One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” -Luke 23:39-43 ESV
Warrior;
If you think about it, the whole of civilization is here. The enemy uses CONFUSION as his greatest weapon formed against a believer. These Thieves represent all of mankind and it shows that there are ONLY 2 CAMPS. Both thieves wanted to be saved. One wanted to be saved by Christ ON THE CROSS, and the other wanted to be saved with CHRIST-apart from the CROSS- SANS CROSS. It sounds a lot like the DEVIL and HIS SCHEMES. One of the greatest wiles of the enemy is, EASY! The devil wants to make it EASY to be separated from Yahweh. If the Devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy, or life easy.
Leader, the TEMPTATION of CHRIST in the Wilderness in LUKE 4, shows us the DEVIL did everything to keep JESUS OFF THE CROSS. The three temptations of turning stones into bread, getting the Kingdoms of the world by bowing down to Satan and having him go to the highest pinnacle and throw Himself off- where all designed to KEEP JESUS OFF THE CROSS and to make it EASIER for CHRIST. Even Jesus said to Peter, who wanted to keep Jesus OFF THE CROSS, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” (Mark 8:33, Matt 16:23)
Conduit, If there was any other way, God would have done it! Hebrews 9:12 tells us; he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Cor 3:17) For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Gal 5:1) The one person who could have come down from the CROSS, JESUS- did not! One thief mocked Jesus, one thief accepted JESUS. One is in paradise, one is separated from God for eternity- in HELL! There is only ONE CHOICE, two outcomes- CHOOSE WELL!
Way of The Warrior- A Daily Devotional 