POTUS, People, and the Flag

 

So yesterday I heard of something happening at my children’s school that led me to spend some time with my children in what I call a “teachable moment”.  Let me explain myself.

My children got off the bus telling about a bunch of kids (elementary age) that where teaming up on another kid and making fun of him simply because the boy had said that His parents had voted for Trump.  From that point these other kids began to tell the boy his parents were stupid, racist, crazy, and so on..  They brought this elementary boy to tears.  Several things troubled me about this; the greatest thing that troubled me was that this is something that was modeled in their lives by someone else.  Think about that.  Disrespect is taught.  Add this situation to what they see on TV/news with the protests, led me to a point after dinner last night that I sat down and talked to my girls about several things:

1.       Respect the office of President (or any elected official / those in authority).

This can be a tough one, but just the office itself deserves the respect of the American people.  I believe this and I teach my children this, even if someone holds the office that you very much disagree with.  I offered my children this example, I asked them if at any time in the last 8 years did they ever hear me say anything negative about President Obama, they responded no.  Here was my point:  I don’t agree with Him and never have with much of his policy.  I think as a person he is good, I think he is an affluent speaker and intelligent man; however, he and I disagree on a lot of things in life, religion, and policy.  Never once have I ever said anything negative, especially in front of my children, reason being you respect the President and the office he holds.  My parents instilled this in me by example and I instill it into mine. 

The Bible also teaches us in Romans 13 “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. ^2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.(1-2)”. 

It is my duty as an American citizen as well as a Believer in Jesus Christ to grant the governing officials the respect they deserve for the office they have been granted.  It churns my stomach to see how people have such non-respect for the president (current, former, and future), and it is being modeled and handed down to their children.  Shame on us and the media for allowing this to happen.  You don’t have to agree with the President or Elected official in order to give them respect.

The statement is made that respect has to be earned, an elected official earned that by the vote of the American people, even if I strongly disagree with them and/or their character.

Yes, I had to answer a lot of questions from my children about Donald Trump, things that He said, things that people said, and actions / accusations that where made.  They asked me about war, the wall, and how the country is divided.  I explained to them that we are always one decision away from War, that there are always other countries and entities wanting to wage war with our country mostly because we are by far the most powerful country in the world.  I then explained to them about the wall and illegal immigration.  How their grandmother was an immigrant and became a citizen the right way.  I further explained about the country's division and how neither Trump nor Clinton got half of America to vote for them, we are strongly divided as a country and that was long before Trump or Clinton either one.

 

2.       Respect your fellow man.

We are diverse people living in a diverse world.  We live in by far the greatest country in this world.  People are different, quirky, and (well) diverse.  No matter whom they are or where they come from a person deserves respect for their beliefs or lack thereof.  Our country was based on freedom.  Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from slavery, and freedom (and right) to bear arms is what makes our country best.  Respect people’s rights to be free.  I don’t have to understand what people believe, their lifestyle, or why they believe it, if they respect me for what I believe, I will return the respect.

^17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. ^18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (Romans 12:17-18)

 

Do what is right, be respectful (if it is possible), do everything you can to live at peace with everyone.

 

3.       Respect the United States Flag and what it represents.

I have to be totally honest, this really bothers me.  I get that people are exercising their right to freedom of protest by standing on the flag, burning the flag, and whatever else they are doing.  However, the flag is much more than just a flag, it is what it represents.  The sacrifice made by many, the freedom it represents, and the hope that it brings, and yet it is so disrespectful to stand, burn, or throw it down.  I was raised better than that, and my children will be raised and taught better than that.  There are other ways to go about protesting other than totally disrespecting the flag and the men and women who died protecting the great country that it represents. 

If somewhere in your mind you can register that it is ok to burn the flag, vandalize, or burn down small businesses in protest then you are part of the problem and not part of the solution.

I have no control over the way people are or act outside of my home, but I will continue to teach my children the above and hope that they can have an influence on those around them.

Chris L. Reese
Proud American Citizen
Follower of the Most High God and Son Jesus Christ

I just want to say thank you

^12 How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me? ^13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. ^14 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. (Psalm 116:12-14)

 

How can I pay the Lord back for all the fantastic things He has done for me.  Reality is I can’t.  Reality is neither can you.  You think about all the things you have, all the blessings life has given you, and the very breath you breathe.  It is all from God.  There is nothing you have had or will have in life that has not been given by God.  There are also things that did not happen that God blocked that you will never know about.  When all this comes to mind we start to think, what can I do?  How can I repay God for so much that He has done.  Your life, your family, your career, your kids, your grandkids, I mean everything is from Him.

 

Reality is reality.  We owe too big a debt to repay.  We can’t repay for our salvation, neither can we earn it.  We cannot repay what God has done for us, it’s just too much to fathom.  With that being said the psalmist gives us two ideas of things you and I CAN do to let God know our appreciation in our hearts.  Thanksgiving to what God has done should motivate us to two things.  Two things that would make the God that created and sustains us smile.

 

One is call upon the name of the Lord.  Talk to Him.  Sounds simple doesn’t it.  I don’t mean sit down and give God your list of things you want and/or need, or your list of sick people.  I am talking about going throughout the day and have conversations with your Creator.  He is your best friend, so when was the last time that you just had a conversation with God.  Share your hopes, dreams, and fears.  Have a laugh.  We should be talking with Him throughout the day.  It will build on your relationship with Him as well as let Him know you appreciate Him.  God knows your heart, why don’t you tell Him what is going on in there because He already knows and He WANTS you to talk to Him about it.

Two, is fulfill your vows to Him.  I would venture to say that many of us have so many broken vows to God.  We get into a bind and we make a lot of promises and deals with God.  First of all, that is a huge mistake because God doesn’t work that way.  He does things out of grace and love and not because you struck a deal with Him.  However, God has granted us all gifts and talents and if you promised God you were going to use those, then you need to.  If you promised God you were going serve Him, honor Him, and follow Him then you and I need to fulfill those vows.  Just as we have made covenants with our spouses, you and I make covenants with God.  There is no better way to show thanksgiving to Him than fulfilling those vows as an act of love.

 

Remember, none of things affects your standing of your place in heaven, for its “not of works lest any man boast” (Ephesians 2:9).  Anything we do is nothing more than just an overflow of thanksgiving and showing our appreciation to our Creator.

Have a great day, Chris

well, I voted today

I have sat down several times the last couple of weeks and tried to think about how to articulate my thoughts on the Presidential Election this year.  I have wrote several copies and went back and deleted for various reasons.

I am gravely concerned as an American Citizen regarding our main two political parties and who they have put their weight behind for the candidacy.  I realize there are other parties and other candidates, but the reality is this country will elect a new president in November and it will either be Clinton or Trump.  I am a social fiscal conservative Republican (and am unashamed of that), and have voted since I turned 18.  Fiscal conservatism is a political-economic philosophy regarding fiscal policy and fiscal responsibility advocating low taxes, reduced government spending and minimal government debt. Free trade, deregulation of the economy, lower taxes, and privatization.

I believe it is our right and responsibility as American Citizens to vote at EVERY election.  I have voted main party every year except when Dole ran I voted for Perot.

I was talking with a lady today in line waiting to vote and we talked about the "good old days" when you could vote for a candidate and actually believe they would do America a good job as Commander and Chief.  We talked of Reagan's presidency and how united the country used to be.  We had this candid conversation and guess what, she was voting Democrat today and I was voting Republican.  You ask what my point is?  That is an uncommon conversation, because we are more divided today as a country than we have ever been.

As I listened to people around me today I clearly heard people say they where registered Republicans but they where voting for Clinton because they hated Trump, and I also heard people say they where registered Democrats that where voting for Trump because they hated Hillary.  All I could think of is "is this really why we are voting"?  Voting for another part because we hate the personality of a candidate, is this the best way to decide our next president?

I will be the first to tell you that neither candidate has the capability of uniting a country, nor have we had a President that could since Reagan.  As an American Citizen I long for unity in our country, but instead the gap gets wider and wider, and it seems as though each side is getting more and more angry at the other.  Name calling, threats, bodily harm, and the list goes on and on.  All over politics.

Freedom is what makes this country great.  Diversity is what makes this country great.  You don't have to agree with me, and I don't have to agree with you.  It is what makes our country great.

When I voted today, I did not vote based upon a personality or some affluent speech they made.  I did not base it upon who called each other the worst name, or who had the sleaziest commercial.  I voted based upon who I thought was the most Fiscally Conservative.  I voted on who I thought was going to do something about the current financial debt ($19,754,257,061,882.16 as of today).  As a socially conservative person, I am not satisfied with either candidate, and morally I know and recognize you can't legislate morals and values.

It bothers me that as a country with our two main political parties that the choices of Clinton or Trump was the best they had to offer.  This has been by far the hardest election as a citizen to look at, listen to, and talk about because neither candidate has really convinced me that they can do anything to help America to be America, or that they have the average American's best interest at heart.

In every election I have ever had the privilege to vote in, I have been able to get behind our GOP nominee pretty quickly (with exception of the year I voted Perot).  In the race for GOP nominee this year, I had some troubles.  My first choice was Huckabee, then Carson, and finally Cruz.  Trump was never really my favorite, and I'm not the only Republican that feels that way. 

In the end I voted today based on one thing:  I picked the person I felt like could do the job of President.  I voted GOP.  You may disagree with me on that, and guess what its ok.  One thing I have learned about me in this process is that I can live with agreeing to disagree.  I'm going to love you whether you are Republican or Democrat, and I will respect your decision as long as you respect mine.  Just do me a favor and make your voice heard and vote.

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."  (preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America.)

I am "We the People" you are "We the People".....

Vote 2016, let your voice be heard.

Chris

God's building a case against the nation

There where seven charges against the nation mentioned by Hosea that caused a spiritual collapse in the nation of Israel, these are equally relevant to church society today, they are as follows:

1. lack of knowledge (4:6), this sent Israel on a downward spiral.  If you around the modern Christian long enough you will hear misquoted scripture, misapplied scripture, and total ignorance of the word.  How can we say we Love and wish to follow Him, when we don't know Him through His word.
2. Pride (5:5), always has been an issue in mankind, and is the root of many of our problems.  We have such a pride issue today in modern church.  We feel we are the center of the universe, thus removing God from His center point.
3. Instability (6:4), forget God and we forget our place and puts us on shaky ground.  We build a relationship with God mostly at face value and when we do we find ourselves instable.
4. Worldiness (7:8), God is absent from their lives thus they seek the world for fulfillment.  Today you cannot tell much difference between the believers life morally and ethically and the non-believers.  We have bent our ways towards the worlds ways.
5. Corruption (9:9), the nation was rotting from the inside out.  We find ourselves becoming more and more rotten from the inside out, corruption comes from within.
6. Backsliding (11:7), turned their backs against God.  When things don't go the way we think they should or they way we want it to, we are quick to turn against God.
7. Idolatry (13:2), anything that takes the place of God in our lives is idolatry.  We are far too often putting things like work, money, fame, family, significant others, and etc. in front of God when we do it is nothing short of idolatry.

These things are what we are confronted with still today in the spiral of sin of society, and quite frankly within our own churches.  We are warned ahead of time that people are not going to want to hear it, in fact they will want it sugar coated and to make us feel good even though we are on a path of self destruction:

 

3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.   4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.   5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. (The Holy Bible  : New International Version (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984), 2 Ti 4:3-5.)

We have got to keep our head in the game and be bold like Hosea in telling the truth, they may not want to hear it but it is for their own good, and for my own good.

Help me God

^1 Hear my prayer, O Lord; let my cry for help come to you (Psalm 102:1)

 ^17 He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea. (Psalm 102:17)

When you read the psalmist’s initial words in Psalm 102  you get a sense of a desperate need.  It was what I would call an “SOS” prayer, “God I really need help”.  His cry for help is a desperate plea for assistance.  His hearts cry is for God to help him in his greatest time of need.  You get a sense of the struggle that he is dealing with.  Maybe questions and doubts arising because the prayer hasn’t been answered when and where he wanted it to.

Does this sound familiar.  I’m sure it does to a lot of us.  We get stressed, we get worried and we find ourselves like this psalmist wanting help and desperately begging and pleading with God to answer.  Our problem is we want it on our timing, we want it NOW.  We want quick action.  We want things to go away.  We want our prayers answered immediately.  Of course we do, why wouldn’t we?

As you have probably figured out by now, it doesn’t work that way.  Now don’t get me wrong, sometimes God does answer them almost immediately.  Sometimes that very minute, sometimes the next day, or even the next week.  But what about when He doesn’t.

Here is what you and I need to know, verse 17.

He will respond.  Enough said.  He will respond to the prayer, He will not look past our plea.  Do you believe that?  It is a hard one to swallow.  He will respond, just not right away always.  He will respond, when you are ready and He is ready.  He will respond when He is ready to make it fit into His great big Plan for life.  God is painting a much bigger picture than you and I can ever imagine.  Hold on dear child of His, He may not answer today, but keep in mind “He will respond”.

God grant us patience and assurance to know you will respond… Chris.

When you feel you've lost your footing

 

^18 When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your love, O Lord, supported me. ^19 When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul. ^22 But the Lord has become my fortress, and my God the rock in whom I take refuge (Psalm 94:18-19, 22)

 

Tell me if this sounds familiar: you feel like you are slipping deeper and deeper, like you are losing your foothold on life.  Yeah, we have probably all been there.  First of all, breathe.  This is not the end.  How do you, how do I make it when we feel like we have lost our footing and are falling.

 

We make it with faith.  Faith in believing in One who is greater than I.  Faith in the One who called all things into existence, and faith in the One who loves you and I more than we will ever understand.  When I feel like I’m slipping it is His love that supports me, His love that keeps me going.

 

Anxiety.  That is another big ugly word and emotion we have to deal with.  The psalmist tells us how to deal with that as well, He says that God’s consolation brings joy to our soul.  What is consolation?  Consolation is the Hebrew word: תַּנְחוּמִים [tanchuwm, tanchum, tanchuwmah /tan·khoom / this basically means to comfort.  To put us at ease.  To put our minds at ease.  Another part of faith.  When we have faith, it is that faith that puts us at comfort when the anxiety of the world comes crashing in around us.  Through that comfort it brings joy to our soul.  It’s like getting a hug from a parent, there is just a comfort in that hug that cannot be described.  So it is with your Creator.

The psalmist adds that the Lord has become His fortress, so the question is this:  Has the Lord become your fortress.  Is He your strength?  Is He the one where you find your refuge (shelter)?  He wants to be, will you just let Him.

I really needed this today, well I guess probably everyday, God thank you for being my refuge, my comfort, my support, especially when Anxiety is high within me….

Have a great day, Chris

Lord I want to be like You

thought for the day:

^11 Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart,

that I may fear your name. (Psalm 86:11)

 

What does this verse say to you / me? Several things, observe:

·         “Teach me your ways”, remain teachable.  I can never get to a point in life where I think I know enough about God and/or His Word.  It is just not possible.  The Christians who have a close relationship with Him are the ones who are willing to constantly learn.

·         “I will walk in your truth”.  Walking in truth is referring to the way we live our lives.  You can’t walk in truth, if you are not willing to be taught His ways.  The two are intertwined together.

·         “Give me an undivided heart”. The word undivided in this verse means “to join”.  When we are asking God for an undivided heart we are asking Him to “Join” our heart with His Heart.  We are asking Him to get into the innermost part of our being and help us to see people the way He does, to Love them like He does, and to treat them like He does.

·         “Fear His name”.  This does not mean that we literally tremble and are scared of God, It is referring to having honor and reverence for the great “I AM”.  All of the previous mentioned in this verse build up to this pivotal point:  we learn His ways, we walk in His truth, we have His heart, then we are able to honor and reverence His name.

Have a great day!  Chris

unilateral forgiveness

^13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you (Col. 3:13, NIV)

 

^32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32, NIV)

 

I have been in the process of working through forgiving someone from a very personal wrong that was done to me.  It has been a long painstaking process.  It has caused me to have to bring up memories that are neither pleasant or fun to have to recall.  The bigger difficulty of the situation is that the person who wronged me is dead and gone, so the question goes how do I confront and deal with someone who has wronged me in the past now that they are gone.  How do I get closure, and how do I get past it.  Forgiveness.

Forgiveness means to release from an obligation, or to release from a wrong that was incurred.  Forgiveness is not easy to give and sometimes is not easy to receive.  When you forgive you are not approving the action, you are not repressing the action, but you are releasing someone them and yourself from the offense that was done.  It is in essence hitting the delete button.

 So I am working on what is known as “unilateral forgiveness”.  Unilateral forgiveness is forgiving someone who has either not offered an apology for the wrong doing or is unable to offer the apology (such as in death or no point of contact). 

 When Jesus was on the cross He offered humanity unilateral forgiveness: 

^4 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34, NIV).

 We didn’t ask for it, He just gave it, out of His own freewill.

 When you and I offer forgiveness to someone who has neither offered the apology or can give it, we are not only letting them go from it, but we are also letting ourselves go from having to carry the anger, bitterness, and sadness from the wrong that occurred.  When someone wrongs us like the way I was, the cut runs deep and it seems like I just can’t forgive them or that they don’t deserve it.  The pain will probably always be there, however I allow the pain to worsen when I still allow them to control me.  I am in the process of allowing myself to release this person from the debt I feel they owe me, because there is no way I will ever get the apology or the justice I feel I deserve.

 So I find myself asking this question, “what do I do now?”  I have a choice in front of me I can choose to continue to allow them to control me even though they are dead, or I can release them and essence release myself so that I may move on.  I choose life, I choose to move on.  It is not going to be easy, but I must continue to move and grow.  With God’s help I know I can, because He has a plan.

Choices?

 



Israel had it all.  God had provided everything they needed.  He provided them the best of the best.  God provided everything they needed to perfection to produce good fruit for Him.  He provided so much for them, and yet He asks in Isaiah 5:4

^“4 What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?”

God laid it all out there for them, and the sad thing was they acted with disobedience.  God then carefully lays out His case in Isaiah 5:8-23 as to why He would bring destruction upon them.

Isaiah’s response was totally different.  Isaiah was at a trying time in his life and ministry, the king had died and they were unsure times (6:1).  God enables him to see God for all of His glory.  Isaiah recognizes his own wickedness: 

^5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5)

 

Isaiah is given the same opportunity and chance as Israel to serve the Lord.  His response is not disobedience, but rather strict obedience:

 ^8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8).

 

The same holds true today.  God gives us ample opportunity to serve Him, He provides everything we need all we have to do is respond as Isaiah did, or respond as the disciples did when Jesus said, “Follow Me”.

 

^19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” ^20 At once they left their nets and followed him. (Matthew 4:19)

 

God loves you and I so much that He leaves the choosing to us.  You can choose to now follow (as Israel did) or you can choose to follow (as Isaiah and disciples did), God will not force you to follow Him or Serve Him.  It's totally up to you to decides, so what is it going to be?

 

Chris

if you don't ask you will never know

^10 They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant. (9:10)

 

^32 But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it. (9:32)

 

These were amazing times but also trying times for the disciples.  In the beginning of chapter 9 you have the transfiguration of Jesus, where Peter, James, and John got to see Jesus in His glorified form chatting it up with Moses and Elijah.  They where amazed, as you can imagine, by this, but as they where leaving Jesus told them not to discuss it until He rose from the dead.  That is where chapter 9 verse 10 falls in.  They absolutely kept it to themselves, but they also had no idea as to what Jesus was referring to.  Fast forward a little bit in chapter 9, Jesus heals a possessed boy that the other disciples could not, they then pass through Galilee as quietly as possible because He wanted some time to teach His disciples.  Then comes this part of the narrative:

 

^31 because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” ^32 But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.  (9:31-32)

 

He flat out tells them what is going to happen, and they fail the test.  So you ask “what was the test”…… the test was would they ask Him about what they did not understand.  They failed, because they where “afraid”.  Afraid?  Yes, afraid.  We think: how in the world could they be afraid.

 

We are always afraid to ask questions.  We won’t raise our hands in class to ask questions because we are afraid.  We won’t ask our parents questions because we are afraid.  We won’t ask our friends questions because we are afraid.  Why are we so afraid.  We are afraid because we don’t know all the answers and we are too prideful to admit it.  We are afraid because we don’t want to ask and look like an idiot.  We are afraid because of appearance, ignorance, and shyness.  And we certainly can’t let Jesus know that we don’t know everything, we should never question Him about anything… oh the horror if we did…. Somewhere along the line of Christianity we bought into the lie that we shouldn’t question any questions.  Just sit there, smile, and act like everything is ok and you understand everything.

 

Here is the thing.  Jesus knows already that you don’t know, so just admit to Him you don’t and allow Him to teach you.  That is what He wanted the disciples to do, and that is what He is wanting you and I to do today.  If you don’t understand it…. Ask.   Ask Him, ask a mentor, ask your pastor, ask your teacher, ask a trusted friend, just please ask someone. 

 

Don’t be afraid….. ask.

Stop talking behind my back

Moses and His leadership abilities have always astounded me.  Every time I think I cannot possibly be anymore impressed by something He did, another jumps out at me.  I was reading Numbers 12 this morning and was reminded of this scenario:  Aaron and Miriam where talking behind Moses' back about him and his leadership, and God calls them out for it.  God pulls them and Moses together.  God really chastises them for it and leaves them, when He leaves Miriam is covered in leprosy as punishment for her sin.  Aaron turns to Moses and pleads on her behalf.  Moses says this:

^13 So Moses cried out to the Lord, “O God, please heal her!” (Nu 12:13., NIV)

I have to be honest here, that probably would not have been my first response.  I have no tolerance for someone to do underhanded talking behind backs spreading rumors.

It most likely would have been something like, "no she deserves this, and so do you" or "karma is great", or maybe wouldn't have said anything but just smirked a little. 

Now, God didn't heal her right away, she and Aaron had to learn a lesson, but he did seven days later, and it's simply because Moses was humble enough to pray on behalf of his "enemy" at that moment.

The number of times in our lives when someone close to us, be it a family member, friend, or coworker, says something negative about us is unbelievable.  You and I cannot have a possible clue about what people are saying about us on a daily basis.  The majority of it is probably not good.  We may have even walked in right as someone said something and overheard it.  It hurts when those close to us, those we trusted, and those we confide in betray that trust.  We want vengeance.  We want them to suffer for their sins against us.

Why didn't Moses feel that way?  Maybe he did, but also maybe he didn't react upon it.  He had grace, he had humility, and he had compassion.  There was no hesitation in his plea, there was no pause in his plead, and there was no harboring of unforgiveness in his actions.

I don't know if I could do that.  I wish I could.  I want to.  However, deep down inside I just don't know.  I would love with everything within me to say "absolutely I would respond the exact same way as Moses", but I know I'm not there.  I think I'm getting there, slowly but surely.

One of the greatest signs of a great leader was Moses was more concerned about the one's he was leading than his precious ego getting bruised.

Chris

this means war

Spiritual Warfare.

 

I have been reading the book  “The Invisible War, What every believer needs to know about Satan, Demons, and Spiritual Warfare”, It was a required reading for a class I am taking right now.  It couldn’t have come at a better time.  I have been dealing with the battle of darkness, and it can be very uneasy, if not quite frightening at times.

 

Something the author said (Chip Ingrram) said on p.61 really stuck with me as well:  "That means that when we fight, we're not trying to win.  We're enforcing the victory that Jesus has already secured.  In His power, we are invincible."

 

My eyes have been enlightened lately as to the matter of spiritual warfare.  I have always believed it, however haven’t really experienced it much, until recently.

 

¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12, NIV)

 

I have heard stories of the struggle, but now I KNOW the struggle.  I know of nightmares, voices, and evil lurking trying to discourage the great work the Master is trying to do in our community and church.

 

Two nights ago I had a nightmare that was so real that I woke up screaming “get away from me Satan”, though I don’t remember the specifics of it what I do remember I would rather not.  The thing I can remember was the eerie presence of evil, and wanting to get as far away from it as I could.  My wife asked me if I remembered any of the dream because obviously I woke her up as well.

 

The thing I have learned to remind myself, as pointed out in the book, is the victory has already been won.  The enemies game plan is to destroy individual believers, the unity of the family, and the integrity of the church.  The enemy will use whatever means possible to accomplish this.  That being said you and I have to be on our guard individually, for our families, and our churches.  God has won the victory, but we have to be on our guard.

 

I asked my deacons last month in our meeting to pray for me because of this battle that has been raging, I can feel the strength of their prayers.  Thank you men, keep it up!!

 

Chris L. Reese