Randy Green's Blog, page 466
September 19, 2012
Shields and Fire Extinguishers – Part 3
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 [Ephesians 6:16].
So there were the English foot soldiers on one end of the battlefield, and the Scots on the other. The calvary flanked the English foot soldiers, while the archers gathered behind them. Suddenly the flaming arrows were released from the bowstrings and the sky took on the appearance of huge fire flies in the night.
Without hesitation the Scots raised their shields above their heads, forming a solid canopy to shield the soldiers from the arrows. The assault of the English archers had been repelled by the shields of war in the hands of the Scot soldiers.
So is it with the Christian in repelling Satan’s assaults. We have this fine piece of armor given us by our Lord. It is called “the shield of faith”, and it functions in a most simplistic manner.
“Faith comes from hearing the Word of Christ” (cf., Romans 10:17). Faith is defined as taking the Lord at His Word and conducting ourselves accordingly. God speaks to the Christian by means of the Bible, as the Holy Spirit interprets it to him.
The Christian receives his marching orders and does what again? Maybe he goes to the movies and ignores his marching orders? Uh, I hope not! Oh, then perhaps he goes to prayer and argues with the Lord about it? That would be a “No!” The child of God responds to his marching orders by OBEYING his marching orders! That is known as faith in marching boots.
Let’s envision this battlefield where the Christian conducts spiritual warfare. On one end is Satan and his minions, on the other the Christian under the banner of the mighty Shekinah cloud of glory.
Satan’s archers are assembled behind his foot soldiers. Satan gives the order to draw the bowstrings. Every dirty demon with a bow responds in unison. Moments pass and Satan shouts, “Shoot!” Again each and every dirty demon lets go of his bowstring, and the flaming arrows fill the sky.
On the other end of the battlefield is the Christian. He stares across the field at all the “giants” in the land, at all the hoards of demon dogs assembled against him. On his end of the field he stands alone, like Elijah on Mt. Carmel against the 850 false prophets of Ahab and Jezebel.
Fortunate it is for this solitary Christian that the Lord is on his side. He need not fear. What can man—or demonic hosts—do to him? He looks up to see countless flames of fire zooming through the sky, making a beeline for his vital parts. There are countless different fires involved. Let’s enumerate some of them, shall we?
1. he had a wrong thought
2. he was less than enthused in serving his Lord
3. he failed to obey one of his Lord’s orders
4. he did something his Lord forbade him to do
5. he lied
6. he cursed
7. he lusted
Well, we could go on interminably, but seven is a good number for Bible purposes. So let us cease at seven types of flaming arrows which the evil one enjoys shooting at soldiers in the Lord’s army.
Not only will we cease at seven flaming arrows, but we will cease this study. The night is coming on. The shadows are lengthening. We must needs pitch our tents and have our quiet time with the Lord, before it gets any later. We will finish this topic in our next study.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
So there were the English foot soldiers on one end of the battlefield, and the Scots on the other. The calvary flanked the English foot soldiers, while the archers gathered behind them. Suddenly the flaming arrows were released from the bowstrings and the sky took on the appearance of huge fire flies in the night.
Without hesitation the Scots raised their shields above their heads, forming a solid canopy to shield the soldiers from the arrows. The assault of the English archers had been repelled by the shields of war in the hands of the Scot soldiers.
So is it with the Christian in repelling Satan’s assaults. We have this fine piece of armor given us by our Lord. It is called “the shield of faith”, and it functions in a most simplistic manner.
“Faith comes from hearing the Word of Christ” (cf., Romans 10:17). Faith is defined as taking the Lord at His Word and conducting ourselves accordingly. God speaks to the Christian by means of the Bible, as the Holy Spirit interprets it to him.
The Christian receives his marching orders and does what again? Maybe he goes to the movies and ignores his marching orders? Uh, I hope not! Oh, then perhaps he goes to prayer and argues with the Lord about it? That would be a “No!” The child of God responds to his marching orders by OBEYING his marching orders! That is known as faith in marching boots.
Let’s envision this battlefield where the Christian conducts spiritual warfare. On one end is Satan and his minions, on the other the Christian under the banner of the mighty Shekinah cloud of glory.
Satan’s archers are assembled behind his foot soldiers. Satan gives the order to draw the bowstrings. Every dirty demon with a bow responds in unison. Moments pass and Satan shouts, “Shoot!” Again each and every dirty demon lets go of his bowstring, and the flaming arrows fill the sky.
On the other end of the battlefield is the Christian. He stares across the field at all the “giants” in the land, at all the hoards of demon dogs assembled against him. On his end of the field he stands alone, like Elijah on Mt. Carmel against the 850 false prophets of Ahab and Jezebel.
Fortunate it is for this solitary Christian that the Lord is on his side. He need not fear. What can man—or demonic hosts—do to him? He looks up to see countless flames of fire zooming through the sky, making a beeline for his vital parts. There are countless different fires involved. Let’s enumerate some of them, shall we?
1. he had a wrong thought
2. he was less than enthused in serving his Lord
3. he failed to obey one of his Lord’s orders
4. he did something his Lord forbade him to do
5. he lied
6. he cursed
7. he lusted
Well, we could go on interminably, but seven is a good number for Bible purposes. So let us cease at seven types of flaming arrows which the evil one enjoys shooting at soldiers in the Lord’s army.
Not only will we cease at seven flaming arrows, but we will cease this study. The night is coming on. The shadows are lengthening. We must needs pitch our tents and have our quiet time with the Lord, before it gets any later. We will finish this topic in our next study.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
September 18, 2012
Shields and Fire Extinguishers – Part 2
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 [Ephesians 6:16].
In our last study we presented a brief synopsis of the movie “Braveheart”, starring Mel Gibson. We noted how the method of warfare back in the day, circa 1280 A.D., included flaming arrows and shields.
Now if you would, read the Bible verse once more. Does that not remind you of the military skirmish I just depicted from “Braveheart”? So you see why I was reminded of the movie, and why I shared this information with you.
The Apostle Paul employed the imagery of the Roman legionnaire in his armor, as he prepared to defend his beloved city of Rome or to conquer other lands for glory and honor. In doing so Paul followed the approach used throughout Scripture by the Holy Spirit. He employed visible physical realities to teach invisible spiritual truths.
The visible physical realities in Paul’s case were the Roman legionnaire and his pieces of armor. This also included the act of physical warfare. The invisible physical realities included spiritual warfare, and each piece of armor typified an aspect of invisible spiritual truth in conducting spiritual warfare.
We’ve already considered three of the pieces of armor and learned their spiritual counterpart. All of the armor together pointed to the Word of God as the Christian’s defense against the wiles of the devil. We cannot withstand the devil’s assaults, much less oppose him by open assault against his forces, apart from the Word of God.
The belt of truth was noted first. The Word of God is truth. It keeps the Christian from stumbling over his own feet. It removes the entanglements which lead us to fall.
The breastplate of righteousness was second. Our hearts can hold up against the devil’s assaults because we don’t stand on the basis of our own righteousness. We stand on the basis of being “the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus”. Satan can never penetrate that piece of armor.
The third piece of armor was known as the shoes of peace. Satan cannot cause us to doubt and faint, once we fasten our hearts and minds onto the fact that we have “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”. This leads us to enjoy “the peace of God which passes all understanding”. Satan simply loses every time.
Today’s Bible verse furnishes us with the fourth piece of armor for the Christian to put on, before he goes out to conduct spiritual warfare in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. This piece of armor is “the shield of faith”. We use it “to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one”.
This particular piece of armor is good stuff, dear friends. We will expatiate on it in our next study. Let’s visit the prayer closet at this time and converse with Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Categories: Church Age
In our last study we presented a brief synopsis of the movie “Braveheart”, starring Mel Gibson. We noted how the method of warfare back in the day, circa 1280 A.D., included flaming arrows and shields.
Now if you would, read the Bible verse once more. Does that not remind you of the military skirmish I just depicted from “Braveheart”? So you see why I was reminded of the movie, and why I shared this information with you.
The Apostle Paul employed the imagery of the Roman legionnaire in his armor, as he prepared to defend his beloved city of Rome or to conquer other lands for glory and honor. In doing so Paul followed the approach used throughout Scripture by the Holy Spirit. He employed visible physical realities to teach invisible spiritual truths.
The visible physical realities in Paul’s case were the Roman legionnaire and his pieces of armor. This also included the act of physical warfare. The invisible physical realities included spiritual warfare, and each piece of armor typified an aspect of invisible spiritual truth in conducting spiritual warfare.
We’ve already considered three of the pieces of armor and learned their spiritual counterpart. All of the armor together pointed to the Word of God as the Christian’s defense against the wiles of the devil. We cannot withstand the devil’s assaults, much less oppose him by open assault against his forces, apart from the Word of God.
The belt of truth was noted first. The Word of God is truth. It keeps the Christian from stumbling over his own feet. It removes the entanglements which lead us to fall.
The breastplate of righteousness was second. Our hearts can hold up against the devil’s assaults because we don’t stand on the basis of our own righteousness. We stand on the basis of being “the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus”. Satan can never penetrate that piece of armor.
The third piece of armor was known as the shoes of peace. Satan cannot cause us to doubt and faint, once we fasten our hearts and minds onto the fact that we have “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”. This leads us to enjoy “the peace of God which passes all understanding”. Satan simply loses every time.
Today’s Bible verse furnishes us with the fourth piece of armor for the Christian to put on, before he goes out to conduct spiritual warfare in the service of the Lord Jesus Christ. This piece of armor is “the shield of faith”. We use it “to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one”.
This particular piece of armor is good stuff, dear friends. We will expatiate on it in our next study. Let’s visit the prayer closet at this time and converse with Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Categories: Church Age
September 17, 2012
Shields and Fire Extinguishers – Part 1
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 [Ephesians 6:16].
In my humble opinion, one of the best historical movies of all time has to be Mel Gibson’s “Braveheart”. It doesn’t get any better than this. Gibson is astounding in his portrayal of the Scot William Wallace.
The timeline is the late 1200s A.D. in Scotland. England to the south is ruled by King Edward I. King Eddie marched into Scotland and conquered the land. He proceeded to dole out portions of the real estate to his nobles. That way they were obliged to him and he strengthened his hold on the throne.
A vulgar legal manipulation allowed for the English nobles in Scotland to violate the sanctity of the marriage bed, in direct violation of the Word of God. According to this law, any Scottish lass who got married in a noble’s domain belonged to the ruling noble on her wedding night. The noble was legally entitled to steal her virginity. Her husband was powerless to say no to the sordid ordeal.
Understandably, this didn’t sit too well with the Scottish folk. Some of the Scottish elders met in secret and decided that war with England was unavoidable. William Wallace was but a small boy at the time, so he didn’t participate. His father did though, and he and the entire family paid for it with their lives, William alone excepted.
When he grew up, William returned to his family property. He had been staying with relatives who raised him. At the family farm he met his childhood girlfriend, and soon they married. Alas, but the infamous sordid legal maneuver was set in motion by the reigning noble of the area, who insisted on having William Wallace’s bride for himself on the wedding night.
The village folk sided with William and attacked the noble’s compound. In the end William’s bride was killed and William became the military genius of a marauding guerrilla group of Scottish rebels. Whereas William covered his face with blue coloring and was highly successful against the English troops, he acquired the name “Braveheart”, an epithet endearing to the hearts of his fellow Scots who loved his sacrifice on their behalf.
I was reminded of this movie when I read the Bible verse for today. The warfare of that period employed flaming arrows and shields in the battle strategy. One scene in “Braveheart” had the opposing armies (English vs. Scots) on the open battlefield. The archers were behind the foot soldiers, who formed the vanguard.
To loosen up the opposing army and prepare the way for the foot soldiers, the archers shot their flaming arrows over the heads of the foot soldiers smack dab into the center of the opposing army. As a counter measure against these flaming arrows dropping from the sky onto their heads, the opposing army situated their shields above their heads like umbrellas.
We will continue with the Bible verse in our next study. For now we would be blessed to go to Jesus. He is calling us to come apart with Him for a while. See you on the morrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
In my humble opinion, one of the best historical movies of all time has to be Mel Gibson’s “Braveheart”. It doesn’t get any better than this. Gibson is astounding in his portrayal of the Scot William Wallace.
The timeline is the late 1200s A.D. in Scotland. England to the south is ruled by King Edward I. King Eddie marched into Scotland and conquered the land. He proceeded to dole out portions of the real estate to his nobles. That way they were obliged to him and he strengthened his hold on the throne.
A vulgar legal manipulation allowed for the English nobles in Scotland to violate the sanctity of the marriage bed, in direct violation of the Word of God. According to this law, any Scottish lass who got married in a noble’s domain belonged to the ruling noble on her wedding night. The noble was legally entitled to steal her virginity. Her husband was powerless to say no to the sordid ordeal.
Understandably, this didn’t sit too well with the Scottish folk. Some of the Scottish elders met in secret and decided that war with England was unavoidable. William Wallace was but a small boy at the time, so he didn’t participate. His father did though, and he and the entire family paid for it with their lives, William alone excepted.
When he grew up, William returned to his family property. He had been staying with relatives who raised him. At the family farm he met his childhood girlfriend, and soon they married. Alas, but the infamous sordid legal maneuver was set in motion by the reigning noble of the area, who insisted on having William Wallace’s bride for himself on the wedding night.
The village folk sided with William and attacked the noble’s compound. In the end William’s bride was killed and William became the military genius of a marauding guerrilla group of Scottish rebels. Whereas William covered his face with blue coloring and was highly successful against the English troops, he acquired the name “Braveheart”, an epithet endearing to the hearts of his fellow Scots who loved his sacrifice on their behalf.
I was reminded of this movie when I read the Bible verse for today. The warfare of that period employed flaming arrows and shields in the battle strategy. One scene in “Braveheart” had the opposing armies (English vs. Scots) on the open battlefield. The archers were behind the foot soldiers, who formed the vanguard.
To loosen up the opposing army and prepare the way for the foot soldiers, the archers shot their flaming arrows over the heads of the foot soldiers smack dab into the center of the opposing army. As a counter measure against these flaming arrows dropping from the sky onto their heads, the opposing army situated their shields above their heads like umbrellas.
We will continue with the Bible verse in our next study. For now we would be blessed to go to Jesus. He is calling us to come apart with Him for a while. See you on the morrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
September 16, 2012
War and Peace – Part 4
Stand firm therefore…having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace [Ephesians 6:14-15].
Jesus won the victory over the flesh, the world, and the devil. We are “in Christ”, so we too have won those selfsame victories. Isn’t that fantastic?
We have to remember that the battle is not ours to fight and win. The battle belongs to the Lord. We are not to live our own life. We are to be the Body of Christ on earth and allow Him to live His life in and through us. We are not out to accomplish our plans. We are servants of Christ, doing His work to accomplish His plan.
The Lord Jesus is the perfect military commander. He is the perfect master. He never sends any of His people into the world to do a job, without first equipping them to succeed in achieving His goals. He never dispatches any of His troops to the battlefield, without first furnishing them with the weaponry needed to succeed and obtain the victory.
The Lord displayed this truth to the Israelites in Egypt. He defeated Pharaoh and his armies on Israel’s behalf, forcing Pharaoh to surrender and release Israel from slavery to him. He defeated Pharaoh at the Red Sea, when he tried to force Israel back into slavery to Egypt.
The Lord went ahead of the Israelites into Canaan, defeating the inhabitants of that land for Israel. Israel wasn’t allowed to sit back and watch the action, mind you. They did have to go forth and fight. But the Lord went first and whupped the heathen folks. Israel simply had to obey the Word of God to them to follow behind Him and do mop up duty. In other words the Lord equipped the Israelites to accomplish the chore which He assigned to them.
Though the Israelites fought against physical troops and employed physical weapons, the war was first and foremost spiritual warfare. The Lord was in control. The battle belonged to the Lord. Israel’s part was to hear the Word of God to them, obey the Word of God to them, and win the victory which the Word of God guaranteed them. Voilà! spiritual warfare in a nutshell.
The same applies to us Christians today. No, we don’t conduct physical warfare against physical enemies by employing physical weapons. We aren’t out to inherit a physical country as the spoils of war. We are strangers and pilgrims on the earth, who desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.
But we do walk with the Lord in order to arrive at our heavenly country. And we can only do so on the basis of obedience to the Word of God. This journey is one of daily spiritual warfare. This warfare is conducted on the basis of the Word of God. It begins with grace through faith, and it ends with grace through faith. Everything in between is also grace through faith.
That is what we are learning by the individual pieces which comprise “the full armor of God”. Are you putting on each piece daily? Are you wearing “the shoes of the gospel of peace”? Praise the Lord for his armor. Let us go forth to war, being strong in the Lord and in the power of His might!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Jesus won the victory over the flesh, the world, and the devil. We are “in Christ”, so we too have won those selfsame victories. Isn’t that fantastic?
We have to remember that the battle is not ours to fight and win. The battle belongs to the Lord. We are not to live our own life. We are to be the Body of Christ on earth and allow Him to live His life in and through us. We are not out to accomplish our plans. We are servants of Christ, doing His work to accomplish His plan.
The Lord Jesus is the perfect military commander. He is the perfect master. He never sends any of His people into the world to do a job, without first equipping them to succeed in achieving His goals. He never dispatches any of His troops to the battlefield, without first furnishing them with the weaponry needed to succeed and obtain the victory.
The Lord displayed this truth to the Israelites in Egypt. He defeated Pharaoh and his armies on Israel’s behalf, forcing Pharaoh to surrender and release Israel from slavery to him. He defeated Pharaoh at the Red Sea, when he tried to force Israel back into slavery to Egypt.
The Lord went ahead of the Israelites into Canaan, defeating the inhabitants of that land for Israel. Israel wasn’t allowed to sit back and watch the action, mind you. They did have to go forth and fight. But the Lord went first and whupped the heathen folks. Israel simply had to obey the Word of God to them to follow behind Him and do mop up duty. In other words the Lord equipped the Israelites to accomplish the chore which He assigned to them.
Though the Israelites fought against physical troops and employed physical weapons, the war was first and foremost spiritual warfare. The Lord was in control. The battle belonged to the Lord. Israel’s part was to hear the Word of God to them, obey the Word of God to them, and win the victory which the Word of God guaranteed them. Voilà! spiritual warfare in a nutshell.
The same applies to us Christians today. No, we don’t conduct physical warfare against physical enemies by employing physical weapons. We aren’t out to inherit a physical country as the spoils of war. We are strangers and pilgrims on the earth, who desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.
But we do walk with the Lord in order to arrive at our heavenly country. And we can only do so on the basis of obedience to the Word of God. This journey is one of daily spiritual warfare. This warfare is conducted on the basis of the Word of God. It begins with grace through faith, and it ends with grace through faith. Everything in between is also grace through faith.
That is what we are learning by the individual pieces which comprise “the full armor of God”. Are you putting on each piece daily? Are you wearing “the shoes of the gospel of peace”? Praise the Lord for his armor. Let us go forth to war, being strong in the Lord and in the power of His might!
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
September 15, 2012
War and Peace – Part 3
Stand firm therefore…having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace [Ephesians 6:14-15].
We conduct spiritual warfare by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is God’s proclamation to sinful man that he cease from his hostilities against God, repent of his sins, and turn to God for forgiveness. In doing this the sinner renounces his sin of rebellion against God’s kingship, and he submits himself to God as His King. In this way the sinner becomes a saint, an adopted son of God in Christ Jesus.
This scenario is made possible by the death of Jesus on the cross. Jesus died our death, thus paying the penalty for our sins. He rose out of death without sin, thus providing us with a new, resurrection life without sin.
When the sinner believes this message of the Gospel and accepts God’s offer, he is no longer the old sinner at war with God. He becomes a saint, a new creation in Christ Jesus who is a part of God’s family. He isn’t at war with God any longer. He thenceforth has peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He can live in the peace of God thereafter. This is “the gospel of peace”.
In conducting spiritual warfare, this translates thusly. Satan accuses the saint of sinning, trying to evoke guilt feelings in the saint and drive him to hide from God. It worked in the garden of Eden when the man and woman sinned, didn’t it? Who’s to say it’s not a successful ploy still?
When we put on “the shoes of peace”, it amounts to proclaiming that we are in a state of peace with God because we are “in Christ”. Satan’s accusation dissipates into thin air by this revelation. We cannot exactly feel guilty and run away to hide from God, if we clearly know that we are at peace with God. Can we? Methinks not!
In case you haven’t noticed, as we’ve studied each piece in “the full armor of God”, we’ve basically been identifying different aspects of Christ Jesus’ Person and ministry. We’ve proclaimed the Gospel in its various aspects. The Gospel is the answer to any guile and bile which Satan employs against us.
We can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us, dear friends. We can overcome the world because Christ overcame the world and we are “in Christ”. We can rebuke the flesh because of Christ in us, the hope of glory, and He was victorious over the flesh. We can overcome the devil because we are “in Christ”. Didn’t He overcome the devil in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights?
Yes, Jesus sure did! Let’s go to Him now and congratulate Him on His sterling victory. We’ll finish our topic in the next study.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
We conduct spiritual warfare by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is God’s proclamation to sinful man that he cease from his hostilities against God, repent of his sins, and turn to God for forgiveness. In doing this the sinner renounces his sin of rebellion against God’s kingship, and he submits himself to God as His King. In this way the sinner becomes a saint, an adopted son of God in Christ Jesus.
This scenario is made possible by the death of Jesus on the cross. Jesus died our death, thus paying the penalty for our sins. He rose out of death without sin, thus providing us with a new, resurrection life without sin.
When the sinner believes this message of the Gospel and accepts God’s offer, he is no longer the old sinner at war with God. He becomes a saint, a new creation in Christ Jesus who is a part of God’s family. He isn’t at war with God any longer. He thenceforth has peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He can live in the peace of God thereafter. This is “the gospel of peace”.
In conducting spiritual warfare, this translates thusly. Satan accuses the saint of sinning, trying to evoke guilt feelings in the saint and drive him to hide from God. It worked in the garden of Eden when the man and woman sinned, didn’t it? Who’s to say it’s not a successful ploy still?
When we put on “the shoes of peace”, it amounts to proclaiming that we are in a state of peace with God because we are “in Christ”. Satan’s accusation dissipates into thin air by this revelation. We cannot exactly feel guilty and run away to hide from God, if we clearly know that we are at peace with God. Can we? Methinks not!
In case you haven’t noticed, as we’ve studied each piece in “the full armor of God”, we’ve basically been identifying different aspects of Christ Jesus’ Person and ministry. We’ve proclaimed the Gospel in its various aspects. The Gospel is the answer to any guile and bile which Satan employs against us.
We can do all things through Christ Who strengthens us, dear friends. We can overcome the world because Christ overcame the world and we are “in Christ”. We can rebuke the flesh because of Christ in us, the hope of glory, and He was victorious over the flesh. We can overcome the devil because we are “in Christ”. Didn’t He overcome the devil in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights?
Yes, Jesus sure did! Let’s go to Him now and congratulate Him on His sterling victory. We’ll finish our topic in the next study.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
War and Peace – Part 2
Stand firm therefore…having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace [Ephesians 6:14-15].
We are to conduct spiritual warfare and defeat the devil in his wiles. Symbolically, the Word of God keeps our feet unencumbered by the pitfalls and stumbling blocks of the flesh, the world, and the devil. God’s Word is like the belt which anchors the tunic away from the feet so we don’t stumble. God’s Word is “the belt of truth”.
The second piece of armor is “the breastplate of righteousness”. Man is his own strength cannot stand against the devil. We will fall for his guile in no time flat. The devil will remind us of whatever weakness and failing we have, which is as simple as pie for him.
Satan might point out the last time we sinned, and we will be speechless, unable to refute him because he would be right. Or Satan might butter us up about some supposed achievement we accomplished, should our weakness be pride. Our head will swell to the size of Rhode Island, and we will be defeated outright.
No man, including the Christian, is righteous in his own right. We all sin and we all fail. Ergo, we cannot confront Satan in our own righteousness. We need “the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus”, if we are to be victorious in spiritual warfare.
That is “the breastplate of righteousness”. As new creations in Christ Jesus, we don’t stand on our own righteousness. We stand on the Rock, Christ Jesus. We have His righteousness ascribed to us by God.
Satan can point the finger at the old sinner’s lack of righteousness until the cows come home. God isn’t impressed. His Son Jesus names us as His own, as having His righteousness. God declares us “Not guilty!” Satan goes away ashamed.
The third piece of armor for us to put on can be identified as “the shoes or sandals of peace”. And that identifies the “war and peace” we made note of earlier. On the one hand we are going forth to conduct spiritual warfare. On the other hand we are fitting our feet with the gospel of peace.
Isn’t that peculiar? Are we to conduct war or are we to hold peace talks? Which is it already! Well, it’s both. How’s that for decisiveness, huh?
Permit me to explain. When we conduct spiritual warfare, we don’t do so by pushing our own agenda. We serve the Lord Christ, not ourselves. We conduct spiritual warfare by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Ah oh. Just when we were getting to the nitty gritty, the sand in the clock has filled the bottom. Oh well. We’ll be able to roll the good things of today over our tongues a bit, as we sit at the feet of Jesus. Tomorrow we will continue down this trail.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
We are to conduct spiritual warfare and defeat the devil in his wiles. Symbolically, the Word of God keeps our feet unencumbered by the pitfalls and stumbling blocks of the flesh, the world, and the devil. God’s Word is like the belt which anchors the tunic away from the feet so we don’t stumble. God’s Word is “the belt of truth”.
The second piece of armor is “the breastplate of righteousness”. Man is his own strength cannot stand against the devil. We will fall for his guile in no time flat. The devil will remind us of whatever weakness and failing we have, which is as simple as pie for him.
Satan might point out the last time we sinned, and we will be speechless, unable to refute him because he would be right. Or Satan might butter us up about some supposed achievement we accomplished, should our weakness be pride. Our head will swell to the size of Rhode Island, and we will be defeated outright.
No man, including the Christian, is righteous in his own right. We all sin and we all fail. Ergo, we cannot confront Satan in our own righteousness. We need “the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus”, if we are to be victorious in spiritual warfare.
That is “the breastplate of righteousness”. As new creations in Christ Jesus, we don’t stand on our own righteousness. We stand on the Rock, Christ Jesus. We have His righteousness ascribed to us by God.
Satan can point the finger at the old sinner’s lack of righteousness until the cows come home. God isn’t impressed. His Son Jesus names us as His own, as having His righteousness. God declares us “Not guilty!” Satan goes away ashamed.
The third piece of armor for us to put on can be identified as “the shoes or sandals of peace”. And that identifies the “war and peace” we made note of earlier. On the one hand we are going forth to conduct spiritual warfare. On the other hand we are fitting our feet with the gospel of peace.
Isn’t that peculiar? Are we to conduct war or are we to hold peace talks? Which is it already! Well, it’s both. How’s that for decisiveness, huh?
Permit me to explain. When we conduct spiritual warfare, we don’t do so by pushing our own agenda. We serve the Lord Christ, not ourselves. We conduct spiritual warfare by proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Ah oh. Just when we were getting to the nitty gritty, the sand in the clock has filled the bottom. Oh well. We’ll be able to roll the good things of today over our tongues a bit, as we sit at the feet of Jesus. Tomorrow we will continue down this trail.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
September 13, 2012
War and Peace – Part 1
Stand firm therefore…having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace [Ephesians 6:14-15].
Leo Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” is acknowledged as one of the longest novels ever written. Its fame is not based on its length though. Tolstoy is a wonderful writer, who should be appreciated by readers until Jesus comes again.
His style is engaging, but his subject matter often makes the novel difficult for modern Americans to enjoy. We aren’t much given to reading today, what with TV and movies and PCs and smart phones and the internet all working in unison to steal our time from us. Reading has become a lost art, unless we buy into the synopsis alternative to the real thing.
Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” portrays Czarist Russia circa 1805, when the French invaded the land. It continues into the Napoleonic era and his invasion of Russia. The historical setting is not one with which many Americans are familiar. This makes his novel distant and irrelevant for many of us. I personally enjoyed the book quite a bit, though it did have the side effect of heavy lifting on the brain.
You might want to read Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”, if you haven’t already done so. It may afford you a blessing in the reading. But there is another “war and peace” for us to consider. This one will indubitably shower us with blessings. So we mustn’t skip it for any reason in the world!
In our last several studies we have descanted on the topic of spiritual warfare. In order to conduct spiritual warfare successfully, we must needs “put on the full armor of God”. We learned that already, as I am sure you recall.
The first piece of armor is “the belt of truth”. Jesus is the Truth, and the written Word of God is the truth.
In order to work or go to war, the folks of the ancient world needed to wear their belt or girdle or sash around their tunic. The tunic dragged along the feet and tripped them up, if they tried to work or fight a battle in it. They had to pull the tunic up away from the feet and tuck it into the belt, to keep it off the feet and out of the way. Then they could successfully work or fight the war.
Only by adhering to the Word of God can we Christians successfully conduct spiritual warfare and obtain the victory over the wicked one. The battle is not ours. The battle belongs to the Lord. The Word of God is the truth about who the devil is, what sin is, how to resist the devil on the spiritual plane, and important topics like that.
Now that is good stuff! I can’t wait to taste some more…but we’ll have to wait because our time is up for today. Let’s spend time with Jesus a while. We’ll meet back here tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Leo Tolstoy’s novel “War and Peace” is acknowledged as one of the longest novels ever written. Its fame is not based on its length though. Tolstoy is a wonderful writer, who should be appreciated by readers until Jesus comes again.
His style is engaging, but his subject matter often makes the novel difficult for modern Americans to enjoy. We aren’t much given to reading today, what with TV and movies and PCs and smart phones and the internet all working in unison to steal our time from us. Reading has become a lost art, unless we buy into the synopsis alternative to the real thing.
Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” portrays Czarist Russia circa 1805, when the French invaded the land. It continues into the Napoleonic era and his invasion of Russia. The historical setting is not one with which many Americans are familiar. This makes his novel distant and irrelevant for many of us. I personally enjoyed the book quite a bit, though it did have the side effect of heavy lifting on the brain.
You might want to read Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”, if you haven’t already done so. It may afford you a blessing in the reading. But there is another “war and peace” for us to consider. This one will indubitably shower us with blessings. So we mustn’t skip it for any reason in the world!
In our last several studies we have descanted on the topic of spiritual warfare. In order to conduct spiritual warfare successfully, we must needs “put on the full armor of God”. We learned that already, as I am sure you recall.
The first piece of armor is “the belt of truth”. Jesus is the Truth, and the written Word of God is the truth.
In order to work or go to war, the folks of the ancient world needed to wear their belt or girdle or sash around their tunic. The tunic dragged along the feet and tripped them up, if they tried to work or fight a battle in it. They had to pull the tunic up away from the feet and tuck it into the belt, to keep it off the feet and out of the way. Then they could successfully work or fight the war.
Only by adhering to the Word of God can we Christians successfully conduct spiritual warfare and obtain the victory over the wicked one. The battle is not ours. The battle belongs to the Lord. The Word of God is the truth about who the devil is, what sin is, how to resist the devil on the spiritual plane, and important topics like that.
Now that is good stuff! I can’t wait to taste some more…but we’ll have to wait because our time is up for today. Let’s spend time with Jesus a while. We’ll meet back here tomorrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
September 12, 2012
Don’t Give Your Heart Away – Part 4
Stand firm therefore…having put on the breastplate of righteousness [Ephesians 6:14].
Sinners sin and every human being is a sinner. So Satan never runs out of ammo to shoot us. He simply points to one or another of our sins and convicts us. The sinner responds by tucking his tail between the legs and crawling off to hide, defeated by Satan yet once again.
The Christian can do the same because he still does lose his temper or commit some other sin. Nothing difficult about doing that. After all, the old sinner still lurks inside, trying to have his way.
However, the new nature of the Holy Spirit also lives inside the Christian. He responds to Satan, “Get thee hence, Satan. For it is written, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved!’” When that happens, then it is Satan’s turn to slink off into the shadows to disappear, his face red as a beet. Sinners tend to do that, and Satan is the sinner par excellence.
The message for us to garner is this, my friends. We cannot combat the forces of darkness in our own strength, in our own righteousness. Only the righteousness of God can win out in such a campaign. Fortunate for us that we are the righteousness of God, huh? In Christ Jesus, that is.
So let us not be remiss in conducting spiritual warfare against the flesh and the world and the devil. But let us be sure we first don “the whole armor of God”, and that includes protecting our heart. We must needs depend on the Lord Jesus for the victory, not go to war in our own strength and righteousness. We must “put on the breastplate of righteousness”, which is the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. There are no chinks in that armor.
So we prepare for spiritual warfare by “girding our loins with truth”. The Word of God is truth, both the living Word, Jesus, and the written Word, the Bible. We remove the entanglements around our feet, which tend to trip us up and prevent our effective functioning. We pull them out of the way and tuck them into the belt around our waist.
The Word of God removes the obstacles from our feet, allowing us to walk in His ways and not stumble. By this manner we can be effectual soldiers in the army of Christ. He can use us to overcome His adversary, the devil.
We also don “the breastplate of righteousness”. When Satan attempts to force us into losing heart and surrendering, we cling to the Word of God and allow God to go to war against Satan instead of us.
We don’t fight Satan in our own righteousness. We fight him in “the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus”. We protect our heart with “the breastplate of righteousness”. The Lord provided it to us for that very purpose. As obedient soldiers in the army of Christ, we follow the orders given us from the “captain of the host of the Lord” (cf., Joshua 5:14). That would be the Lord Jesus.
So are you ready to march off to war now, Christian soldier? You are? That’s good. Oops! Not so fast! We still have several other pieces of armor to don before heading to Normandy. Normandy can wait, the pieces of armor cannot.
We’ll continue with the next piece of armor in tomorrow’s study. See you then. For now let us respond to Jesus’ invite. He wishes our company. Let’s not keep him waiting.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Sinners sin and every human being is a sinner. So Satan never runs out of ammo to shoot us. He simply points to one or another of our sins and convicts us. The sinner responds by tucking his tail between the legs and crawling off to hide, defeated by Satan yet once again.
The Christian can do the same because he still does lose his temper or commit some other sin. Nothing difficult about doing that. After all, the old sinner still lurks inside, trying to have his way.
However, the new nature of the Holy Spirit also lives inside the Christian. He responds to Satan, “Get thee hence, Satan. For it is written, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved!’” When that happens, then it is Satan’s turn to slink off into the shadows to disappear, his face red as a beet. Sinners tend to do that, and Satan is the sinner par excellence.
The message for us to garner is this, my friends. We cannot combat the forces of darkness in our own strength, in our own righteousness. Only the righteousness of God can win out in such a campaign. Fortunate for us that we are the righteousness of God, huh? In Christ Jesus, that is.
So let us not be remiss in conducting spiritual warfare against the flesh and the world and the devil. But let us be sure we first don “the whole armor of God”, and that includes protecting our heart. We must needs depend on the Lord Jesus for the victory, not go to war in our own strength and righteousness. We must “put on the breastplate of righteousness”, which is the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. There are no chinks in that armor.
So we prepare for spiritual warfare by “girding our loins with truth”. The Word of God is truth, both the living Word, Jesus, and the written Word, the Bible. We remove the entanglements around our feet, which tend to trip us up and prevent our effective functioning. We pull them out of the way and tuck them into the belt around our waist.
The Word of God removes the obstacles from our feet, allowing us to walk in His ways and not stumble. By this manner we can be effectual soldiers in the army of Christ. He can use us to overcome His adversary, the devil.
We also don “the breastplate of righteousness”. When Satan attempts to force us into losing heart and surrendering, we cling to the Word of God and allow God to go to war against Satan instead of us.
We don’t fight Satan in our own righteousness. We fight him in “the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus”. We protect our heart with “the breastplate of righteousness”. The Lord provided it to us for that very purpose. As obedient soldiers in the army of Christ, we follow the orders given us from the “captain of the host of the Lord” (cf., Joshua 5:14). That would be the Lord Jesus.
So are you ready to march off to war now, Christian soldier? You are? That’s good. Oops! Not so fast! We still have several other pieces of armor to don before heading to Normandy. Normandy can wait, the pieces of armor cannot.
We’ll continue with the next piece of armor in tomorrow’s study. See you then. For now let us respond to Jesus’ invite. He wishes our company. Let’s not keep him waiting.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
September 11, 2012
Don’t Give Your Heart Away – Part 3
Stand firm therefore…having put on the breastplate of righteousness [Ephesians 6:14].
The Word of God is like the hand of God, as it reaches out to us with His offer of salvation. Will our heart harden to His voice and reject the offer, indignant that He should think we need His handout? Or will our heart melt at the sound of His voice and go out to Him, giving itself away to the God of love?
This is where “the breastplate of righteousness” comes in, dear friends. The breastplate of the Roman legionnaire protected his heart. In Scripture the heart is indicative of our emotions, our love, what we desire and live for. Physically the heart is a vital organ. Life cannot exist without the heart.
Spiritually the heart is a vital organ as well. Spiritual life cannot exist, is not real, except the heart be given to the Lord. Otherwise we are simply being religious. We are only playing church. We are serving self and doing good deeds for our own fame. We are tooting our own horn and singing our own praises.
Anyone in such a condition is fair game for the devil. He savors these delicacies, loving ever finger-licking bite. They are defenseless against the wiles of the devil because man by himself hasn’t the power or the intellect to outdo or outwit Satan.
Only the child of God can have the victory against the evil one, and only when he bedecks himself in “the full armor of God” and betakes himself to spiritual warfare. Part of that armor is “the breastplate of righteousness”.
The Holy Spirit teaches us that the Christian is “the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus”. That, my friend, is “the breastplate of righteousness”. The natural man (i.e., the person who isn’t born again) only has his own righteousness. I am sure your experience confirms what mine does: there isn’t a man alive who is perfectly righteous, who has never done or thought or said anything wrong.
The child of God no longer has to depend on his own righteousness. Now he is the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Once we get this Biblical concept into our heads and move it down into our hearts, it transforms us radically.
The evil one comes up behind us and attempts to disillusion us, “Born again? Oh, really? Didn’t I just witness you losing your temper. Looks like the same old sinner to me!”
The natural man hasn’t any defense to this accusation. He did just lose his temper. He does look like the same old sinner because he is! What can he say except, “Guilty”? Then he slinks off into the shadows to disappear, his face red as a beet.
Hopefully none of us respond in such a fashion. We will pursue this matter some more in our next study. Let us stop now and pitch our tents and take our rest for the night. We still have time to enjoy Jesus before going to sleep.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
The Word of God is like the hand of God, as it reaches out to us with His offer of salvation. Will our heart harden to His voice and reject the offer, indignant that He should think we need His handout? Or will our heart melt at the sound of His voice and go out to Him, giving itself away to the God of love?
This is where “the breastplate of righteousness” comes in, dear friends. The breastplate of the Roman legionnaire protected his heart. In Scripture the heart is indicative of our emotions, our love, what we desire and live for. Physically the heart is a vital organ. Life cannot exist without the heart.
Spiritually the heart is a vital organ as well. Spiritual life cannot exist, is not real, except the heart be given to the Lord. Otherwise we are simply being religious. We are only playing church. We are serving self and doing good deeds for our own fame. We are tooting our own horn and singing our own praises.
Anyone in such a condition is fair game for the devil. He savors these delicacies, loving ever finger-licking bite. They are defenseless against the wiles of the devil because man by himself hasn’t the power or the intellect to outdo or outwit Satan.
Only the child of God can have the victory against the evil one, and only when he bedecks himself in “the full armor of God” and betakes himself to spiritual warfare. Part of that armor is “the breastplate of righteousness”.
The Holy Spirit teaches us that the Christian is “the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus”. That, my friend, is “the breastplate of righteousness”. The natural man (i.e., the person who isn’t born again) only has his own righteousness. I am sure your experience confirms what mine does: there isn’t a man alive who is perfectly righteous, who has never done or thought or said anything wrong.
The child of God no longer has to depend on his own righteousness. Now he is the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Once we get this Biblical concept into our heads and move it down into our hearts, it transforms us radically.
The evil one comes up behind us and attempts to disillusion us, “Born again? Oh, really? Didn’t I just witness you losing your temper. Looks like the same old sinner to me!”
The natural man hasn’t any defense to this accusation. He did just lose his temper. He does look like the same old sinner because he is! What can he say except, “Guilty”? Then he slinks off into the shadows to disappear, his face red as a beet.
Hopefully none of us respond in such a fashion. We will pursue this matter some more in our next study. Let us stop now and pitch our tents and take our rest for the night. We still have time to enjoy Jesus before going to sleep.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
September 10, 2012
Don’t Give Your Heart Away – Part 2
Stand firm therefore…having put on the breastplate of righteousness [Ephesians 6:14].
Contemporary USA mocks the Bible as being old-fashioned and consisting of fairy tales. This same USA brags about how modern it is, all the while being bed fellows with ancient paganism! Have you ever heard the pejorative “sucker”?
Well, we better get used to it, for we have been duped by the evil one yet once again. The facticity and sense of the Bible is replaced in our country by the stuff and nonsense of ancient paganism, and we are proud of it! We are “modern”, fresh, new…or so we believe.
Truth be told, our thinking is as old as dirt, as old as the Garden of Eden, as old as Methuselah. Baal worship has nothing on us. Just visit your local abortion clinic and see firsthand. Want to know what the Asherah pole was? Ask a porno flick connoisseur. He can tell you.
What has all this to do with our Bible verse? I’ll bet you’re wondering that, aren’t you? Oh, yes you are. I saw you wondering it! You can’t hide it from me. Well, let’s consider how the two are related.
The state of our country today reveals our heart condition. Our hearts have been stolen by the wicked one, aka Satan or the devil or Lucifer. Nay, but rather we have given our hearts away, like some love-sick puppy dog who just entered puberty.
When we prefer to watch Star Wars and fantasize about it until it forms our mindset, what have we done if not set our heart on the things of the earth? All along we should bury our head in the Book and allow it to transform us by the renewing of the mind. We don’t follow the Lord. We follow old Lucifer.
I know, no one confesses, “I follow Lucifer!” But a rose is a rose. By any other name… We are on a perpetual safari to find something novel, something extraordinary, something to tickle the fancy. Ma & Pa’s Bible is just some more of the same old same old. Who wants that? So we make fun of it and believe we have discredited it thereby.
Too bad for us, but the Bible won’t go off on its own somewhere and die. The grass withers, the flowers fade; but the Word of our God stands forever. God demands that we reckon with Him. We cannot avoid Him. Our hearts will perforce either harden against Him, in which case we become card-carrying members of the Star Wars Reality Club. Or else our hearts melt at His presence, and we give our hearts to Jesus.
Which will it be for me? Which for you? Let’s sit at the feet of Jesus a while and ponder this issue.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Contemporary USA mocks the Bible as being old-fashioned and consisting of fairy tales. This same USA brags about how modern it is, all the while being bed fellows with ancient paganism! Have you ever heard the pejorative “sucker”?
Well, we better get used to it, for we have been duped by the evil one yet once again. The facticity and sense of the Bible is replaced in our country by the stuff and nonsense of ancient paganism, and we are proud of it! We are “modern”, fresh, new…or so we believe.
Truth be told, our thinking is as old as dirt, as old as the Garden of Eden, as old as Methuselah. Baal worship has nothing on us. Just visit your local abortion clinic and see firsthand. Want to know what the Asherah pole was? Ask a porno flick connoisseur. He can tell you.
What has all this to do with our Bible verse? I’ll bet you’re wondering that, aren’t you? Oh, yes you are. I saw you wondering it! You can’t hide it from me. Well, let’s consider how the two are related.
The state of our country today reveals our heart condition. Our hearts have been stolen by the wicked one, aka Satan or the devil or Lucifer. Nay, but rather we have given our hearts away, like some love-sick puppy dog who just entered puberty.
When we prefer to watch Star Wars and fantasize about it until it forms our mindset, what have we done if not set our heart on the things of the earth? All along we should bury our head in the Book and allow it to transform us by the renewing of the mind. We don’t follow the Lord. We follow old Lucifer.
I know, no one confesses, “I follow Lucifer!” But a rose is a rose. By any other name… We are on a perpetual safari to find something novel, something extraordinary, something to tickle the fancy. Ma & Pa’s Bible is just some more of the same old same old. Who wants that? So we make fun of it and believe we have discredited it thereby.
Too bad for us, but the Bible won’t go off on its own somewhere and die. The grass withers, the flowers fade; but the Word of our God stands forever. God demands that we reckon with Him. We cannot avoid Him. Our hearts will perforce either harden against Him, in which case we become card-carrying members of the Star Wars Reality Club. Or else our hearts melt at His presence, and we give our hearts to Jesus.
Which will it be for me? Which for you? Let’s sit at the feet of Jesus a while and ponder this issue.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Joshua: Volume 6 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
