When principles that run against your deepest convictions begin to win the day, then battle is your calling, and peace has become sin; you must, at the price of dearest peace, lay your convictions bare before friend and enemy, with all the fire of your faith. Abraham Kuyper
We are in a battle that we know one day will end in Victory. We know because the scriptures tell us that (Revelation 20:1-15) It will come when Jesus returns and Satan is cast into the lake of fire.
We are going to find when we are walking stronger and stronger each day for Christ Satan will try everything to tempt us to fall. He doesn't want us sharing the gospel with the lost. He would rather the world see us sin, he would rather see us quarrel amongst one another so the lost do not see the unity that should be found amongst brothers and sisters. Satan does NOT want the true gospel to be spread so he uses false teachers and preachers to spread hearsay. (1 Chronicles 21:1; Zechariah 3:1-2).
Satan is so suttle, he is the great deceiver, Satan is an expert at falsifying truth (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). That is why reading and studying the word is SO important. That is why we put on the Armor of God, "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:13-17).
Verse Ephesians 12 tells us why.... For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high place. Satan will use anyone and anything to take us away from the Word, Satan is the father of lies and he is using many men and women behind the pulpit for his plan. God has given us the righteousness of Christ, imputed by God and received by faith, which guards our hearts against the accusations and charges of Satan, and secures our innermost being from his attacks.We are fitted with feet to walk the right path and to avoid being tempted.We have our shields, Hebrews 12:2 tells us it is like a golden shield, precious, solid, and substantial; and like a shield of mighty warriors, by which mighty things are done, and by which the believer not only repels, but conquers the enemy.WOW! We have our helmet, this a good description...The head of the soldier was among the principal parts to be defended, as on it the deadliest strokes might fall, and it is the head that commands the whole body. The head is the seat of the mind, which, when it has laid hold of the sure Gospel “hope” of eternal life, will not receive false doctrine, or give way to Satan’s temptations to despair. The unsaved person has no hope of warding off the blows of false doctrine because his mind is incapable of discerning between truth and falsehood. And finally the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God and we sure know how important this is to a believer. It is our livelihood, it is our guide as we live in this foreign land until we are called home and are present with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and we hear those words we have long to hear "Well done my good and faithful servant, Well done!" Servant of God, well done; well hast thou fought The better fight..
The same moment in which I close my eyes on a
world of sin and suffering, I open them in glory!
Just a note...if you have a problem with your brother or sister dealing with the lost or with sin in their lives, go to that brother and sister privately and not in front of the lost because the lost just love to see God's children fight amongst one another. I see it more and more in blogs...
We are in a battle that we know one day will end in Victory. We know because the scriptures tell us that (Revelation 20:1-15) It will come when Jesus returns and Satan is cast into the lake of fire.
We are going to find when we are walking stronger and stronger each day for Christ Satan will try everything to tempt us to fall. He doesn't want us sharing the gospel with the lost. He would rather the world see us sin, he would rather see us quarrel amongst one another so the lost do not see the unity that should be found amongst brothers and sisters. Satan does NOT want the true gospel to be spread so he uses false teachers and preachers to spread hearsay. (1 Chronicles 21:1; Zechariah 3:1-2).
Satan is so suttle, he is the great deceiver, Satan is an expert at falsifying truth (2 Corinthians 11:13-15). That is why reading and studying the word is SO important. That is why we put on the Armor of God, "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God" (Ephesians 6:13-17).
Verse Ephesians 12 tells us why.... For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high place. Satan will use anyone and anything to take us away from the Word, Satan is the father of lies and he is using many men and women behind the pulpit for his plan. God has given us the righteousness of Christ, imputed by God and received by faith, which guards our hearts against the accusations and charges of Satan, and secures our innermost being from his attacks.We are fitted with feet to walk the right path and to avoid being tempted.We have our shields, Hebrews 12:2 tells us it is like a golden shield, precious, solid, and substantial; and like a shield of mighty warriors, by which mighty things are done, and by which the believer not only repels, but conquers the enemy.WOW! We have our helmet, this a good description...The head of the soldier was among the principal parts to be defended, as on it the deadliest strokes might fall, and it is the head that commands the whole body. The head is the seat of the mind, which, when it has laid hold of the sure Gospel “hope” of eternal life, will not receive false doctrine, or give way to Satan’s temptations to despair. The unsaved person has no hope of warding off the blows of false doctrine because his mind is incapable of discerning between truth and falsehood. And finally the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God and we sure know how important this is to a believer. It is our livelihood, it is our guide as we live in this foreign land until we are called home and are present with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and we hear those words we have long to hear "Well done my good and faithful servant, Well done!" Servant of God, well done; well hast thou fought The better fight..
The same moment in which I close my eyes on a
world of sin and suffering, I open them in glory!
Just a note...if you have a problem with your brother or sister dealing with the lost or with sin in their lives, go to that brother and sister privately and not in front of the lost because the lost just love to see God's children fight amongst one another. I see it more and more in blogs...
*what I meant by doing it privately is when we are angry and instead of being nasty in front of the lost go to the brother and sister one on one , thank you Sarah
Cristina
Cristina
7 comments:
Very good post, Cristina, although Scripture gives examples that if someone is promoting untruths on their blog which is open to the public, they should be confronted openly so that other believers and the lost will know that we do not condone peace to the extent that we are willing to compromise truth. I think of Paul when he publicly confronted Peter or Jesus when He openly confronted the Pharisees. However, I agree that if a brother or sister is sinning privately then they should be confronted privately. It is a hard task to do as I don't think anyone likes confronting the brothers and sisters whose company and fellowship they've come to enjoy.
Cristina,
I was just over at Jungle Mom's site and read your comment on her post concerning Obama. Amen! It is such a comfort to know God is in control and that we should desire His will even when it goes against our wants! Really lines up with your previous post.
Hi Sarah,
Thank you for your comment, yes I agree with what you said..that if someone is promoting untruths on their blog which is open to the public, they should be confronted openly so that other believers and the lost will know that we do not condone peace to the extent that we are willing to compromise truth.
What I meant was when it is done in a nasty manner, thank you for the correction sis.
USA has an interesting election coming up...the options are slim.
Cristina
Cristina
Yeah, it's hard to vote for someone (for me it's McCain)you really don't want in office...the others are just out of the question all together. It's like voting for the lesser evil!
Cristina,
We are living in a time when Biblical truth is confronted by the post-moderns with a statement of, "well that is just your interpretation." The PC, tolerant, pluralistic thinking has no problem discounting any Scripture they do not like by simply re-interpreting it to suit their world-view.
The emergent Church is very open about their method of de-constructing Biblical doctrine and Scripture. Deconstructing the Bible means the same thing as the assertion that the constitution is a living and breathing document. In both cases it means ignore the true meaning and re-interpret it to mean whatever suits your liberal post-modern agenda.
Hi Jazz,
yes and it is getting worse and worse and more and more churches out there are following that path.
Cristina
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