Belonging to God

Here is a quote from Charles Ryrie in his book, Basic Theology, on Satan's influence.  (Linked to his book for sale on Amazon).  I unfortunately have not read the book but came across this quote the other day.  How encouraging is this?

Whatever Satan or demons can do to a believer, and whether from without or within as their base of operation, their control cannot be permanent and eternal.  John clearly declares that the evil one cannot "touch" the one who is born of God (1 John 5:18).  The word "touch" here involves the purpose of harming -- Satan cannot harm the believer...Satan can never hang on to the believer with the purpose of harming him, for that believer belongs eternally and irrevocably to God. (pg. 168)

Satan cannot harm us (spiritually) because we belong "eternally and irrevocably to God."  I find that truly heartening.

Someone Else's Fruit

"Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain."  Phil 2:14-16

The part in bold rocked my world this morning.  I am not sure exactly what caused me to see this in a new way other than the Holy Spirit.  I don't even remember what the pastor said about this part.  But this is what I realized:

We (as Christians) are someone else's fruit.  Someone led us to Christ.  We have a responsibility to not only that person, but anyone who has helped us in our Spiritual journey, to not make their toil to have been in vain.

Yes, we have our own race to run.  And we must make sure it is not done in vain.  But by running our race so as not to be in vain, we fulfill our responsibility to the one who led us to Christ.  We cannot control what others will do with the toil we put into their lives.  Though we can ensure great joy and happiness for the one who led us to Christ just as Paul tells the Philippians.

We are the fruit of someone else's labor.  We owe it to them not to be bad/rotten fruit.

Here are some questions to ponder:

Who led you to Christ?
Who has had a major impact on your walk with God?
Are you living in such a way so that their toil will not have been in vain?

The Jesus Battering-ram

Sorry it has been a while since I posted something.  Life got a little crazy and this had to take a back seat for a bit.

The other day I was doing outreach on a college campus in Denver, Colorado.  After a short time we ran out of people to talk to so my friend and I did a prayer walk around campus.  While praying I was reminded of something I had heard a few days before.  It was part of a talk and at one point the speaker was talking about the power we have in the Holy Spirit.  He referenced Jesus talking to Peter when Jesus says, "the gates of Hades will not overcome" and how gates are a defensive weapon.  They are not a very good offensive weapon.  Gates are big, heavy, and built to keep things out.

It struck me while I was praying on campus that Christians acknowledge the strongholds of Satan but do not think about Jesus' promise.  We forget that Jesus has already overcome them.  Jesus is stronger than Satan.  He can easily bash in the gates.  So why is it that many Christians choose to sit and wait for the gates to be broken down before they advance?  God chooses to use us, but often requires us to move/act so that He can then work.  All we have to do is stand, rely on Jesus, and the gates of Satan's stronghold pose no obstacle for us.  So lets use the battering-ram provided us in Jesus and advance the Kingdom of God whether that is on a college campus, in a household, or in your workplace.

Rethinking the word 'spiritual'

(The idea for this post came from 1 Corinthians 12:1 -- 'Now concerning spiritual gifts...')

The word spiritual that is in the Bible has a very different meaning than what it now means in America today.  When people talk about 'spiritual' things now-a-days, they are referring to something invisible, insubstantial, supernatural, something beyond our world.  But to Paul the world spiritual means animated by the Spirit.  It is something real, something tangible, something physical, something the Spirit does in and through us.

The last few generations (though probably mine more so) is guilty of making 'spiritual' some loose, mystical, far out concept.  It scares a lot of people so we trivialize it to the point where it loses its significance.  Without even realizing it I have helped this along.  My guess is many others have as well.  When our focus tips too much to the here and now, we push spiritual things to the side.  When we try and relate to non-Christians by loosening up our terms/broadening our definitions (usually in trying to find common ground) we start to affect our own thinking about spiritual things.  So how can we stop this trend and help reverse it?  Here are a few tips:

1.  Be more selective in your word choice when talking to non-Christians.

2.  Realize that the Spirit is a real being and that His works are physical and tangible.

3.  Remember that we live IN the here and now, but we live FOR eternity.

4.  Surrender to the Spirit.

5.  Be careful in how you think about spiritual things.  It should not be done flippantly or as an after thought, but should be done with all seriousness.

6.  And remember, once we are a follower of Jesus, our entire lives (every aspect of them) are spiritual.

What do you think?  Do you agree/disagree?  Why?  What steps have you taken?