Category: spiritual lessons

A Cosmetic Evil

“For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.”

2 Corinthians 10:3-4

“It’s time to put on the warpaint.”  I remember hearing the president of my Bible school say as he spoke to the girls in a class.  His folksy comment broke us all up, as we visualized the women putting on make-up to go to war.  His rustic comment, however made us think about what makes someone beautiful.

There is certainly a camouflaging of evil in this world.  It dresses up, and does its very best to attract us.  Its real intention is to lead us into an alley and then attack us.  It is a dark thing, and we do our best not to make it our focus.  Nevertheless, it is quite evil, and it attacks us without any regret or misgivings.

The darkness has decided to assault us, without any provocation.  We are living targets for his archers, and just to bring one of us down is a tremendous feat for them.  The evil that resists us is trickery, and deceitfulness, and we dare not diminish its evil and treachery.

“Our fight is not against people on earth but against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world’s darkness, against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly world.”

Ephesians 6:12

The reality is that evil will wear a mask.  It dresses up, to entice us.  The dark is now wearing make-up, and it looks different to us.  The subtle work of the serpent is doing his work on us.  He has not really changed, his dark work still moving on us, “the sons of Adam.”

He injects confusion and deceit directly into our minds.  He administers this and we start to grow restless in the pitch-black.  We have lost the ‘morning-star’ and we have become adrift.  This dismal place has brought us nothing but pain and regret.

Our law enforcement are now working wearing bulletproof vests to protect them.  Perhaps the cautiousness should be afforded to us on a spiritual level.  We would do it best to take some of the same precautions, only on a ‘heart place. ‘ He provides us with an armor that can keep us safe. We must wear what He gives.

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Becoming a Truthful Person

“Jesus answered, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me.”  John 14:6, NCV

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As we travel through this amazing life, we’ll experience so many things.  We engage every kind of scenario.  Much of it is good, but some will be bad.  When my Mom would give me medicine, she would often mix it with sugar.  But I could still taste the bitter, even with the added sweetness.

We have come to the place where we must swallow the truth.  We are learning to see that truth must be accepted.  We are brought to a place where we must take the truth in, and become true people.  The Word is the place where we start to assimilate what is real and true.  We are confronted “point blank” by what is real and trustworthy.  Falsehood flakes off us, and we begin to bask in the solid and eternal.

We are supposed to become people of the truth.  What is false should have no real business with us.  It is alien to the believer in Jesus.  It is a gear that no longer “syncs” in our mechanism.  We only mesh with the truth from this moment on.  We have been altered and we now see things from a brand new perspective.

We belong to the truth.  It is who we are, and nothing should distract us.  So much however assaults us, and we must focus pretty much exclusively on the things we know are authentic.  Our faith is to be bona fide and true blue.  There should be not the  slightest hint of duplicity.  We must avoid the trap of becoming fraudulent to our generation.

Each of us must accept the truth.  About ourselves, and about the unfolding of this life, about the reality of evil and salvation.  The presence of Jesus turns life upside down.  The things that were on the bottom have now moved to the top. Everything has been tilted.  It’s not surprising that we have issues as we try to sort things out.

I want to be a truthful person.  Lies and half-truths are fluent in my world.  I become inured to what is real, as I choose the lie.  And the amazing thing, is when I lie, the other person seems to know it on some deep level.  I suppose I am a terrible liar, and my attempt at sincerity only makes it worse.  I think I could make several million dollars if I could only teach people how to lie better.

Truth must become an intimate friend.  We need to be guided by what is real and sincere. “Buy truth, and do not sell it, get wisdom and instruction and understanding.” Proverbs 23:23.  There has to be a firm grip on what is true, and certainly we cannot barter it away.  Christians are to be truthful, even in a world that isn’t.

 

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Dealing with the Ultimate Fear?

When I was a boy I was terrified of death.  The very thought of being six feet deep in a small box, with maggots, rottenness and decay terrorized me.  I also had an incredible fear that someone would make a

mistake and that I would wake up entombed in a buried coffin.  Just thinking about it now unsettles me.  It was an anxiety that required diversions. Which I suppose led me down the road of escalating drug and alcohol abuse.  It undoubtedly led to much of my psychological issues that I deal with today.

Here is 2 Timothy 1:10, “Which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.  Scripture says that  Jesus has ”abolished death”.  I have learned to love that word, “abolish”!  It means to nullify, eliminate or make obsolete.  This is a decisive and a dramatic word which soothes my fear, and calms my mind.

It’s like he pulled the plug.  Death does not operate for the believer, because he did a disconnect for us.  I used to think my terror was unique to me.  I felt like I couldn’t tell anyone that I had those moments alone when I would be overwhelmed by morbid thoughts of death.  But Jesus destroyed the devil!

“We are people of flesh and blood. That is why Jesus became one of us. He died to destroy the devil, who had power over death. But he also died to rescue all of us who live each day in fear of dying”,  Hebrews 2:14-15 NCV.

 “The fear of death is ingrafted in the common nature of all men, but faith works it out of Christians.“– V. Powell.  When an athlete goes into intense training he/she will develop in their muscles “lactic acid” (or for the geeks out there– 2-hydroxypropanoic acid)  Lactic acid is what causes the soreness and cramps in an overworked muscle.  Trainers will stretch and manipulate the athletes limbs to extract this acid.  Death has infused our souls, faith works it out of us.

Fear of death is nothing to be ashamed of.  Almost all of us have had those disturbing moments that seem irrational.  But it’s not a question of rationality, but of faith.  Do I really believe that Jesus unplugged death for me?  He made the deliberate decision to change the status quo for me.  It wasn’t an afterthought, but a definite act, purposeful and well thought out.

“I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone observes My teaching [lives in accordance with My message, keeps My word], he will by no means ever see and experience death.“ John 8:51, Amplified.

A tremendous promise for the believer, especially the believer who is anxious about death.  We are free now, free to live life in outrageous freedom! I proclaim Jesus’ promise to you, you are free!

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These are odds and ends that would not fit in this post. I didn’t want to trash them so here you go. <3

“Christian! Death cannot hurt you! Death is your best friend – who is commissioned by Christ to summon you from the world of vanity and woe, and from a body of sin and death – to the blissful regions of glory and immortality, to meet your Lord, and to be forever with him.”   –Wm. Mason

“Death is no more than passing from one room into another. But there’s a difference for me, you know. Because in that other room I shall be able to see.” —Helen Keller

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Dismantling Certain Things

“God planned for us to do good things and to live as he has always wanted us to live. That’s why he sent Christ to make us what we are.” Ephesians 2:10, CEV 

We all need to wear a sign over our hearts, “God at Work.”  The first step is “God planned.”  He has the blueprints concerning our life, and He has given our situation deep thought.  No matter what happens, it is filtered through His consideration.

The next phrase, “to do good things.”  We need to pipe goodness through our lives.  Goodness is what we have to offer.  Essentially, we just transmit “goodness” to everyone we meet, as we know the itinerary of our lives are His arrangement.  The faces we see that come before us, are part of the Father’s plan.

The next phrase, “to live as he always wanted us to live.”  First, this establishes that He wants something.  He looks and sees only a very few that are really willing to let their lives reflect His wonderful presence.  His sincere idea is that we initiate His presence, and allow Him to work through us.  He wants this.  He wants us to live our lives characteristic of Him.

The very next phrase, “that’s why he sent Christ.”  It is at this point we enter into things that are beyond us.  As we reflect, we start to understand the Father’s complete rationale in sending Jesus to die like He did.  As we consider this, we truly enter in something totally beyond us.  This is something far and away we could never initiate on our own.

“That’s why he sent Christ to make us what we are.”  Jesus had been “triggered.”  His intention was to guide us to the Father.  He constructed a highway that would deliver us to Him.  Jesus has become the originating point where we become totally His.  He simply works in us, to make us ready to go.  The little phrase, “to make us what we are” is most interesting.  There exists in eternity a deep concern that we become what we profess.  The work of heaven is simply to bring us into His likeness.

I can only simply trust that you will process this, and start to generate an appropriate response.  The Father is very close, and He will lead you through any confusion.

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