A hill to die on

There is a battle that rages around us, a battle so intense that from the very beginning of creation it has been going on.

Most don’t even know it is happening, the weapons are mostly silent the agents are covert and it is fought in a realm we know about but in our foolishness refuse to acknowledge or talk about.

The spiritual realm is just as real as what we see around us right now, it is a realm where angels tread and demons dwell, it is a place where the prayers of God’s people make there way too His throne, and a place where even the bravest of mankind fear to go.

God’s word says this “Finally, be strengthened by the Lord and by his vast strength. Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens. For this reason take up the full armor of God, so that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having prepared everything, to take your stand. Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist, righteousness like armor on your chest, and your feet sandaled with readiness for the gospel of peace. In every situation take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit — which is the word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit with every prayer and request, and stay alert with all perseverance and intercession for all the saints. Pray also for me, that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should.” Ephesians 6:10-20 CSB

We are in this battle, we are born into it and in no way can we avoid it, ignoring it only helps the enemy for their powers are taken from fear, ignorance and apathy.

God never abandoned us, or intended for us too go at it alone and fight this battle, He fights this battle for us. He sent Jesus to defeat the enemy and He did. On the cross Jesus said “ it is finished” and struck the enemy a death blow.

God’s word says this; “For the entire fullness of God’s nature dwells bodily in Christ, and you have been filled by him, who is the head over every ruler and authority. You were also circumcised in him with a circumcision not done with hands, by putting off the body of flesh, in the circumcision of Christ, when you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. And when you were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made you alive with him and forgave us all our trespasses. He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.”

Colossians 2:9-15 CSB

Jesus chose to take the hill called Mount Calvary , it was here that the battle raged for mankind’s soul, and Jesus took that hill for us. He abandoned His humanity, His Deity and surrendered His life for ours. But three days later He rose from the dead and once and for all ended the reign of sin and death.

By doing so He set the captives free, those who were held captive and those of us who would be held captive. He did this so we would see the love of God, the truth of God and so the enemy of God would be exposed for who and what he is, a liar, a thief and deceiver.

God’s word says this; “Now grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. For it says: When he ascended on high, he took the captives captive; he gave gifts to people. But what does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower parts of the earth? The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, to fill all things.”

Ephesians 4:7-10 CSB

“For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, in which he also went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared. In it a few — that is, eight people — were saved through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not as the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.”1 Peter 3:18-22 CSB

This battle we are in is already won, we must choose what side we will line up with.

Just as Jesus chose to die on a hill called Mount Calvary and rise again from the dead, we must choose to die on the hill of self. A hill where this battle rages daily for how we will live. When we choose to die on this hill, Christ lives in us and in Him we have the victory over sin and death, we can walk through the spiritual realm in Christ and be not afraid for His rod and staff comfort us as He prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies.

God’s word says this; “Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

1 John 4:7-10 CSB

Are you ready to walk in victory? We are more than conquerors when we surrender our lives to Christ, let’s walk in complete victory by surrendering all of our lives to Him today and die to ourselves so He may live in us.

“What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He did not even spare his own Son but offered him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything? Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died, but even more, has been raised; he also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us. Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: Because of you we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 8:31-39 CSB

For more on spiritual battles read Genesis 3: Daniel 10: 2 Kings 6: Matthew 4: Acts 19: these are just a few examples of how real this battle is.

Reflections of a year gone by

As we draw close to the end of this year most of us will reflect over the past, our triumphs and failures, we will reflect on lost loved ones and miss them , we should reflect and be grateful for those days we had with them and rejoice with those we still have with us.

Life has no pause or reset buttons, it always leads onward.

As we reflect over the past don't let the demons of discouragement and despair get into your mind, they will only lie to you and deceive you. They will dishearten you and destroy your hope, joy and focus.

This is a time to refocus on God , look back and see where failure grew and raised it's ugly head is where we pressed on without God, we do things in our flesh and forget to ask and seek God, then ask Him why, when we fail.

This I know unless I surrender daily to Him, I will surrender to my flesh, the world or the enemies lies and deceit, which leads me to defeat.

I need God in order to love another person unconditionally. I need His help to overlook offenses. I need His help to guard myself against all the temptations that lurk around every corner. I need His help to become more like Christ so I can lay down my life for my family. Without Him, my marriage wouldn’t be anything special. Odds are it would end badly, just like so many do.

We all get to choose who we will surrender our will to daily, our weaknesses and our strengths , we must learn out of obedience to surrender to God before our feet hit the floor, our enemies wait in darkness to attack in our thoughts, dreams and mind.

You can have the life God wants you to have. But you can’t have it without God’s help. No matter what’s happened in your past, this is a new day. A new chance. A new beginning. A new year awaits, let's not squander this gift from God.

This is a new day the Lord has given to us, be glad and rejoice in Him. Things can be different, let's go forward in Christ in Him we will find healing, in Him we will be more engaging, in Him we can truly forgive as we've been forgiven, in Him we can have peace, strength and overcome what gets in our way,in Him we can be more intimate with our spouse, in Him we can become closer to others than ever been before.

The past is the past. It's dead and buried don't dig it up and relive it. We can’t change it. But God can change our future. He can take what the enemy meant for evil and use it for good.The enemy wants us to It feel like we have too much to overcome, like the damage is too great to be repaired. We don't and It’s not.

We don't have what it takes to face life alone, we need God .

Life is complicated, we need all the help we can get. Jesus said ““Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.””
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11:28-30‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

We need to take Him up on this, we don't need to fight back fairly, we need to learn to fight like men and women of God. You don’t fight for victory; you fight from the victory God has given you.

““When you go out to war against your enemies and see horses, chariots, and an army larger than yours, do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is with you. When you are about to engage in battle, the priest is to come forward and address the army. He is to say to them: ‘Listen, Israel: Today you are about to engage in battle with your enemies. Do not be cowardly. Do not be afraid, alarmed, or terrified because of them. For the Lord your God is the One who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.’”
‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭20:1-4‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring — what your life will be! For you are like smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes. Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So it is a sin for the person who knows to do what is good and doesn’t do it.”
‭‭James‬ ‭4:13-17‬ ‭HCSB‬‬

What is your favorite sin?

What is your favorite sin? Is it big or little? Is it doubt, fear, gossip, lying, stealing, anger, lust, murder, pride, oh the list could go on forever.

Each of us are born into a sin nature, but in Christ we are not held there anymore. When we sin we choose to, and each of us are hounded by different sins, yet they all come from the same place, our wicked ways, we choose nothing and no one makes us except our own pride and selfishness.

But scripture is clear, about sin. Being one with Christ we pull Him into our sin, the bible says He who knew no sin became sin, that means every time we sin we are just as responsible for the death of Christ as those who stood and yelled crucify Him.

Knowing this when given the opportunity to make the right choice will you pull Christ with you into your sins for a moment of self seeking pleasure , or will you look to Him for help and ask Him to lead you from temptations and deliver you from evil?

He leaves this up to each of us, we must choose to trust and obey or keep looking the other way when we take Him back to our sins.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!

1 Corinthians 6:15

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Galatians 3:27

and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

1 Corinthians 3:23

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Follow Me! It's not a question

When Jesus called the Apostles they were working in their fields of labor, but He came upon them and said follow me, and they did.

The Apostles left their income and security and endured overwhelming circumstance, many died agonizing deaths but they kept focus on the mission given them trusting that God will supply their every need.

As believers we are given this same mission while on earth: to Follow Him to spread the gospel and love of Jesus Christ to a lost world through our words, our behavior, our service, and our lifestyle. This mission may cost us relationships, position, careers, reputation, and even our very lives. Believers may be persecuted, slandered, ostracized, imprisoned, or even killed for our faith. God asks us to trust Him with all of our needs. God asks us to believe that what we have right at this moment is enough to care out His mission. God asks us to endure in our circumstances, no matter how difficult, and to find joy no matter what because we have Him with us always.

What made the Apostles forsake it all and follow Him?

How about you are you following Him, or are you trying to lead?

In what circumstance are you doubting the Lord’s provision? Are you struggling to accept that where God has placed you and what He has in front of you is enough for today?

From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near! ” As He was walking along the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen. “Follow Me,” He told them, “and I will make you fish for   people! ”  Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.

Matthew 4:17-22