The Goodnews - Permission Granted - Luke Edition 2024

Greetings, this is day 22 out of 24 of reading the Bible with Darren!

Permission Granted;

Luke 22:31-38

Would you ever give Satan permission to come against you? You’re probably thinking, Of course not! However, unaddressed sin in our lives opens the door to the enemy. Throughout the Old Testament, God’s people sinned, and God granted Satan permission to take His people into bondage. Why? So they would cry out and return to the Lord.

Satan is a thief who is always trying to get into our lives in any way he can (John 10:10). He constantly searches for open windows and doors, and one of the biggest open doors he finds is pride. Here are three definitions of pride to help us identify and overcome it:

Pride is trusting in your own strength.

In Luke 22:31, Jesus tells Simon Peter that Satan has asked permission to sift him like wheat. Jesus warns him that there is an open door in his life, and I believe this open door is pride. When Jesus says all the disciples will desert Him, Peter pridefully responds, “I never will” (Mark 14:29). Peter trusts in his own strength, a trap into which even mature believers fall. When we rely on our own strength to resist temptation, we will always fail, as Peter did when he denied Jesus in Matthew 26:69-75.

Pride is trusting in your own righteousness.

If you think you’re righteous for what you do rather than Whom you know, you have pride. In Job 1:12 and 2:6, God gives Satan permission to come against Job, a man whom God Himself calls “blameless” (Job 2:3). Another word for blameless is righteous. But why would God allow a righteous person to suffer? Job asks the same question. The problem is that his defense is in how he lives, not in Whom he trusts. Can any of us live righteously enough to meet God’s standard? No! When we compare ourselves to God, none of us measure up. Yes, we should live righteously, but we must remember that our righteousness comes from the blood of Jesus, not our works.

Pride is trusting in your own wisdom.

Pride will destroy your life (Proverbs 16:18). If you believe you are smarter than anyone else and refuse correction, you don’t have God’s wisdom; instead, you open the door to the enemy who brings “disorder and evil of every kind” (James 3:16). The only way to close pride’s door is to cry out to God and repent. He alone has the power to free you from bondage and restore your life.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Goodnews - Permission Granted - Luke Edition 2024

Permission Granted;

Luke 22:31-38

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