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Posts Tagged ‘light and darkness’

Day 138, “Summer Soldiers and Sunshine Patriots”

Posted in Under-the-Influence, Devo Shorts 2011, tagged , , , , on December 14, 2020| 1 Comment »

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“Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”  Gal 5:1

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord.”  Eph 5:9-10

“Commit your works to the Lord, and your thoughts will be established.”  Prov 16:3

Back in the day, General George Washington described “summer soldiers and sunshine patriots” who lose heart in times of crisis…

It would appear that the Body of Christ is in such a time of crisis, for it “does not know what spirit it is of,” (Lk 9:55)  or Whose Spirit it is following…

Jesus’ rebuke from Luke 9:55 above to His disciples occurred because James and John were ready to call down fire from heaven to destroy people who did not receive Him.

Jesus rebuked them because they had a wrong heart, a wrong attitude, and a wrong solution…

Apparently we are not much different today.  Jesus told them He came not to destroy men’s lives but to save them. 

The problem today is, while the times are calling for the peacemakers of God to arise with light and strength and commitment to the cause and ways of Christ, many interpret the need to be peace at any price.

I’m hearing overtones of: “okay the election is over, all avenues of legitimate pursuit legally are closed to us, time to stand down and roll over, because a good Christian doesn’t cause dangerous stirrings, he doesn’t make trouble, nor does he rebel against the status quo (in this particular case the Democratic Party and all their deceitful ways.)

But I ask you, where are the peacemakers… where are the ones so seeking the will and the way of God to come forth in themselves that they are willing to stand for light, to be light in this day???

To be a peacemaker doesn’t mean I roll over if darkness is more imposing. It doesn’t mean I accommodate evil.  I am in fact called to be a party with light…to be light, how then can I align with evil???

To choose a course of evil, to acquiesce in this case with the Biden ascent to the Presidency having stolen the election and perpetrated fraud, is to become one with evil and all the practices of it.  It means I am willing to choose bondage to darkness, which I have already been freed from! Not only that, but because I act as a summer soldier and cave at difficulty I cause others to cave in the same manner rather than standing as Jesus calls us to stand.

If I do less than that, I am forfeiting all that our Forefathers paid for our freedom with their lives as they were led by Christ to stand against the wickedness of being a supply stock for English usury.

We have been freed in Christ, no longer to be subject to a yoke of slavery!!! Not to anyone!  We are His!!! The yoke we now wear is His!  We are His Yokefellows!

If you find that implausible, think of what befell Esau as he gave up his birthright as the firstborn son!!! It could not be restored to him regardless of his regret or tears!

If we throw off the “freedom of Christ” as our yoke, we will surely be yoked by darkness unimaginable at a national scale…

So when people refer to “Christian Nationalism” or “Trumpism”, there is a need to examine really where your allegiance lies.

You must make sure, your trust is in God alone – and Him only!

Does it mean our methods in this time should employ calling down fire from heaven?  No, because that too is of a wrong spirit – not that of Christ!

But before us now lies the path of “peacemaker.’’  Which mean I am willing to stand for light, stand for righteousness, stand for what brings life!!! I do not violate the Word of God, nor His character!  I work in His ways,with His weapons but they are powerful for the pulling down of strongholds!

Ephesians 5:11 says to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.  Only when you bring evil into the light does it lose its power!!!

And we as the Body of Christ need to now stand, and expose the deeds of darkness. Ephesians goes on to say, “for it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” (Eph 5:12-14)

Finally, we are called to understand what the will of the Lord is…(Eph 5:17) Recently believers have even been discounting the importance of dreams and visions, or other ways the Lord is communicating…

Ultimately, I am not answerable to what a prophet says that I cannot understand or receive, but I am always answerable to the Lord Himself for seeking an understanding and confirmation of His will…

If you are in some form of Leadership in the Body of Christ, the best thing you can do is pray for the rest of the Body to hear Him, to know Him, to be delivered from all darkness and to be strengthened in their inner man…to roll, commit, and trust every work wholly upon the Lord, that He will cause every thought to come into agreement to His will, thus it will be established, thus it will succeed. (Prov 16:3 AMP)

If you are someone who is discouraging believers from activities you consider dangerous, but prefer instead to follow the march of the darkness parade…. you need to quit! You are misleading the flock of the Lord! You risk making the Body captive to darkness!

Carry no illusion here! Being a peacemaker is dangerous work, whether it is in the home, or at work, or the church, or in government!!!  You are confronting and exposing darkness.  You are walking as children of light for peace, and the enemy will get very angry.

Will you be required to fight?  Certainly in prayer. Possibly in other ways as the Lord leads.  After all, you don’t stand against darkness just for awhile, for a show of strength only to then cave in anyway…

This is a fight to the finish. To the victory of Christ as the overcoming One!  But He is the only One with the Playbook.  Which means He alone can call the plays!!! And that requires us to listen! To hear with a clean heart and obey!

This is a time when the Lord is weeding out summer soldiers…He wants foremost to make sure you are HIs, and that you know Him. But as His sheep it is important that you know His voice, and the voice of a stranger you will not obey!!!

Start today!!!

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Day Seventy-Six, “Exposing Another Gospel”

Posted in Under-the-Influence, Devo Shorts 2011, tagged , , , on April 3, 2014| 2 Comments »

Day Seventy-Five
Exposing Another Gospel
(It’s a Different Apple)

“For [you seem readily to endure it] if a man comes and preaches another Jesus than the One we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the [Spirit] you [once] received or a different gospel from the one you [then] received and welcomed; you tolerate [all that] well enough! 2Cor 11:4 Amp

 

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Would you recognize another gospel, if you heard one? Would you register a note of discord with what you know from the Scriptures? Think about it…
I recently encountered a post on Facebook that stopped me cold. It sounded very savvy, very wise, even soothing to a Christian populous hungry for more. This is what it recommended:
“You need to associate with people that inspire you, people that challenge you to rise higher, people that make you better. Don’t waste your valuable time with people that are not adding to your growth. Your destiny is too important.”
On the surface this seems un-offensive, even sounds like sage advice. But I want to show you how to quickly recognize something when it is actually adversarial to the word of God and the gospel at large. We do this by plugging this vague guidance into a Bible reality to see if it agrees.
This above quote focuses you on the importance of your destiny, and the people who can get you there. So let’s look at a great man of Bible destiny, Joseph, son of Jacob. As you know, Joseph went on to literally save the world from famine and death. He became to the Egyptians, Zephenath-paneah, savior of the world (that’s quite a destiny for us to consider).
The quote is also urging you to carefully choose people of influence in your life – people that make you better. It says people that don’t add to your growth are wasting your time. So in Joseph’s case, let’s take a quick rundown of the people who impacted him. His brothers threw him down a well, plotted to kill him, but ended up selling him to traders bound for Egypt. He is sold as a slave to Potiphar’s house (a prominent officer of Pharaoh). In refusing seduction by Potiphar’s wife, he is imprisoned for rape – wrongly. He languishes in prison only to watch the possibility for restoration and release pass him by through the forgetfulness of Pharaoh’s butler and baker. It is only when Pharaoh himself is plagued with dreams that need interpretation that Joseph is remembered and brought before Pharaoh.

This is the changing point for Joseph, but to put it into perspective think of this: Joseph was 17 when his brothers sold him. He is roughly 30 when he is restored with them (13 years after they sell him), and during the second year of the famine he is roughly 39.
Our reality check with this quote then begs the question, how does the quote’s philosophy of choosing people to make you better — work for Joseph? The people who end up contributing to his destiny are betrayers, liars, cheats… ultimately they are seeking his destruction. They are the very people the quote guidance would encourage him to dump all along – yet he really didn’t have the chance. He became captive – not to their agenda, but to God’s. Out of Joseph’s own mouth he later says to his brothers: “As for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring about that many should be kept alive, as they are this day.” Gen 50:20
The point in this discussion is: like Joseph we don’t know our full destiny. We can’t choose a path of people to include or exclude that can help us to achieve our destiny. We don’t have the wisdom or the intel to do so. God’s destiny for us includes an inner work that only He can inspire in us and draw out of us. No amount of selective saturation or posturing with people who I think can make me better can affect that inner change – God has a plan which I am not privy to!
I want to propose the entire tone of this quote is completely opposite of the Gospel message. Here are just a few Scriptures that clarify that claim:
– Rom 12:16 “… do not be haughty (snobbish, high-minded, exclusive), but readily adjust yourself to [people, things] and give yourselves to humble tasks. Never overestimate yourself or be wise in your own conceits.”
– 1Jn2:6 “Whoever says he abides in Him ought [as a personal debt] to walk and conduct himself in the same way in which He walked and conducted Himself.”
– Phil 2:8 “And after He appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross!”
The quote under examination carries no attitude of humility or sacrifice, obedience, nor love of others. It instead carries a distinct aroma of self-love and self-focus that puts itself and its perceived destiny before all other things. This has no affiliation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and what He has done for us. It has no reliance on the Lord for the fulfillment of His destiny in us. Instead it strokes the ears and hunger of those who want to believe it, and comforts them in their pursuits and posturings as being in agreement with light – when the attitude of the heart in this quote is instead aligned with darkness.

Today more than ever it is time for believers to become savvy of the wiles of the enemy and his intention to distract, deceive, and waylay us on a route not consistent with Bible Truth. It’s time to part company with arguments, and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and to lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One), — especially every Facebook thought and offering found there… (or anywhere else for that matter).
Shalom

 

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