.. And the violent take it by force!

God has really been speaking to me recently about the power of understanding the battle that our spirit man is in; of recognizing who our enemy is, and the role that we play in the fight against him. A good example of this started when a very expensive camera was stolen out of my vehicle. Now, having physical property stolen doesn't really sound like spiritual warfare. My emotions weren't attacked. I wasn't tempted to sin, although I was a bit angry when I found out about it. I wasn't put into some moral dilemma that tested my convictions to their limit. While there may not have been much spiritual weight to it, I still felt the need to take it God. The Word tell us to take our cares to Him because he cares for us, and will sustain us (Psalm 55:22, 1 Peter 5:7) So, that's exactly what I did.. I took it to the Lord, and I laid it down at his feet. His response... was for me to pick it back up.

But seriously, the scripture that came to my heart was Matthew 11:12:
From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.

The kingdom suffers violence, and the violent take it by force! I really felt the call of God to go deeper with it; to get into the ring with the enemy and to thresh it out. That's exactly what I did. I got violent. I prayed scriptures (Deuteronomy 28:13, Isaiah 54:17, Psalms 91:9-16). I spoke directly to my enemy with the boldness and authority that God has given me, and I claimed it back. It was my property, and it wasn't a question of whether he was going to give it back or not, because I was forcefully taking it!

Now... here's the kicker. It wasn't but a day later, and the camera that was stolen from my vehicle was back in my possession. Before the detective on the case could even open up the case file and contact me about the facts, the camera was turned back in. If that's not a powerful testimony about the faithfulness of a Holy God, as well as to the power and authority that we've been given through His son, Jesus Christ, as well as through the gift of His Holy Spirit, then I don't know what is!

Too often, we as Christians just take the violence. We go through things in our life, and we call it a test, or we call it a part of God's plan to take us to the next level. We get downtrodden, and we even begin to look unto God and wonder where our deliverance is, or worse yet... where He is. I, for one, firmly believe that God allows us to go through those things, because he's already given us the power to overcome them! He's given us the keys to the Kingdom! Jesus said in John 14:12, Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Jesus calls us to greater things. Jesus calls us to be above and to walk in the authority and power of the Spirit!

That's a truth that I'm taking with me into this new year. I may suffer violence, but I'm not willing to roll over and take it. I'm going to get back up, dust myself off, and let out a battle-cry.. then I'm going into the enemies camp, and I intend to take back everything that he's stolen from my life. Every promise, every dream, every hope. I hope this rings true for you as well! Get violent!! You've been made mighty to the pulling down of strongholds in your life! Make this a year of victorious battle, and don't be afraid to pull out the war-paint again! You are a warrior, who has been given an impenetrable array of armor! Pick it up. Put it on, and fight the good fight of faith. Don't let the enemy best you! If God be for us, who can be against us!!

Enough of the Apathy

.. An old piece I wrote a long time ago. Became relevant again to me recently, so I thought a repost was in order.

Friday, August 28, 2009
It’s as if I’ve opened my eyes for the first time and began to look around. Maybe at myself, maybe at the people around me… but what I see is apathy. People living just for the sake of being alive. For myself, I fall into this rut of the same routine, day in and day out… living just to reach my pillow at night, only to wake up and do it again. And the whole time I’m relatively indifferent about the whole process. Why is that? Is it culture that dictates my lack of passion?

We’re taught these days to be accepting of everything and everyone, because truth for one person may not be truth for the other. We even strive to be accepted by all. Where in the world did these ideas come from?!? Why do we allow ourselves to be brainwashed into relativism? Where is the passion in that?? If I’m gonna live for a purpose or a conviction, then not everyone is gonna like it but I will not waver, and I’m certainly not going to stand idly by and just “accept it” when someone stands for something that I know to be false. What if Martin Luther had fallen for this apathetic approach to life and just accepted what society told him to accept? We would have never gotten the 95 theses, and the Catholic church would have continued to make a mockery of organized religion.

I’m sure we don’t need a history lesson here, but there are countless others who stood up against the flow to take a stand for their own deep rooted convictions... I can think of 13 right off the bat. Their names were Simon Peter, Andrew, James the son of Zebedee, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon, Matthias, and my personal favorite; Jesus Christ. All with the exception of one (John) were brutally murdered because they stood for something that the world told them not to stand for. Talk about passion…

So what does the Bible say of my apathy? Oh, what do you know… right there in Colossians 3. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men. Colossians 3:23. It tells us right there in black and white that WHATEVER we are doing, we should do it passionately with zeal, fervor, and purpose. I don’t know about you, but that’s who I want to be. I want to wake up every morning, shake off my apathy, and live with purpose. I want people to know that I’m unwavering in my convictions and that I will not yield.

Life is vain if all I do is live. I want more than that. I was created for more than that… I was created to be passionate and to stand when all those around me fall. Because just like those 13 guys… I am grounded in my convictions, and I believe, even unto death, in my faith in Jesus Christ and in my life’s desire to passionately serve him and him alone. What do I have to be apathetic about?? I have a purpose and a hope, and that’s where my passion thrives.

I’m just saying… enough of the apathy