We all have some pretty profound questions as we walk through this life. We may vocalize them and then again, we might not. Never the less, they exist and naggingly beg to be answered. Some of those questions vary in their profoundness. Some might seem rather basic, but have core effect on our sense of well being and soundness. Questions like: Who am I?, How do I look?, What am I worth?, Where am I going? How am I doing? Am I getting it right? These might represent just a few of the questions our inner person might be seeking resolution to at any time and possibly on a continual basis. It's almost as if we have an inherent need to gain approval or confirmation (I believe we were created with it) and we all do it. Whether expressly or in a seemingly self reliant silence, we're still asking. Where we're looking for those answers and to what or whom we're tuning our ears to to get the response is critical to getting the right answers...
But even beyond the source of the responses that we're seeking, our own personal perspective seems to make a determination regarding our satisfaction with the answers we might receive. In other words, our view of this life - how we see it will have a core effect on how positively or other wise we will view what comes at us through what we see and hear in the world around us and even in how we process our own thoughts.
Ephesians 6:12 (NLT)
"For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places."
As believers and followers of Christ, we acknowledge the fact that we are called to be participants in an active spiritual battle. But that battle is not necessarily something that our physical eyes and ears are witnessing. It's our spiritual eyes and ears that encounter and decipher the threats and activities of the enemy in the world around us and it's our spirits that will continue on after the mortality of this life and world come to their predestined mortal conclusion.
But in the mean time, our enemy knows the weaknesses and susceptibility of our flesh to be self motivated and become self involved. A preoccupation with its own status has the ability to lure our temporary and death destined flesh into a direct conflict with the health and well being of our eternal spirit. It's a potential "back door" and the enemy knows this. So he continually creates a barrage of available self interests in the hope of luring our flesh into our focus in an attempt to do damage to our spirits.
2 Corinthians 11:1-3 (NLT)1
"I hope you will put up with a little more of my foolishness. Please bear with me. 2 For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ. 3 But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent."
The Apostle Paul recognized the enemy for the vile, corrupting sneak that he is and we can't let ourselves forget who we're facing. We can't allow ourselves to be caught with a worldly perspective, exposing ourselves while wearing mortal colored glasses to view this life. A mortal perspective allows our flesh to see itself and its interests in exquisite, full living color, but also camouflages the enemy lurking within - all to the potential disadvantage of the eternal spirit - the prize the enemy unapologetically longs to thrust on a spiritual pike.
1 Peter 5:5-10 (NLT)
"5 In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9 Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are. 10 In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation."
The Apostle Peter saw the danger too and pointed out that we're all in this battle together as a family, the bride of Christ. As believers we're the target of our enemy's corrupting intentions, but our Lord's given us to each other as support against the corrupter's attacks. As long as we're willing to truly relate to one another in Christ's spirit, we'll find that His strength is the binding tie that keeps us safer together and less prone to being picked off alone. Beyond simply being a believer though, there's an even stronger more defensible position that we can accept in this battle, one less available perhaps to the enemy's wiles. That's the position of discipleship.
From a Wikipedia definition:
"In Christianity, the term disciple primarily refers to students of Jesus and is found in the New Testament only in the Gospels and Acts. The New Testament records many followers of Jesus during his ministry, but only some became disciples."
The more that we are connected to the Creator, the source of our very lives and strength, the less opportunity there will be for us to become deceived or damaged spiritually by the things presented in them by our enemy, the destroyer. A student continually seeks to grow in wisdom from a trusted source and tends to view things through that wisdom. As believers we know that there is only one incorruptible source of wisdom, but disciples go one step further. Disciples continually work to seek that wisdom out and employ it's fruit.
In that venture, our perspective becomes increasingly that of our Lord and as a result, those answers that we seek have the ability to become permanently and truthfully answered by the author of truth - forever settling our hearts and minds on a firm foundation that defies deception - allowing us to see this life through His eternal lens...
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