Ready for Battle with Satan?

Ephesians 6:12 (ESV)
¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

It sounds too much like the boogie man when we speak of evil spirits or demons or the activity of Satan. Many believers choose to avoid thinking like this. They want everything to have a psychological or circumstantial reason. They like to think of sin as a human flaw rather than a spiritual cooperation with an evil force. They speak of Satan as if he is detached from things. They look at his actions as mere consequences of the Fall. In other words, they think sin entered into humanity through the sin of Adam and Eve but they do not see Satan as actively working to entice sin in the world today.

Surely, there are those who bring spiritual warfare to ridiculous levels. They think of demons hanging around certain objects which were used in sinful activity. These demons are like ghosts who haunt a certain object or place. These demons won't affect you as long as you stay away. This is the stuff for Hollywood movies but not for true spiritual warfare.

Satan opposes the work of God. He opposes God's creation. He opposes life itself. He opposes godly worship. He opposes prayer, witnessing and following God in faith. He is constantly active to see that all that God loves is destroyed. He stands continually asking for permission to attack God's creation. He sends his demons to do as much as they are allowed.

Yet, Christians for the most part spend very little time in prayer. They do not see recognize Satan's attacks. They do not put on the full armor of God. So, Satan attacks them where they are vulnerable. He attacks the truth, righteousness, the gospel and even the salvation of the believers. He keeps them so concerned about the world that they spend no time in the Word of God. Turning to God's Word each day would have him running for this is the sword placed in the believers' hands to attack him.

Therefore, Satan continues to attack churches and believers because he is largely unopposed. The leaders of a church see decisions as political rather than spiritual. They work on procedures for business meetings rather than prayer for God's will. They get support from others to do what they want. They speak badly of each other and do not recognize their own participation with evil when they poison the spirit of the church.

Many believers think of prayer as a sideline activity. They believe the decisions to build a new building or to launch a new program are the activities on the field. They see prayer like cheers which encourage the team. They don't know that prayer is where the battles are fought. 

The same is true of a daily quiet time. The Word placed in their hearts each morning give them a weapon to attack what they will face during the day. The Bible says that resisting Satan will cause him to flee from us. How are we going to oppose him without God's Word? This is the very means Jesus opposed him. Yet, for some reason we want to make our battle with Satan hand-to-hand rather than have a sword.

So, put on your full armor. Satan has come to oppose you today. You had better be ready.

The Peace of Pleasing God

Hebrews 11:6 (ESV) ⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

I keep returning to this scripture.  I return to it because of the clarity it brings in my walk with God.

Typically I go through a crisis before I seek God. I wish that wasn't true but I do not normally act on faith without being forced. There is a need to end the crisis. It may be the lack of money or an illness of someone. It may be a struggle in a relationship with someone. It may be that people oppose what I believe God wants to do.. Each of these become crises for me. They force me to seek Him. They lead me to a deeper faith as I walk closer to Him. Ultimately I rest in His solution.

I really don't like walking in faith. I suppose my own selfish ideal life would have no crises. I would win the lottery, have my children live in one big house. We would go to church together every Sunday and give out of our abundance without ever making a sacrifice. None of us would ever get sick. None of us would ever take on a task which really required faith. Of course, this would make my life and talk of faith meaningless. It would never please God.

Sometimes it is hard to understand faith. Why doesn't God simply give those who say they love Him everything that they will ever want without requiring them to believe? Wouldn't He get a whole lot more followers that way? Isn't that what He really wants?

Of course not. God isn't looking for people who follow and believe in Him because of what He can do for them. He is seeking people who will act on what they cannot see. He wants those who are truly walking with Him rather than treating Him like a vending machine. Walking with someone means that you have to adjust your steps to match. It means you may have to speed up or slow down. God simply wants us to match our steps with His. This is faith.

Sometimes I look at others and point out their lack of faith to God. I am like Peter asking about John. He said, "What about this man?" (John 21:21-22) I don't know what Peter was really asking about but that doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what others do. Jesus commands me to follow Him. I am to do what He asks even if no other human being is obedient.

The result is pleasing God. This is where peace resides.

Struggling with a Sovereign God

Romans 9:14-18 (ESV)
¹⁴ What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

People want to create a God in their own image. They want Him to follow their system of right and wrong. They look at Him as if He is a man who does not know what will happen and can't do anything about it. They want Him to always be there in the good times but somehow become mysteriously absent when things go badly. They speak of God as if He has a split personality.

The concept of a sovereign God who knows all things is acknowledged but not understood. His absolute authority over all things is also acknowledged but not fully applied. Thus, the Christians claim that God has nothing to do with bad things and is fully engaged in the good. He is in power when good things happen but has no power over the bad things.

Let's face it: we are human and cannot limit God to our abilities. We can neither limit Him to our knowledge or our ability to affect our environment. Much of what happens to us comes beyond our power and without our knowledge. This is not true of God.

God is aware of every tragedy before it occurs. He could stop every evil. Yet, He doesn't do so. He knows why but we are left without that knowledge. Thus, many people try to judge God from what they can see. They lack the full knowledge of everything and have a limited ability to make any evaluation of what has been permitted.

So, many preachers tell stories which cannot connect the dots. They speak of God as if He isn't aware of what is going on. He is like those who believe erroneous stories from their emails. Therefore, He believes the stories but doesn't really know what is going on. He acts but only from the limitations put upon Him. These preachers tell stories that are convenient to their messages but do not present an all-powerful, omnipresent, omniscient, benevolent God. 

This is not how the Bible describes God. He is always loving but some of the things He permits show no love. He gives permission for Satan to hurt Job and sift Peter like wheat. He is attributed to an evil spirit coming upon Saul. These things make no sense to those who want God to pass a human ethics test.  So, they make Him unaware of the bad things and absent in the tragedies. Then, they call upon Him in prayer as if He is fully aware of all situations and able to solve all problems. 

For some reason we just can't understand why we can't understand God. We don't understand why we can't understand an infinite God with a finite mind. We search for a reason in everything that happens. We come to conclusions which may not be true but satisfy most people.

Yet, sometimes we just don't know why things happen. We don't know why God allowed Adam and Eve to sin. Why did He allow Cain to kill Able? Why didn't He stop David from sinning with Bathsheba? Why didn't He stop Herod from ordering the murder of the babies two years and younger in Bethlehem?

Sure, some stories make sense. Joseph was sold into slavery so that he would precede his family to Egypt and ultimately save them. We get this one but most of the time we don't have enough information to fully understand what God is up to.

Why can't we simply say, "I just don't know why God allowed this?" Many times this is the best answer.

We should not pick and choose when God is sovereign. We should not diminish His power or His knowledge. We must say that we know He is good and will take care of the innocent though taking care of them ultimately may not be caring for them on earth. Sometimes He takes them home with Him when we say they should have had more time on earth.

Thus, I have to come to these conclusions: I am not God. I do not have the right to judge God. He does not need my permission to do anything. I do not have to understand everything He does. I simply trust that everything that happens comes within His permission. And yet His love never fails.

So, I pray to an all-mighty, omniscient, omnipresent benevolent God. . . or I wouldn't  pray at all.

Distracted from What You Know Is Right

In May of last year I dropped Directv. I had been a customer for seventeen years. I decided that it was time to cut the cord. They made it very easy. I have had no regrets.

My television had become something that I could mindlessly watch. I didn't have to see the things I really should be doing. Sometimes I didn't even pat attention to what I was watching. Someone said that more calories are burned while sleeping than while watching tv. I believe it.

Watching tv had become a distraction which invited evil into my home. I had gotten used to the language, the sexual immorality and graphic violence. I didn't subscribe to any pay-extra-for-sin channels but even regular cable is very edgy.

It is easy to be distracted by sin when you aren't doing what you are supposed to be doing. I still watch tv but I choose what I watch. I no longer spend an hour channel surfing until I land on something I shouldn't be watching. This has significantly changed my spiritual life. Even my congregation says my preaching has improved.

It is so easy to be distracted from what you know is right. It can be as easy as being in the wrong place. It is as easy as having an opportunity to sin. It is as easy as saying that no one will ever know. It is full of regrets for nothing can be undone. There is forgiveness but the past remains.

I have never gotten on a pornography website. I get plenty of offers. My emails are full of enticing messages but I delete anything that looks like it might contain material I don't need to see. I can't take the chance of going to one of them ever. I just might linger a moment too long. I just might be distracted from what I know is right.

I used to get these emails which would rate movies. It would say the scenes it contained, the words it said and the attacks on my faith it contained. I always wondered how those sending the emails could know this unless they watched the movies themselves. I was raised on a farm. I never had to stick my hands in the pig sty to find out what was mixed in the mud. I really don't know why I need the detail. The theaters have exits and the dvd players have stop buttons. You simply have to leave when you smell something bad.

Television and movies are simply two of the things which can distract us from what is right. It is hard to walk past the magazine stands at the grocery stores without seeing something that begs you to be distracted from what is right.

Now, I realize that I am a pastor and should be acutely aware of these distractions. What happens to the whose culture continues to approve things which are wrong. They are threatened with ostrasization if they don't join in. Imagine if there is no one at home after school. The distractions don't stop.

Lots of Christians try to live their lives as if they are on a diet but eat every day at Golden Corral. The food is right there and paid for. Most people will never lose any weight on this meal plan. They have to eliminate distractions by focusing on what is right. They have to bring their meals with them rather than eat out. They have to plan their meals rather than eat randomly.

So, the Christian must plan each day so that it will not give an opportunity for distractions from what is right. Think about it. David would never have committed adultery with Bathsheba if he had gone to war like he should. He was in the wrong place when he walked on his roof. The palace had gotten hot from the day. The roof was much cooler. From there he saw a woman taking a bath on her roof. It was a hot day. The roof was much cooler. No one would see her- except for the king.

And thus David was distracted from what he knew was right and did what he knew was wrong.

We aren't any better than David.

2 Samuel 11:1-5 (ESV) ¹ In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. ² It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. ³ And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” ⁴ So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. ( Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. ⁵ And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.” 

Full of Grace and Full of Truth

Many Christians seek a place of peace when confronted with conflict. Following the culture eliminates most conflicts. Thus, they will stand hard on righteousness when they are surrounded by people who are hard on righteousness or they will stand hard on grace if they are surrounded by those who are hard on grace. They do not understand that the true Christian life is always a tension.
It is both full of grace and full of truth. It isn't a compromise but it isn't always peaceful either.

Righteousness and mercy will always be in tension with one another. Trying to stand on one of these without being fully engaged in the other is merely running from the conflict.

The first time I had to fire someone from a job I said this prayer, "Lord, I believe this is something that I must do. I ask you to help me remember the pain it is causing me. I don't ever want to enjoy this. I don't ever want to brag about how I did this. Please let this be as hard for me as it is this time. Amen." I continue to say that prayer when I have to fire someone. I try to take every other step to avoid the firing.  Praise God, it still hurts!

This tension should always be present when we confront sin. We should be full of grace and full of truth. Sometimes this is painful. It should be.

I have had the story of the woman caught in adultery cited several times when I have had to confront sinfulness. Unfortunately, the person I have confronted usually tells only part of the story. They do not tell how I prayed with them or how I  told them of God's love and how I asked if I could help them. They generally tell a story that paints me as a Pharisee (or even Judas). Therefore, the people who confront me about it think they are rectifying a wrong. These confronters have run to the safe place of grace. They consider grace to have more righteousness than truth.

Yet Jesus was full of truth and grace when He dealt with this woman and her accusers. He addresses them in their own tradition. The culture defined adultery as sexual relations between a married woman and someone who was not her husband. Those who knew this was happening and did not warn the person were considered to be as guilty as the one who committed the sin.

So, Jesus said that the one without sin should throw the first stone. He confronted these people who had caught this woman in the "very act" as those who had not warned her. They were guilty of the sin themselves. This wasn't a statement of having no sin at all. If this was the case, we could  never convict anyone of any crime at any time. Jesus was addressing them in their own participation of this sin.

But Jesus did not let the woman go either. He called what she had done sin. He told her not to do it anymore.

What was a woman to do who had been dragged out publically for adultery. Her husband would very likely divorce her immediately. What would be her profession if she was put out on the street? Jesus made that very hard, didn't He? She couldn't sin like this any more.

So, He stood full of truth as He confronted the sins of the accusers and of the woman. And He stood full of grace when He confronted the cold, accusing crowd who saw this woman as nothing more than a means of attacking Him.

We simply cannot hide on one side of the equation. There is always a tension in the Christian life.

John 1:14 (ESV) ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

When You Just Can't Love Someone

Each of us knows someone who is hard to love. It may be that this person hurt you. It may be that they continue to abuse you verbally. It may be that you are struggling to forgive him for something that was done because the hurt was so bad. In fact, it was so bad that is still hurts.

But God doesn't give us a pass on loving this person simply because he or she is so hard to love. This is the very person who may define that you really know God.

Jesus said that it is no big deal to love those who love you.

Matthew 5:46 (ESV) ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

John said that our love for others is a necessary element of our salvation.

1 John 4:7 (ESV) ⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

Paul said that all the commandments are summarized in loving others.

Romans 13:10 (ESV) ¹⁰ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

There are many other passages that speak of love but it is clear that love is necessary if we know Jesus as Savior. It is the means others know we are His disciples. It is the identifying trait of every believer.

So, what do you do when you can't love someone. I use the word "can't" because it feels that way. The effort you put into it is extinguished when the person continues to hurt ot annoy you. You pick yourself up again, commit yourself to loving this person and find yourself wishing that God would take them out of the world before long because you simply cannot love even though you know love is required.

I am no advocate of abuse. I don't believe you must put yourself in an abusive situation in order to prove your love. Some love must be exercised at a distance. In other words, I would not recommend that a woman stay in the home with a husband who continues to physically abuse her. I would tell her that she must love him.

Loving some people takes a strength that is not native to our humanity. All that exists in our humanity demands revenge. We want to have our day of triumph over this person. We want to see them suffer as they have made us suffer. This is natural. God did not ask us to be natural.

Loving some people requires that we abandon ourselves to the One who inhabits the Christian. We must take on the character of God as He did in sending Jesus into the world. We must love some people even when they are opposed to us.

Romans 5:8 (ESV) ⁸ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Please realize: You are not asking for an ability. You are asking for a miracle. The presence of Christ must be so strongly in you that you take on His character of love. Remember how far He took this love.

So, maybe you can't love some people. That's okay. He, therefore, must love them through you. He must make that change in you so that love exists where it shouldn't exist.

Loving some people is the evidence of a crucified life. It is not only turning over a difficult relationship to the Lord, but turning over everything to the Lord. It is truly saying that you can't but He can.

Galatians 2:20 (ESV) ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

The hardest part of this is not loving the person who is hard to love. It is realizing that tomorrow you pick up the cross that will result in your crucifixion and live the crucified life again. This is never completed while we exist on this earth. We are continually being worked on by Him. We are continually having to recognize our weaknesses and being crucified to ourselves.

Some difficult people are impossible for us to love on our own. We must fully know what it is to say, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

Some people think that their testimony comes from the great steps of faith they have taken. They think it comes from seeing God provide a truck load of money or heal someone who is terminally ill. That is simply not the means of identification that Jesus gave for those who are His.

He said we must love. . . especially those who are hard to love.

Investments Which Are Out of This World

The churches I have served have set up a retirement account for me. I have no idea what to do with it. I don't know whether to put it in a volatile stock market or put it in a safe interest bearing account. It isn't that I plan on needing it because I want to stop working. I need it so that someday I can stop taking money for my preaching. So, it still needs to be invested wisely.

I don't believe that this makes me someone who invests in this world. I am not looking for this retirement money to last forever. I just want enough to make it to the end of my and my wife's life when I can no longer preach with a little left over for my kids' inheritance. It has a relatively short shelf life.

Members of churches are often looking for investments which will continue after they live. They want something that continues to make money. Often church turn to endowment accounts in which the contributors' principle is never spent. The money made off this principle goes to further the gospel. The principle exists into perpetuity.

However, let's face it. Money is not going to last regardless of what financial vehicle it is placed in. I know the endowment account our church has lost money during the stock market fiasco of the a few years ago. In a sense, we were spending the principle even though none of it was going into the ministry.

There are only two things that are going to last forever: The word of God and people. You can't do anything to change or enhance the word of God. You can make an impact on reaching people for eternity. The only investment I know that will be safe is found in reaching people.

Some people think that this is a bad idea because they can never know who has been reached because of their investments. (Investments come in many forms. Money is certainly an investment but it is not the primary need for reaching most people with the gospel.) This simply isn't true. These people who are reached with the gospel will be seen in heaven. "Investors"  may even meet some of their "investments" in heaven for the first time. This is especially true if they gave to help a missionary who shared the gospel in another country.

For some reason, what I am saying here is unthought of to many Christians. They are concerned with the budget and buildings of the church but care very little about those who come to know Christ. They say things like, "Yea, we had a lot of baptisms but did our giving really increase?" Is that the point of reaching people with the gospel? Neither the budgets nor the buildings will make it to eternity. They are like Judas who kept his eyes on the budget when the woman broke the expensive perfume to anoint Jesus. He didn't get the point and neither do they.

Jesus said, "By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples." (John 15:8) He goes on to say, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you." (John 15:16)  Let me see if I have this right: God is glorified when I bear much fruit. That fruit will remain. The obedience to this task puts me so completely in His will that I will ask and receive whatever is needed.

Some people will never see that true lasting investments must be made so that they will be seen out of this world.

Isaiah 51:6 (ESV) ⁶ Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed.

1 Peter 1:24-25 (ESV) ²⁴ for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, ²⁵ but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.