Passive vs. Proactive

Pastor Fred told us at church this morning that one of the main reasons we need to keep our noses in our Bibles is because "the devil will try to beat you down." His words resonated in my head for a few moments... Beat down. If I had to describe the way I've felt over the last six months, that would be it. I've known all along that a big part of why I've had such a rough go of it lately is due to full-on spiritual attack. The reason why I say it's part of the reason and not the only reason is because the enemy hasn't exactly been alone in his efforts. I've done my part to help him. Not consciously by any means, but still -time when I could have been praying, reading Scripture, seeking out a new church- I was choosing to be passive instead of proactive.

A while back my friend Micah told me there were three things that God will not do, and the one that's stuck with me is that He will not do what He's asked us to do. Whoa. That's heavy. Did you hear that? He will do what we're supposed to do, i.e. He will not fight our battles for us. He'll give us the equipment we need, but He's not going to come down here and do what He put us here to do. Think about it- if He had to do that, then why bother with us??? (Sometimes- OK... MOST of the time I wonder why DID he bother with us, but that's a whole other blog...)

Troops in the military are issued equipment and spend countless hours in training in order to ensure that they are able to carry out their duties safely and effectively. Can you imagine how dumb it would be for a new soldier to blow off basic training because he just didn't feel like going? As soon as the bombs went off, his @$$ would be grass. He'd be running around frantically not knowing what to do, where to go, how to put on his safety equipment or use his weapon. It's funny to think about, absurd really, but that is how so many Christians are. We are being attacked, but instead of fighting back, we run around crying, not knowing what the heck is going on, when we need to be in the Word, in church, in fellowship, in the Spirit, and wearing the full armor of God.

It's easier said than done, but as much as I hate to admit, this life isn't supposed to be easy. If it was, then Jesus wouldn't have had to go to the cross. As much as I'd like to concern myself with things that don't matter, like money, what kind of car I drive and how nice a house I live in, and spend my time in working out, tanning, and getting my hair and nails done, there's more important stuff to worry about then me, myself, and I. Those things are fine, but my life has to be about more because His life was about more. His life was about me. So shouldn't my life be about Him?

On a lighter note, tomorrow is the first day of summer for me! (a.k.a. I don't have to go to work tomorrow.) I'm totally stoked! What's on the agenda? Hair appointment, tanning, gym, manicure/pedicure (maybe), and shopping for the following: laptop, bicycle, bedding, running shoes, books for summer reading. I'm pretty much going to do all the things I needed to do but couldn't because I was always at work.

Peace!

If Life Is A Battle, Then Who Is The Enemy?

Spiritual warfare. Yet another "recurring theme" in my life movie. It amazes me how few Christians realize that we are in constant battle with a very real, very crafty, very sly enemy. What amazes me even more is how many that don't. Not meaning to sound arrogant or egotistic. I know that God allows certain people to see things and know things that others don't. I know that sometimes people choose to live in the dark. My intention today is to discuss neither of these factions, but rather to share something that I think is of utmost importance for every Christian, regardless of how far along they are in their walk. What you choose to do with it is, well, your choice.

Correlative to my last entry, I read something on Chip Ingram's blog and wanted to share it. It's true, it makes sense, and will benefit anyone who takes the time to read it; which is the exact opposite of the stimulus package Obabma passed recently. ;-)

From Chip Ingram's blog Keep Pressin' Ahead

----------------------------------------------

Do You Know Your Enemy?

When I was a kid growing up, a comedian named “Flip Wilson” made a living doing hilarious skits that ended with the punch line “the devil made me do it.”

If you asked me whether I believed in a literal “Satan” or “devil” growing up, I probably would have been pretty ambivalent in my answer. It sounds pretty “out there” at first blush, and yet there certainly is enough evil to make a case for an evil, arch enemy.

To be honest, I didn’t have a clue about what I believed or why. In fact, even after I put my faith in Christ in 1972, I had little or no understanding of spiritual warfare. It was clearly an issue with Jesus and the New Testament, but people who talked about it a lot seemed really “over the top” to me; so I never gave it much thought.

Little did I know…that my ignorance was one of the enemy’s greatest weapons used against me. So let me ask you, what do you think about spiritual warfare? What about Satan? Demons? Is it all fairy tale stuff or have we been blinded into believing some extreme position about him?

Is Satan for Real?

The Bible isn’t ambiguous on the reality of Satan. He’s there in the beginning in Genesis 3:1, tempting Eve. He’s there in the middle in 1 Chronicles 21:1, inciting David to take a faithless census. He’s there in the end in Revelation 12:9, hurled from heaven along with his fellow rebels to the earth. There’s an enormous amount of biblical material on Satan and demons, leaving no doubt in Scripture that he’s for real.

Jesus certainly thought Satan was real. He referred to Satan twenty-five times and had a personal encounter with him in Matthew 4:1-11. Someone has calculated that 25 percent of Jesus’ actions, parables, and miracles had to do with demons. I don’t know if that’s an exact figure, but it’s close. Jesus clearly thought demons were real. The letters and records of the early church in the New Testament were always written with the awareness of that context.

In many modern cultures, Satan’s existence is well known (and pretty easily seen). Western culture’s reluctance to acknowledge his presence can be attributed to the fact that he has disguised himself well. Somehow he has convinced us that he’s a cartoon character (a man dressed in a red suit and carrying a pitchfork), or a football mascot (Red Devils, Blue Devils, Sun Devils), or just a philosophical metaphor for evil (the dark side of “the Force” or the secret desires of human nature).

Metaphors are hard to confront in prayer; so it is often in his best interest to deceive cultures into believing he’s a figment of our imagination. As the senior devil in C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters instructs the junior devil, “Suggest to him a picture of something in red tights, and persuade him that since he cannot believe in that (it is an old textbook method of confusing them) he therefore cannot believe in you.”

Satan is always content to hide in the shadows of a worldview if he can exploit that worldview to his own ends. So, how about you? What do you believe?

Keep Pressin' Ahead,

Chip