Standing For What Is Right

The last thing most of us want to do is stand out in a crowd. Given the choice, the vast majority of people would simply like to "live and let live" and continue living a peaceful life of blending in. We don't like conflict so we do what we can to avoid it, even if it means agreeing with the disagreeable. Whatever it takes to maintain peace. Except, followers of Jesus can't do that. We can't blend, we can't remain anonymous, we can't agree with what is disagreeable for the sake of peace. We tend to stand out in a crowd.

We live by different rules, by a different standard, by a different definition of good and evil. We are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ and, like him, we must speak the truth, even when people don't want to hear it. We don't force anybody to do anything, that isn't Father's way, but we do need to let people know they have a choice. I know we would rather not draw attention to ourselves but, we are here as examples of his grace. That doesn't mean demonstrating perfection, because it doesn't exist in us, but demonstrating his power made perfect in our weakness. Consider Lot for a moment.

Lot, the nephew of Abraham, chose an interesting place to live. Sodom was a city that had lost its moral compass and did whatever they felt like doing. We only get one glimpse of Lot in this context but consider what we are told. He had just housed the visiting angels when all the men of Sodom showed up to rape them:

Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. (Genesis 19:4)

Notice that it was all the men, of every age, of every social standing. Yes, an interesting place in which Lot had chosen to live. But these angels had come under Lot's hospitality and the desert law of hospitality meant that they were under his protection. He had to do everything he could to protect them. So Lot told these men that what they planned to do was wicked and he tried to reason with them, but a heart bent on sin cannot be reasoned with. It is here I want you to notice how these wicked men describe Lot:

“This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.” (v. 9)

He keeps acting as a judge. Obviously this was not the first time Lot spoke out against their unrighteous living. Even at this early stage of the developing relationship with Yahweh, enough had been revealed that Lot knew the difference between good and evil, right and wrong, holy and common. Imagine the conviction that Lot must have felt in order to find the courage to speak out against a city.

I am not saying that we need to go on the rooftops and shout out the sins of this world. Such an approach rarely works, causing the sinful heart to become even harder. However, in our sphere of influence, in our Sodom, we must stand for the righteousness of Jesus. As far as it depends on us, we cannot allow good to be called evil and evil good. As much as we might fear it, we must be willing to stand out in a crowd, to allow the light of Christ to shine in and through us, as we set the example in word and deed. We cannot compromise the Kingdom for the sake of maintaining a false peace. Remember, Jesus did not come to bring peace, except to the heart of the forgiven sinner.

My brother, my sister, let us stand on the righteous ground of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:13)

It's Getting Uglier Out There

Man's wisdom says that an unborn child is a fetus and not human, is part of a woman's body like an arm, that the woman has a right over her body and the fetus has no right to life.

Yahweh calls it murder and it is a sin.

Man's wisdom says that a child with a poor quality of life really has no life at all and has no value to our society so it is okay to kill the child.

Yahweh calls it murder and it is a sin.

Man's wisdom says that all things are equal and so marriage must include men with men, women with women.

Yahweh calls it an abomination and it is sin.

Man's wisdom says that all things are equal so he is starting to lean toward one man many wives and one woman many husbands.

Yahweh says marriage is between one man and one woman and anything different is a sin.

Man's wisdom says that it is healthy for thirteen year olds to experiment with sex.

Yahweh calls it fornication and it is sin.

Man's wisdom says it is healthy to have a sexual affair, that it improves your marriage.

Yahweh calls it adultery and it is sin.

I could go on with a much longer list of how our society and governments are turning its back on the statutes of Yahweh and setting up the wisdom of man. This is perfectly understandable in a world that is fallen, controlled by sin and is not seeking the face of Yahweh, but how many things on this simple list are accepted and practiced in different parts of the Church?

We are in a huge battle right now, not so much against the world, but for holding up the truth of Yahweh in the Body. Many are beginning to deny the authority of the Holy Scriptures. Many are developing their own theology. They still hold to the name Christian but Christ has no part in it. Once again we are making our own household gods and worshiping at the temples of our making. It is going to get very rough from here on in.

There are going to be days when you feel discouraged and alone. As you watch family and friends fall under the pressure of acceptability and conformity to the thinking of our environment, you yourself will face doubts. But the ones who will fall are the ones who have not developed a personal relationship with Jesus; the ones who knew about Jesus but did not know him. When you meet with him, speak with him, are encouraged and strengthened by him and dine on his Word every day, it is impossible to deny him or his truth. But others will fall and it is then that you will have to trust like you have never trusted before. As the world sneers at us, calls us names and works to isolate us, it will take courage and trust to stand on the Lord's side. Before there was little cost to following Jesus; now it will cost us everything.

I have already written about the necessity of trust on the battlefield but I want to keep emphasizing it and giving Scriptural examples so you will have something to lean on as the battle intensifies. We have to remember that Jesus warned us that the end times would become very difficult for believers. The Word says it will look and become so bad that some would be given over to despair. But, in the end, we will have the victory. Here's my example from Scripture.

It looked bad for Judah.  They were at war with Israel and were out numbered 2 to 1. One king served himself and the other king served Yahweh. But Israel ambushed Judah so that they were surrounded. But the army of Judah did an amazing thing. There on the battlefield they trusted Yahweh, even when it looked to be the end for them. They did not despair. Instead, they cried out to Yahweh and fought on:

They cried out to the Lord, and the priests sounded the trumpets. Then the men of Judah gave a shout; and as the men of Judah shouted, it happened that God struck Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah. And the children of Israel fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hand. (2 Chronicles 13:14-16)

Trust is the key to our survival and personal victory. The Church will triumph. Jesus will have the victory. The question is will that victory include you and me. Jesus told his disciples to trust him, to put their confidence in him, and those words stand for us today. This battle requires us to ensure that we have the full armour of God in place and that we stand our ground. It is going to get messy but we are in it together and most important, we are in it with Jesus. Together we stand and trust because Jesus is King.

Do not let your hearts be troubled (distressed, agitated). You believe in and adhere to and trust in and rely on God; believe in and adhere to and trust in and rely also on Me. (John 14:1 AMP)

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:12-13)

Beware Of The Whisperer

Beware of the whisperers in your life. They are like the snake in the garden, coming alongside to whisper doubt into your life. They can take a human form, a book, a movie, anything at all. The whisperers can come through parents, teachers, best friends. It is anything that says, "Did God really say ..." twisting the Scriptures and the clear doctrine that forms the foundation of your life.

It may be somebody who plays a minor part in the story of your life; only present for a very brief period and then gone again. This is what happened in king David's family. An insidious person named Jonadab was a friend of the king's son, Amnon. Now Amnon had some unwholesome desires for his half-sister but he had not brought it to life; it was just something that was there. But the whisperer came alongside and encouraged Amnon to act on these feelings:

So Jonadab said to him, “Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill. And when your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘Please let my sister Tamar come and give me food, and prepare the food in my sight, that I may see it and eat it from her hand.’” (2 Samuel 13:5)

Notice Jonadab did not tell him what to do after that but it was enough to nudge Amnon into a course of action that would bring terrible grief on the entire nation. The enemy did not care about Jonadab, Amnon or Tamar; his sights were set on the throne and causing as much pain as possible. Amnon violated his sister which led to the bitterness of her brother Absalom. In the end it left Tamar in disgrace the rest of her life, Amnon dead, a kingdom divided, hundreds of innocent people dead along with Absalom and caused untold grief to David. All from a simple whisper.

In our age the whisperers are increasing to the point of being shouts. There are a lot of sources that are trying to plant doubt into the hearts of Yahweh's children, causing them to question the King, making them turn aside in rebellion. Open your eyes and take a look. We have preachers teaching there is no hell. We have whole churches accepting and defending immorality (sin) in their church. We have atheists mocking the Bride of Christ and setting up mankind as an idol. We have legitimate followers of Jesus being seduced by the culture of our day. We have immorality splashed across our television and computers screens, contained in every cell phone, in novels and magazines. There is a huge wave of rebellion sweeping across our nations and the whisperers say to the faithful "it's normal, join in".

Beware of the whispers in your life because they are out to destroy you. Their source is the enemy of our soul and he has been working his great deception for thousands of years. I have no new words to encourage you with but I can encourage you with the only Word that matters:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:10-13)

It is not a new war. In fact, it is a very ancient war and our part is to stand against it, not in our own strength but with that which our LORD has equipped us. Take a good look around, it is only going to get worse. But take heart and be encouraged in the LORD because we are on the winning side. Do not allow yourself to fall victim to the whisperer and do not make alliances with anything of this world. The world has nothing to offer us because Jesus has already given us everything. Shout his praises from the roof top in the face of the whisperer and stand your ground.

Are You An Encourager?

If you are not sure what your calling is yet or you have not had revelation of your gifts, there is one thing you can be doing. Basic to all of us is the ministry of encouragement. It does not take a lot of effort but the fruit produced is almost immediate.

Whenever Apostle Paul sent off one of his ministry team to deliver a letter to a church he always did it with the idea of encouraging that church. These team members were sent out as agents of encouragement:

Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you. (Ephesians 6:21-22)

Paul is sitting in jail in Rome and yet his first concern is the encouragement of the Body of Christ. Today too many of us are too busy with our own circumstances to even notice what others are going through. When we do notice we don't consider it any of our business to get involved. These are our brothers and sisters in Christ; we are responsible for each other.

We don't encourage as the world encourages. We don't compliment each other, our talents, appearance or some false notion of hope. We encourage each other in the Lord. We encourage each other by giving glory to Jesus. We encourage each other by speaking the Word of God into each other's lives. We encourage by praying. We encourage by reminding each other of God's love and faithfulness. There is real power in this type of encouragement.

We also encourage by our actions. When we take time to be with a person, there is encouragement. When we cook them a meal. If they are sick or busy we can come by and help with their house cleaning. We can offer to take the kids for the day so they can have a break. There is always encouragement found in acts of love.

We spend far too much time looking at people with the wrong perspective. We are far too critical. I am reminded again and again of this scripture:

Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. (Romans 14:4)

Don't be one of those who stands on the sidelines and criticizes those who are in the game. Suit up and get on the playing field. If you don't know what to do start with encouragement. It is as you are active with the ministry of encouragement that you will receive greater revelation into your gifts and what it is to which you have been called. We have enough critics in the Church. What is needed is the person who is willing to step up and lift others up by encouraging in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Church needs more encouragers, especially as the Day is approaching. Stay strong in the Lord my brothers and sisters. Stand!