Armed and Dangerous

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but are mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.  2 Corinthians 10:4 (KJV)

People typically arm themselves for protection.  Whenever the times arise, if they are not reluctant to use their weapon, they would also be considered dangerous.  The Apostle Paul would have been considered armed and dangerous, spiritually speaking - that is.

When Paul, like all Christians, escaped the presence, penalty and power of sin, the devil didn’t simply walk away, but sort opportunities to recapture him in sin.  You may think that statement is a bit dramatic or it gives too much credence to the devil.  The truth is our enemy is subtle and manipulative.  Yes, there are situations we attribute to the devil, and he has nothing to do with it.  However, the reverse is true as well – there are times when the devil has everything to do with our situation, yet we fail to recognize, rebuke or resist.

The good news for us is that our weapons are mighty through God.  Throughout 2 Corinthians, Paul reassures us that God’s strength is more than sufficient in any situation we may find ourselves.  Our weapons, which are not carnal but spiritual - consisting of praise, prayer, fasting, truth, and much more – are only mighty because of God’s power, which allows us to endure and triumph.

Today, remember that you are armed with weapons that are mighty through God.  So let us not be reluctant to use them.  

Hard Times but Yet Praise

At Midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. (Acts 16:25)


Paul and Silas was called by God and fulfilling the call of God upon their life, but trouble came after them. So much so they were thrown in prison for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Their current situation warranted tears, yelling and screaming but instead they prayed and sang praises unto God. They had joy in yet hard times.  Moments of joy are powerful whether they come in a sprinkle or a torrent.  The joy of the Lord reaches beyond practicality and expectation and touches a profound place in your soul.


Paul knew this kind of joy.  It's what gave him the strength to sing praises to God while in jail.  With great joy, Paul and his friend Silas praised God together behind closed bars.  They were so exuberant in their joy, in fact, that their voices carried to other prisoners' cells.  Had Paul lost his mind? What in the world could he have been joyful about while in jail?  Pauls' joy came not from his surroundings or circumstances, but from his delight in God.  It came from knowing that he was in the center of God's will.  It's relatively easy to find pockets of joy as you observe creation in all its glory, but when your joy is anchored in God, it can infuse all aspects of your life.


The first step to knowing this kind of joy is to recognize that God is with you, no matter what happens or where you are.  God is always near. Or you can think of it this way.  The creator of the universe cares about you so much that he is a constant companion.  there is a certain joy in this knowledge alone.  God desires to be near you, not because He wants to point out your faults, but because He longs to make your life rich and full.


The second step is to acknowledge that God knows what He is doing.  Sometimes this is going to be a challenge, but it's critically important if you desire to know true joy.  You know from experiences that when you delight in God, tears and pain don't magically go away.  You are still going to go through tough times. Know that God has a solid grasp on the big picture, even though from your perspective things may not look all that great. 

Humility

So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house.  And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.”  But Naaman was angry and went away… But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? …  So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan… and his flesh was restored… and he was clean.
(2 Kings 5:9-14, ESV)

More often than not – the way in which God resolves our issues or answers our prayers is not the way in which we imagine.  But if we want the resolution, the answer or the deliverance, we simply must humble ourselves and obey God's plan.  This is what Naaman had to do.  In 2 Kings 5, we discover Naaman to be a man of position and power but with one problem – pride.  Many people would say differently - they would say that his leprosy was the problem.  However, the issue of leprosy was resolved as soon as the prophet Elisha gave him the solution – “go and wash in the Jordan seven times”.  After that, the real issue was revealed - his pride.  Because of his pride, Naaman was offended that he was greeted by Elisha's servants and not by Elisha himself.  He was then further offended when he was told by washing in a dirty river will cure his leprosy, and not by some grand display, as he had expected. Proverbs 13:10 now comes to mind.  It says, “Where there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice” (NIV).  Although his pride had compelled him to walk away in anger, he had enough humility within to actually listen to the wise counsel of his servants.  It was only when he got over himself, by humbling himself, that he was able to go and wash himself and be delivered from his leprosy.

Today consider that pride will tell you that you have the right to be offended, but as C.S. Lewis states, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less”.  So what’s more important?  Your right to be offended or the resolution, the answer, or the deliverance you seek?

The Bottom Line

The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (1 Timothy 6:10 NKJV)

             The bible does not speak of money being evil, but the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.  The Lord created us to be fruitful and multiply in our areas of life. The biblical story of Gideon once he became convinced that the call on his life was genuinely from the Lord is one of fearless and creative leadership.  He was the judge of Israel who reduced an Army of twenty-two thousand Soldiers to a special team of three hundred men armed with trumpets, torches, and empty pitchers, who created panic and confusion among the Midianite enemy forces.  Further conflict with the Midianites resulted in Gideon’s uncontested victory and a significant bounty of gold, from which Gideon created a sacred object to commemorate the win.  People came from miles around to see this golden ephod and ended up worshipping the object rather than the Lord, who had given the victory.

            Gideon’s falling was in taking the resources he had been blessed with and using them for a purpose that became a spiritual snare for the Israelites.  The wealth he received became an end in itself.  It appeared at first to signify a profitable win for the nation, it proved in the end to represent a regrettable loss.  Whether you are dealing with personal, business or organizational finances, the bottom line for us as Christians need to signify something much greater than a dollars-and-cents figure.  Shift your thinking away from the figure on the bottom line of a financial statement and toward the end result you want to achieve; the aim of your mission in your life and in your other areas of responsibility.  That desired result becomes your new bottom line, and the money and resources you control become a means toward that end.  As a believer, you are accountable to God for all that has been entrusted to you. Keep your eyes on the bottom line that matters, the calling  that drives your real purpose in life.

Love

Love is patient, love is kind, it isn’t jealous, it doesn’t brag, it isn’t arrogant, it isn’t rude, it doesn’t seek its own advantage, it isn’t irritable, it doesn’t keep a record of complaints, it isn’t happy with injustice, but it is happy with the truth.  Love puts up with all things, trusts in all things, hopes for all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7, CEB)

Every year, on Valentine’s Day, many people exchange cards, candies or cute gifts to express their love for each other.  Although gifts are nice, it is far better to give and receive true love – the kind of love that is described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.

In Corinthians, chapter 13, Paul addresses members of the church who were abusing and misusing their spiritual gifts.  In response, Paul tells them that although spiritual gifts are nice, it is much better to give and receive love.  Then he proceeds to write out, in verses 4 through 7, fifteen verbs that paint an excellent picture of what love really looks like.  It is interesting to note that none of these fifteen verbs has anything to do with our feelings.  Modern day dictionaries would have us believe that love is only an emotion, a complex feeling, at best.  However, biblically speaking and more honestly, love is more than an emotion - it's an action, and a sacrificial one at that.  Let's look at those verbs – patient, kind, isn’t jealous, doesn’t brag, isn’t arrogant, isn’t rude, doesn’t seek its own advantage, isn’t irritable, doesn’t keep a record of complaints, isn’t happy with injustice, happy with truth, puts up with all things, trusts, hopes and endures.  Honestly, when dealing with people who are close to us and who know how to push our buttons, showing love some times goes against what we feel.  Point being – love is much greater than an emotion – it’s a commitment encompassing all those fifteen aspects of lovee.

Today let us remember that love is more than the card, the candy, the flowers or the cute gifts we may or may not receive.  On this Valentine’s Day, let us appreciate one of the many gifts God has given us - the capacity to love.

Loyalty

Then David went out of the cave and called to Saul, “My lord the king! … the LORD delivered you into my hands in the cave.  Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the LORD’s anointed.’ …” (1 Samuel 24:8-10)

But David said to Abishai, “Don’t destroy him!  Who can lay a hand on the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?”  (2 Samuel 26:9, NIV)

Although he was unjustly treated and his life constantly threatened, David remained loyal to King Saul – the very person who was doing the treating and the threatening.  David’s attitude and actions towards Saul epitomize loyalty.  Now loyalty is defined as faithfulness to commitments or obligations.  To break it down even further, loyalty involves discretion and an unwillingness to want to hurt the other person; it involves protecting them from others and being truthful with them.  With all that said - most people’s loyalty would go out the window the very moment their life was threatened by that person.  Well on second thought – most people’s loyalty stop for far less than that.

If you read 1 Samuel 24 and 2 Samuel 26, you would see that David had two opportunities to kill Saul, which would have eliminated the threat on his life.  Both times, he refused to lay a hand on Saul, and commanded his men, who were loyal to him, to do the same.  How could David be so loyal to someone who wanted nothing but to kill him?  Even more amazing - how could David refer to Saul as the “LORD’s anointed”?  The answer is this – David’s loyalty to Saul was an extension of his loyalty to God.  David understood that no matter how wrong or unjust Saul was – it was not his place to kill Saul.  God had anointed Saul and placed him in the office of king, and it would be up to God, not David, to remove him.

Today, if we are indeed loyal to God, allow our loyalty to extend to those who God has placed over us.  Honestly, it doesn't really matter if that leader deserves our loyalty or not - the fact is - God does.

Humble Enough to Trust God

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;  in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV). 

This scripture has been in my heart very heavy all week long.  I wrote about it earlier in the week and felt led to revisit this scripture again to reflect.  It is important to go back and start reading at the beginning of Proverbs 3.  The story begins with "My Son or My daughter".  This Proverb is not directed at some random group of people but very targeted to those who are in the body of Christ.  The word goes on to encourage us to "not forget teaching but keep God's commands in our heart.  It is not enough just to talk about God but He desires to have a deeper level of relationship than that with us.  Think about the last time you spent real good quality time with God.  I am referring to turning off the television, no cell phone and other distractions but to just sit, meditate  and pray.  If we take those moments away with God, He will reveal Himself to us openly.  He will show you even deeper the plan that He has for you.

There are so many things about life that we do not understand and even at times make no sense, but thank God that His word instructs us not to lean on our own understanding because if we do we may never experience the blessings God has for us.  God takes us places we don't necessarily want to go or ask us to do things we do not want to do but in trusting Him, we find that although the path may be rocky at times He does indeed make it straight.  Take this time to stop and give God a "Praise Break",  We take time to do the other things we like to do but God wants your heart.  If we trust God with our heart and acknowledge Him as we continue on this "faith walk" we know that the Holy Spirit is leading us through the paths designed by God and our way will be prosperous.