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Are we at war? Is he being too dramatic?
John Eldredge makes a great point. We are at war. We need to be careful how we live. We need to watch our step. These are, in fact, desperate times.
Great news. Jesus has won the battle. God is in an amazing mood and can protect us. That doesn’t mean we don’t have to do battle though.
Again, this is exactly what the Scriptures have been trying to wake us up to for years.
“Wake up, O sleeper . . . Be very careful, then, how you live . . . because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:14–16).
Or as The Message has it: “So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!”
Christianity isn’t a religion about going to Sunday school, potluck suppers, being nice, holding car washes, sending our secondhand clothes off to Mexico. This is a world at war. Something large and immensely dangerous is unfolding all around us, we are caught up in it, and above all we doubt we have been given a key role to play. Do you think I’m being too dramatic?”
~~John Eldredge
Related articles
- Betrayal and Mutiny (hiking2christ.org)
- Life (hiking2christ.org)
- How To Win The War For Your Mind (genomega1.wordpress.com)
“On your way! But be careful—this is hazardous work. You’re like lambs in a wolf pack.” ~~Jesus
Jesus sends us out into the world to do God’s work. He knows it isn’t easy. In fact, it is hazardous. We are pure in Him, like lambs. Where God sends us is full of wolves.
No matter though. He has equipped us with His Holy Spirit. We are victorious in Him. But we need to be careful none the less.
We need to be knowledgeable about what can happen. We need to protect ourselves in the word of God. We need to be full of God’s Holy Spirit. We should not pretend Satan isn’t evil and wants to destroy us.
“On your way! But be careful—this is hazardous work. You’re like lambs in a wolf pack.” ~~Jesus (Luke 10:3 The Message)
What will I lack?
We are asked to stand in awe of our mighty God. He is God. And there is a promise. If we do, we will lack nothing. Now this also requires that we go after Him. He is available to us but we have to go after Him. No sitting around and waiting. Jesus would go off and spend time by himself hearing and seeing what His Father was up to. Hearing and seeing what God wanted to happen.
We can also be taught how to stand in awe of Him. There are those people of God around us that have insight for us. They have prophetic words for us. They have words of wisdom for us. They see the way and can guide us
We need to tell the truth about God and His ways. Opportunities abound. The harvest of souls is ready. The worst lie is the unspoken truth about God being God, good and great. Opportunities abound!!!
Fear the LORD, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD. Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. Psalm 34:9-14
Related articles
- I Didn’t Do It Because I Feared God (scripturenuggets.wordpress.com)
- What Happened to Fearing God??? (standupstandfirm.wordpress.com)
- Pursue Fear? (gracesatisfies.wordpress.com)
- Gifts of God Within You (todaysfreshmanna.wordpress.com)
- Act With Integrity (loopyloo305.com)
“There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us.” ~~Martin Luther King, Jr.
Can I get out of my coffin?
I need to wake up from my sleep. I need to get up out of my coffin. Jesus is showing me the way. He is shining His light on me. I need to watch my step. I need to use my head. I need to think and not live carelessly. I need to understand what Jesus wants me to do.
May I understand what Jesus wants me to do. May I know it deep in my heart. May I not only know but also do it, demonstrating my obedience.
This is why it is said: Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. –Ephesians 5: 14-20
Run after peace for all I am worth
I should go all out for it. Pursue it no matter what. Peace is from Him but I have to go for it. Don’t say things that hurt others. Cultivate the good in others. Go after the good. Ignore the evil. God approves this and listens to me in this context.
May I cultivate the good. May I go for peace no matter what. May my day fill up with good.
Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, here’s what you do:
Say nothing evil or hurtful;
Snub evil and cultivate good;
run after peace for all you’re worth.
God looks on all this with approval,
listening and responding well to what he’s asked;
But he turns his back on those who do evil things.1 Peter 3:8-12
Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise
My dad had a saying that summed this up pretty good. “Good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise”. That is what God wants and there is a lot out of our control. This is a hard to get some days. It takes faith and supernatural courage. It is all about what God wants and not what we plan.
Now I love to plan and I love to be spontaneous. But either way, I don’t know what our Master has in mind for tomorrow. He taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread”. I can know what he wants me to do right now. Tomorrow is a whole different story.
So what James has to say is radical. Jesus was radical and James knew it first hand from him. Do I know what to do? Do I do it? If not, why not?
May I be thankful for today’s bread! May I press in to know Him better.
And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, ‘Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.’ You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, ‘If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.’ As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil. In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil. James 4
Panic is greed's cousin
Panic over money is greed’s cousin. Am I content with what I have? Do I have enough to eat and clothes? Is there a good roof over my head? When I panic over something I have lost, I have stared greed in the face. Panic shows that I am not content with what I have.
Godliness is the mission. All else pales in comparison. What will I leave this world with? Not money. Only my love of God matters.
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 1 Timothy 6:6-10
May I love God and be content.
The Law
“The Law is that word by which God teaches what we shall do, as for instance, the Ten Commandments. Now, if human nature is not aided by God’s grace, it is impossible to keep the law, for the reason that man since the fall of Adam in Paradise is depraved and full of sinful desires, so that he cannot from his heart’s desire find pleasure in the law, which fact we all experience in ourselves. For no one lives who does not prefer that there were no law, and everyone feels and knows in himself that it is difficult to lead a pious life and do good, and, on the other hand, that it is easy to lead a wicked life and to do evil. But this difficulty or unwillingness to do the good is the reason we do not keep the Law of God. For whatever is done with aversion and unwillingness is considered by God as not done at all. Thus the Law of God convicts us, even by our own experience, that by nature we are evil, disobedient, lovers of sin, and hostile to God’s laws.” —Martin Luther, sermon on Matthew 11:2-10, #19
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