Monday, December 7, 2015

"The Conflict"


    We will be challenged in this and in every day regarding the living of our lives for the glory of the Lord Jesus.

     "Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help. Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation" (Psalm 35:1-3).
    "There are many adversaries" (I Corinthians 16:9).
     "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).     

    The Christian life involves not simply God, ourselves, and other people.  We face unseen entities that work in and through outward means, seeking to hinder, distract, and deceive us.  Our Heavenly Father would not have us focus upon our foes, but rather upon Him.  However, it remains true that we must be aware of their existence and activity.  "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (I Peter 5:8).  We do not want to be eaten, that is, rather than becoming food for devils, we must seek to partake of the Bread of life to the extent that we prepare ourselves to ovecome devilish challenges.  We either eat, as it were, or we will be eaten.

    Since "the just shall live by faith", we can be sure that Satan and his minions will seek to cloud and hinder our awareness, absorption, and application of God's Truth (Romans 1:17).  Knowing that conscious and malevolent entities act in such a manner should get our spiritual dander up, engaging our hearts and minds to "fight the good fight of faith" (I Timothy 6:12).  This we accomplish by looking unto our Lord and His Truth in consistent exposure to His Word, prayerful response, and fellowship with likehearted believers who also realize the conflict we cannot avoid, but which we may ignore (to our own great detriment, and to those with whom we live our lives).  Indeed, while the Lord Jesus has already won the war of the ages, assuring His ultimate victorious outcome, we may still lose spiritual skirmishes of significant consequence in our own lives if we fail to engage.  

    We fight from our Savior's glorious triumph, rather than for it.  But fight we must, again, the good fight of faith.  Who is our Lord and what has He declared to be true in His Word?  We must discover and remember His answers as we live on the battlefield of our present lives if we are overcome many challenges by "many adversaries".  We focus on the Lord Jesus, and in such Light we more clearly see the enemies and the conflict we must not fail to recognize, and in which we must engage by faith.

"Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"
(I John 5:4-5)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Weekly Memory Verse
     Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
(Romans 12:21)
    
    
 

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