Warfare

"Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war on your soul."

A constant battle is being waged for the spiritual health of your soul. The enemy will do anything to sabotage your relationship with your Savior and Lord. Anything. To win the battle--and it is fought day by day--I must embrace three truths. First, I am His beloved. I am "the love of His life." For me He suffered and died. For me He testifies, "I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting." All so He could claim me as His beloved. Greater love has no man. As His beloved then, I must crucify the flesh. Abstain from those things that the world wants me to believe are more worthy of my passion than obedience to His love, than obedience to the One who calls me His own.
Second, I must embrace the plea, the urgency of obedience. I must begin each day prayerfully putting on the whole armor of God. Only by being clothed in His power, only by putting on the Lord Jesus Christ can I resist the darts of the enemy. His methods are subtle and enticing. He tempts me with "good things" so that he can subvert them into the evil wounds that burden my soul, that hinder my sense of my Master's presence. When the most urgent passion in my life is no longer a passion for His well-done, I so easily give my love to other gods--all of them disguised as my "I wants," as my "I've got to have."
And finally, I must embrace the truth that I am a sojourner and an exile in this world. The temporary, materialistic, things of earth must not become my treasures. This is not Home. As His faithful soldier, I must not become entangled by the things of this world. I must not be enticed by the tawdry neon lights of the world's bizarre. I must walk in the light. I must walk in the Spirit. I must take up my cross and follow Him. i must walk by faith. I must walk the Enoch walk. I must be in step with the Man of Sorrows. The only other path is the path of thorns--thorns that pierce my soul, turn my faith into defeat, make me weary of well-doing.
The battle rages. My soul's peace is at stake. But I am His beloved. And I have taken off the old robes and put on Jesus Christ. I am armed for the warfare. Victoriously, I am strengthened by the Spirit. enabled to walk as Jesus walked, empowered to walk with my eyes fixed on Him--to march on step by step toward Home and the wonders of His smile.

Beloved.

I urge you.

As aliens and exiles.

Abstain--fight the good fight of faith.

"Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ."

Proclaim

"Proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of the darkness and into His glorious light."
Such a proclamation must be done by a life lived and a word spoken. And those two must be in agreement. I must demonstrate my absolute obedience to the light of His Word. God speaks to us through His Word, and thus, the Word must be the sole authority in my life. He is the Holy God, and He has set me apart "to be holy, as He is holy." He is the God who is love, but it is a righteous love, a holy love, a loyal love to Him and His claims on my life. I am His--not mine. He alone defines righteousness. If the entire world disagrees with His commands and His righteous decrees, then the entire world is wrong. To "walk in the light as He is in the light," I must daily confess my sins. To shine in the darkness, I must daily do the good deeds that proclaim His glory, the weightiness--the power of His authoritative presence in the world of men. I must daily expose the deceptiveness of the angel of light who blinds men to the true light--Jesus Christ the Light of the World. Without wavering I must daily live a life of obedience. I must daily proclaim the one Gospel--the only power that can save and transform a human being is the Gospel of "by grace you are saved through faith" in the Lord Jesus Christ. The world must daily see in my actions that He is preeminent in every aspect of my life--my friendships, my family, my work, my entertainment choices, my every decision. They must know that my entire life is sacred. They must know that I believe that the only way to be "on the right side of history" is to be an unwavering disciple of Jesus Christ--a disciple who joyously proclaims that His commandments are not a grievous burden but the only path to true freedom. The prayer of my heart must be: "though none go with me, still I must follow."

"Spirit, by Your daily empowering of my life may I proclaim the excellencies of Your calling, may I shine as one who has been delivered from the kingdom of darkness and made an eternal citizen of the Kingdom of the Light of the World."

Being Faithful?

The Responsibilities of a faithful priesthood:

"Proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of the darkness and into His glorious light."
"Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul."
"Keep your behavior beautiful"
"Submit yourself to every human institution, whether to king or authority."
"Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil"
"Continually honor God, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king."
"As servants, be submissive with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable."
'When you do what is right and suffer for it, patiently endure it."

His words--not mine.

Being faithful?

Decisions

Daniel was in his situation because someone else over a hundred years before he was probably even born made a wrong decision. Lessons? Your choices impact others--even those who will live generations after you. So if you find yourself in a difficult situation because of someone else's decisions, respond by being faithful to God not angry at God. After all, your decision in your situation will also impact those who come after you are gone.

Sanctuaries

We--our bodies--are His holy temple--His sanctuary. "Or do you not know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price; therefore, glorify God in your body."

"Christ, in you, the hope of glory."

Redeemed, ransomed, lavished with grace, sheltered by mercy, justified, sanctified, reconciled, one day glorified. All because "while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

His purchased sanctuary--His temple. Do we set up idols in our hearts that defile His temple? Do we have other loves? Do we set up our temporary, materialistic idols in the temple as if "along side of" or "in addition to" is acceptable worship?

Coveting is idolatry. Jesus only is worship.

"Jesus, Master. whose I am, purchased Thine alone to be by Thy blood, O spotless Lamb, shed so willingly for me; let my heart be all Thine own, let me live for Thee alone.

"Other lords have long held sway; now Thy name alone to bear, Thy dear voice alone obey, is my daily, hourly prayer; Whom have I in heaven but Thee? Nothing else my joy can be.

" Jesus, Master, I am Thine; keep me faithful, keep me near; let Thy presence in me shine all my homeward way to cheer. Jesus, at Thy feet I fall; Oh, be Thou my all in all."

"Little children, keep yourselves from idols."

Why

We pray in order for God to reveal to us His will, not to persuade Him to do ours.