The Spirit calls me today as I am watching the shake up of my world. The battle rages and lines are being drawn. Jesus has said, "I did not come to bring peace but a sword" and that sword will divide some of our most cherished relationships. Matt. 10:34.
The question we face is where does our loyalty lie? To whom will we pledge our allegiance when the battle comes to our door or worse yet when it strikes our closest relationships?
We, in America, know little about the "rulers, authorities and powers of this dark world" or the "Spiritual forces of evil in the Heavenly realms" spoken of in Eph 6:12. The strategy of evil here in America seems to be to neutralize the Church and her Warrior calling.
The enemy tries to drown out the call to war coming out of Heaven, with polite and pleasant "works" while administering sleep inducing sedatives. He is deceiving the army of God with perks and benefits that would cause them to trade in their powerful weapons and "beat their swords into plowshares" before time, while the battle is still raging.
The Spirit speaks daily about the danger of "unholy alliances" we are tempted to enter into. Today He calls me to consider the original call to compromise that was made in the Garden of Eden.
Eve was the delight of Adam's heart and made in a likeness of beauty that pleased all his senses. She was given as a gift and the flesh and blood completion of him as a man.
All was well until temptation to disobey God's only command and reject His stark warning was presented and, in an act of her free will, Eve chose the fruit of dark rebellion. Once the act of disobedience was complete, Adam was invited to join in Eve's wickedness and partake of the forbidden fruit.
Adam's decision was a different one. Beyond the forbidden fruit, Adam had to choose between his relationship with His Creator God and his relationship with Eve. Adam's allegiance was tested and it fell to his flesh. We all may well say, "well, who could blame him?" Yet, looking back, generations of people since that day would likely say, "Why did you throw away your amazing life and future just to please your senses?" (For Adam it was an issue of failed leadership but that is a subject for another day.)
Betrayal of the Creator may represent the ancient dilemma that caused the original fall of man, but that is the same dilemma we will all face in our lives today.
Compromise threatens all of us and not just in doing things that call us to repentance. The real threat of compromise is in the place of our allegiance and loyalty to the One who died for us.
The Spirit is calling, asking, in the battle that is raging, "Where does your allegiance lie?" When the sword of Christ begins to divide and decisions of loyalty must be made, where do we take our stand? Does our Lord and Savior have His rightful place in our life and does He have our undivided, unwavering loyalty, where we will forsake all others and stand with Him? Or do we forsake Him and align ourselves with those who walk in the ways of this fallen world?
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
The question we face is where does our loyalty lie? To whom will we pledge our allegiance when the battle comes to our door or worse yet when it strikes our closest relationships?
We, in America, know little about the "rulers, authorities and powers of this dark world" or the "Spiritual forces of evil in the Heavenly realms" spoken of in Eph 6:12. The strategy of evil here in America seems to be to neutralize the Church and her Warrior calling.
The enemy tries to drown out the call to war coming out of Heaven, with polite and pleasant "works" while administering sleep inducing sedatives. He is deceiving the army of God with perks and benefits that would cause them to trade in their powerful weapons and "beat their swords into plowshares" before time, while the battle is still raging.
The Spirit speaks daily about the danger of "unholy alliances" we are tempted to enter into. Today He calls me to consider the original call to compromise that was made in the Garden of Eden.
Eve was the delight of Adam's heart and made in a likeness of beauty that pleased all his senses. She was given as a gift and the flesh and blood completion of him as a man.
All was well until temptation to disobey God's only command and reject His stark warning was presented and, in an act of her free will, Eve chose the fruit of dark rebellion. Once the act of disobedience was complete, Adam was invited to join in Eve's wickedness and partake of the forbidden fruit.
Adam's decision was a different one. Beyond the forbidden fruit, Adam had to choose between his relationship with His Creator God and his relationship with Eve. Adam's allegiance was tested and it fell to his flesh. We all may well say, "well, who could blame him?" Yet, looking back, generations of people since that day would likely say, "Why did you throw away your amazing life and future just to please your senses?" (For Adam it was an issue of failed leadership but that is a subject for another day.)
Betrayal of the Creator may represent the ancient dilemma that caused the original fall of man, but that is the same dilemma we will all face in our lives today.
Compromise threatens all of us and not just in doing things that call us to repentance. The real threat of compromise is in the place of our allegiance and loyalty to the One who died for us.
The Spirit is calling, asking, in the battle that is raging, "Where does your allegiance lie?" When the sword of Christ begins to divide and decisions of loyalty must be made, where do we take our stand? Does our Lord and Savior have His rightful place in our life and does He have our undivided, unwavering loyalty, where we will forsake all others and stand with Him? Or do we forsake Him and align ourselves with those who walk in the ways of this fallen world?
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
No comments:
Post a Comment