Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Soon to Be Famous Quote:
"Satan has already lost the battle, so suck it up and act like it."
I thought of this the other day while driving my daughter to swimming lessons. When you really get down to it, we Christians can be a bunch of sissies sometimes. That term may offend some, but simply defined, we can be timid and cowardly. We know the outcome. We know that Jesus conquered ALL sin and death, yet, we sure as heck don't act like it.
I mean, some of us do. Tara does. She realizes she is a sinner, but she KNOWS that Jesus conquered all. When tempted by Satan, she runs to Jesus.
What do I do? I cower in fear. I try to overcome that which has been overcome if I would just trust the One that overcame. Overdone? If we Christians would stop whining so much about all the temptations in the world and do something about them...of course through the strength of Christ:
My wife is always on me about taking authority in my prayer life. Not being so meek, but using the power of the Word and the Holy Spirit to bring about change in the world...in our lives. I have trouble with that at times...well, all the time. I was not raised to pray in a way that spoke scripture into being and I certainly do not feel blessed with any spiritual gifts that allow me to pray as my wife prays. I am usually not sure where to begin, but you know, that is just me being a sissy. Satan is lying to me, telling me I am not good enough, smart enough, and God really doesn't like me. (my apologies to Stuart Smalley)
I thought of this the other day while driving my daughter to swimming lessons. When you really get down to it, we Christians can be a bunch of sissies sometimes. That term may offend some, but simply defined, we can be timid and cowardly. We know the outcome. We know that Jesus conquered ALL sin and death, yet, we sure as heck don't act like it.
I mean, some of us do. Tara does. She realizes she is a sinner, but she KNOWS that Jesus conquered all. When tempted by Satan, she runs to Jesus.
What do I do? I cower in fear. I try to overcome that which has been overcome if I would just trust the One that overcame. Overdone? If we Christians would stop whining so much about all the temptations in the world and do something about them...of course through the strength of Christ:
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil 4:13 (NKJV)then we would be acting like we have won...oh wait, we have.
My wife is always on me about taking authority in my prayer life. Not being so meek, but using the power of the Word and the Holy Spirit to bring about change in the world...in our lives. I have trouble with that at times...well, all the time. I was not raised to pray in a way that spoke scripture into being and I certainly do not feel blessed with any spiritual gifts that allow me to pray as my wife prays. I am usually not sure where to begin, but you know, that is just me being a sissy. Satan is lying to me, telling me I am not good enough, smart enough, and God really doesn't like me. (my apologies to Stuart Smalley)
My lovely wife then referred to the following scriptural references regarding the power of prayer and taking authority of the promises from God to His faithful:
Matthew 21:22
"And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."
2 Chorinthians 4:13-15
"And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, 'I believed and therefore I spoke,' we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God."
Romans 4:16-22
"Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, 'I have made you a father of many nations') in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, 'So shall your descendants be.' And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore 'it was accounted to him for righteousness.'"
Hebrews 11:1-3
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible."
Brian McCormack, our Sr. High School Youth Minister, gave the sermon this week. As God had planned, yes I give Him credit, he spoke about the battle that has already been won. This battle between Satan and God. As soon as the fall occurred, God put a plan in motion to retrieve His fallen children.
"So the LORD God said to the serpent:'Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise [depending on your translation: CRUSH] your head, and you shall bruise His heel.'” Genesis 3:14-15 (NKJV)
In reading, you should notice that the He the writer is speaking of is Jesus. No matter the translation that you use, He is a proper pronoun referring to Jesus ultimately coming and crushing Satan. For the next 1,500 years or so (the Old Testament), God does all that He can to get His children back, but not until the day, in a small town in Galilee, Jesus was born, did the final chapter begin. His story, life, death, and resurrection is used to complete the retrieval of His children. The day that Jesus died on the cross, He echoed the completion of this task:
"Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, 'I am thirsty.' A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, 'It is finished.' With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." John 19:28-30 (NKJV)
Did you notice? Jesus did not say, "I am finished." He said, "IT is finished." He was referencing the fact that He had taken ALL the sins of ALL man upon Himself through His death, and ultimate resurrection, thus completing the plan God put in place right after the fall.
Let's recap:
- Christians can be sissies because we don't prayer in complete faith, using the power of the Word.
- Scripture specifically tells us that faith in prayer allows for the ability to take authority over the promises God has provided His faithful.
- God set this plan in motion the minute we fell.
- Jesus finished the plan through His death and resurrection.
- Satan has been defeated, or even better, his head has been CRUSHED.
So I ask this question: Are you going to be a sissy or a victor in Christ? Don't take too long to answer because all you are doing is giving in to Satan's lies.
Labels: spiritual revival
4 Comments:
JD,
Good point about prayer. By and large, mainline Christians are also sissies in witnessing. We don't want to offend people or "push our faith," so we keep quiet when the Holy Spirit prompts us to share Christ, invite someone to church or pray...out loud...in public with everybody watching. GASP!
Arnold would call us "girly-man Christians."
Thanks for the comments Mark, and for your ministry as well. My wife continues to get on my about using the term "sissy" when I discuss this, but to me, it makes more of a point. WE don't share because we are afraid...of what? Political correctness? embarrassment? We fall into Satan's trap.
Again, thanks for stopping by.
PAX
JD
JD,
Thank you for this post! When I started memorizing Ephesians, I realized the triumph of Christ is absolutely unavoidable.
"For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." 1 John 3:8
Do you believe it, or not?
Thanks for the comment, Brian. I have been busy and not checked things here in a while. I believe the quintessential truth: That God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son so that we may live." The proof is in the pudding, or should I say, Bible. Every account from the fall until the death and final resurrection, God was doing it because He loved us that much.
That is awesome!
PAX
JD
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