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Last Published: 10/27/2008 6:11:44 AM
85. ...fearlessly, as I should.
Posted by:
SeLahGirl on
August 16, 2008 at
3:37PM EST
I have been overwhelmed by the presence of God among his people.
There is a song by CeCe Winans that has just consumed my thoughts and
my heart lately... WAGING WAR from her new album THY KINGDOM COME.
There is such a cry among the people of God for Christ to come and
fulfill all things. Evil runs so rampant in the earth... the war rages
these days and the people of God are really fed up with the devil
robbing them of so much... This song is offered as a free mp3 download
online:
http://music.download.com/cecewinansthykingdomcome/3600-8437_32-101127335.html
It is truly a BATTLE CRY if I have ever heard one... but it is different from any other...
It is a PERSONAL battle cry, from and to the heart of the believer. And
as each of us is under brutal attack, as those we love are walking thru
such suffering, like never before... we are fed up and the cry is to
ourselves and to hell... ENOUGH!
The church is finally
standing up one by one. Kinda reminds me of that Mel Gibson movie the
PATRIOT. It was so convincing to adopt a pacifist view, to speak gently
and sit idly, avoiding confrontation, as the enemy attacks and torments
everything precious to you and to those around you... but there comes a
point when people of conscience must reach that point of LIVE or DIE --
screaming/shouting/declaring to death, hell, and the grave, "I will
cast my lot for what is right and good and Godly!"
Look
across the church, and there are scars and bloodstains and lack... but
something is changing in the wind. And that wind is the wind of His
Spirit that blows thru the core of who we are... one by one he is
empowering us. As we make up our minds, as we become resolute that we
will not fear pain and death and suffering, we become that tree planted
by the water that generations of the church have sung about for so
long... we have finally faced fires and floods of our own that have
brought us to a place of understanding. We finally get the heart of
what they were singing about... we're done with hugging trees with
limp-wristed affection, now we want to be that solid oak -- unmovable,
unshakable, towering and massive in our faith and in our doing.
There is a division in the church.
There is a line being drawn, cut, burned, thru the center of the
sanctuary. The people of God must choose... the peace of the world or
the peace of God... only one is a real peace. The peace of the world
tells you that life is about comfort and lack of conflict and
compromising the statutes of God for the unity of the body... hmmm....
The peace of God tells you that life on this earth will be difficult:
"
4Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will
come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.
6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are
not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There
will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the
beginning of birth pains.
9"Then you will be handed over to be
persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations
because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and
will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear
and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the
love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will
be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the
whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24)"
"13"I
am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the
world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.
14I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they
are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15My prayer is
not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from
the evil one. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.
17Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18As you sent me into
the world, I have sent them into the world. (John 17)"
"
32And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon,
Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33who through
faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was
promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the fury of the
flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to
strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies.
35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were
tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better
resurrection. 36Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were
chained and put in prison. 37They were stoned; they were sawed in two;
they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and
goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38the world was not
worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves
and holes in the ground.
39These were all commended for their
faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40God had
planned something better for us so that only together with us would
they be made perfect. (Hebrews 11)"
" 7But we have
this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is
from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not
crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned;
struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body
the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in
our body. 11For we who are alive are always being given over to death
for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.
12So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.........
16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away,
yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and
momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far
outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on
what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is
eternal. (2 Corinthians 4)"
YOU ARE NOT A FAILURE!
Just because you are disappointed in someone that chose selfishness and sin, rather than what is right...
Just because the injustice of this world and the self-centeredness of
people we love flares up in our face and we are angry that they are
harming themselves and everyone that loves them...
Just
because you chose for your spouse to stay home so that someone would be
available to minister to the daily needs of your family, and you can't
provide all the trappings that the world says you need...
Just because you're without health insurance tho you are working
yourself in the ground to cover the basic necessities of your family...
Just because life is not easy and tensions flare and you are not popular or well-liked by everyone in your circle...
Just because your sickness or hardship or thorn in the flesh remains after much prayer and petition for healing...
Just because it is your heart to do what is right, to love God, to love
people, to serve, to learn from your sin/mistakes and to be a better
person -- and yet, somehow it's never enough, somehow the appearance of
things and the voices around you try to convince you to abandon your
hope and your joy...
YOU ARE NOT A FAILURE!
Hold on to your faith. Fight for your hope and your joy. Slap the hand
and the face of the enemy every time he tries to reach into your life
to redefine what God has said. This life is supposed to be messy. We're
not supposed to be comfortable with living in a cesspool of decay,
living in a world that is cursed and that is rotting away beneath us.
It is stressful, it is difficult, it is painful, it is demanding, there
is lack and want and sickness and loss and poverty...
this is not paradise, it is a battlefield.
For too long now the church has somehow entered the mindset that
everything is supposed to run smoothly if you're doing the Christian
thing right.. but that's not the reality, that's not Truth, and that's
not what the word of God says. We live our lives daily seeking Christ
to lead us thru the big and the small. Fires blaze on every level and
we must manage them all at once the best we can, trusting God to make
us able and thanking him for fighting the flames beside us. There are
souls to rescue in the fire, and there are loved ones we must guard who
war beside us. Sometimes the battle is in the trench. Sometimes the
fault is theirs, sometimes it's ours, but God is present to lead each
of us to repentance and to realign us... keeping all things in order
and effective and winning the war.
We fight and obey, He fights and oversees. We submit and trust, He rules and reigns.
Almost always, our walk is not a pretty site... it's the hand of God
upon us, his grace and mercy, that turns our bumbling attempts into
something beautiful and leads us on to the victory he has promised.
It's always about him, it's always our weakness and smallness and his
greatness and omniscience. He is God, we are merely reflections... what
a privilege. Made in his image... why would he bestow such an honor
upon us, why would he choose mud and muck to breath himself into? We
reflect him because he chose us for that honor... But we must choose to
receive that commission, we must decide whether to covenant with him,
to enter into adoption as his child, as his heir. We must choose to
love him back.
Will you stand up and cast a vote?
In the movie, The Patriot, in that little church, the people had to
choose where they stood. It cost them much. In that same little church,
they were burned alive, leaving nothing but ashes and loss. But they
left a legacy, a challenge to those that would come after them,
something that was so much more than the precious handful that they
were trying to protect. They fought for their families and their
neighbors, they fought for a measure of lands and homes... but they won
a nation and generations of people that knew freedom because of them.
We too must stand and fight for the parcel of ground on which we stand
in this moment, and the pocket of life that has been handed to us, the
souls left to our charge to teach and to lead into battle. Yes, into
battle. We are not preparing our children for paradise and ease, we are
to prepare them to war. Paradise and peace are the promise, the prize
when the battle has been fought well.
" 21"His master
replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful
with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and
share your master's happiness!' (Matthew 25)"
"45But
suppose the servant says to himself, 'My master is taking a long time
in coming,' and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants
and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46The master of that servant will
come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not
aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the
unbelievers.
47"That servant who knows his master's will and does
not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with
many blows. 48But the one who does not know and does things deserving
punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been
given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been
entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
49"I have come to
bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50But
I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is
completed! 51Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell
you, but division. (Luke 12)"
NO COMPROMISE. The word of God is sure and true. It is time to wage war just as CeCe talks about in her song...
" 10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on
the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the
devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this
dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly
realms. 13Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day
of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have
done everything, to stand. 14Stand firm then, with the belt of truth
buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in
place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from
the gospel of peace. 16In addition to all this, take up the shield of
faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil
one. 17Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which
is the word of God. 18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all
kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always
keep on praying for all the saints.
19Pray also for me, that
whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will
fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an
ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I
should. (Ephesians 6)"
... fearlessly, as I should.
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