The devil lies and causes us to doubt who we are and who God is.
- Toby Flint, Alpha Week 8. How Do I Resist Evil?
“You won’t surely die!” Satan’s famous statement in the garden simply yet profoundly reveals the truth about temptation and resisting evil. In the Alpha video, Nicky Gumble reminds us that we constantly have temptations around us. One of Satan’s primary tactics is to cause us to question God’s Word, God’s plan, and God’s ways by twisting them, ignoring them, and simply causing us to question what is true.
Nicky encourages us to put on the full armour of God to protect us from temptation and the Devils schemes. (Ephesians 6: 10-18) The first item that the Apostle Paul lists is the belt of truth.
In Biblical times, a Roman Soldier’s belt was one of the most important pieces of equipment. If the belt wasn’t properly in place, nothing else was secure and the rest of the armor would fail. If we aren’t grounded in the truth of God’s word, promises and ways, we will surely fall into temptation.
We put on the belt of truth by reading and knowing God’s word.
Bank tellers are trained how to detect counterfeit money by studying real money. They spend hours touching, inspecting, and weighing actual money. Once they are familiar about the various security features embedded in the real money, they will easily identify a counterfeit.
It’s a similar contrast to the picture of the two glasses of grape juice above. They both look the same, however one is Grape Punch and one is 100% Grape Juice. You might be fooled if you only ever drank the Grape Punch. Can you tell the difference? One is real, and one is a counterfeit. Grape Punch is made from a powder. composed of artificial man made sweetener, color and flavour. It’s 100% fake.
I grew to detest Grape Punch when I was growing up to the point that I didn’t even want to try real grape juice. Then one day maybe because there was nothing else to drink, I tasted real grape juice and I was blown away. It was one of the best drinks I had ever had. It was fresh and bursting with the delicious natural flavor of freshly crushed grapes. A perfect balance of sour and sweet. Ever since I had 100% real grape juice, I could never drink Grape Punch again.
Once we taste God’s truth through knowing his word, we can defeat the lies of the enemy.
Grape Juice Vs Grape Punch Recipe:
Option 1:
1 bottle of Welch's 100% Grape Juice - Chilled
1 package of instant Grape flavoured drink such as Grape Kool-Aid
Mix the Grape punch in a glass of cold water.
Pour the chilled grape juice into a similar glass.
Once mixed the grape punch should be the same color as the grape juice.
Close your eyes and have a friend arrange the two drinks so participants don't know which is which. Taste both, and determine which is the real grape juice and which is the mix.
Option 2. Homemade Grape Juice
2 bunch’s fresh, purple seedless grapes. RInsed under cold water.
½ cup ice
Mix the ice and grapes in a blender
Strain through a fine mesh strainer and serve.
Photo and Illustration by Gary Stevenson