Now that Christmas is over, what do I do with the Christ Child?

       During the Christmas Season, we celebrated the coming of the Messiah.  The birth of Jesus symbolizes the arrival of hope into a lost world.  Sometimes it is hard for us to wrap our heads around the grace that has been afforded us by God.  People often, incorrectly, say that if there is a God, he doesn't care about the trials and tribulations that we mortals face on a daily basis.  I say that the Christmas story proves exactly the opposite.

      If God did not care about our daily struggles, then he surely would not have sent his Son into this corrupt world to be beaten, mutilated and put to death in order to create a path for our salvation.  No, often times when we face hardships that do not seem fair to us, in our desperation and despair, we begin to question God.  We pray earnest prayers and when we do not see the desired results we pout like spoiled children who received full stockings, but not the toy they most coveted.  Too often we live blessed lives, full of God's gifts, yet we focus too much on what we are lacking.

    Christmas has brought us a season of hope, a season of love, and above all a season of rejoicing that our God is Immanuel, God with us.  What should we carry with us as we prepare for the New Year?  We should carry with us the  knowledge that we are not just an after thought of God.  He cares and he hears each and every one of our prayers.  As with any father, when your children ask for things sometimes the answer is "yes", sometimes the answer is "no", and sometimes the answer is "not right now."  Just as our earthly children don't always understand our reasoning for the answers we give, sometimes we don't understand the "no" and "not now" answers we get from God.

  Rest assured,  just as a good parent has the best interest of their child in mind, so God has the best interest of his people in mind when he answers.  We may not be able to see it now, we may not even agree with it , but we didn't form the universe and we can't comprehend the power of a God who did.  Isn't it cool that a God who can create all things cares enough for us to put on skin and not only dwell with us, but die for us.

What should you take into the New Year?

1.  You are loved by the one and only God.

2.  God is not a distant dictator waiting to crush us when we do wrong.  Instead he is a loving father who gave up his own blameless Son just to be able to spend eternity with us sinners.

3.  Even when we feel alone because what we want is not what we get, God is still with us and still loves us.

May you have a blessed New Year filled with the love of Christ!

     See more devotional thoughts and lessons at http://cszdevotion.blogspot.com/.


Chris Tomlin--Amazing Grace

Narrowing Down the Field

Some have suggested that the fact Jesus fulfills so many prophecies can be canceled out because he was trying to fulfill them.  Now, we could argue the numerical improbability of this occurring, even if someone tried to act out each prophecy, but that is not what I want to look at tonight.  No, tonight I would like to look at a few prophecies that Jesus could not have possibly "worked on" himself.

In Genesis 12:3, " I will bless those who bless you,
       and whoever curses you I will curse;
       and all peoples on earth
       will be blessed through you."

God promises Abram, later renamed Abraham, that he will bless the entire world through his lineage.  The Messiah will come from Abraham.

Then in Genesis 17:19  we are told, "Then God said, 'Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.  I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.'"

God narrows down the Messiah's ancestors to the line of Isaac.

In Genesis 28:14 God establishes the line with Jacob, "¹⁴ Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring."

In Genesis 49:10 Jacob, called Israel by God,  has his line further focused to the house of Judah, "The scepter will not depart from Judah,
       nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
       until he comes to whom it belongs 
       and the obedience of the nations is his.

In 2 Samuel 7:12-13  David is promised through the prophet Nathan to be the ancestor of the Messiah.
      "When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.  He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever."

Why is all of this important?  A quick look at the opening of Matthew answers that question.

Matthew Chapter 1

 ¹A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:
    ²Abraham was the father of Isaac,
         Isaac the father of Jacob,
         Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
       ³Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
         Perez the father of Hezron,
         Hezron the father of Ram,
       ⁴Ram the father of Amminadab,
         Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
         Nahshon the father of Salmon,
       ⁵Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
         Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
         Obed the father of Jesse,
       ⁶and Jesse the father of King David.
      David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife,
    ⁷Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
         Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
         Abijah the father of Asa,
       ⁸Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
         Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
         Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
       ⁹Uzziah the father of Jotham,
         Jotham the father of Ahaz,
         Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
       ¹⁰Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
         Manasseh the father of Amon,
         Amon the father of Josiah,
       ¹¹and Josiah the father of Jeconiah^[a] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
    ¹²After the exile to Babylon:
         Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
         Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
       ¹³Zerubbabel the father of Abiud,
         Abiud the father of Eliakim,
         Eliakim the father of Azor,
       ¹⁴Azor the father of Zadok,
         Zadok the father of Akim,
         Akim the father of Eliud,
       ¹⁵Eliud the father of Eleazar,
         Eleazar the father of Matthan,
         Matthan the father of Jacob,
       ¹⁶and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

Jesus would have had no way of controlling these facts, if he wasn't God.  Isn't it kind of amazing that he fits into each one of these categories, categories that were written down hundreds and even thousands of years before his birth.

We Three Kings (Even though there were probably a lot more than that, just three types of gifts.)

Psalm 72:9-12

 ⁹ The desert tribes will bow before him
       and his enemies will lick the dust.
 ¹⁰ The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores
       will bring tribute to him;
       the kings of Sheba and Seba
       will present him gifts.
 ¹¹ All kings will bow down to him
       and all nations will serve him.
 ¹² For he will deliver the needy who cry out,
       the afflicted who have no one to help.

Matthew 2:1-11

¹After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem ²and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."  ³When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. ⁵"In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
 ⁶" 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
      are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
   for out of you will come a ruler
      who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'"
 ⁷Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. ⁸He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him."
 ⁹After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.


Isn't it cool that the arrival of the Son of God was such an event that it brought men of different faiths from afar because even they could recognize the signs.  They found Jesus, not in the nativity, but when he was bout 2 or 3 years old.  Isn't it also amazing that the gifts that these magi brought were probably used to finance Jesus' family moving to Egypt to escape the fury of Herod.  God works in great ways, and the coolest thing is he told us hundreds of years in advance, "Hey I'm going to do something cool.  Watch this." Then he did it!

Messianic Prophecy Part 3--One Sacrificial Lamb to Another

Genesis 22: 9-19

 ⁹ When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"
      "Here I am," he replied.
 ¹² "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."
 ¹³ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."
 ¹⁵ The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time ¹⁶ and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, ¹⁸ and through your offspring  all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."
 ¹⁹ Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.

 --bold and italics added for prophetic emphasis.

Matthew 1: 1-17

 ¹A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham:
    ²Abraham was the father of Isaac,
         Isaac the father of Jacob,
         Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers,
       ³Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,
         Perez the father of Hezron,
         Hezron the father of Ram,
       ⁴Ram the father of Amminadab,
         Amminadab the father of Nahshon,
         Nahshon the father of Salmon,
       ⁵Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab,
         Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,
         Obed the father of Jesse,
       ⁶and Jesse the father of King David.
      David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah's wife,
    ⁷Solomon the father of Rehoboam,
         Rehoboam the father of Abijah,
         Abijah the father of Asa,
       ⁸Asa the father of Jehoshaphat,
         Jehoshaphat the father of Jehoram,
         Jehoram the father of Uzziah,
       ⁹Uzziah the father of Jotham,
         Jotham the father of Ahaz,
         Ahaz the father of Hezekiah,
       ¹⁰Hezekiah the father of Manasseh,
         Manasseh the father of Amon,
         Amon the father of Josiah,
       ¹¹and Josiah the father of Jeconiah^[a] and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.
    ¹²After the exile to Babylon:
         Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel,
         Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,
       ¹³Zerubbabel the father of Abiud,
         Abiud the father of Eliakim,
         Eliakim the father of Azor,
       ¹⁴Azor the father of Zadok,
         Zadok the father of Akim,
         Akim the father of Eliud,
       ¹⁵Eliud the father of Eleazar,
         Eleazar the father of Matthan,
         Matthan the father of Jacob,
       ¹⁶and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.  ¹⁷Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.


      Forty-two generations from Abraham to Jesus.  Abraham was a man of extraordinary faith.  He left his home to follow God without knowing where he was going.  He believed that God would bring him a child even when he and his wife were so old that her eggs had pretty much petrified.  When he was blessed with a child he was ready to sacrifice him because he thought that was God's will.  Don't get me wrong, Abraham was a flawed man as well.  He did a lot of things wrong along the way, but it's easy to see why God would want to show favor to Abraham.
   
      It is hard to miss the symbolism, or possibly the irony, shown here by God.  In order to spare Abraham's son, Isaac, God provided a ram to be sacrificed.   Later, to provide the blessing to all nations that he speaks of in Genesis 22:18, God provides a lamb to cover the sins of all men--Jesus.  Just another way that the promises of God are fulfilled in the person and deity of Jesus the Christ.

Messianic Prophecy-- Isaiah 7:13-14

Isaiah 7:13-14

13 Then Isaiah said, "Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.



Matthew 1: 18-25

18This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."

22All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."

24When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.



This seems hard for us to wrap our minds around. We have been taught from the time we were young that 1 + 1 = 2. But the math in this equation just doesn't add up. It seems that we are missing a crucial addend. Then again that's just like God. God works through improbable people and through impossible situations. While Jesus was very much a man he was also the Immanuel--God in man's skin. So how else would he enter the world, born as a human but in a supernatural way.

There are millions of people that will scoff at the idea of immaculate conception. They will say that those of us who believe in the Nativity and the Messiah are simpletons. This is nothing new, it is nothing we haven't been told by Jesus to expect. For a moment though, pause and consider. If you are open to the idea of divine creation. If you can look at the world, the universe, and say there had to be some kind of intelligent design. If all of these little perfections seem to be too much to be a coincidence of chaos and chance, then why could the hand that set the world in motion not come to earth in an unusual way?

What makes this even more amazing, it was told it was coming, and come it did! Hallelujah.

The Prophecies that Point to Jesus

(Old Testament)
Genesis 3:15 (New International Version)

15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring [a] and hers;
he will crush [b] your head,
and you will strike his heel."


(New Testament)
Galatians 4:3-6

3So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. 4But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."


As we now enter into the Christmas Season I thought it would be a nice change of pace for us to begin looking at some of the indicators from the prophets of old as to who the Messiah would be. The Old Testament is full of indicators, beginning in Genesis, that tell us things about the coming Lord.

Today, we will examine the verses from Genesis and Galatians that lay down a basic principle about Jesus. In Genesis, after the fall of Adam and Eve, God says that the defeat of the serpent, Satan, would come from the seed of a woman. He also foretold that while the serpent would be destroyed, he would also wound the seed of the woman.

Take this and parallel it with what we know of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus defeated death and sin by being resurrected. He crushed Satan's head (see the book of Revelation for more information on how that will play out) but not before Satan struck his heal.

This is only the first of many prophecies from the Old Testament that we will examine showing how Jesus fulfilled Messianic Prophecy. I hope you will join us again soon as we dig into the fulfillment of Messianic Prophecy.

In it, not of it.

(companion worksheet)
Many of you will be familiar with the phrase, “In the world, not of it”. This is one of those phrases that many people believe is in the Bible, and are surprised to find that it is not. The idea, however, is one that is founded in biblical principle and is going to be at the heart of what we discuss today. To examine the biblical basis for this idea we are going to look at excerpts from three different books of the New Testament. As we read each of the passages I want us to pause, discuss the text, and pull out the most important ideas and the underlying meaning.

John 15: 18-21

18"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.'[a] If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.


John 17: 14-18

14I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17Sanctify[a] them by the truth; your word is truth. 18As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

Romans 12:1-3

1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[a] act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.



1 John 2 :15 - 17

15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.


I think after examining these verses, we can safely say that being in the world, but not of it is a biblical principle. Which begs us to take the next logical step. If we know that we are called to do this, we need to hold the mirror up and assess where we stand.
If we really want to examine what it means to be in the world but not be of it, we need to first understand that how we prioritize our life is ultimately what will determine if we are living in the world or of the world. Those who fail to examine what they do and why they do it, soon find themselves being steered by their whims and desires rather than plotting the course that Jesus has mapped out for them.
As we examine Jesus’ call for us to be set apart we must be careful of a few things. Many times when we get to comparing ourselves to the unsaved world we make one fatal error. Instead of examining the state of the church today, we look at the church with rose colored glasses. We sometimes tend to see the church as we would like it to be and not how it actually is (Sometimes we do this with ourselves as well). We often begin speaking in generalities like "Christians don’t do that", or " Christians wouldn’t go there", when in fact there are Christians that will "do that" and will "go there". If we are honest we can say that there are three sub groups that we need to consider when evaluating where we fit:

1) Non-Christians or Christians in name only
2) Your Everyday, Average Christian
3) A Faithful, Bible-based Christian


Why is it important for us to look at Non-Christians? Well, If Jesus is telling us to be different from the world, we first need to understand what the world looks like. How else would we know we are different?
Once we establish what we should not be, I think we need to determine who we should try to look like. Especially in America, there are a lot of professing Christians. For some, being “Christian” is enough. For this group, Christianity is about Fireproofing their life. It is these Christians that look at one another and say I’m doing what everyone else is, I must be doing alright.
For others, Christianity is who they are. WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) is not just a bracelet or a song, it’s the question that drives their decision making.
Let’s stop for a moment and examine the way these three groups prioritize their time, energy, and money. In the book The Love Dare, from the movie Fireproof, the author points out, “Whatever you put your time, energy, and money into will become more important to you. It’s hard to care for something you are not investing in.”
The Bible makes this same point in Matthew 6: 21 saying, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

********
On a sheet of paper, write down Non-Christians, Average Christians, and Bible-based Christians. Write down the five biggest motivators for how people in each group live. What drives them each day to do what they do, say what they say, treat people the way they do.

Do you notice any trends when looking at the lists you have compiled.

Where would safety, security, wealth, self, others, and God fit on your list?
*******
The following article contains a Christian that most of you have probably never heard of before. Write the name of the person this article is about down. In a sentence or two tell what happens in your article. Finally, consider what you have read along with our discussion about being in the world and not of it. How does considering the life of these Christians and the lives of others like them impact your understanding of in the world not of it?
******* (Click on the pages and you will be able to enlarge them for easy reading)


The point of discussing these persecuted Christians is not to persuade you to go martyr yourself . It is to focus us on the fact that we have a very Americanized view of Christianity and a very Americanized view of what it means when we say to be in this world and not of it.
When we hear these stories of torture and malice we cringe. When we hear stories of heroism to bring the word of God to unreached people we applaud. Yet in our own lives, here in our own country (U.S.) where it is so much easier to “be a Christian” do we actually go the full measure, do we actually live out the command?

Consider:
The Ten Commandments have to be torn off the walls of our Courts and Public Buildings
Smut Websites and Magazines are produced and distributed within easy reach of our kids because it’s free speech and press
Marriage doesn’t have to mean man and wife
A dog has more rights than an unborn child
The Leader of our country has proclaimed within the last year that we “are not a christian nation”
There are movements to ban the pledge of allegiance from public schools for saying “One Nation, under God” ,
Likewise there are Petitions to change our money to omit, “ In God we trust.”
Some Local governments have been forced to take down Christmas decorations

Every year, more and more we allow our country to truly become a non-Christian nation.
Why are we not yelling and screaming? Why are there not a billion letters of outrage flooding the Washington Post Office? Why are we so concerned about being politically correct that we refuse to speak out and say this is wrong?

In China, India, Laos, Iraq, Indonesia, Iran and hundreds of other places Christians die and endure endless hardships for Christ. These people choose to speak even when the gun is in their face, even though they know they will die. Compared to that what do we face when we speak up? People will call us names, say we are closed minded, tell us we’re wrong?

Why are we like this? I fear the answer is that the American church, the average American Christian has become content being of the world and not simply in it. We place conformity, safety, security, popularity, comfort and being accepted over speaking out for Jesus. We place more value on not stepping on toes than we do on speaking Truth. Did Jesus pull punches? No. Jesus understood there was too much at stake to pull punches, that's why he was viewed as such a threat.

We live in a culture where most of us have never known what it is like to have to choose Jesus over life. When we think of the extent that persecution affects most kids in the U.S. it simply means that those who are faithful through the developmental stages of life might not be in the in crowd. As adults, sometimes we look at it as a sacrifice when we decide not to join in conversations about the latest gossip, or if we share the gospel with someone who totally blows us off and rings us up as just another idiot.

Sometimes I think we lose sight of the actual Jesus who walked the earth. We see instead the Americanized version that shows up in the movies we grew up with. We trivialize the sacrifices that he made and forget that he told us that we too would face adversity. We rationalize in our own minds that its okay for us not to step out of the shadows when we’re called because it makes us uncomfortable, and after all God loves us he wouldn’t want that, right? Wrong.

Jesus is not a comfort zone God. He rocked the boat a lot more than he ever coasted. The world that he faced was as dangerous as those we looked at in small groups. Those that dared to speak out against the religions of the day skated on thin ice. Jesus drove the bus out on the lake. Not only did Jesus and his followers face persecution, rejection, and heart ache for being different, ultimately they faced death. Jesus told us if the world hates you they hated me first, he told us to step out of the boat and follow him, he tells us still to stand tall for what is right and despise what is wrong. In this world we live in, if our boat is not rocking it’s not because we are in calm waters, it’s because we’re afraid to get wet.

I want to challenge you today to do one more thing before we leave. I want each person to examine their lives, this is not with your spouse, not to share with your friends, this is between you and God. What are the priorities in your life? What motivates your every day actions? Where in your life are you conforming, where are you choosing to be like the world instead of stepping out in faith and daring to be different. Where are you remaining silent, is there some place where you don’t conform to the world but you choose to remain silent, appear nuetral to avoid conflict? Finally, where have you taken a stand and said, the world is wrong and I choose to be different because that’s what My Lord wants.

Our God is mighty, he wants to accomplish mighty tasks and he wants to use us to accomplish them. If we refuse to step out in faith and be different for Jesus, he will choose someone else who will listen to fulfill his will, and ultimately it will be those of us hiding in the shadows who will miss out on the blessing of being his instrument. If we want to be able to look at our list and honestly say that Jesus is the top priority, then we should be able to look at our actions and see Jesus shining through us.

Sir, We're Surrounded!!

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (New International Version)

³For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. ⁴The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Let me begin by saying that I am no great military mind. I have not spent much time researching and developing my military tactics, but there are a few things that I know. It's better to have the high ground, and it's never a good thing when you are surrounded on all sides with nowhere to run. Unfortunately, we as believers find ourselves in this very situation. We are surrounded.

This became even clearer this morning. I don't normally have the opportunity to watch the morning news shows. As a teacher, by 7:50 I have students in my class each day. That doesn't leave much time for shows like The Today Show. This morning, we had a teacher's workday and as I worked I had the television tuned to that very show.

In a matter of 20 minutes there were two "news stories" that came on which made my jaw drop. The first had a well known actor and his family discussing a book that the father had written about contacting the dead, mediums, etc. These two gentlemen sat on that stage talking about how mediums contacted spirits and discussing this act as though it were a good thing. Immediately my mind flashed to Leviticus in the Old Testament:

Leviticus 20 (New International Version)

⁶ " 'I will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people

²³ You must not live according to the customs of the nations I am going to drive out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.

²⁷ " 'A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.' "

Now, I may not be the best when it comes to reading between the lines, but I think God is saying that this kind of thing is bad. With it being so close to Halloween, I kind of crossed this off and told myself they're just playing this up because of the date.

Hmmmm, no. The next "news story" that caught my attention was about, "One woman, and the healing power of sharing." On the screen comes a lady who was afflicted with some sort of disease. She contacted her spiritual adviser who told her that she needed to spend 29 days giving to the needy. Well that doesn't sound too bad right. Wrong!

Ask yourself, who is this lady pointing people toward? Is she saying rely on God? Is she praising God and saying that it is only through his goodness and mercy that her healing was made possible? No. All credit for her healing was given to this spiritual adviser. Healing was said to have been achieved through the acts of giving, not through the grace of God.

1 John 4:1-3 (New International Version)

¹Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ²This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

We are blessed to live in a time where men have developed many technologies. Life is much easier for us today than it was only 100 years ago. We have the ability to communicate with those down the road, across town, across the country, or across the world. We can publicize a web page, create a movie, air a television or radio show, etc. How many of these outlets cry out the glory of God?

How many times are we fed information that is wrapped in the garb of truth or fact when it actually comes from the father of all lies? We as Christians must realize that we are in a vulnerable position, we are surrounded. On all sides there are things of the enemy that bombard us.

I do not tell you this to scare you, but to inform you.

1 John 4:4 (New International Version)

⁴You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

If we were a traditional army, we might have cause to be afraid. But as Christians, we might be surrounded, but the enemy is attacking with butcher knives and we have machine guns. All Satan has to use against us are lies, and when compared to the light and the truth of scripture, his lies whither away. When you think about it that way, being surrounded isn't so scary.

If we are to win others over for Christ, then we must pay attention to how the enemy attacks, the lies that the enemy spreads, and the way the enemy twists the truth. Knowing that we are surrounded puts us on our guard and makes us more aware of the things we are taking in through our eyes and ears and how these things impact our heart. Looking at who the enemy is targeting can help us to better know where we need to use our resources and for whom we need to pray.

Looks like we're surrounded, better lock and load. We already know how this battle ends, so let's get busy fighting.

Prayer:

Father God, we stand before you in awe and wonder of who you are and how you love us. We praise your name and recognize that it is only through you that we are able to receive forgiveness and grace. We thank you that while we were yet sinners, you loved us enough to sacrifice your son, Jesus Christ, that we might have a path to you.

Father, we ask that you would help us to discern the truth in this fallen world. The enemy packages a lot of things as truth and places it before us. We call upon you, Father, to help us test what is put before us and to recognize what is from you and what is not. Help us to use this information to lead others to you, to keep ourselves holy, to avoid the pitfalls that lie before us.

We love you Father, and we thank you for all that you do for us. We thank you for the blood of your son, Jesus, in whom we pray. Amen.

A Modern Day Parable

Taken from the same principles found in Matthew Chapter 25.


A little boy loved his father. Everything that his father did the little boy tried to copy. When his dad split wood, the little boy gathered twigs. When the father pulled weeds from the garden, the little boy was by his side tugging at the strands of grass.

One day the father said to his son, today I think we should go fishing. The little boy was excited. This meant a whole day of being with his father. When they got to the lake the little boy gathered his cane pole and began to dig for worms a few feet away from the shore.

To his surprise he looked up to see that his father did not have a fishing pole, but a net. His father threw the net into the water and upon retrieving it found that he had caught seven fish. The little boy cast his line into the water and began to wait.

As an hour passed the father threw his net in time after time, pulling in fish after fish. The little boy sat still, sulking because he had only caught one small fish. His father came over and asked him what was the matter. The little boy looked up with tears in his eyes and said, "I'll never be able to do what you can."

The father smiled a warm smile and told his son, " I came to the lake with a net and was able to use what I brought to catch a lot of fish. You came to the lake with a cane stick and some twine and still managed to catch a fish."

He patted his son on the head, " I'm proud of you! You used what you had to get the most you could. You never stopped trying, even when you felt like you were failing. No one can be asked to do more."

The little boy cracked a smile and wiped away the tears. "I love you dad."

"I know," said the father, "I love you too."

Moral:

Sometimes it is easy to lose our focus and begin to compare ourselves to others. God has called us all to his service, not all of us will have similar results. I don't think he expects the same results out of all of us. Read the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25. See in this story how Jesus gives differently to each of us, and how he rewards us when we use what he has blessed us with for his purpose.