Exodus 14:13 And Moses said to the people, g“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For hthe Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.

2Chronicles 20:17 gYou will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the LORD on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ dDo not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, hand the LORD will be with you.”

Psalms 89:28     My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,
and my kcovenant will stand firm* for him.

Isaiah 46:8       “Remember this and stand firm,
recall it to mind, xyou transgressors,

Daniel 11:32 He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.

1Corinthians 16:13   zBe watchful, astand firm in the faith, bact like men, cbe strong.

2Corinthians 1:24 Not that we slord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm tin your faith.

Galatians 5:1   For sfreedom Christ has tset us free; ustand firm therefore, and do not submit again to va yoke of wslavery.

Ephesians 6:13 Therefore ptake up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in qthe evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

Philippians 4:1   Therefore, my brothers,* whom I love and jlong for, kmy joy and lcrown, mstand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

2Thessalonians 2:15 So then, brothers, dstand firm and hold to ethe traditions that you were taught by us, either fby our spoken word or by four letter.

1Peter 5:12   By oSilvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, pI have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is qthe true grace of God. rStand firm in it.

Technorati Tags: devil, God, Joy, Stand Firm

I finally broken free. I finally escaped the lies that have kept me in bondage over the last month. It shouldn’t surprise me how easily I get snared by the lies the enemy tells me. I know the enemy. I should know better. Actually they aren’t lies they are truth, the master manipulator can use the Bible against us if we forget the whole truth.

The lies are simple for me to believe. What the enemy tells me (I am paraphrasing for the sake of decency and possibly clarity):
I am of the darkness
I am worth nothing
No matter what I do I will never be holy enough to be seen by God
I don’t deserve God’s forgiveness.
I turn away from God/I am an enemy of God
My life is leading to death/I should be dead

What right do I have to write about God? None!

Over and over the Bible talks about how unworthy man is and how we deserve God’s wrath. The enemy is right.

BUT

The enemy forgets… Sooner or later the whole truth comes out. Sooner or later his lies are exposed.

John 8:32And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”Romans 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. 21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished — 26he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Ephesians 2:3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

The enemy is right I am of the darkness, I don’t deserve God’s love. My life of sin leads me to death and then the rest of the truth comes out.

I am a struggling Christian. I am a fighting Christian. I am not sure which term I appreciate more. My friend says that as a fighting Christian the “action” is more proactive. I struggle to remember the reason for the sacrifice Jesus Christ made. He did not die on the cross to condemn me to the wrath and anger of God. He died on the cross to take the dead and decaying people of the world and to make them alive and seen by the most Holy God. He chose to die on the cross to save a worthless, self-destructive person and gave him life.

Two of the books I have read most in the Bible are Romans 7 and 8. Romans 7 talks about the battle between the flesh which is worldly and the mind which is spiritual. I appreciated and found comfort in the fact that the great apostle Paul took the time to write about the war within him the war between his flesh and his spirit. Near the end of the book , verse 7:24 Paul cries out “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” This is where the enemy wants to leave us. He wants to leave us in abject misery.

Paul goes on:
25I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. Romans 8:1There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Paul ends chapter 7 laying out the struggle of the Christian life and reminds us of the victory that Jesus Christ has won for us. A victory that he won and gave to us as a gift, which we flat out don’t deserve. Chapter 8 really explains what was won for us unworthy people. Christ freed us from the bondage of living in everlasting sin and brought us closer to our Father. He changed the relationship with God from Fearful Judge to loving Father.

The enemy wants us to believe that we are condemned to live a life of endless failure and decay, driving ourselves into deeper and deeper perversion. The truth is that there is a light out of the darkness. There is a pathway to true life, the life our Creator meant for us. A life with him.

Technorati Tags: devil, Gospel, Redemption, Sin

This post came from a question that came from a friend of mine during a Bible study we were having on Hebrews 11, especially in reference to Abraham. We were talking about if God came and said to you, “pack up your things and move to china” would we do it. We all answered, based on the knowledge that we assumed it was “God”. My friend took us back one step and asked a startling question “how do we know that this ‘voice out of the darkness’ is really God and not the devil?” Would we know if it is God or the devil telling us to do something? It was a question that I could not leave alone. Here is my answer? What thoughts do you have?

The problem is not that satan is going to ask us to kill someone as in the case of Isaac and Abraham. You would know to test that right away. The problem is that satan is far more insidious than that. He is not going to be that direct. He is far more subtle than that. He masquerades as an angel of light. Satan’s strategy is to wear us down. Satan is patient. Each time we succumb to the enemy’s temptation, it erodes what God has built in us, takes us further away from God, and all that we know true, until someday killing someone seems to be right and what God wants. This is a very slippery path. I think it is why we are commanded not only to confess our sins but to repent, turn away from them. We must close and lock the door to satan.

Satan tempts us in order to make us fail (and turn away from God). God tests us in order to confirm our faith or prove our commitment. (NIV NEW Study Bible).

I think our circumstances are quite different than that of Abraham’s in a couple of different ways. First, our relationship with God is not as direct as it was with Abraham. Secondly we have not only the Bible, the Holy Spirit and a personal relationship with Christ to counsel and guide us. Thirdly I think Satan’s hold on the world is far stronger. Lastly Satan knows he lost the war, but he wants to make Christ’s victory as costly as possible. Personally I think the last point makes him far more dangerous.

The more I look at this, the more I realize how important your statement is. We cannot believe that some “voice out of the darkness” is necessarily God. I don’t think it is lack of faith to test something (in fact if we don’t test it, it maybe disobedience to God). God not only gave us the tools, but he gave us the command.

This leaves two questions(actually I have about 200)…
What do I test?:
Everything… Being more practical, Test anything that looks to be questionable, to be good to be true, anything that is shortcuts and makes things easier, and offers that “expire”. God never said it was going to be easy living the Christian life. Personally it has been one of the hardest, challenging and painful things I have ever done. It also has been one of the most beautiful and fulfilling.

How do I test?:
Pray about it. Pray strong, persistently and ask God for his strong guidance and discernment. Talk to your friends, your mentors, your parents and pray with them. Read and trust your Bible. Using the tools of Ephesians 6. Lastly the thing I am learning is submitting to God. (this of course leads me to another discussion about how do you fight through submission, love, truth, etc, )

Let me explain that a little better, I am not talking about submitting to the “suggestion”. I am talking about submitting to our Lord, our King, our Father, our Friend, our Guide. The One we know. The more I force a situation because “I” think it is good the more I screw it up. It is why I have been TRYING to submit and let him guide me, instead of trying to run my life myself.

1 Thessalonians 5:21 – Test everything. Hold on to the good.

Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewsing of your mind. Then you will be test and approve what God’s will is – his pleasing and perfect will.

1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Matthew 4:3-4 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Hebrews 4:12-13 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul, and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight Everying is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him who we must give account.

Technorati Tags: devil, discernment, fighting, War