Already Won

It's been a year. I never planned it to be that long. I never planned to take a hiatus at all.

It just happened. Life happened. 

And life is still charging on with no sign of relenting, but I've decided it's time to push blogging a little higher on the priority list. Why? Because I believe sharing is important. 

Because faith lived is faith shared. 

Because thoughts articulated equivocate thoughts internalized.  

I've been reading about the martyrs of the reformation recently. 

Maybe sometime I'll share more. But just this one thought for now.

The battle is already won. 

Why are we afraid to live that way? 

Why are we afraid to die that way?

Weak Hands, Feeble Knees

It's dark outside. Soft light streams over my shoulders. I love new mornings. My eyes scan the page as I absorb verse after verse.

The guidelines for the race. The provisions for the runner. These things call my attention.

I haven't run a race in a long time. At least an official one.
But I know the exertion, the endurance, the positive morale needed to finish any endeavor.

And I stop to think of races I have participated in or observed. Something disturbs me.
Each runner is only running for himself. 

He has the end goal continually before him. But he has no concern for the other runners.
His only concern is to win.

But we run a race in which all can be winners.
And we have no right to run past those who are weak just because we are stronger.

No right at all.

Instead we are obligated to lift up weary hands and feeble knees. Because we are not in this race for ourselves.
We have a duty to help those that are struggling to run beside us.

It would be a terrible thing to run through those gates of pearl alone.
Lord, give me eyes to see, lips to speak, hands to heal. And them to me today…

Broken Promises

{Jeremiah 42 & 43}

A handful remains­. The destitute, the impoverished, the rejected.

They are pleading for guidance, asking Jeremiah to beseech God on their behalf.

They chorus in unison, “Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God.” 

My mind instantly goes back to a previous group of people. Wanderers in a wilderness. It’s a familiar line.

“All that the LORD hath spoken we will do.” 

Another futile promise quickly broken. Good intentions. Yet even the best of intentions have no power in themselves. Only the strength of Christ behind them can give power to fulfill.

Jeremiah conveys God’s instruction merely to be immediately reproached as construing the words of the Lord. Their promise, only 10 days old, is broken, and they will reap the consequences of disobedience.

Their foolish choice is hard to breeze-over. Yet when I pause to ponder, I realize that I have often been just as foolish.

I beg for God’s guidance and tell Him I will follow whatever He says, yet when His revealed will differs from my perceived ideas, I sometimes struggle to accept. It all boils down to my commitment though. The best of intentions will fail, but if I avail myself of His power, I have no option of failure.

More Victory

{Jeremiah 41}

I struggle to find a lesson within this chapter of bloodshed and warfare. It is rather gruesome.

But then I get to thinking… 

What if I fought the figures of sin in my life as viciously as Ishmael fought the supporters of Gedaliah? 

What if I was not satisfied until every one of my sinful enemies was vanquished and buried beneath the ground? 

What if I didn’t consider defeat as an option?

I don’t know. My Commander has been teaching me battle tactics, but I think I need to step up the intensity. 

More blood. More sweat. More prayer. More tears. 

And all this for more victory.

This Day; This Battle

A silent mantle of mist slowly rises as sunlight creeps down the coniferous hillside.  

I walk. I run. I wrestle. I pray.

It is a theme I cannot deny. 
Everywhere I turn, everywhere I go, I see fresh reminders of its undisguised reality.

Thoughts in the shower,
     wood-splitting with my brother,
          conversations with friends,
               work with saws and sanders,
                    recent blogposts,
                         a walk with my dear Mother,
                              family worships and personal devotions…

Evidences are everywhere.
There is a real battle to fight. Conflicts to engage in. Souls to be won.

Rest is not an option. There is no time to live mediocre Christianity.
I’m learning, a part-time Christian is no Christian at all.

In my half-asleep reality, it seems so real. The wrestling arena is filled. 

The atmosphere is intense. And then I see Him. His powerful form causes 

the strongest black-cloaked wrestler to shudder. There is no question who 

will come off Victor. My Savior can win every wrestling match. 

So it’s off to the thick of battle…
I must wrestle for those who cannot wrestle for themselves, holding the arm of the Divine.

“If God be for us, who can be against us?”

Defeated by Song

Song is a forceful weapon with the ability to either defeat the enemy or dishonor our Creator. Unfortunately most of the world experiences the negative connotation and only a few the positive. Nearly all are blinded to its massive influence on our lives.

We can have so much more power than we now possess, just through song…

Temptation would hold no sway. Trials would be turned to triumph. Victory would be assured.

The secret?

Christ knew it well and employed it often. In becoming part of humanity He subjected Himself to every temptation to which we are subjected today. And He was frequently tempted. Yet He never succumbed to the enticement of the enemy.

“When in His youth His associates would try to lead Him to do wrong, He [Christ] would begin to sing some sweet melody, and the first thing they knew they were uniting with Him in singing the song. They caught His spirit, and the enemy was defeated.”*

He drove back the enemy, meeting the temptation with a song.
And not only did His companions cease their invitations to evil, they joined with Him in song…

Throughout His life, Christ employed this simple yet effective weapon against temptation. Picture His clear, melodious voice rising above the din of the crowds, in the midst of scoffers, in situations of peril, gloom or fear. I wish I could have been there. Heard it. Seen it. Experienced it.

Yet that same tool can be ours today, with the same results…

“God wants us to use every facility which Heaven has provided for resisting the enemy.”**

By God's grace, I’m determined to more intentionally utilize this weapon against temptations.
To sing until the enemy is defeated…

Will you join me?

* Sermons and Talks, vol. 2, 235
** Evangelism, 498