We looked at Ephesians 6 in Sunday School yesterday. I’m stuck on verse 10 – “Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in his mighty power.” I threw out a question to the class, trying to understand the “correct” balance of importunity and humility, and trying to understand what the true goal of intercession is, since satan is a created being, and his attacks are allowed to come against us. There were 2 answers that resonated with me. One was that in no way is us praying to Him going against His divine plan, nor can we screw up His perfect will. The other is that we too often give satan too much credit, and that he comes in and complicates things – whether it’s a thought process, division in a Body, dysfunction in a family – these situations are exacerbated by the ultimate deceiver.
If there is one word I would use to describe myself, it would be “bold”. I have been warned about praying boldly… and I have been told on occasion that I don’t listen very well. I am very bold, and it is going to cause change and growth and strengthening and fear and love and peace and overflowing joy. I adamantly refuse to cower in ungodly fear before Him. I am not afraid of Him – I will not allow it. I may get spooked every now and again - I may tuck my heart away for a few days, taking a time-out - I may cry for mercy, flat on my back – but I will not cower. I refuse to believe the lies of the deceiver that try to say that He is not good, that He is holding out on me, that He has forgotten or is mad at me. Forget that. He is not safe - He is good - but He is not safe at all, and to think so diminishes our ability to percieve Him in any real way.
Yes, my boldness gets me in trouble from time to time, but at least I’m after Him and that in no way displeases Him. Yes, He reins me in from time to time, and that is as it should be. But the Truth is that my strength is not my own – it comes from Him – from His mighty power that exists within me.
The ultimate goal of any Christian is to become like Christ. I know – I readily admit – that I really don’t know what that looks like. I see bits and pieces of Him in my community – smaller parts of the Whole. Satan wants nothing more that to smash that picture into a thousand irrecoverable pieces. He loves to come in and complicate every aspect of our lives – and most of the time, I let him get away with it, at least for a little while. Then the Lord will speak truth to my heart in one way or another, and the complication becomes a milestone in my journey with the Lord.
The Scripture for today is I Corinthians 12:7 – “Now to each one, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.” I take that to mean that I’m to fight for the Body of Christ, trusting Him to protect me Himself, or through someone else. Sometimes, that fight is not for the super-faith healings and it’s not against anything – sometimes, it’s seeing the big picture through His lens and understanding that brokenness is a necessity in our lives as Christians. Sometimes that view is given to another and they are prompted to share. I can promise you this – He is actively pursuing our hearts and the enemy of God is actively trying to complicate things. I believe, intercession, at its core, is praying the will of God – no matter what it looks like.
My pastor made the statement a while back that a gathering of believers should be the most dangerous room in the city. Forget the "bad" parts of town, forget the jails - the Church, functioning as intended - is far more powerful and effective than any enemy we may have. As we journey this road toward Him together, and as we allow Him access to the deep places within, He changes us more into His likeness, He manifests His Spirit in our lives in ways that make absolutely no sense to the world. That's OK. When we, as the Body, reach into the lives of each other and into the lives around us, we show different aspects of His character - even the unpopular, not-so-warm-and-fuzzy dangerous side of Him. I am not challenged by that - I'm encouraged immensely.
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