

 and his angels were cast out with him.

12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in Heaven,

Now is come salvation, and strength, 

and the kingdom of our GOD, 

and the power of his CHRIST:

for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, 

which accused

them before our GOD day and night.

12:11 And they overcame him by 

the BLOOD of the LAMB+, 

and by the word of their testimony; 

and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Thus,  we see The PROMISED ONE+ stating the same Promise,  running  through Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation.

Furthermore, the "ophis" , called the devil and satan, is being put to flight RIGHT NOW... because The Promised One+ , our LORD JESUS CHRIST, holds true to His+ Promise to us... and to the satan.

HIS+ PROMISE to the satan, to bruise --- or more accurately --- to completely crush  his head, has been kept. 

HE+ always keeps His+ Promises... 

no matter to whom HE+ makes them

and no matter what the cost.

HE+ kept His+ Promise to Our FATHER in Heaven --- WHILE HE+ WAS IN HEAVEN --- to come to earth and be slain to rescue man from the satan. 

We know this is true because Scripture identifies The LORD as:

Revelation 13:8c

"...the LAMB+ slain from the

foundation of the world."

The LORD JESUS kept His+ Promise to the nachash and thrashed him soundly at His+ Crucifixion and at HIS+ subsequent ( and surprising ! ) powerful and glorious Resurrection.

As Scripture records:

Romans 6:9

6:9 Knowing that CHRIST being raised from the dead 

dieth no more; 

death hath no more dominion over HIM+.

Furthermore, our LORD JESUS keeps His+ Promises to us, granting us all the power over the wicked spirits that we need to overcome our sins and character faults in this life right now...

if we do HIS+ Will.

Our LORD JESUS CHRIST came to keep His+ Promises.

Do we keep ours ?

Let Us Pray: 

Our Heavenly GOD and FATHER of our LORD JESUS CHRIST...

All glory, honor, and praise goes to THEE, O LORD, for Thy great and precious promises given to us, to me. 

These promises grant me strength to stand against the evil one during times of testing, during trials of endurance.

Now, I come before Thy Presence ashamed of the times I have not kept my word to others because I  chose my Self.

I  acknowledge that Thy Holy SON+ JESUS has granted me power over the sin which does so easily beset me.

Oftentimes, I have not kept my word... in  little ways and in big, both spoken and implied "promises" to be there, to do something, to give something or to provide support

I have let my co-workers, my friends and my family down; they could NOT count on me to be true to my word at all times. 

And worst of all, O Holy FATHER, I also have reneged, pulled back, and not with integrity kept my word to THEE, in my heart.

I have forsaken the spiritual discipline which THOU hast given me, which I committed myself to do. I sandwich my time with THEE in between all other "important" activities... including eating and sleeping.

I have said I would follow THEE, but I oftentimes follow my own thinking instead of doing what is written in Thy Word.

Thy forgiveness , O LORD, I ask of THEE , to cleanse me from these sins of my heart. Re-form my character into the likeness and image of Thy HOLY SON+ JESUS,

and in Whose+ Life-Giving name we pray, O  Gracious Heavenly FATHER.     

Pre-Passover Meditation ~ ~ ~ The UN-distracted Mind of CHRIST

Photo by The ORDER of The GOOD SHEPHERD+
Crown of Thorns bush

The Invitatory

 CHRIST JESUS 

came into the world to save sinners,

Of whom I am chief. 

LORD, 

be merciful to me, a sinner.

O Come, Let us Adore HIM+ . 

Old Testament Lesson: Leviticus 26, 

selected verses ,
 courtesy of  www.Biblegateway.com

Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I AM THE LORD THY GOD.

Ye shall keep my sabbaths, 

and reverence my sanctuary: 

I AM THE LORD.

If ye walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them;
⁴ Then I will give you rain ...
⁵ And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage ... 
⁶ And I will give peace in the land ... .
⁷ And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword.
 ~ ~~ ~~ 
⁹ For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.

¹¹ And I set my tabernacle among you: and My soul shall not abhor you. 

¹² And I will walk among you, and will be your GOD, and ye shall be My people.

¹³ I AM THE LORD THY GOD, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.

¹⁴ But if ye will not hearken unto ME, and will not do all these commandments;

¹⁵ And if ye shall despise My statutes, or if your soul abhor My judgments, so that ye will not do all My commandments, but that ye break My Covenant:
~ ~ ~

¹⁹ And I will break the pride of your power; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass:

²⁰ And your strength shall be spent in vain... 
~ ~ ~ 


³² And I will bring the land into desolation ...

~  ~  ~

³⁴ Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies' land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths.

³⁵ As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it.

Epistle Lesson: Colossians 1: 19-23

Courtesy of Biblegateway.com

For it pleased The FATHER that in HIM+ should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the Blood of His+ Cross, by HIM+ to reconcile all things unto HIMSELF+; by HIM+, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in Heaven.

And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath HE+ reconciled in  the body of His+ Flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His+ sight:

if ...if ... if ...

ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under Heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

The Gospel Lesson: Luke 10: 38-42

Courtesy of Biblegateway.com, NKJV

Now it happened as they went that HE+ entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him+ into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His+  word. 

But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him+ and said, “LORD, do You+ not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? 

Therefore tell her to help me.”

And JESUS answered and said to her, “Martha! Martha! 

You are worried and troubled about many things. 

But ONE+ THING is needed, 

and Mary has chosen THAT GOOD PART+, 

which will not be taken away from her.”

Meditation ~ ~ ~

The Old Covenant was established to show Israel ... and thus, all mankind...  HOW TO PLEASE GOD. It was established to show us what things are acceptable to GOD and what things HE hates. ( HE still hates those things listed as "sin" in the Law, by the way.)

Breaking GOD'S laws under the Old Covenant brought certain, swift, and awful consequences. That was the way The LORD trained mankind to savor righteousness with HIM. 

When Our LORD JESUS walked the earth, HE+ did not "un-do" the laws, HE+ actually

extended them to encompass more.

Back then, adultery was punished by stoning to death the transgressors. Under the covenant of JESUS' BLOOD, adultery of the heart, done secretly was severely condemned. Our LORD JESUS HIMSELF said that if our EYE offended us... that is, made us to sin... to pluck it out.

HE+ was not joking. Under the New Covenant, once JESUS' BLOOD was shed to cover us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness, the punishment for willfully-practiced sin IS... IS... IS... (!)  Eternal death.  

Unfortunately, sin occurs in the HEART of man. However, one is not able to pluck out one's heart.  

So, we flee unto JESUS our SAVIOR+ for cleansing and help against sin. 

One of the best strong-holds against sin is to focus on JESUS without distraction of thought, like Martha's sister Mary chose to do.   

Let Us Pray ~ ~ ~ 

Gracious Heavenly FATHER, I have forsaken following Thy Word meticulously. I have done whatsoever I have "thought" to be right... instead of following Thy Holy Words given and preserved for me at great price. 

Help me not to cast ANY of Thy words aside and establish my "interpretation" of what THOU dost require of me... instead of what is clearly written. 

O LORD our GOD, help me to stand firm against temporal values within me, values that focus on my own home, my own family, my own life constantly. 

Help me to strive for that undistracted mind, focused upon CHRIST, so that I may know what pleaseth THEE. Give me Singleness-of-Eye, that I become a GOD-pleaser and not a man-pleaser, that I learn to please THEE+, my LORD, and not myself. 

O, Help me to do this SO MUCH SO that even my undistracted focus upon THY HOLY SON+ JESUS becomes my only identity in this world... that I might choose the BETTER+ part, like Mary. 

So that, when I come face to face with our SAVIOR+,  I can honestly say, "I have loved THEE+ with my whole heart."

Grant these things, for Thy SON+'s sake, our only SAVIOR+ and MEDIATOR, the only name given under Heaven among men, whereby we must be saved... Our LORD JESUS CHRIST.  

Amen.