How
much faith does it take to stay safely inside the shell of social
conformity and comfort? What does doing that say about our belief in
our God? What if the social norm doesn't agree with what God has
said? Will we ever realize the truth of our identity in Christ by
playing it safe?
More
and more I find an attitude and spirit of disdain, even revulsion to
God's wisdom and teaching in most forms of the world's media and
social conversation. I see carefully devised and compelling argument
gaining ground to compromise, disregard and even discard God's wisdom
and direction in order to gain social approval and acceptance. It's
becoming increasingly apparent that to be socially acceptable to the
world's view, one must distance themselves from God.
There's
a growing culture that revels in the desecration of things once held
sacred and an increasingly acceptable reasoning that perverts the
pure wisdom that God in His grace has given us and it's no accident.
If you're not hearing or seeing these things then you might want to
consider whether your listening and watching with spiritual ears and
eyes. You may want to ask yourself if you might be swallowing the
bait...
Ephesians
6:12
"For
we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but
against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against
those mighty powers
of
darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the
heavenly realms."(NLT)
As
Christians we're not just sharing this temporary planet with a random
collection of evil people - they have a leader and he has a battle
plan. But does this mean that satan controls or inhabits them
outright? Not necessarily, though I do believe it's possible.
Luke
22:3
"Then
Satan entered
into
Judas
Iscariot,
who was one of the twelve disciples" (NLT)
I
think satan's most prevalent method of leadership is by the
inspiration of thought and by dare, provoking challenge to what God has
already told us is the truth. In many cases those who follow his
direction may seem to get away with it continually, but we have to
remember that the day of reckoning hasn't come yet. It only seems
that they're getting away with it. But the truth is that those who
haven't truly taken the necessary steps to salvation and grace will
get away with nothing.
But it's not our responsibility or our right to judge their
salvation. That belongs solely to our God and our assumption of that
grave task may well risk endangering our own standing before Him ...
Luke
6:37
37
"Stop judging others, and you
will not be judged. Stop criticizing others, or it will all come back
on you. If you forgive others, you will be forgiven. (NLT)
As
the worldly morals and viewpoint continue to decay, we can expect
that the criticism of God's children will grow. It's an intentioned
plan of an unseen evil power that we're contending with and his plan
is to derail all men from realizing the goal of fulfilling God's
purpose for their lives and to deprive them of the ability to
recognize their identity in Christ.
More
and more we will be faced with contention and disgust as our God's
enemy whispers deceit into the minds of the worldly. But even as the
world's acceptable norms and opinions change, is anything that God
has spoken ever changed? We know that our God never changes so we
have to be aware that we will be challenged to compromise our belief
of and obedience to what He has spoken by a world that for the moment
seems to be listening more and more to our Father's enemy.
So
as worldly criticism and condemnation will surely mount, how do we
prepare and what will our response be? Whatever may be said about me
at any given time by any man has to be compared against what God has
already said about me as His child if I am to stand firm. If it
doesn't agree with what God has said about me, then it's foolishness
and it doesn't matter so I have no reason to be offended. My best
recourse might be to pray for them privately and ask God's blessing
on them. But I can't do this if I don't know what He's said, so my
ability to stand firm is compromised. I have to study to know
what He's said because this is the unchangeable truth.
If
I respond in the emotion of my flesh, then I expose my own weakness
and can expect to be wounded without mercy because our enemy is not
without malice or a better knowledge of our God's word than my own.
He's old, he's vicious and he's cunning. He has the personal
experience of being present from before the foundation of the earth
was even laid. If I respond in submission to the humility and wisdom
of Christ's spirit, allowing the Holy Spirit to fight the battle for
me then I cannot be defeated because He cannot be defeated. But if
I'm not aware of the nature of Christ's spirit and not residing in
the Holy Spirit of our God, then I stand naked and unarmed before
this same enemy. Again, I have to study in order to know the
spirit and wisdom of my master and to come to be equipped by this and
by the indwelling of the Holy Spirt.
Many
of us may find ourselves praying for Godly wisdom and indeed, He has
the power to give it. But the truth is that He's already given all of
the wisdom and direction that we could ever need. It can likely be
found on our bookshelves or night stands just waiting to be
possessed. But we can't use weapons or tools that we don't have and
spiritually these things are carried within us. So if we don't arm
and tool ourselves up by ingesting the wisdom and direction that He's
provided, we can't have them when we need them and this process
usually takes time. So once again, I urge the choice to study
diligently and consume the living word and the power within it ... or
stand naked before an enemy who will confront you if you are
truly a child of God. Either outcome is a choice we make. Satan won't
give you a pass because you're not fit for battle. He'll destroy you
if he can.
We
have choices to make now in preparation for the days ahead. The
choice to submit to draw near to our great defender and hero while we
have time to know Him, or to hope that He will hear our cries and
come to our aid even though we were in defiance of accepting the
responsibility to gird ourselves as He instructed.
We
have opportunity now to study and know what is acceptable by His
standard and the truth that will protect us from being deceived by
the world's wisdom, or we can go with the flow. We can choose to
study His word and know how to live a life that releases His blessing
and protection on our lives or we can take our chances. But I think
we have to remember that as is exampled in His word, He may forgive
the sin, but that doesn't mean that He will necessarily protect us
from the consequences. Many times, we may stand forgiven, but still
suffer the pain of sin's consequence in order to teach us to act
differently in the future. In the changing world around us, I believe
that the consequences in the days ahead may become greater and the
call to stand apart from the world's thinking more distinct in order
to sort the wheat from the chaff. I'm impressed that we as Christ's
Church are in a moment of grace, early in a period of latter rain and
refreshing, But as we perk our spiritual ears up and view the world
with spiritual eyes, there's a drought coming behind it - a spiritual
threshing.
We
have time to make time now, so it cannot be our excuse in the future
and excuses will not spare us possible hardship or trouble to come.
What wisdom will save us and what power will we be heir to? Is it
better to be well regarded by a world that finds reason to compromise
God's word - to reap that reward, or to stand apart from it - even if
it means ridicule to be rewarded by the God who will reward all men
according to His Word? What will be our choice now against the days
ahead? Do we allow ourselves to be apathetic and swallow the bait
that tastes sweet for a moment and poisons the soul? Or choose to
suffer possible bitterness for a moment in order to live forever in
His great pleasure? Choices ... while we have time ...
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