A Nugget from New Life Network
Scripture for the Day (October 18, 2017)
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)
We live in a country that is blessed to be overrun with churches, Bibles, and Christian books, television and radio programs. And yet, we still, for the most part, operate in the flesh rather than in the Spirit. We succumb to the tactics of the enemy and get all wrapped up in fleshly battles and fail to recognize that we are in a spiritual war.
The thief (Satan) comes to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10). That’s his job and he is very good at it. He is a master deceiver and distracter. He will always try to shift the blame from himself to a person or group of people. He will always try to get your focus on flesh and blood rather than himself. You see this constantly being played out in such things as race, family, church, and government relations. The whole purpose of the enemy is to sow discord because he knows that if we ever get it together, and come into some sort of unity, he is doomed. If he can keep us in discord and confusion, we are doomed.
For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. (James 3:16)
For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. (1 Cor.14:33)
Most of you that are married have learned the hard way that doing things in unity is much, much better than being at odds with each other. Marriage is hard enough without each of you going in opposite directions. Unity multiplies your strength and effectiveness, especially in areas like raising and disciplining children.
As Christians, we are sometimes the worst offenders in this arena. We tend to be too judgmental even when the Bible tells us not to judge. We tend to think the worst of people when the Bible tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves. We tend to jump to conclusions and speak hastily when the Bible tells us to be quick to listen and slow to speak. We tend to paint with a broad brush certain people groups rather than recognize that we all came from dirt.
One of the things that my wife and I have learned over the years is that if God gives us a message to preach we will have an opportunity to walk that message out. I have seen that happen so often that I try to cut that off before I preach or teach anymore. For example, God has been showing me things for weeks on bitterness. So, before I ever shared any of this with anyone I asked God to show me any bitterness I had in my heart so I could forgive those people. I have just learned God’s ways over the years so if I am going to preach it and teach it I am going to have to walk it out.
If we would all take this pre-emptive type approach it could alleviate a lot of problems. If God says to forgive, then forgive. If God says to not harbor bitterness, then don’t harbor bitterness. If God says love, then love. It really is that simple! The key word is obedience and the quicker the better.
