Tuesday, March 13, 2012

What about Judas before the betrayal?

We often look back at Judas only as the one who betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ.
If we only consider Judas as the betrayer we can easily fall into the trap of placing his sin as totally different and worse than our sin. The devil is still at work, let's consider the deception of our enemy and how he operates;
The devil is a slanderer, a false accuser, he masquerades as an angel of light. He has operated in the same manner and used the same tactics since his successful deception in the garden that lead to the fall of man, to sin and to death.
The devil also deceived Judas who did not appear on the scene as a mass murderer or the wicked one who would obviously betray the Lord. As we consider the disciples, Judas was probably one of the least expected to be the enemy. He was the one they trusted with the money, he probably was very zealous, he was bold, they thought he had it all together. Judas followed Christ, he experienced the miracles; blind were given sight, the lame restored, even the dead were raised from the grave. He was given the place of honor at the last supper, Judas was a key part of the disciples.
Jesus looks at the heart, He knew all along that Judas would betray Him, He understood the deception of the devil and how to overcome his attacks.
We must understand our enemy, he is still the deceiver, the accuser, he still masquerades as an angel of light. Satan will attack with deception, his plan is not really to try and get us to doubt ourselves, but to trust in ourselves. Judas decided to trust himself, his plans, his timing, his ways rather than to surrender and trust Christ.
Instead of struggling with predestination and the sovereignty of God at this time, consider our enemy and his tactics; unlike Judas, we as believers have the Holy Spirit in us. Jesus is not deceived by the devil, and as we rely on the Spirit the ways of the enemy will become clear and we will experience victory in Christ.
Judas and our Spiritual Battle

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