“‘He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us’? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” ( James 4:5-7 ESV)

Today, I went through the email Spam folder to see if there are any for me to allow into my Inbox.

Life is full of distractions, emails can be one of them; things that can potentially trap us or damage and lead us away from the good by temptation, telling us lies and deceit which through them may misdirect us into the dark away from God’s light and His influence in us and through us to others.

When I looked at my Spam folder emails I highlighted them all: the ones that say I have won a prize, have a parcel for collection or have salacious invitations to meet or view! I am seldom fooled by their requests. So, having selected them all, I can right-click and choose Block Senders. This presents a list of all the genuine email addresses hidden in the code and are often not from whom they purport to be on the screen, they are at best, click bait or inappropriate for me to consider further.

With my mail system I can then delete the list of all their emails; no harm done. Prior to my viewing the Spam filter prevents by default any automatic actions and withholds anything it considers a risk contained within, until the email is subsequently approved by me as trusted, such as emails from PCC readers.

Sometimes even using Block Senders is ineffective because the email has hidden code to prevent it being deleted by such actions. These I view the email code and find “reply@” and their-destination-name, within the source code. Then I cut and paste it into my block senders list.

Life can be like that. Hopefully we can recognize by insight and experience what is not of God, or even good for us. Occasionally it is not so obvious and we need to be prayerfully inviting Jesus into these scenarios. Sometimes we are not able to block the thought or remove ourselves from a situation.

So, by asking Jesus in to “Block Senders” – deliver us from Evil – in our prayers before we start the day we can be in a better place for Him to reveal the hidden barbs sent to harm us. Sporadically this can mean He has to visit our memory source code and dismiss the harmful content to make it safe!

” …In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 ESV)

Prayer: Lord, we invite You to come with us into our lives today. Please forgive us when we fail and keep us safe from harm, as we go into the world or as we stay at home with You, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Roderick Marshall