2 Timothy 1:7 NLT
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of
power, love and self-discipline.
I was not in the military, yet I appreciate and am
grateful for those who have served our country and fought for our freedom. Freedom comes with a price. All freedom, that is, comes with a price, and
often the price is high.
As Christians, we are in a battle. If we chose to deal correctly with this Spiritual
battle we are involved, we must prepare ourselves. Maybe you have noticed as I have that the
closer you get to God and the more you pursue God the more difficult the battle
gets. This fact means that we need
perspective.
The battle is on.
It is happening as I write and as we live. Do we recognize it or do we avoid it? Better to acknowledge the battle than to
allow it to knock you out.
Let scripture
change your perspective!
Ephesians 6:12 NLT
For
we are not struggling against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers
and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world,
and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
1 Peter 5:8 NLT
Stay
alert! Watch out for your great enemy,
the devil. He prowls about like a
roaring lion, looing for someone to devour.
The battle is real, and we have to deal with it head
on. What do you do with the thoughts
that come your way that are wrong? God
gives us ways to deal with those thoughts.
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised against
the knowledge of God and we are taking captive every thought to the obedience
to Christ.
Taking thoughts captive and believing what God says
is crucial to dealing with the battle.
We DO HAVE the power over what we think about and over what we do. Believing what God says and acting upon it
helps us be stronger each day.
Romans 8:6 NLT
So letting your sinful thoughts control your mind leads to
death. But letting the Spirit control
your mind leads to life and peace.
Being led by and controlled by the Spirit of God is not
some mysterious thing or a special something you do that makes you more special
or better than others. Yet following the
Spirit does open our lives. Following God
opens us to the battle. Following God gives
us help in the battles we face.
I want to share with you today one of my heroes. Martin Luther King,
Jr. took a stand and led others to stand up for things that are right. Often the battles we face are only in the
mind or the spiritual world, but these battles many times play out in the
physical world.
God teaches us in the Bible to care for people who
are hurting and oppressed. Each of us
must start a revolution by helping people see the hope they can have in
following Jesus. Dr. King’s famous
speech said “I have a dream”. We ought
to be helping people reach their dreams and dream even more.
Here are some quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
that have inspired me:
- Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.
- Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?”
- Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or darkness of destructive selfishness.
- To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.
- The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.
- We must face the sad fact that Sunday morning when we stand 2 sing, we stand in the most segregated hour in America.
- Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.
(Thanks to
my friend Scott Williams for
sharing these quotes.)
May God help us live out of dreams. And may our dreams help us help others be
strong members of society and people who are sold out to God who loves us!
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