Spiritual Warfare and Sin: Dispositional Sins

Spiritual Warfare and Sin: Dispositional Sins
A. W. Tozer

To be entirely safe from the devil's snares the man of God must be completely obedient to the Word of the Lord. The driver on the highway is safe, not when he reads the signs but when he obeys them.

"Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor,and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice."-Ephesians 4:31

Dispositional sins are fully as injurious to the Christian cause as the more overt acts of wickedness. These sins are as many as the various facets of human nature. Just so there may be no misunderstanding let us list a few of them: Sensitiveness, irritability, churlishness, faultfinding, peevishness, temper, resentfulness, cruelty, uncharitable attitudes; and of course there are many more. These kill the spirit of the church and slow down any progress which the gospel may be making in the community.

Many persons who had been secretly longing to find Christ have been turned away and embittered by manifestations of ugly dispositional flaws in the lives of the very persons who were trying to win them....

Unsaintly saints are the tragedy of Christianity. People of the world usually pass through the circle of disciples to reach Christ, and if they find those disciples severe and sharp-tongued they can hardly be blamed if they sigh and turn away from Him. The low state of religion in our day is largely due to the lack of public confidence in religious people. Of God and Men, pp 84-85.

The Joy of Foolishness

The Joy Of Foolishness
Dorsey Marshall

"Foolishness brings joy to those with no sense; a sensible person stays on the right path." - Proverbs 15:21

The wisdom of God is all-important! When we go after Him, we will receive it, little by little, if we desire it. Many people today want a God who does not require them to make any changes, and who places His stamp of approval on whatever way they want to live.

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” Man cannot continue living to please his own self and others. He must please God. Situations do not determine our morality! However, what used to be called “living-in-sin” is now called “a meaningful relationship.” What used to be called “self-indulgence” is now called “self-fulfillment.” What used to be called “chastity” is now called “neurotic inhibition.” “Stealing” is now called “creative-financing.” In addition, what used to be called “killing the unborn” is now called “the right to choose.”

Man’s wisdom is, in reality, foolishness compared to the glory of God’s wisdom! Possessing wisdom is not the same as acting wisely. Foolishness is often a choice. Most people who do stupid things experience some sort of red light first. It is when we choose to ignore these warnings that we get sidetracked and then plunge into trouble.

We go to great effort to make it look as if sin just overtook us, and then we try to look helpless. Wise people have their eyes opened. Fools bounce around like a ball in a pinball machine -- no plan, no direction, and no insight. Millions of Christians today are bent on re-inventing the spiritual wheel! (Ecclesiastes 1:9, Ecclesiastes 12:6-7)

My friend, there is nothing new under the sun. Sin is still sin; wrong is still wrong. There will never be a right way to do the wrong thing. It is just that plain and simple. One characteristic of foolishness is carelessness. When we begin to get careless with our God-given habits, we will fall into foolishness, which leads to destruction. Foolish living will bring happiness . . . for a while, but in the end, it will bring more heartbreak that we think we can bear.

If we have any sense at all, we will live our lives on the right path. It is important that we live each day of our life with eternity in mind. One day each of us will face God. How will we answer Him? Wisdom Word: “A fool despises good counsel, but a wise man takes it to heart.”

Today’s Prayer: “Father, show me the right path; give me power, wisdom, and strength to walk according to Your plan, In Jesus’ Name, Amen!”

A Specific Ministry

God Made You For A Specific Ministry
Rick Warren

"Your hands shaped me and made me." -Job 10:8

God formed every creature on this planet with a special area of expertise. Some animals run, some hop, some swim, some burrow, and some fly. Each has a particular role to play based on the way they were shaped by God. The same is true with humans. Each of us is uniquely designed, or "shaped," to do certain things.

Before architects design any new building they first ask, "What will be its purpose? How will it be used?" The intended function always determines the form of the building. Before God created you, he decided what role he wanted you to play on earth. He planned exactly how he wanted you to serve him, and then he shaped you for those tasks. You are the way you are because you were made for a specific ministry.

The Bible says, "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works" (Ephesians 2:10 NIV). Our English word "poem" comes from this Greek word translated "workmanship." You're God's handcrafted work of art. You're not an assembly-line product, mass-produced without thought. You're a custom designed, one-of-a-kind, original masterpiece.

God deliberately shaped and formed you to serve him in a way that makes your ministry unique. He carefully mixed the DNA recipe that created you. David praised God for this incredible personal attention to detail God gave in designing each of us: "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous" (Psalm 139:13-14 NLT).

Not only did God shape you before your birth, he planned every day of your life to support his shaping process. David continues, "Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed" (Psalm 139:16 NLT).

This means nothing that happens in your life is insignificant. God uses all of it to mold you for your ministry to others and shape you for your service to him. God never wastes anything. He would not give you abilities, interests, talents, gifts, personality, and life experiences unless he intended to use them for his glory.

Created for His Good Pleasure

Created for His Good Pleasure
Os Hillman

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” -Ephesians 2:10

Eric Liddell was an Olympic runner from Britain who won a gold medal in the 1924 Paris Olympics. He was a man who had a deep commitment to the Lord and had future plans of being a missionary. In the meantime, he knew God had given him a special gift to run, and he often said, “I feel God’s pleasure when I run.”

He spent years training for the Olympics. He passed each hurdle and qualified for the Olympics. Finally, the day came for him to run in the games that were held in Paris. There was only one problem. One of his running events was held on Sunday. Liddell refused to run on Sunday, believing it dishonored the Lord’s Sabbath. He held to his convictions and brought great persecution on himself. He made a decision that even if it meant losing his opportunity to compete, he would not run. God’s laws were greater than man’s applause. Just when the circumstances seemed hopeless, another situation arose that allowed Liddell to run on a different day. So often this is the case in the spiritual realm. God tests our hearts to see if we will remain faithful to Him at the cost of something important to us. Once He knows where our loyalty lies, He opens a new door that meets the desires of our hearts. God takes pleasure in seeing His creation used for His glory. Liddell understood why he was made to run; he used his gift of running to bring pleasure to his Creator. Later, Eric Liddell went on to serve God on the mission field.

Does your life work bring pleasure to the Lord? Do you understand that God instilled certain gifts and talents in you so that He might find pleasure in His creation of you? Take pleasure in the gifts God has given to you this day. And let His glory shine through you.

The Soul’s Sole Anchorage

The Soul’s Sole Anchorage
Timrufus

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” –John 14:6

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” While there are truths that can get people hysterically worked up, there are also truths that have made other lose their life. Here Jesus introduces Himself as The Way, The Truth and The Life.

The Truth here is not just any plain human truth but the one crucial spiritual Truth. The devil came to steal, to kill and to destroy. The devil is most certainly the father of all lies but whenever anyone would turns to the Lord, this veil is taken away. (Hebrews 4:14-17) Whenever a one truth is being revealed, the man can choose to respond to the devil’s lies of despondent or look to God's hope of restoration; for the thief, the devil comes only to steal and kill and destroy but Jesus come that they may have life and have it to the full. (John 10:10)

Now the Lord is the Spirit, where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom and this is the One Spiritual Truth expresses here; only God himself can set people freed. Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ Jesus said, “You do not know me or my Father,” for if you knew me, you would know my Father also. Jesus is The Only Way. (John 8:36) The Pharisees and Sadducess were most familiar with Jesus in all of God’s most awesome deeds, and of the Israelites who saw how the Red Sea parted before them but none would have the faith to believe in Him.

God’s spiritual truths are not simply made to reveal (or cause to believe) unto the flesh but by God The Father who chose to reveal Himself by His Holy Spirit to those whom He is pleased to reveal them to. (Matthew 16:17, Luke 10:21) For if signs and wonders were intended for faith to made arise in the first place, let the whole earth be covered with magician and wise men as in the days of the Pharaoh. But instead let us live by faith and not by sight. (Exodus 14:13-14, John 6:35-39, Acts 3:19) Paul said these, "And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve." (2 Corinthians 11:14-15) But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened partly because he himself chose to harden it and so God gave it up it to harden some more. (Exodus 8:15, 9:12,Romans 11:23) Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. (Matthew 10:14-15)

Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth. "And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.” (Matthew 11:23-24)

Verses For Meditation: John 8:23-36

Yes Lord, the harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few. Send out then laborers into the harvest field for the harvests are ripe for no one to harvest. In Jesus most mighty name. Amen.

The Value of Hard Places

The Value of Hard Places
Os Hillman

"So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you." -2 Corinthians 4:12

Being forced into hard places gives us a whole new perspective on life. Things we once valued no longer hold the same value. Small things become big things, and what we once thought big no longer holds such importance. These hard places allow us to identify with the sufferings of others. It keeps us from having a shallow view of the hardships of others and allows us to truly identify with them.

Those who speak of such trials from no experience often judge others who have had such hardship. It is a superficiality of Christian experience that often permeates shallow believers. Those who have walked in hard places immediately have a kinship with others who have walked there also. They do not need to explain; they merely look at one another with mutual respect and admiration for their common experience. They know that death has worked a special thing in them. This death leads to life in others because of the hard places God has taken them through.

It is impossible to appreciate any valley experience while you are in it. However, once you have reached the top of the mountain, you are able to appreciate what terrain you have passed through. You marvel at what you were able to walk through. The valley of the shadow of death has yielded more than you ever thought possible. You are able to appreciate the beauty of the experience and lay aside the sorrow and pain it may have produced.

Death works in you for a greater purpose. If you are there today, be assured that God is producing something of much greater value than you will ever know.

Of Things we cannot see

Being Sure And Certain Of Things We Cannot See
Edward Powell

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." -Hebrews 11:1

The world cannot understand "true believers" or conceive of the life of devotion and commitment to God that characterize their walk. Paul made this very clear when he wrote, "But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." We have been given a privileged position, a glorious heritage, a blessed hope, and a supernatural faith to be activated, so that we may live a vibrant, fruitful life for the glory of God. With all of this, God has given us a free will to accept or reject His abounding grace.

Liberating faith breaks through the strongholds of self and sin. Spiritual faith is implanted into our hearts by God, and is activated by a committed confidence in God through a surrendered will. Our confidence is not in the power of faith but in the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ.

He is the origin, the source, and the resting place for all our faith. It is the character of God that gives faith validity and to us this confidence. It takes us into another realm, which is beyond ourselves and is infinitely beyond the reason of man. Those who have been reconciled to God can only understand spiritual truth and principles.

When one receives Christ as Savior, the Spirit of God comes and dwells within him. It is the Holy Spirit that gives us understanding of the things of God. Man seeks to reason by his own finite mind. He looks at facts and evidence, and deals with what he can perceive and understand. The man of faith enters into a confidence with God, an assurance and boldness that believes God's infallible Word, and takes God at His Word.
Faith ignores reason, as man sees it, and rises above it. Wouldn't it be wonderful if people, who watch the way we live and the things we do, would say of us as they did Jesus, "They wondered at Him, and they marveled."
Faith forges ahead full steam, while reason follows wide-eyed and amazed. This is the way it should be. Our lives should be a miracle of His grace, with people in utter wonder and amazement. The commitment and devotion of our lives before them cannot be explained by human reasoning. They must admit that this is of God, the result of unwavering, confident faith in an Almighty God.

When Peter and John stood before the rulers in Jerusalem, they asked how the impotent man was healed. Perceiving that Peter and John were "unlearned and ignorant men," the rulers marveled. They couldn't understand the boldness, confidence, and power with which they spoke. Beholding the man that was healed, evidence of the power of God, they could say nothing. Would to God that we had such a holy life reflecting His love and the might of His power.

Some people say, "What great faith. I wish I had that kind of faith." It is not "our great faith" that gets the job done. It is SIMPLE CHILDLIKE FAITH IN OUR ALMIGHTY GOD! True faith places its confidence in the holy character of God. He never changes; he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. This is the confidence we have in Him! "He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can ask or think."