Daily Devotion Psa 119.61

February 20, 2006

Psa 119:61 KJV  The bands of the wicked have robbed me: but I have not forgotten thy law.

For decades now, attacks of the evil one on the Christian in the western world have been very subtle and mostly confined to the realm of the spirit. But in countries of the Eastern world, such as China and Sudan, the persecution of Christians has been so intense that it renders it difficult to believe that Christians could be spared the Great Tribulation.
     
For millenniums, world domination came from the East, slowly shifting West, where it has remained since the Greek Emperor, Alexander the Great, conquered the Medo-Persian Empire (Iran).  In our twenty-first century, and from within the very heart of our Western metropolis, the dogmas of Christian civilization are challenged by an Eastern concept. What both camps seem to forget is that the next global government will come neither from the East nor from the West but from above, from Jesus-Christ the Son of God who will appear and humble all of man-kind’s arrogance by ruling the world the way it should have been ruled, and that with a rod of iron (Rev 19:11; 19:15; 20:4; 20:6).    

But before that happens, the Church of God (the people of God) will be tested and the forces of evil will be allowed to “rob” the righteous, doing “him” many injuries.  During those days, the Salvation of the righteous will rest in the keeping of the Word as his testimony (Rev 3:21; 12:11) and weapon against the forces of evil that will be determined to eliminate him. At that time it will be important to not allow the “bands of the wicked” to distract and intimidate us from following after the Spirit of our LORD and Savior with their scare tactics.

But friend; today, as you the see the world around you get darker and darker; as the “bands of the wicked” attempt to “rob” you of your moral standards; as they try to steal your obedience to God’s Words; as their evil forces push to gain ground on your children through ungodly media; as your thoughts are bombarded with concepts contrary to the teaching of Jesus; this is the time to brandish the shield of faith and lift up the sword of His Word. It is at such times that we need to remember His Word; it is at such a time that we need not to forget His Law.  
At such times, remember how He Himself was surrounded by evil hordes in the desert of temptation and in the garden of Gethsemane (Mat 4; Mat 26), and learn from His example of fighting the prince of darkness and his bands with the power of God’s Word of Light.

Rev 12:11  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.