by David Brenneman
"Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love." 1 Corinthians 16:13-14.
"But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil." Matthew 5:37.
"But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment." James 5:12.
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints," Ephesians 6:10-18.
Some say the biggest, most dangerous word in the English language is "if".
Upon looking at these passages this morning...I would probably lean towards a phrase "that should be okay" or "I think that's good enough".
We set ourselves up for compromising without really realizing that we are!
To keep thinking of what the whole armor of God means...put that with what is written of our battles we are in are not against flesh and blood. But rather are against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places and here on Earth. That to stand firm is to form a battle line and to advance only for the cause of Christ.
Part of my thinking on this comes from Dr. David Jeremiah in the devotional that I am reading through. We cannot afford to live a life not in prayer daily, if not dozens or possibly hundreds of times a day with our Helper, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus Christ.
I look back over even the last 24 hours. How many decisions did I make that would have been better had they been with me consulting God in prayer?
The truth of the Scriptures is this war we are in takes no vacations.
We are told to be on guard for our hearts...all the time.
We are to set our minds on the things that are above and not on the things that are of this world.
We are to pray without ceasing. Gee see the connections?
We think this isn't so bad or that isn't so bad but what does the Bible really say about them?
No you probably won't be popular among men and women. Quite frankly you do not answer to anyone on this Earth if you are saved in Christ Jesus. You answer to God in Christ Jesus first and foremost. You won't be standing in front of a jury of your peers after you die.
Justifiable hatred is rampant in our world. Christians run right along with the world in this. Thinking it's a way to win people for Christ.
Laws are written and Christians roll over and just go along with it rather than to fight the good fight. Was reminded of various Christians in the news of the past several years who went through the fires and God stood by them. All because of their faith.
Jesus is absolutely not going to compromise with anyone during the 7 year Great Tribulation. Jesus is absolutely not going to compromise during His thousand year reign on Earth.
Do you even get concerned that your choices and decisions are tarnishing the Great Name of Jesus Christ? That your choices are delaying someone coming to Christ because they see you as no different than the sinners in need of a Savior as you are also proclaiming?
It's taken me years to become more self aware of how I might be tarnishing the name of Jesus in how I live my life. I stopped associating with sports because quite frankly it made me a seriously bad example of a Christ-follower.
I had to take a really hard look at the music that I am listening to. Was it helping or hindering my walk with Jesus? Was it telling others that I am a Christian or telling them that it doesn't matter?
Take some time to evaluate your life in Christ...are you pointing people to Jesus or are you looking no different than the fallen world you live in?
Does it really matter to you what Jesus, your personal Lord and Savior, is going to say to you some day about how you lived for Him?
No you won't be popular with the world...and that's all good. Drowning people don't want their potential rescuers drowning with them. Jesus reached into our lives to pull us out of the water we were drowning in. Go and do likewise.
All NASB 1995 and NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission. (C) Lockman Foundation.
No comments:
Post a Comment