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Surrounded On Three Sides In Our Spiritual War

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Sodom was renowned for its evil in the days of Abram. So evil that God eventually rained fire down and destroyed it. But here we see an interesting choice of words in describing the choices of Abram and Lot. Abram dwelled in the Promised Land -- he stayed within the promises of God. Lot however pitched his tent toward Sodom. He pitched his tent towards the evil world system. I understand and I am sure we all do. The lure of the world is strong. Your co-workers are going to happy hour and you don't want to explain why you shouldn't go. Your buddy wants you to go to the big football game but you have to explain why it is important for you to be in church instead. The sacrifices are real. The lure is real. But so is the danger -- even from merely pitching your tent towards the world. Because the next time we see Lot -- He is living in Sodom! That is what the attraction of the world does. It sells us on the fact that pitching our tents towards it is harmless when it is really just baiting the hook. The Bible says believers should have no fellowship with darkness.

 

Carefully determine what pleases the Lord. Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them. It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret. -- Ephesians 5: 10-12 (NLT)

 

We also need to carefully consider what pleases the Lord because there is an enemy to our souls. The second factor working against us is the devil and he is very real beloved. He has done a masterful job in convincing those in the world that he either does not exist or is just a cartoon caricature with a red suit and pitchfork. When you see stories like the one out of Colorado this past week you need to realize how real the devil is. The world mentality will be to try and explain how someone could just walk into a movie theater and slaughter 12 people while injuring so many more. Realize this is only the latest story so it sticks in our mind. We had the Virginia Tech shooting before this. We had the deaths of Whitney Houston and Heath Ledger -- one addicted to legal drugs and the other illegal. We had Columbine. We have these national scars because of one reason and one reason only -- pure evil. It exists and is embodied within Satan, who the Bible says rules this earth:

 

Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. -- 2Corinthians 4: 4 (NLT)

 

The things of God are foolishness to them because the devil has blinded them. He rules the earth and he knows his time is short according to Revelation. There are not rational reasons why the theater shooting happened. The media and experts will try to fit the shooter into a box so he can be labeled and we can go on feeling better about ourselves but at the end of the day the only reason these keep happening is we are in the end days and the devil is stepping up the offensive war he is waging against God's creation. But the Lord has given us instructions on dealing with the devil:

 

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. -- 1Peter 5: 8-9 (NIV)

 

But look at the first two imperatives -- be self-controlled and alert. Most of us even in Christian circles do not live life alert to the schemes of the enemy. We are largely reactive believers. When something happens to us we seek God. When something happens to us we think about how to fight the enemy. We are not proactive Christians. There is not enough preaching on the enemy and how to win the spiritual wars we are in every single day. That is the true damage from the candy coated gospels that are out there. They omit the crucial things we need to know and learn as Christians so that we can be successful in our spiritual wars. Instead we have generations of believers - ill equipped for battle - who do not understand why they keep circling the same mountain year after year. Why so many Christians are spiritually bound and crawling into heaven. The enemy is having a field day with believers today because we do not understand the power which Christ appropriated for us on Calvary. Add to that a complete lack of discipline, or self control. It takes discipline to deny the forces arrayed against us. But self control, a fruit of the Holy Sprit is also rarely preached on because the sermon would then have to deal with another unpopular topic -- sin. Without a hard look at good and evil & righteousness and sin, you cannot expect to be self controlled.

 

The final thing working against us is our flesh. The least talked about part of this unholy trinity because it hits too close to home for many of us. Our flesh is in complete rebellion to God. It has been since the fall of man. We were born into it. It does not go away and only gets worse as we grow up in the world system. Our flesh is constantly at odds with the Spirit of God within us:

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Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to (more...)
 
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