Will you start a Revolution? Part 3

I trust that you have done some heart surgery this past week and no doubt God would have shown you the area’s in your life that are corrupt and given you direction to restore the damage. If this is all news to you, I recommend reading last week’s blog called “corruption” which is part of the Revolution series. Now that we have dealt with the planks in our hearts with regard to corruption the next step would be to question how we deal with the specks in our society.

Do you realize that no matter what we do to try and end poverty or make this world right we will lose, the pain will increase; no politician or leader can put an end to the worlds suffering. Yes we will see things like slavery get abolished but then it takes another form as we now see with women being sold as sex slaves in Europe. In fact the cycle will continue with no light at the end of the tunnel. All our efforts no matter how noble will be as good as punching the wind until we realize who we are fighting! The scriptures tell us “We are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12. Satan and his legion of demons are behind all the atrocities we see in this world, he influences the corrupted hearts of man to fulfil his goals.

In realizing that we are fighting what seems a losing battle, Do we give up? When we hear the loud screeching cry of the lost souls, depressed, oppressed, hungry, poor and sick do we ignore it all? When preaching the gospel becomes illegal (which it will, stay tuned for the “Setting the stage” blog series for more) do we stop preaching? do we compromise ? On the Contrary, We keep fighting till the day we are gone!, Why because “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” 1 John 4:4.

Jesus already won the battle when he rose from the dead. He has sent his Holy Spirit to dwell in us to help us complete the race. When we finish the race, the lord has prepared a new heaven and a new earth where there will be no more pain (Next weeks blog for more) but until then we are hear for those who are not saved, for those with no hope; we are here to be agents of justice and a source of hope so people will turn to the lord. We need the involvement of God, who is the creator of all things, we need to live under his command because he is running things in this world, he knows the enemies plans and he has the ultimate plan to win this race and unless we join his team we will end up losing the race by running aimlessly or fighting the wind. The apostle Paul says ” I do not run like a man running aimlessly. I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I my self will not be qualified for the prize.” 1Corrinthians 9:24-27

Running aimlessly?
Free running is a sport where the basic aim is to run then jump over an obstacle, back-flip or somersault high into the air and land safely on the ground. These runners run with no particular end goal except to create an artistic expression, they basically run randomly and jump randomly too. I use this sport to illustrate that the Christian walk is not a free running event, nor is it a sprint, the Christian walk is a marathon. If we get caught up sprinting to every campaign to end poverty or go backfliping into every Christian Concert with no thought to what God’s plan is we will be running randomly and will soon get fed up and give up as we begin to see a lack of fruit in our lives. We need to run steadily in our lane with a clear direction from God, this direction comes from the Holy Spirit and we need to remain faithful and not get caught up in the latest thing!

Fighting the wind?
Mohammad Ali used a method of boxing called “the rope-a-dope” where he would use a protective stance as he leaned on the ropes of the boxing ring. So Ali’s opponent would punch Ali with all of his energy, round after round thinking he was making an impact, then towards the end of the last round Ali’s opponent grew tired. That is the point when Ali gets off the ropes and knocks out his opponent and wins the match. This is exactly how we as Christians are attempting to beat the enemy. We spend our whole lives fighting in the wrong place and we eventually get tired and the strong enemy beats us to the ground. This happens when we don’t allow God into the decision process, we just make our own plans as to which battle we are to take then the enemy just leans back and lets you get tired fighting the wrong kind of battles. We are to ask God for wisdom and he will direct us as to where he wants us to battle it out and when we are prayerful about every outreach and every campaign that’s when God will move, that’s when God will move the enemy off the ropes and knock him out.

Spiritual Power!
“Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.” Psalms 127, we must remember that if God is not put first in prayer all the things we do are useless.

When Philip was spreading the gospel we read in the book of Acts 8:26-40 that he was led by the spirit about which area he needed to be at to the point where he was able to help the Ethiopian Eunuch become a Christian. Paul also in the book of Acts was directed to the point where they had near death experiences but where saved due to the direction of the Holy Spirit. Moses depended on God and helped save the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 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. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”Ephesians 6:10-18

How do we win?
Endurance! We will win this race but we have to endure every trial that will come against the work we do. The enemy will not give up without a fight and he will cause trials to come on your life so we are to stand firm. “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened. But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.” 1 Peter 1:13-16

The Holy spirit is the power within us that helps us to fight and win! Yes there are some battles that we will loose but the War is ours we have the Victory!!!!……..Selah.