Spiritual Warfare

“Jesus has called us into the army

but most western Christians

are trying to figure out how to remain civilians.”

~Steve Robbins, Vineyard Church of Columbus, Spiritual Warfare Seminar, June 2008

Holy Spirit in Residence

Or didn't you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don't you see that you can't live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (The Message)

And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. Romans 8:9 (NIV)

This concept jumped out at me this morning. Oh, yes, I’ve been taught and agreed for years that I am not my own. But the reality of my body being the property and residence of the Holy Spirit took on new meaning.

Think of it. God the creator made us human and gave us freedom to choose what to do with our life. Then, he purchased the right to be the landlord (owner) of everything we have. The price? The blood of Jesus. In exchange for all our life as we know it – everything that we can enjoy, control, imagine, whether we consider it “spiritual” or physical. God has given us his Holy Spirit to be the Director of all our affairs.

Now, as the Manager accountable to the Director and Owner, I have agreed to a contract (covenant) which states that I will do everything according to the intent of the Owner. Fortunately, this is a great deal because I couldn’t have this great of a life without the Director’s personal interest in my operations.

Fascinating, isn’t it?

Marlene Nathan in Living by the Spirit (NavPress Pilgrimage Growth Guide) presents this question: “How would your life be different if the Spirit lived among you with much more power and a much higher standard for holiness?”

If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! Luke 11:13

National Day of Prayer

When I was a little girl
grown-ups taught me how to pray
No one taught me how to listen
only words to say

Today has been designated The National Day of Prayer.
May you listen as you pray.

The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation. It was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman. Our Task Force is a privately funded organization whose purpose it is to encourage participation on the National Day of Prayer. http://www.ndptf.org/about/index.cfm

A God Sandwich

I love it when God unexpectedly reveals something new from a very familiar piece of scripture. Yesterday, at The Church at North Pointe, Pastor Kevin Dudley delivered a new visual for me of Psalm 23. It was powerful because I struggle regularly with the tension between pushing forward and giving up. Look at it with me.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want…
he leads me beside quiet waters…
He guides me in paths of righteousness…
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life.
~ Psalm 23:1-3, 6

Do you see it? God is in front leading us AND he is behind us with his goodness and love. We are in a God Sandwich.

Pastor Dudley encouraged me in my circumstances with this statement. When you feel like turning back, giving up, God’s goodness and love is right there saying “no, no, keep going forward!”

As I apply that to my life, I know that God’s goodness and love is different than the supernatural leading of God. Following God requires trusting Him with the unknown. Behind me is a known path filled with God’s presence in my physical life. It is those experiences of God being Real that encourage me to keep following the Shepherd, My Shepherd.

God is Real! He goes before you and he is behind you. You are in a God sandwich.

Why do I exist?

There are plenty of books on living your purpose, finding your destiny, and following your dreams. But have you ever taken a step deeper and asked why do I even exist? Not, why does man exist. Why do I, as a unique individual, exist at all?

Paul states in Philippians 1:21 “to live is Christ and to die is gain.” I will admit that the “gain” part of that statement is often more attractive. However, I am, by God’s choice, very much alive. But why? Why is it “necessary”, as Paul says, to “remain in the body.”

I have determined that I am not here for myself. If I were, there would be no real reason to go on living, would there? My reason for existing even goes beyond being here to be in relationship with Christ – although that is certainly a benefit of living. And being here to help others is also a vital part of my existence. However, if I never existed, I wouldn’t miss out on anything, would I?

Why do I fight for the unborn child to exist beyond the womb? Why do I follow a man raised from the dead? May I suggest that each one of us is part of God’s artwork which has been vandalized by Satan’s Gang?

But not just people. All of God’s creation has been vandalized. The restoration began when God sent his son to earth to oversee the refurbishing project.

The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11:8-9

I am here as part of God’s creation - God’s imagination and dreams of perfect love and beauty, trust and joy, peace and harmony like a powerful symphony. I am one note in the maestro’s melodious arrangement.

To ask why I exist is to ask why the waterfall exists. Like the waterfall, the birds, and music; I am a creation on God’s living canvas.

Hang in there. I hear the finished product is to die for.

Let me live that I may praise you. Psalm 19:175

Faith

Faith does not give us the ability to make God do things. Faith gives us the ability to see and be involved in what God is doing.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses…. ~ Acts 1:8

Parable of the Ten Virgins - Gotta get your own faith

"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

"At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

"Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

"‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’"

~ Matthew 25:1-9

The response of the wise virgins to the foolish virgins sounds rude and selfish, doesn’t it? I’ve often wondered about that and this morning, I saw something different.

The wise virgins couldn’t give their oil to the foolish in the same way I cannot give my faith to another person. Jesus Christ paid the price and he is the only one who can offer each person their own portion of faith.

Faith is being sure of something that we cannot yet see with our physical eyes (Hebrews 11:1). With faith there is a sense of waiting and watching with great expectation. Faith is exciting. It’s not flippant. It’s not something you forget about until you decide you want some.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. ~ Hebrews 11:6

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. ~ Matthew 25:13