Unseen and Unnoticed

Have you considered what spiritual forces are all about you?  It seems so proper and sophisticated to disregard them and pretend spiritual forces don't exist.   Even good Bible teachers try to turn the clear descriptions of angels and demons in Scripture into metaphors for something or other.  The trap has been laid for us;  don't acknowledge what the Word acknowledges and then they are free to run amok in our circles.  More importantly we miss the joy God wants us to possess through His messengers of good.  Was the Bible lying when it describes explicitly thousands upon thousand of angels at Jesus' birth and the eye popping experience Elisha's servant had when he was given power to see what had been around them all along?  And Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes so he may see." Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2 Kings 6:17 NIV)  The same is true of the bad angels.  We may not see them or think of them but Christ revealed them to His disciples and the crowds nearby.  Just in one poor soul there were thousands of these bad angels camped within.  When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. (Mark 5:15 NIV)  What is our first check-down when something terrifying happens in Paris or Washington D.C.?  Do we begin to consider the angels involved, both good and bad?  Are we ready at a moment's notice to drop what we are doing and pray that Satan's realm is thwarted and God's rule established?  Or do we wring our hands and argue over who was at fault and what sorts of precautions should be taken to prevent future catastrophic events without giving a thought to the battle that is unseen?

 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Therefore put on the full armor of God… Ephesians 6:12-13 NIV

Heed the Call

The moment you think you have heard from God, act upon it decidedly.  You may be mistaken but the Lord will honor your faith and make even your error work for good.  Our problem generally is not our false interpretation of God's directive but rather our rebellious waffling on the point of action.  We see everything else so clearly...the troubles we face, the insults we endure, the lost opportunity and the baseness of co-workers but do we see the way we react to the Word God gives us?  Do we notice how faithfully He guides us or are we blindly moving forward without a care?  The Lord will show you the way but only as you adapt to His guidance will you see more.  If you haven't heard from the Lord, then return to the last place you strayed from His prod and start over there.  Do the thing He told you to do and renew your commitment to follow God wholeheartedly.  Everything went haywire for Abraham the minute he gave in to Sarah's demand that he produce a child through Hagar her slave.  The harshness of the demand that Abraham send off Hagar and his son Ishmael was the correction Abraham had to make to be certain the Lord was his one and only God.  Is it stunning that Abraham had to act upon Sarah's childish demand for Abraham to get rid of Hagar and Ishmael if he was to get back to where God wanted him before he submitted to her whim the first time?  Give in once to the temptation to follow along a line other than the clear one God has given you and the correction may be brutally painful and seem absurdly unfair...and yet it must be done.  In faith we stay on the narrow path God lays out for us and in faith we return to it when we grasp the immensity of our deviation from it.  Once we have accepted the correction and done so decidedly, the way of God becomes clear and bright.  Never be afraid to follow God wholly; be scared to death though of disregarding His certain command.  You may be kept from disaster by God's grace but there will be a cost in the end, one that did not have to be before you strayed.

The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son.  But God said to him, "Do not be so distressed…"  Genesis 21: 11,12a NIV

Cornerstones and Cobblestones

The cross of Jesus Christ accomplished in one fell swoop the challenge of all mankind.  Without a cornerstone, a place from which to build perfect peace, we all flail about trying to make the best of a variety of bad situations.  Even the great optimists with a pot of gold at their disposal realize at some point how empty and vain it all is.  Yet at the moment Christ made it possible for recreation to take place with the act of crucifixion in a specific spot in history, the cornerstone for perfect peace was put in place.   You have as a born again Christian all you need to be done with anxiety, ongoing discouragement and despair.  The Holy Spirit will, as you keep your mind turning back into Christ and your behavior is steeped in the Word, give you a superstructure of peace within your whole personality.  Perfect peace is not a dreamy intellectualization, it is the way of the Christian whose life is stone by stone built upon the salvation of the Cross of Christ.