Go To War

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Motivation can be hard to come by at times.

                As difficult circumstances pile on top of one another like logs, our hearts become weighed down.  Physically the presence of pain, stress, hurt, or guilt traps people in a fog of fear, anger, depression, or sorrow to mention a few.  Sometimes there seems like no way out and the heavy vest being carried will never be lifted.  In our minds, these things are magnified, whether we want them to be or not.  It’s time to break that magnifying glass!

                Where does incessant thinking about fear, or stress (among others) guide us?  The path is a dark one with no end and an exponential increase in the struggles.  For some reason however, it seems so enticing to give into those thoughts and let them have their stay.  The reason for that is because as Christians, we have a common enemy.  It’s not Atheists, homosexuals, prostitutes, junkies, or Muslims.  It is sin, and the flesh that is inspired by Satan.  If we truly believe that our God is real and his Bible is truth, why can’t we accept that the enemy is real as well?  Starting down this path, nobody realizes who is really behind it…the deceiver.  However, when Jesus is accepted and believed in with all of one’s heart, they quickly turn one hundred eighty degrees and start sprinting in the other direction and no matter how real the enemy is, he has no power. 

                The moment his word penetrates our hearts, souls are changed, truth is realized and war is declared.  What used to be a nice sounding sentence of literature becomes the strength we need to make it through the day and the joy we so desperately lack.  If God says it, that settles it.  As believers, our weapon, sharper than any sword or physical weapon, is the Bible.  Which begs the question, why would God have given us a weapon if there was no war to be waged?

                Believing that a book is more powerful than an AK-47 is ridiculous to anyone who has never read and believed the Bible.  This war isn’t a physical one, though.  Take 2 Corinthians 10:4…

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds.” (KJV)

                Paul uses the word carnal, or in Greek, Sarkikos.  Sarkikos literally means fleshly or of the body, but implies weakness, frailty, and imperfection in the Greek language.  An antonym of Carnal in Greek is Pneumatikόs.  This literally means spiritually, or supernatural and is described in the Greek language as pertaining or proceeding from the Holy Spirit.  The entire New Testament of the bible was written in Greek originally (2 Corinthians is in the New Testament). 

                When belief in God is present, his Holy Spirit lives inside the body of the believer, empowering them with Chôzeq, or literally filling them with “The Lord’s strength”.  The weapon, protection, and strength is all supplied with Jesus.  Thus, it is time to go to war.  Making war against addictions, fears, and selfish desires is possible by taking God’s word for what it really is, truth…and living in accordance with it.  Satan and our flesh’s only power is derived from what we give to it, so it is time to battle those because God has enabled us to and calls us to do so!  We will lose battles, BUT he has already won the war, ultimately.  Go to war.

Free from the Flame

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The story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego is a popular one because of the seemingly fairy tale ending when these three men are saved from a fiery death and given a promotion by the man who was trying to kill them, King Nebuchadnezzar.  The problem is that with this amazing story many Christians and non-Christians alike take it not for what it truly is, but as they interpret it…a fairy tale.  The thing is, it’s the furthest thing from a fairy tale.

                A quick version of the story is this: King Nebuchadnezzar builds an “image of gold” and issues a decree that when people hear the sound of a horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes or any other kind of music, they must fall down to their knees and worship this golden image.  If anyone doesn’t, they will be thrown into a fiery furnace.  So then these tattle-tail astrologers tell the King about the 3 Jewish men (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) who are not obeying his orders to worship this image.  Nebuchadnezzar then tells them face to face in his fury that they will be thrown into the fire if they do not worship his idol and “then what god will be able to rescue you from my hand?”  I wonder if he thinks his metal “god” can. They respond that they don’t have to defend themselves to him.  The boldness and faith of these three men in their next statement is something we need to ask God to give us!  They say “If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.  But even if he does not, we want you to know, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”  Nebuchadnezzar, furious, throws them into the furnace then cranks up the heat seven times its usual temperature.  The guards manning the entrance both are incinerated upon the furnace door opening, but these three mighty warriors are not harmed at all.  The King watches the men walk around his mighty furnace unharmed while a fourth figure is with them.  Nebuchadnezzar recognizes the figure as the Son of God and calls the men to come out of the furnace at once.  Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walk out without any damage whatsoever.  Nebuchadnezzar recognized the men’s devotion and faith in God and noted how they did not compromise and how God blessed them for that, issuing another famous decree that anyone who speaks out against “their God” would be cut into pieces and their houses would be destroyed.  The three men are then promoted in Babylon…

It is safe to say that in this world, there is fire all around us.  Nobody in their right mind would say that this world is perfect, fair, and easy to live in.  There is evil all around us, and in us!  The fact of the matter is, we ourselves are fuel to those flames.  Our sin ignites that fire on a daily basis, and keeps it going.  We are so worried about being burnt, our eyes are constantly on the flames.  So we get torched over and over again and wonder if there is a way to resist being engulfed by these flames.  The fact is that sin remains.  We live in a fallen world separated from God, our creator and without him there is nothing but flames.  What if there was some kind of fire retardant we could cover ourselves in daily?  A safe haven.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had it!  It’s called faith.    

In the Christian world, there are so many ideas on what faith really is and we tend to over complicate it. This stuff in the bible, it’s real.  These aren’t fairy tales. Faith is faith, believing but not seeing, doing but not knowing; trusting.  However, having faith is not completely understood.  There is serious power when one has complete and utter faith in God, and Jesus Christ their savior.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego understood this completely!  When there was no possible, logical, plausible way of them surviving being thrown into a furnace, they did not fear and did not doubt that God had already saved them!  Even if they did die, they knew they would be met face to face with their savior, so where is the fear in death?  Faith in God sending his only son to die for us changes lives, and there is no circumstance that is irrevocable with him.  A beautiful freedom from fear and doubt is born in our souls and we no longer see the flames, we just see the peace that transcends all understanding.  Did God not tell us that if we believed, we would see the glory of him? (John 11:40). 

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego clung to him to get them out of the flames.  We should do the same.  Repent from our sins daily and ask him to change our hearts and give us more faith!  He wants to make us valiant warriors…even more than that.  We just need to understand his power and put our faith in who he is. 

So when the going gets tough and you don’t know where you are headed, keep on walking.  It may just take you out of those flames.  By the way, you aren’t walking alone.

Ear Candy

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Sounds are everywhere.
They are uncontained, unleashed and barbaric in our world. A man drops his change and quarters spin everywhere creating a soft ping sound to be ensued with the dancing of the metal against pavement, swirling around and around. A young boy playing on his hand held device saves his progress and produces a piercing da duh ding sound (He was playing Zelda by the way…). While attempting to fall asleep, the screams of sirens fill the room preventing any slumber.
What happens when sound gets coached, though? A coach that can recognize the strengths and weaknesses of each sound and put them in the best position to succeed. Instead of heading in separate directions and every sound being a ball hog, the sounds now work together toward the same goal, relying on each other to win. Each individual sound compliments the others and builds one another up. Soon, the sounds become united and intertwined and are no longer “sound” but now music.
Music is a team sport! A very powerful one at that. God used music created by his faithful Israelite people, led by Joshua, to bring down the walls of mighty Jericho allowing repentant Rahab and her family to exit unharmed. He also spoke through David in the book of Psalms which many current day worship songs are based off of. God gave us music and song as a gift. What happened though? Was the lyrical content in Biggie’s music a gift from God? Nope. But the art of his music was, though.
There are two parts to music…Content and Art. Most of today’s culture sacrifices content in a second in order for the pleasure derived by the art of the song. You may pass by someone on the street saying to his friend, “Dude, what does that even mean?” (They’re probably listening to Rick Ross). The friend, head bouncing up and down, makes known that “I don’t care, it sounds sweet!” Liking music ONLY because of the art is comparable to liking a food ONLY for how it tastes. On the other side of the coin though, content makes music have a purpose. Listening to a song that doesn’t have a purpose (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S22FHg2WS-w) may sound good and get your adrenaline pumping, but you’re giving so much up by doing so. The songs potential is not being fulfilled. That isn’t using music for God’s glory, and it is not how he intended it.
From personal experience, there is nothing better than beautiful art with a more beautiful lyrical content describing the truth of Jesus Christ. I know every time I listen to Lecrae, Tedashii, Trip Lee or Flame (to name a few). I will be greatly encouraged by the lyrical content and the great art these guys create with God’s strength. Each message is like a sermon pointing directly to the truth laid out in the Bible with a sick beat! What is better than that if you’re into hip-hop and have accepted Jesus as your savior?? I understand not appreciating it if rap isn’t your thing but I still know many people who never liked rap before until they listened to these guys. My 60 year old mother being one of them.
I’ve heard many of my friends and peers refer to new music as “ear candy”. I’ll admit it, sometimes when word of a new album or single, my ears will “water” just as taste buds do when you walk down the candy aisle in the local grocery store. Something is different with Christ edifying music, though. Ears are not the only thing being stimulated…the mind, body and most importantly, soul are also being nurtured. Candy isn’t very sustaining, however…Maybe a better name for this truth music could be “Ear Lasagna” or something….I don’t know.