I'm about to write a post that may not make sense to non-Christians.
First topic: spiritual warfare.
Are we as Christians aware that we are in a battle every single second of our lives? 1 Peter 5:8 says "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."
YOUR ENEMY...
I heard something interesting on this Youtube video today. Pastor Jeremiah asked the audience: what is the opposite of God? Most people would probably say "Satan" or "the devil" right? But in reality, the opposite of God is not Satan. See God has no opposites because God CREATED Satan. The devil is a creation, just like we are creations and he cannot be compared in the same plane as an All-powerful, All-knowing, Omnipresent God. Satan is not all-powerful, not all-knowing, and he is certainly not omnipresent.
But he is a strong adversary.
Can you defeat a lion with your bare hands? If I saw a lion, I'd probably try to run away instead of fighting it.
Or, I could just give up on the spot and be indifferent to the lion hunting me. If he eats me he eats me. So what? I'll just die and go to heaven, big deal.
I'm not sure if that mentality works in our spiritual life.
When we decide to become indifferent to the devil's wiles, we become lazy and sloppy. We no longer feel like picking up our weapons or training for battle. We no longer have the energy or drive to polish our armour or tighten our sandals. We just want to lie in a big grassy meadow and think about fighting..... tomorrow...
Soon, our sloppiness begins to show.
The sandal thongs become loose over time, our weapons become dulled and our armour becomes rusted in small places. When the enemy suddenly launches a major coup and we hurry up to arms, he aims first for the rusted and weak spots in our armour.
For the normal human being Christian, sloppiness in our spiritual life may mean making excuses for our thoughts, our actions and the things or people we surround ourselves with. We justify un-Christian movies or videos with all kinds of reasons, maybe even dating a non-Christian. We tolerate the things that nailed Jesus Christ to the cross in the first place. That tolerance becomes indifference. Eventually, we just don't care anymore.
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I do know some Christians who walk around proclaiming "victory on Calvary", "victory through Christ" without really grasping what it means to be in a spiritual battle every day of their lives. I can recognise them, because I used to be one of them.
How can you have a victory if you have never fought or felt the need to fight? (I am talking about spiritual matters here)
Some battles are very obvious. Like a cancer patient literally fighting for his life day to day in treatment or rehabilitation.
But what about those internal battles against sin?
Many years ago, I remember hearing something that stuck with me throughout the years- if you find yourself being tempted less and less, do not congratulate yourself. The devil is winning.
Life may be good right now, but we cannot be complacent. What the bad guy wants more than anything is for you to lose sight of the true purpose of why we are here on earth (share the Good News, love others and love Jesus Christ). We are not here on earth to build successful careers, make a famous name for ourselves, or to just have a good ol' jolly time.
Take note.
But he is a strong adversary.
Can you defeat a lion with your bare hands? If I saw a lion, I'd probably try to run away instead of fighting it.
Or, I could just give up on the spot and be indifferent to the lion hunting me. If he eats me he eats me. So what? I'll just die and go to heaven, big deal.
I'm not sure if that mentality works in our spiritual life.
When we decide to become indifferent to the devil's wiles, we become lazy and sloppy. We no longer feel like picking up our weapons or training for battle. We no longer have the energy or drive to polish our armour or tighten our sandals. We just want to lie in a big grassy meadow and think about fighting..... tomorrow...
Soon, our sloppiness begins to show.
The sandal thongs become loose over time, our weapons become dulled and our armour becomes rusted in small places. When the enemy suddenly launches a major coup and we hurry up to arms, he aims first for the rusted and weak spots in our armour.
For the normal human being Christian, sloppiness in our spiritual life may mean making excuses for our thoughts, our actions and the things or people we surround ourselves with. We justify un-Christian movies or videos with all kinds of reasons, maybe even dating a non-Christian. We tolerate the things that nailed Jesus Christ to the cross in the first place. That tolerance becomes indifference. Eventually, we just don't care anymore.
_______________________________________________________________
I do know some Christians who walk around proclaiming "victory on Calvary", "victory through Christ" without really grasping what it means to be in a spiritual battle every day of their lives. I can recognise them, because I used to be one of them.
How can you have a victory if you have never fought or felt the need to fight? (I am talking about spiritual matters here)
Some battles are very obvious. Like a cancer patient literally fighting for his life day to day in treatment or rehabilitation.
But what about those internal battles against sin?
Many years ago, I remember hearing something that stuck with me throughout the years- if you find yourself being tempted less and less, do not congratulate yourself. The devil is winning.
Life may be good right now, but we cannot be complacent. What the bad guy wants more than anything is for you to lose sight of the true purpose of why we are here on earth (share the Good News, love others and love Jesus Christ). We are not here on earth to build successful careers, make a famous name for ourselves, or to just have a good ol' jolly time.
Take note.
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