So I've been told by a good friend that the natives are restless awaiting the next blogEntry. I admit, it's pretty lame having a weblog that never logs anything. So here's what's happening.
I just finished Waking the Dead yesterday (as well as the final episode of Babylon 5, but I'll leave that for another time). My lasting impressions of what I should away from the book vary greatly, but I'll try to sum them up briefly.
First, I am concerned that some may take this statement as vanity, but it is undeniable that we are so much more than what we allow ourselves to be. People were meant to be glorious rulers, made glorious by God himself as his beloved children, made in his own image. As ones that have accepted the gift of God's restoration, his salvation and redemption, us Christians are to rise and be great, not sink into self-lacerating pity and dispair. Our hearts are redeemed and ultimately good, belonging to God himself. "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." (Acts 10:15b)
Second, I am struck personally with how much I long to learn about God, and how much I want to study, pray, and listen for instruction, but I am also struck by how little time I seem to have to do this. There is always something competing for my attention and affection, be it work, or sleep, or even ministry. I need to drastically restructure my time so that I can be an apprentice to my Father and learn how to fight the daily battles of the war that wages all around us every day.
Thirdly, I am much more aware of the spiritual side of this universe now. There is a battle raging every day, and it rages in both the physical world and in the hearts of men and women. Over the years, my heart has harbored some deeply false beliefs about myself, about those around me, and about God himself. By agreeing to the lies of the world, of our flesh, and of Satan and his devils, I have given strongholds in my heart to the enemies of God. I never consiously agreed or even thought about any of those lies, but in my heart, I fealt them to be true. Things like, "your screwed up too much to be accepted by anyone" and "you have to meet everyone's expectations in order to be liked". "You have to succeed, or noone but your mother and God will love you." "You're worthless." "You're defective".
The fourth thing I've taken away is that God has given me everything I need to demolish the strongholds of the enemy. Not only that, I am delegated authority over spirits and devils. The original glory given to mankind was to rule and subdue creation. I can't think of anything that needs subdued more than the enemies of God. God is the Lord of hosts, the commander of angels armies, and as his heirs, we are given the freedom and responsibility to rise up as warriors in his kingdom. We fight in both the physical and spiritual realms, but the first battleground is in our own hearts.
The main weapons of the devil and the world are lies. Our primary weapon is the truth, the Spirit of God himself, Jesus Christ, the Word of God in our hearts, and the Word of God in the pages of the bible. As my sister Jay recently said, life works out so much better when you focus on the positive. Sure, there is a healthy place for rebuke and correction. Vices need dealt with and you can't ignore them. But you need to focus on the positive in life, because more often than not, that is more true than the path of dispair. It never seems like it at the time, but in hindsight, giving people the benefit of the doubt, looking on the bright side, holding out trust and hope in the face of bleakness is the best thing you can ever do.
Capture every thought for Christ. That isn't a metaphor. That is a direct order from your commanding officer. Think on whatever is good and lovely, pure and encouraging, praiseworthy and true. Straight from God's lips. Don't ignore the enemy. A mighty warrior is our God, and a mighty warrior he wants you to be.
That's really all I have time for today. I'll write again in a week or so. ;)
