(January 11, 2024) Angeline Selvakumari shares important facts… and warnings.

Yes I’m going to share about Satan’s trickery… but first, some good news! I wish you all, dear readers, a  very happy and blessed New Year!

Know that despite ongoing troubles around the world, God has graciously blessed us with another year to express gratitude for all His goodness. He will surely bless not only you but also your future generations for investing your time and tearful prayers in spreading the good news to the world. Let’s be determined to continue this great work!

I pray that the good Lord will continue to grant you wisdom to navigate this world with Godly wisdom, knowledge, good health, strength, and peace of mind. Above all, may He satisfy you with His goodness.

(i) God’s Goodness
God says, ‘My people shall be satisfied with my goodness…’ (Jeremiah 31:14NKJV).What a beautiful promise to hold onto this year – God satisfying us with His goodness! To me this means that –

• My God will meet all my needs this year!
• 2024 will be a year of experiencing God’s goodness!
• I will be satisfied with what He provides!
• I won’t be discontented!
• I won’t be lacking!

Regarding this year, I’m believing in 1 Corinthians 2:9NLT, ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.’

I’m very excited because God is faithful to His promises. Aren’t you excited too?

(ii) Our Joy
Joy is the evidence of God’s goodness… as Acts 14:16-17NLT confirms: ‘In the past He permitted all the nations to go their own ways, but He never left them without evidence of Himself and His goodness.’ For instance, He sends you rain and good crops and gives you food and joyful hearts. 

Many of us confuse joy and happiness. So I researched to find the difference:

* Joy is a little word but powerful. Happiness is merely a bigger word.
* Joy is in the heart. Happiness is on the face.
* Joy is of the soul. Happiness is for the moment.
* Joy transcends. Happiness reacts.
* Joy embraces peace and contentment. Happiness awaits discovery.
* Joy runs deep and overflows. Happiness is like occasional hugs and ‘Hello’s.
* Joy is deliberate and intentional. Happiness comes and goes.
* Joy is both practice and behaviour. Happiness isn’t.
* Joy is an inner feeling. Happiness is an outward expression.
* Joy endures hardship and trials; connects meaning and purpose. Happiness doesn’t.
* Joy is profound, scriptural (‘Rejoice always’ 1Thessalonians 5:16 ). Happiness is but a balm (‘Be happy’)

Often peace and joy go hand in hand. When there is peace, there is joy, and where there is joy, there is peace. They are like twin sisters. God has promised to satisfy us with His joy by filling our hearts with it. 

(iii) Satanic Manipulations
Our heavenly Father has already blessed us with many good things. However, Satan will try to manipulate our minds and distort our perception, causing us to overlook the blessings surrounding us… just like he did back in the Garden of Eden! 

In Genesis 1:27NLT we read that ‘God created human beings in His own image. Then He blessed them, telling them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it’(v28). But… He added a warning:‘You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden – except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die’(Genesis 2:16-17).

Please take note of how Satan twisted God’s words: ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God…’ (Genesis 3:4-5). 

Here we see the manipulation of Satan’s words, enticing Adam and Eve with the idea that they wouldn’t die, but instead become more like God. Satan presents his offerings as greater and more powerful than what God can provide. Why does this tactic sound familiar? Because even today, Satan employs the same formula to lead people astray from the path of God! He presents worldly things as superior, greater, and more powerful than what our loving Jesus has to offer!

No doubt you remember Adam and Eves’s sad Genesis 3 story…

• The couple listened to the evil one’s voice and ate of the forbidden fruit, sinning.
• Yes, their eyes were opened – but they lost their peace and joy, and hid from God’s presence. 
• They lost the most important thing in their lives… closeness with God who’d blessed them so much!
• Not only were they evicted from the well-stocked garden, they lost the goodness of God and the joy of having fellowship with Almighty God!

Today, Satan tries to distort our perception of God’s goodness, and break our fellowship with God… just as he did with Eve and Adam (who should have been protecting his wife!). Satan tempts us to crave more than what God has offered us, leading to –

1) Discontentment
Eve was not content with what God has promised them.

Discontentment is the first enemy against God’s goodness. When we find ourselves saying, ‘I wish I had that’ or ‘I want more,’ we are not appreciating and being content with what God has given us. But if we will be content and appreciate what God has given us, then we will experience joy!

Romans 15:13 reminds us that ‘the God of hope fills us with joy and peace as we trust in Him, so that we may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.’ 

Discontentment steals away our joy. Let’s learn to be satisfied with God’s goodness, happy with what He has given us and cultivate a spirit of contentment and thankfulness… even at the beginning of this year!

2) Disappointment
Another illusion that Satan’s creates to take away our joy. Whenever there is an expectation, there could be disappointment. For example, we may desire a certain job or promotion, but when we achieve it, we realise that it comes with its own set of challenges and stress. The workload may become overwhelming, and it no longer satisfies our initial expectations, like – ‘I thought it would be like this’ or ‘I wish it was like this.’

We often expect God to answer our prayers exactly as we pray and expect. When our desires are not fulfilled exactly, we become disappointed. Problems and challenges we face seem to drag us down even further and hence we feel discouraged.

Stressful situations can lead to unmet expectations, causing us to moan and complain without realising it. In the process, we lose our joy and peace, and this, my friend, is something that God cannot tolerate. 

The Israelites experienced this when they left Egypt. After 430 years of crying out to God, they were led by Him with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Exodus 13:21). Exodus 15:1-21 tells they were so filled with joy that they set to praising His name… gloriously singing, dancing, rejoicing, and celebrating.

But… dear friends, do remember that as you draw closer to God, Satan will bring challenges and diversions across your pathway. Those Israelites then faced a challenge when they had no water to drink for three days (Exodus 15:22) and started to complain. They forgot the goodness of God that had brought them out of bondage and slavery, granting them freedom… and started complaining.

But… dear friends, do remember that as you draw closer to God, Satan will bring challenges and diversions across your pathway. Those Israelites then faced a challenge when they had no water to drink for three days (Exodus 15:22-24) and started to complain. They forgot the goodness of God that had brought them out of bondage and slavery, granting them freedom… and started complaining because they didn’t get water immediately.

• Expectations that are not met bring disappointment, stealing our joy and peace.
• It is unfortunate that, having a short memory, we too tend to forget God’s goodness so easily.
• How many times have we complained, forgetting God’s goodness.

But God’s ways are higher and greater than our thoughts. Despite their complaints, God had prepared not just one well, but twelve for His people (Exodus 15:27), one for each tribe, I guess. God foresaw the possibility of disputes among them and provided abundantly so they could camp there by the waters.

The Bible tells that many great people of God had to go through disappointments. Abraham, Noah, Jacob, Samuel, Eli, Hannah, Jeremiah, David, Job, Nehemiah, Peter, Paul, and many more powerful individuals in God’s kingdom all experienced disappointments and brokenness. It was through these trials that their faith was tested and refined, ultimately leading to growth and a deeper reliance on God!

But in the midst of their disappointments, God fulfilled His plan. He is able to do the same in your life this year. God has a plan, and will fulfill it despite your disappointments and brokenness.

Are you feeling disappointed today? Are you feeling broken? Rest assured, God is working behind the scenes. Don’t lose hope… He has engraved you in His palm and will not forget you. God will complete what He has started in your life.

3) Discouragement
This is the third weapon that Satan uses to steal the goodness of God from our lives. 

We see an example of this in the story of Martha and Mary who had lost their brother and complained to Jesus: ‘Lord, if you had been here, [our] brother would not have died’ (John 11:32). Sometimes, God allows us to experience losses, such as the loss of loved ones. Some of us may have gone through this last year: such losses can be incredibly discouraging. We question why the Lord didn’t intervene, why He didn’t answer our prayers. 

However, the Bible reminds us that Jesus wept too (John 11:35, Luke 19:41,Hebrews 5:7-9). We have a high priest who understands our pain, tears, and brokenness. ‘… we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses’ (Hebrews 4:15).

Jesus cries when you cry, He feels the same pain, and He is in the midst of your trials because He knows that they produce faith. Therefore, friends, do not be discouraged.

James 1:2-3 encourages us to ‘consider it pure joy when we face trials of many kinds because we know that the testing of our faith produces perseverance.’ So we should not give up on our faith. We are not quitters! 

Boldy Restart Now!
God will enable you to restart what you have given up in the past. It will be a year of rebuilding, where you will see things finished and not left undone. 

God is walking with you in the midst of your trials, defeats, shame and failures. He is the fourth man walking in the fire with you (Daniel 3:25). This is the year where you will see the fruit of your perseverance.

So, dear brothers and sisters, when you face trials and disappointments, when sorrow takes away your peace and joy, and when things don’t go as planned, remember to consider it pure joy (James 1:2).

This is what the Bible teaches us… we have a high priest who goes through all of this with us. There is another in the fire standing next to me, next to you. The goodness of God brings peace and joy in the midst of it all because He is the prince of peace. 

• You are not alone… you don’t have to face Satan’s deceits and manipulations alone. 
• Don’t give up: Persevere and rise from where you have fallen.
• Satan tells you lies, but don’t listen. God is with you and will enable you to move on!

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Pastor Angeica Selvakumari is Chief Editor Echo of His Call, India’s Spiritual Newspaper, and Dr S Sam Selva Raj’s daughter.

In furthering Echo of His Call ministries, established 1969, Dr Sam daily broadcasts 5-minute messages in Hindi, Tamil and English on YouTube, trusting the Lord to provide for the costs. Link: sam@echoofhiscall.org  
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