Tag: Authority

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Seasons of Sorrow Book Review by Jeff Bush

By Tim Challies 

  • When a child of God dies, he does not go away, rather goes ahead. 
  • The Bible uses the example of sleep for death. Sleep is a time to rest, but it is not an end. 
  • God is good all the time. There’s no laps in God’s sovereignty. 
  • Who are we to deem something as evil if God has deemed it as good. 
  • Bless God in the giving and in the taking. 
  • Our children are more God’s creation than our procreation. 
  • Be careful to distinguish the purpose from the results – why God did something and how God will use it.
  • You can accept something by faith as God‘s will, and God‘s will is always perfect. 
  • Do not charge God with wrong. 
  • You can receive something as a trial to steward instead of a punishment to endure.
  • Things may scar you but they do not have to define you. 
  • God was, is, and will be with you at all times. 
  • We can decide to bow our will to God’s throne.
  • God’s actions are always good and His timing is always perfect.
  • God gave talents: to one servant, one; to another, two; and to another, five. He never asked who wanted what/how many talents, and He doesn’t ask us what He will give or take from us. 
  • A perfect God with with perfect character will display His perfect Will. 
  • God begins every life, has authority over every life, and ultimately ends every life. 
  • Death is the great interruptor. It is also the great redirector. 
  • You do not have to spend the rest of your life incapacitated by sorrow, you can allow it to motivate you to serve God greater. 
  • God owes you no answer, and you would be wrong to demand one. 
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Reclaiming Surrendered Ground: Book Review by Jeff Bush

By Jim Logan

  • The devil has no authority in the Christian’s life, accept for that which has been surrendered to him.
  • If it is possible to give ground or place to the devil, as Ephesians 4:27 says, then it is also possible to reclaim that ground.
  • The devil wants to kill, steal, and destroy. The good news for us is that he is a defeated foe. 
  • We do not need to ask others if they have the victory, we need to ask if they are standing in the victory they already have. 
  • Since every Christian faces spiritual warfare, every Christian is also equipped with the spiritual tools needed for the war. 
  • If the Christian could not be influenced by the devil, then why are we told to put on the armor of God and stand firm (Ephesians 6:10), to take every thought captive (2 Corinthians 10:5), and to resist the devil (James 4:7)?
  • The popular word that the world uses is “addiction,” but God uses the word “sin.” Addiction gives the idea that you’re a victim of something, but sin suggests you’re making a choice.
  • When you give ground to the devil, he can begins digging a foundation to construct whatever he wants.
  • When Lazarus was raised from the dead, he had life but was bound with grave clothes and needed help being unwound. 
  • Fathers, you have great responsibilities, and the devil wants to attack you, but you have great resources in God.
  • As a child of God, you’re calling is to get to know your Father, not the enemy. You should be aware of the devil, but not fear him because you are God’s child.
  • Getting free can be easy, but staying free is the challenge.
  • You are not fighting to gain victory, you’re fighting from a position of victory. The devil is a defeated foe!
  • We have been delivered from the power of darkness, but not from the presence of darkness. We still live in a wicked world.
  • Because Satan is already defeated, his only power is in deception.