Appendix 14. We, Inside a Glass Bottle

The place where Jesus protects believers is transparent, like a glass bottle. The refuge Jesus has prepared, shaped like a glass bottle, will never break. But if it has one drawback, it is that what Satan uses to tempt us outside can be seen from inside. The Lord is always a strong wall around us, so all we need to do is be still, without doubting or wavering. The one who keeps tempting us like this is Satan. He shows us Satan’s world as so beautiful and stirs up our greed to have it, so in the end we cannot overcome our greed and foolishly open the lid and climb out.

But did you know? The glass bottle, Jesus’ place of protection, can never be opened from outside. Unless the believer opens it from inside, Satan can threaten and tempt from outside but cannot get in. That is the same as Jesus’ word that you are in him. But he does not hold back someone who opens the lid from inside and goes out of their own accord. Those who cannot overcome temptation and go out on their own no longer receive the Lord’s protection from that moment. Satan attacks and torments as he pleases those who have come out from under Jesus’ protection, and lays them utterly waste. The world we live in is exactly such a dangerous place, under Satan’s attack. Jesus made us a refuge of faith that will never break, but when we are dazzled by everything visible in the world and walk out of faith of our own accord, the suffering we endure under Satan is like the agony of death. Even while we are in faith, when the world’s wealth, power and honor come into view along with our greed, we cannot help losing heart and despairing. But if we stay in faith even as we watch the storms of the world and its glittering festivals, the day will surely come when all of it grows quiet. Staying in the glass bottle takes patience. Only by training in patience every day can we bear the fruit of the Spirit inside the glass bottle, even when Satan threatens and lures us with the things of the world.

Believers, take heart! I hope you will rely on the Lord alone, and enjoy rest in the refuge the Lord has given you.