 Overcoming Scams
|
Be sober-minded,
be watchful (vigilant).
Your adversary the devil prowls around
like a roaring lion,
seeking someone to devour.
(1 Peter 5:8)
I recently chose to fall for a scam, and only by God's grace was I rescued. I say "I chose" because to only say "I fell for a scam" is not to take full responsibility.
I felt so stupid, so naive, so embarrassed, so ashamed. However, as I openly acknowledged the feelings before the Lord, I experienced His presence and I cried out to Him...something I should have done when the scam started.
This Rest Stop is my testimony of how the Lord is using this scam to expose and strip away another fleshly way of responding to my circumstances and, consequently, is conforming me more into the image of Christ.
The adversary's objective with deceptions is ultimately to pervert the truth of the life and glory of Christ in us. The adversary just doesn't seek to destroy us, he seeks to destroy the testimony of the finished work of Christ that Christ accomplished through His cross and resurrection.
The adversary seeks to deceive us by tempting us to take our eyes off of Christ with whom we became personally related through the cross and resurrection. From the very beginning, the adversary seeks to steal God's glory, and His glory is most profoundly revealed through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The adversary's deceptions appeal to these God-given needs: LOVE, ACCEPTANCE, WORTH, and SECURITY.
For the Christian, these needs are already fulfilled in Christ. So, when the enemy tempts us to get these needs met, therein is the root of the deception -- because these needs are already perfectly fulfilled in Christ!
Scams that appeal to our need for LOVE are usually through a relationship that tries to convince us that we need conditional love from him or her.
Scams that appeal to our need for ACCEPTANCE include overt or subtle guilt-trip messages that tell us that we will be unacceptable if we don't respond to an apparently good cause perpetrated by the scam. This was at the heart of the scam I recently experienced.
Scams that appeal to our need for WORTH include invitations to join an organization (e.g., cults) to enhance our identity and our value as human beings.
Scams that appeal to our need for SECURITY include get-rich schemes and a false offer of something for free, and shortcuts to a false promise of a better life.
ROOT OF MY REACTION
I'm certainly not saying, "The devil made me do it." For through my union with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection, I have now and forever been set free from the schemes of the devil (see Romans 6:7). I am not free from being tempted from his schemes, but I am free from the power of his schemes. The devil can't make me do anything.
The adversary is a defeated foe because of the cross and resurrection of Christ. The adversary can only roam "like a roaring lion." In other words, he can roar like a lion but he has no bite of a lion! He can sound powerful, but he has no power whatsoever over us!
And I'm not only saying what I did was stupid, although it indeed was -- very much so.
The root of what I chose to do was SIN -- plain and simple. I reacted to the situation by trying to do something good on my own, i.e., apart from Christ. And that is sin. I was selfish, and not vigilant, at the time.
REDEMPTION BY MY LORD
However, when I realized I had sinned against my heavenly Father's love,
what a blessing it was to "come boldly before His throne of grace to
obtain mercy" (Hebrews 4:16).
Some may advise me to "learn from my mistakes and do better next time." Yes, I want to learn from my mistakes, but I sense another scam from the adversary in the words "...and do better next time."
The scam in the words "learn to do better next time" is the temptation to strive to do better next time again in my own fleshly efforts, apart from dependence on Christ in me. This sets me up to fail again. Oh, how the Lord is giving me more discernment of the darkness of this world and the craftiness of the devil.
This may at first sound shocking, but my heart is not to do better next time. My heart is to only depend on Christ next time. My heart is to know Christ more today and tomorrow and forever as a result of what He revealed to me about me and about Him, and about my relationship with Him during this scam.
The next verse after our Rest Stop verse 1 Peter 5:8 affirms the more profound compassion of Christ Himself that I am sensing in my heart for others who are tempted and sometimes fall for all types of scams in this dark world.
Resist the devil, steadfast in the faith,
knowing that the same sufferings
are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
(1 Peter 5:9)
And the next verse affirms that only God by His grace and power restores me to the truth of my who I really am in Christ. Romans 8:9 says my identity is no longer in the flesh, although I can choose to live according to fleshly ways. God also makes me strong, firm, and steadfast, for His glory.
And the God of all grace,
who called you to His eternal glory in Christ,
after you have suffered for a little while
will Himself restore you
and make you strong, firm, and steadfast.
To Him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
(1 Peter 5:10)
In other words, God calls me to something much more profound than me just "learning from my mistakes." He has already called me to His glory in Christ. And now He continually calls me to Himself, to our relationship.
CLOSING
I hope my openness through this Rest Stop is edifying to you and glorifying to the Lord.
I close with these words of Jesus for us:
These things I have spoken to you,
that in Me you may have peace.
In the world you will have tribulation;
but be of good cheer,
I have overcome the world.
(John 16:33)
|
|
|
|
|
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you
for your partnership in the gospel.
(Philippians 1:3, 5)
Following is a link for secure on-line donations
for financially partnering with me & Joy.
We serve as missionaries with Journey in Christ.
These donations are tax-deductible.
Link to my quarterly ministry newsletters
that testify of ministry partnerships:
|
About 
Discipleship through
Counseling
Teaching
Training
Gregg Gibbons
Pastoral Director
Michael Chalmers
Training Director
Kellie Boggs
Fellowship Director
Joy Gibbons
Ministry Assistant and women's ministry coordinator
Carole Blyth
Board member and women's ministry coordinator
Paul Crews
Board member and Pastor Mountain Creek Baptist Church
Florence Colby
Board Member and Exec Assistant
at US Endowment of Forestry
Dave Loser
Board Member and Chaplain with Corporate Chaplains of America
Carolyn Kennedy
New discipleship counselor!
Randy Garrick
Board Advisor and
CFO Engineered Systems Inc.
Dawn McClendon
Board Advisor and
school teacher in Durham NC
Marty Price
Board Advisor and Pastor
Pendleton Street Baptist Church
|
Partnership
I believe with all my heart that ministry is through relationships.
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you for your partnership in the gospel (Philippians 1:3, 5).
YouTube link below of my ministry commissioning service that included testimonies from several partners, including Bobby Richardson, former 2nd baseman for the NY Yankees.
Please contact me to learn more about partnering with me. I'd love to hear from you!
|
Ministry News
Gregg is mentoring people in an office donated by Holly Ridge Church in Simpsonville SC.
Michael is mentoring people in offices donated by 3 churches Greenville SC.
Gregg teaches freedom in Christ at The Haven of Rest mission in Anderson SC Mondays 6:00-6:45 pm. Gregg welcomes partners to go with him anytime!
Our final advanced discipleship class of the year with three students will be Nov 14-16. Profound transformations in these students!
Michael will be teaching a conference Nov 8-9 at Earle Street Baptist Church in Greenville. Click link for details.
Joy, Carole, and Carolyn are witnessing life transformatoins in their weekly Bible studies from the Gospel of John for 8 female employees at a manufacturing plant! Sept 4-Oct 23.
|
Archives
Link for Rest Stops
since August 2010:
|
Contact Info
JOURNEY IN CHRIST, INC.
655 Fairview Road
Suite H-188
Simpsonville SC 29680
(864) 483-3201 (Gregg cell)
|
|
