The Devil is Good at Math

I was bad with math, I am bad with math & 

I will always be bad with math.

 But it is very important to know that the devil is NOT!

He knows the sum total of all your fears, problems, weaknesses, and will add to them as he sees fit because he wants you to curse God for your problems. (If you know the book of Job in the Bible you know this is true)  He will subtract the feelings you have about yourself that are positive because he wants you downtrodden.  He will multiply your insecurities and divide your relationships leaving only the negative people in your life.  And just when you think you have the equation of your life figured out and lay your pencil down, that jerk will change the question. Worst of all he will take a whole truth, like God’s Word, and subtract it to make it suit his purpose against you. 

You think I am being overly filled with doom?  
Jesus' testing in the wilderness found in Matthew 4:1-11 says differently: 

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. ”Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.  “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only. Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him!

There is even an urban dictionary version of (and I kid you not) THE DEVIL’S MATH: 

“When a decision requires harming a small group, or an individual, to save a larger group. Seen in war, but also with corporate lay-offs or any such situation where you're balancing the 'needs of the many against the needs of the few.' For instance, dropping the a-bomb on Japan killed tens of thousands of people, but prevented an invasion that would've killed millions.  It was devil's math, but what choice did we have?” 

But how is this relevant to us?  We are not dropping a bomb, firing anyone to save a corporation etc.  It is relevant because God has given us the handbook for life. The Word of God.  The answers to the questions!  What did Jesus do when the devil used that sad math on him?  He fought back with God’s word, with 100% correctness.  Nothing out of context. He took partial truth, added the whole truth and came out with the correct answer!

We must know what God’s word says!  I admit, since I do not teach Sunday School any more, work in the youth department or run Bible Drill I have lost some of my memory for God’s Word.  We have to practice it, bathe in it, fill our hearts and minds with it and not just a little of it. The sum total of God’s Word.  Do not let the devil tell you things like:  “You are unworthy, you are stupid, you are ill equipped, you can’t, you won’t, and no one cares" because…

 Matthew 6:33 says, "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be ADDED to you"

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When my oldest was a teenager, the time we refer to here as "pre-armagaeddon", we would get sloppy math answers from him.  For instance, he was going to a friend's house one night, who lived a few blocks over, to play video games with a friend and possibly spend the night.  We asked the proper questions:  Will the parents be there? Who is coming? What time will you know if you are all spending the night?  Do I need to send snacks?  

Here were his answers: "I think one parent but I don't know which".  "A few guys".  "Probably by 7".  "Yes, a lot of snacks". 

Let me give you the REAL MATH:  "ZERO". "10 thirteen year old boys". "9 o'clock".  (and he was right about a lot of snacks)  See, I called at 6:00 and his mother was 'at the grocery store and running errands'.  I called at 6:30 and 'she was still gone and the father had gone to get pizzas'.  But at 7:00 I drove over there and the pizza guy was in the driveway.  
I called at 8:00, no answer. 
My husband called at 9:00 and asked to speak to the father. 

 This is where the fuzzy math failed, a 13 year old boy got on the phone with his best deep voice and said, "Hello Dr. Gregg, the boys are fine and they should all spend the night." We immediately got into our car and went to pick Cade up, and the boys we knew, and took them home.  Those parents had left that 13 year old kid at home, alone, with $100 for pizza, for two nights.  That math does not work at our house!      

Here is the final equation:  you are grounded for 14 days!

Yes, THIS is the cute little thing that gave me so much grief...