As I sit at my desk this fresh and
sprightly morning the supposition of war thunders through my mind probably for
a number of reasons; with my body battling off a lung infection and the fresh
memory of various skirmishes in my dream, it is no wonder that my thoughts are
with this topic. War!
With the thoughts of earlier historical
wars; I face so many negative emotions, fear, sadness, destruction and the loss
of loved ones that people dealt with in the heat of the battle must have been
heart wrenching for so many. There are so many rebuffs attached to war; and yet
on evaluation war is very necessary when evil looks to reign. How is it that I
can make such a statement? Once again we find the answer in the precious Word
of God!
When we face various challenges in
life, which is a given! We need to find answers on what should be done for any
given situation. We believe that we should react according to the reaction of
others; in other words when someone comes at us we feel justified to retort in
the similar manner.
Let me be personal… just the other day
I showed an existing customer a new product I had on offer. He was impressed
with it asked the price, which I gave him and he said he wanted six. On my
return as I was demonstrating the product to the salesperson when one of the
owners walked by and asked the price, which I gave him! He said that was
expensive, but the price had already been agreed upon by the buyer I was
dealing with. After toying to and fro he then asked me “can we come back to you
on that”? “No I do not want to do business with people like you” was my reply.
Although he had just broken a binding verbal contract I had with his partner
and all he now proved was the lack of his honour, my response was nevertheless
rather sharp. However I still feel justified with my decision, but what about
my tone?
Let us explore further …
“God resists the proud but he gives
grace to the humble” is a very well-known quote. But does that mean we must
remain humble when standing for error! How could that even be true! Let me
explain; should we as Christians make a stand against anything that opposes the
Word of God? Or should we be passive and humbly hold our tongues? Obviously
with this instruction from the Lord in the forefront of our minds; “"Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls
before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.”” (Matthew 7:6) – Society has
so conditioned us into a warped kind of thinking that needs to be broken down
by the Word of God. Nothing else will save us from ourselves! Jesus Christ the
Word of God personified! Did the Lord Jesus ever back down form truth even when
it was to His detriment? Truth must always be the pivot we swing to when in
doubt. Only the truth can ever set us free; without it we will remain in the
dark, even when we think we can see. This then is the futility of sin! But it
is ever powerful! Without God’s intervention in our lives we will remain slaves
to it! Not a very popular message, nevertheless true!
Test it for yourselves, who likes to be told they
are wrong? This then is the message of the gospel; repent, acknowledge your sin
and only then will God begin to work with our corrupt hearts.
More often than not the truth will always hurt,
but more importantly it will set us free if we look to make it our own! For too
long now I have turned a blind eye to certain sins in my life that I believed
God would overlook because I was overlooking them, I was wrong! God cannot nor
will He ever tolerate sin in any form whatsoever! It is of utmost importance
that we seek His grace out to squash everything in our lives that doesn’t
belong, any virus needs treatment and there is no virus that God cannot cure,
He has overcome all! May God help us to see! God will test all his children, to
help them understand where they stand on the balance-bar of obedience.
This
then is probably the hardest tussle I have had to face in my Christian walk,
but I am nevertheless thankful for it. Without His test in our lives we live in
darkness if in fact we have ignored any sin ridiculed areas of our lives; “For
it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with
us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1Peter 4:17)
We
must all learn to wrestle like Jacob!
Obedience
will set us free…
Signing
off
Tyrone
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