“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20).

Crush Satan under your feet…

Man!!! That sounds so awesome!!! I want that. I want to see that. I would love to see Satan crushed.

Look at who’s feet God will crush Satan – under your feet. What you need to know is that the “you” in “your feet” is written in the plural.

• You, individually do not have the power or the ability to crush Satan
• You, on your own, are one who gets crushed by Satan
• But something amazing happens when you individuals come together under the authority of Christ. It is this you – all who come under the authority of Christ – who becomes the primary tool by which God crushes Satan in this world.

Who is this collective You All? This is none other than the Church of Jesus Christ. We are told that Christ is the head of the Church, and that we are his body. It is the Church of Jesus Christ, the body of Christ of which he is the head, that God uses to crush Satan.

The Church on its own does not have power to crush anything, let alone Satan. It is only the Church that is collectively under the headship and the Lordship of Jesus Christ that is the instrument and tool which God uses to crush Satan.

Isn’t interesting that the text tells us that it is the God of peace who will crush Satan under you all’s feet. God’s peace doesn’t mean the absence of crushing. In fact, in order for God’s peace to be genuinely peace, God’s peace must crush all that destroys peace.

You want to be in the business of crushing Satan? You have to be a part of God’s Church who is under the Lordship and the headship of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that Jesus is the head, and that we are the body of Christ. It is this collective “we” God uses to crush Satan.

You ready to do some crushing? Get under the Lordship and Headship of Jesus and be a part of Christ’s Church.

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10).

I once heard some wise person say, “Whenever God blesses you with material wealth it is not for the purpose of increasing your standard of living but for the purpose of increasing your standard of giving.”

John Wesley, the father of Methodism, said, “Make all you can. Save all you can. Give all you can.” And, he did. By the time that he died, John Wesley had given away everything he had. It was pretty significant. He had made much. Saved much. And gave all.

The verse of the day doesn’t apply only to material wealth. It certainly includes that, but it is much bigger than that. It is talking about everything that we receive from God – our talents, motivations, passions, intelligence, health, relationships, family, etc.

The purpose of God’s gifts is never for personal consumption. It is always for the service of others.

The reason for such service for others is because we are stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. Steward is one who manages resources, gifts, talents on behalf of another. The thing about stewards is that they are given full freedom to use the resources entrusted to them. While there is complete freedom for how the resources are to be used, there is a clear understanding of what and how they are to be used. The resources are to be used for the purpose for which the giver of resources sets.

God tells us to use whatever gift we have received to serve others.

What gifts has God given you? What resources has God entrusted you with? Jot them down. Write them out.

Then consider, how can you use these resources to serve others today? Think and pray. Write down at least three things you will do today to use the gifts you have received to serve others today.

Can you imagine what our communities will look like as God unleashes his stewards of grace all throughout our city!?!?!? Wow. Gives me chills just thinking about it. 

Blessings to you as you serve God’s people.

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18).

Someone is going to royally offend, irritate, and hurt you.

This is not a matter of “if” but “when”. This is a human condition. Because we are all finite and selfish human beings, someone will offend, irritate, and hurt us.

That’s where the verse of the day comes into play.

“Live at peace with everyone.”

That we like. Every Christian should strive to live at peace with everyone.

Easier said than done.

There is probably no other verse with as many conditional clauses as this one.

• If it is possible
• As far as it depends on you
• Live at peace with everyone

If it is possible. As far as it depends on you. There are some people who are just flat out jerks, and there’s not much we can do about jerks. Jerks will be jerks. But, for the most part, the conditional clauses apply because there are very few people who are jerks 100% of the time.

What does the Apostle Paul mean by “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone”?

Here’s how we can live at peace with everyone. When you are offended, irritated, and hurt by someone tell yourself, “I know this person is not a jerk all the time,” therefore:

• I trust that you want to live at peace too
• I trust that you did not intentionally do that to hurt me
• So, I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt

We have to give each other this space and time. If we jump on each other every time we are hurt, we’re going to only perpetuate the hurt and misunderstanding. Give people the benefit of the doubt. We all need that because sometimes we can be jerks too.

If someone intentionally hurts you, you don’t need them in your life. They are jerks. But, remember there are very few people who are jerks all the time.

Be a people of grace. Be a peace makers.

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”