War and Peace

Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 2nd Timothy 2:3 (New American Standard Bible)

One of the great Christian hymns of the 19th and 20th centuries was “Onward Christian Soldiers” penned by The English Anglican priest Sabine Baring-Gould in 1864. The hymn was eventually adopted by the Salvation Army as its favored processional. It speaks of the Christian life being one of struggle against an enemy host that stands against the fortress of God. In past years certain elements within Christendom have brought this hymn into disrepute stating its theme is “too violent.” That view certainly shoots to pieces the reality of the continuing war we saints fight daily against a brutal and pitiless enemy. It becomes at times a vicious hand-to-hand spiritual combat with Satan and his minions that taxes both strength and will.

An army cannot lay its arms down in the face of an enemy and expect them to ‘play fair.’ It is the same with the Christian Army when it abandons the rules of engagement and puts aside the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:13-15). Satan and his host take no prisoners and exploit every opportunity to pour down destruction on us.

It is unfortunate that in this dimension of time and space a war of gigantic spiritual proportions is being waged against the children of God. The winning of this war was accomplished by one Man nailed to a weapon of the enemy on a lonely hill called Calvary. The irony is that very weapon became the beloved emblem the Christian army carries before it into battle. We are called to stand fast and fight the good fight. As we meet the enemy we know our Commander, Jesus Christ, goes before us with encouragement and strength. The resurrected power of Christ bids His soldiers onward. We can follow no greater One into battle.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

Other Worldly

“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of this world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” John 15:18, 19 (NASB)

My grandson celebrated his 16th birthday recently with a party attended by around 20 friends. Jaren is a committed Christian and I wrote a short paragraph in his card commending his growth and maturity in Christ. The sentiment was intended for him to read privately but he chose to read it to the group, which was fine with me. I guess I ought not to have been surprised at the response but many of his teenage friends jeered when he mentioned Christ along with a sprinkling of derisive laughter. It hurt to hear such open antagonism from kids that were just 15 or 16 years old, not because they were laughing at my grandson but because of the obvious disdain I heard concerning my Lord Jesus Christ.

I tend to want to jump in and defend God forgetting He needs no defense. Every second He hears a lot more unsavory thoughts and comments about Him than I could ever imagine but responds with tremendous grace and restraint. That grace is truly astounding. I am daily thankful for the trite and overused expression ‘God is love’ for it remains true. It will be evident at the final day when those who reject Him see Him as He is in all His love, beauty, and holiness. At that time they will ask “Why did I push this person and such love away from me?” They will have time to reflect on that question as they, by their own choice to be separated from Him on earth, are separated from Him for all eternity.

Christ said people would hate us because they hated Him first. It is amazing that there would even be deep seated hatred of one so pure and good. If we were following the world’s view of self we would be familiar to it and would not be held in such contempt for the world would love us as their own. We are ‘other worldly.’ He warned us of this so when we felt the sting of the world’s hatred we would be reminded they hated Him before they hated us. It’s OK. The burden is on His shoulders and they’re big enough to carry it.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

The Finer Points of Navigation

If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Thy hand will lead me, And Thy right hand will lay hold of me. Psalms 139:9, 10 (New American Standard Bible)

There are many methods of navigation to help find where one is today. All navigation techniques involve locating the position of the navigator, not the destination. There’s Dead Reckoning (projecting a course) Celestial navigation, (setting a course by the planets and stars), Pilotage (based on land and maritime landmarks), Radio and RADAR navigation and satellite global positioning systems (GPS) that can pinpoint a person’s position to within feet. Before the twentieth century navigation was chiefly plotted with instruments called sextants and chronometers; stop watches were added later to give greater precision.

It’s easy to get off course in our relationship with God. Cares of the everyday world can mount; we become desensitized to wickedness around us, we become discouraged or we can get caught up with ‘little sins’ we think God will overlook and finally find ourselves in over our heads. Whatever the reason we sometimes drift off course and lose sight of our First Love wondering why life has become such a burdensome journey.

One of the finer points of Christian navigation is we have an instant Global Positioning System with the Lord. He knows exactly where we are in our lives, where our journey is taking us and in addition He also knows exactly where we will be later today and tomorrow. Being off course and wandering aimlessly can be a miserable experience. While many of us remain on a good course some of us become lost and adrift in a huge salty sea of our own choosing. There is comfort and reassurance in knowing we are following the right track and if we do happen to wander off course at times there is an easy way to return to the track. Getting back on course is as easy as sighting our faith and hope on Christ and taking a new bearing on Him.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

Benediction

And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1st Peter 5:10, 11 (New American Standard Bible)

Suffering comes in so many different forms. What one person can endure will bring another to their knees. Why believers have to suffer is still a mystery. The Bible doesn’t give a definition of what suffering is. If it did many who are hurting would be told “That isn’t what suffering is, you need to stop whining and suck it up.” Unfortunately, many people, Christians included, say such unkind things to those who are struggling with their pain. Who’s to say the pain I deal with is no less painful than the pain you deal with? Even a little pain hurts. Pain is personal.

Peter offers a special benediction to believers in pain saying that the grace of God will perfect (complete thoroughly, adjust and repair) our lives. He will confirm us (bring stability), strengthen us (enable through anything) and establish (turn resolutely in a certain direction). God has answers for every phase of what hurts. One thing pain is not is pleasant but God even turns that to our advantage for pain has a way of maturing us in Christ, tempering and hardening our faith when we allow it.

Pain will not always be a problem. The weight of the world will stay with the world. Christ has called us to eternal glory with Himself. The pain we now suffer is but a pinprick compared to the glory we will share with Him. Right now as it throbs within our hearts, spirits and bodies we take heart that it will not last. Even as we are going through it Christ in His grace enables us in every way to get through it. The higher power of glory we shall have far outweighs what we endure now. Repairing of broken lives and situations, stability, strength and a positive direction; Christ sees ahead to what we will have and gives us hope and a way through what we suffer now. That is an encouraging benediction that is both perfect and timeless.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

Let Your Hot Mic be Cool

Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. 1st John 3:18 (New American Standard Bible)

One of the most embarrassing things anyone can do after speaking in public is to say something rude and not know their microphone is still on or ‘hot’ as it is sometimes referred to. People in the audience, watching on television or listening to the radio can hear every tactless word. These kinds of gaffs have been made by speakers since the mic was invented and it gives a good insight into the critical nature of humans. It really doesn’t take much practice to become desensitized to being critical. I see it every day on comment pages on the internet and at times I am truly aghast at the cruel remarks made by people toward others.

We tend to talk and act in ways we think God doesn’t hear or if He hears He doesn’t really care. It is very easy for our annoyance to turn to judgment at times simply because a person wears a certain kind of clothes, has too much hair or drives a certain kind of car. It sounds absurd but we know it’s true.

As we practice Christ’s presence daily our hearts and minds will begin to show constraint, understanding and love toward others. We certainly don’t know the hard road a person has traveled that has brought them to where they are. We can only know that the blood of Jesus Christ included all humans, even the vilest person you can think of. Christ died for all. That grace can be the first thing that pops into our mind and obedience can help us remain silent in the urge to disapprove of others. When our ‘mic’ is hot there is a way through the power of Christ that can help us to either be silent or to pray for someone. Why it may even bring us to say something positive about the people we dislike. It is loving in deed and truth. Abiding in Christ can keep our ‘hot mics’ cool.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

From Travail to Triumph

For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. Romans 8:22, 23 (New American Standard Bible)

Living today can be compared to the guy on the Titanic that said after it hit an ice berg, “Well, it couldn’t get any worse.” Day to day most of us are constantly astounded how horribly things can become when we think it couldn’t possibly get any worse. The evil in the world and its constant rejection of God makes the righteous groan within their spirits and creation groan and travail for redemption.

Jesus foretold exactly how things would be developing in the days just before His second return (Matthew chapter 24, Luke chapter 21). Knowing what He said and watching the evening news can be a real jaw dropper. The point of Him telling us what would be happening was to serve as a sign that when all these things come together and happen to such an extent people begin to take notice His reappearing is imminent.

The way the world is now brings stresses to creation and the entire human race. We would be completely ruined if we knew the great evil of today was to flourish with no hope of ever stopping. The believer’s travail is a deep longing to be out of this world and present with Christ. His Holy Spirit brings to our hearts hope and optimism that His return is real and will be very soon. Even though we are groaning this hope causes us to eagerly await the redemption of our bodies and all creation. The patience of the saints will be rewarded. He will take those who have believed in Him from travail to triumph. He will keep His word; it is just a matter of time.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com

Angels Can't Say

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Mark 16:15 (New American Standard Bible)

Why doesn’t God just use His angels to proclaim the Gospel? One of the answers is angels can’t really understand the Gospel experience, yet it is so fascinating to them they long to examine it (1st Peter 1:12). While it is possible for them to repeat the Gospel message they have not experienced it personally. That is only reserved for the human race. Who can explain it better than those who have experienced being brought out of the mire of sin and degradation and had their feet set upon a straight path?

With all the massive global communications today there are still millions in the world who perhaps have heard of Jesus Christ yet know no more about Him than just His name. It’s interesting that the Gospel has been proclaimed to all nations yet for whatever reason there are people who have been denied the truth about Him either through government censorship or religious persecution. There is still a need to share the Gospel with the world and there are thousands of courageous missionaries who are giving up an easier life to bring the good news to those still in spiritual darkness. These men and women are lesser known than some of the great missionaries like Hudson or Livingstone yet their effort and contribution is none the less as important.

Missions are still a vital part of taking the Gospel to the entire world. Some people who work to fulfill the Great Commission do so at the very peril of their lives. In any case they are the touch of Christ’s hands and the bearer of His message of hope. Everyone loves good news and there is extremely good news in the Gospel story. Amazingly it is only shared through human to human interaction. There will be countless people of different nations and tongues who will stand in white robes before the Lamb there through the devotion, sacrifice and love of Christian missionaries. Those who leave home to bring this message to the nations are worthy of the greatest honor. Missions are the vanguard of God’s desire for the nations. Those who take up the call are keys to unlocking the hearts of the nations.

Ken

www.devotionstoday.blogspot.com