Day 290: Spiritual Warfare - Shrewd As Serpents, Innocent As Doves?
Read: Matthew 10:16 - 23, 2 Corinthians 10: 1 - 6
For as long as I have been been blogging now, almost 13 months now, I have drawn a steadily increasing interest from a number of individuals and
invitations to join and participate in a host of Google + communities
and even moderate my own under the title of "Loving God, Loving All, Join The Journey." Along with that ever increasing interest has been an incredible number of emails from all of you out there in
Google + land when you post to the communities that you choose to post
to. Someday's I am just inundated by them. I do this because I have a
very great interest in what you all have to say about your living out your
Christian faith. I want to thank you for all that you do!
I
find that much is written about 'Spiritual Warfare'. Much of it with
wild (at least to me) sounding terms like spiritual mapping, casting
down strongholds, generational curses and binding spirits. I am not
saying, nor have I said, that we are not in a real battle against real
forces because I certainly do believe there is a war on that must be won
at all costs. Much of what is written is sometimes very difficult for
me to try to follow. I wonder as I begin to deliberately dig deeper into
'Spiritual Warfare', what passes for spiritual warfare today is
dangerously short of taking serious God’s power, His authority, the
fullest reality of God's victory at the cross, the resurrection of
Jesus.
There is so much talk from you about living and fighting
in the world. God does not insulate us from this world, and in fact, he
placed us here by design. Jesus spoke of being sent out like sheep
among wolves. For me, that is a very powerful image and also this is exceedingly
serious business. But where we find ourselves is not an accident. We are
not like some lost patrol that God has forgotten and which must fight
its way out of enemy territory on its own wits. It is not like we are
all sheep without an ever vigilant Shepherd ready to stand between us and a
vastly superior, supremely better equipped foe. But I am confused by this phrase: "be as shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.
I am okay with snakes, for the most part. I do not go out of my way
looking for them, but they generally don’t cause me to panic. But let me
ask you something: When you think of snakes do you think of much along
the lines of any positive attributes? Here is what I mean by that: when
we say someone’s a snake, is that a compliment? Nope! It is an
insult, and a big one, right? "Therefore be as shrewd as snakes..." At
my first glance it almost looks like Jesus is telling us people to be
"sneaky" or something like that. After all, is not that what "shrewd"
really means? 'Shrewd' - given to wily and artful ways or dealing,
'Shrewd' as in "cunning," or "deceitful." What about this stuff?
Let Us Pray: Gracious God, I acknowledge that You are worthy of all
honor, glory and praise. I am thankful for the victorious work of Your
Son, Jesus Christ at Calvary for me. I apply His victory to my life now
as I willingly surrender every area of my life to Your will. Lord,
enable me to become the person You created me to be. Help me as I pray
to become stronger in faith. Show me how to apply Your Word in my life
each day. Give me a hunger and thirst to know You better, to read and
study Your Word more deeply, to pray more readily, to keep you first in
all my thoughts all day long.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvegiZMO5Xo
Maranatha! Singers - Victory Song / Call To War
www.youtube.com
Series: Spiritual Warfare Series Album: The Battle Belongs To The
Lord/Spiritual Warfare Series Vol 1. Song: Victory Song / Call To War
Words & Music by
Read: Matthew 10:16 - 23, 2 Corinthians 10: 1 - 6
For as long as I have been been blogging now, almost 13 months now, I have drawn a steadily increasing interest from a number of individuals and invitations to join and participate in a host of Google + communities and even moderate my own under the title of "Loving God, Loving All, Join The Journey." Along with that ever increasing interest has been an incredible number of emails from all of you out there in Google + land when you post to the communities that you choose to post to. Someday's I am just inundated by them. I do this because I have a very great interest in what you all have to say about your living out your Christian faith. I want to thank you for all that you do!
I find that much is written about 'Spiritual Warfare'. Much of it with wild (at least to me) sounding terms like spiritual mapping, casting down strongholds, generational curses and binding spirits. I am not saying, nor have I said, that we are not in a real battle against real forces because I certainly do believe there is a war on that must be won at all costs. Much of what is written is sometimes very difficult for me to try to follow. I wonder as I begin to deliberately dig deeper into 'Spiritual Warfare', what passes for spiritual warfare today is dangerously short of taking serious God’s power, His authority, the fullest reality of God's victory at the cross, the resurrection of Jesus.
There is so much talk from you about living and fighting in the world. God does not insulate us from this world, and in fact, he placed us here by design. Jesus spoke of being sent out like sheep among wolves. For me, that is a very powerful image and also this is exceedingly serious business. But where we find ourselves is not an accident. We are not like some lost patrol that God has forgotten and which must fight its way out of enemy territory on its own wits. It is not like we are all sheep without an ever vigilant Shepherd ready to stand between us and a vastly superior, supremely better equipped foe. But I am confused by this phrase: "be as shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.
I am okay with snakes, for the most part. I do not go out of my way looking for them, but they generally don’t cause me to panic. But let me ask you something: When you think of snakes do you think of much along the lines of any positive attributes? Here is what I mean by that: when we say someone’s a snake, is that a compliment? Nope! It is an insult, and a big one, right? "Therefore be as shrewd as snakes..." At my first glance it almost looks like Jesus is telling us people to be "sneaky" or something like that. After all, is not that what "shrewd" really means? 'Shrewd' - given to wily and artful ways or dealing, 'Shrewd' as in "cunning," or "deceitful." What about this stuff?
Let Us Pray: Gracious God, I acknowledge that You are worthy of all honor, glory and praise. I am thankful for the victorious work of Your Son, Jesus Christ at Calvary for me. I apply His victory to my life now as I willingly surrender every area of my life to Your will. Lord, enable me to become the person You created me to be. Help me as I pray to become stronger in faith. Show me how to apply Your Word in my life each day. Give me a hunger and thirst to know You better, to read and study Your Word more deeply, to pray more readily, to keep you first in all my thoughts all day long.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvegiZMO5Xo
Maranatha! Singers - Victory Song / Call To War
www.youtube.com
Series: Spiritual Warfare Series Album: The Battle Belongs To The Lord/Spiritual Warfare Series Vol 1. Song: Victory Song / Call To War Words & Music by
No comments:
Post a Comment