Tag Archives: forgiveness

Christianity, Current events, doctrine, faith, security, Theology

THE HATE WILL GET WORSE

But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.   And the gospel must first be published among all nations.   But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.  Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.   And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.(Mark 13:9-13)

How would any of us react to being physically assaulted for our faith? Over the past few decades, attacks on Christians has increased. I’m not talking about in the areas where Christians are being martyred, like Islamic held nations, Hindu held nations, or places like N. Korea and China. I’m talking about places like here in the US, or more recently, Australia.

A few days ago, an Assyrian Bishop in Sydney Australia (and 5 members of his congregation) were attacked by a deceived young man. By deceived, I mean influenced by a demonic darkness that has encompassed global society. ‘But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.’ (2Tim 3:13)

Two things stand out about this incident. The first is the Divine intervention. The youth’s blade did not activate from the switchblade, and all this young man could do was hit the Bishop with a blunt item. The second is the forgiveness of the Bishop. After the attack, before arrival of law enforcement, the Bishop prayed over his attacker. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-68814813 

This reminiscent of Pope John Paul the Second with his attacker. https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-05/gun-shots-fear-prayer-and-forgiveness.html

I’m not saying that armed or unarmed protection is not allowable. Many churches today have started incorporating a security detail ministry. Nor is it against biblical teaching to put security measures in place nor to provide for armed defense. David asked God to make him ready for battle. ‘Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight:  My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.’ (Psalm 144:1-2)

The angels had swords and Christ told the disciples to purchase a sword if they did not have one.‘Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.’ (Luke 22:36)

Yes, we are to be prepared to die for our faith. We are also allowed the ability to defend ourselves and others. There is not an either/or mandate. Forgiveness is what we are to do. ‘Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.   And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.’ (Luke 17:3)

But this does not remove the ability for self defense or defense of others. ‘ “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe.’ (Luke 11:21)

Time is wrapping up for this sinful and perverted world. There is only one way to forgiveness, salvation, and heaven. That is to kneel at the Cross of Christ. Repent of your sin. Accept the offer of atonement given by God. There is no other way to have eternal life with God than through Christ. ‘Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.’ (Acts 4:12)

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Christianity, faith

We All Fall From Time To Time

I don’t usually put personal testimony into my articles. But today is a bit different. It is in hope that those who read this article find one of two things in it that allows the Holy Spirit to work in them.

To the non-believer, I hope that you begin to understand that even Christians still fight the demonic issues that arise. We aren’t perfect and won’t be until Christ comes back. Yes, there are hypocrites who say one thing and live another. But many you seem to believe are as such, are just followers of Christ that still fail and fall. 

To the believer, it is my hope that you be not discouraged when you fall or fail. As stated above, we are still human and fight the flesh. Some through sexual issues, remaining ties to paganism, or in this case through a moment of anger. It doesn’t mean we are failures in faith. It means we haven’t made it to a perfect home yet.

I’m dealing with the issue of smoking and have set a date to be nicotine free (including withdraws) by the last day of the month. So I didn’t have cigarettes on me when I rolled into work. I work at a store that is being renovated due to a new owner. So we have contractors for various projects going on, and to say the least, the store is busy and issues arise.

I am the head receiver and rely on computer equipment for my job. I walked in today and found my entire system down. All other systems in the store were operational. To put it mildly, I went off. I went to ask the night contracting crew what happened so that I could relay that information to the IT department. Things didn’t go well. My anger flared and I said a few things that I should not have said. After that altercation, their direct supervisor decided to defend his workers. It got heated.

My anger has not flared that way in a few years, and I thought it was gone. I was wrong. After a few minutes of alone time afterward, I knew I had to repent, seek forgiveness from God, and apologize. After prayer, I was back to my normal calm self. I bring this issue up, because I know I cannot be the only person that follows Christ and still, once in a while, find that old me come back for a moment. Not that it happens often, but it does.

When I got home, I looked through some scripture cards and found one on anger. The first verse on the card is Proverbs 15:1 ‘A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.’ The reaction of the supervisor was due to my anger with his crew. Had I been calm in thought, it would not have escalated to that point.

Ephesians 4:26-27 tells us ‘Be angry and do not sin: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.’ Granted, once the situation was done, I prayed and felt calm. But in that moment, Satan had his place in the situation. He knew my state of mind at that moment wasn’t going to as it should (as any addict can attest too) and just dangled the situation in front of me and I took the bait.  He has a tendency to do that to followers of Christ. He knows our weakness and our past life. He knows what will get to us given the right circumstances.

Paul tells us,‘Finally, 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 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.” “Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take up the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for the saints. (Ephesians 6:10-18)

Paul lets us know that the world and legions of Satan will nail us if we let it. And today I did. But in the passage, Paul also tells us to fight clothed in God’s armor and with God’s sword. I wear a necklace of a shield that I may always remember to suit up for the enemy’s attack. Today I forgot. And it allowed Satan to creep in and attack.

We need to understand that when Paul states in Romans 3:23 ‘All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God’ he is talking to the saved. While many think this verse means to not be harsh with those who fall, and it does in one sense. It also is there to remind us that we are not yet perfect. That we will falter from time to time. But we also know, that Christ is our shelter and rock. That we may fall, but he is willing to reach out and pull us from the waves of sin when we repent and ask for his mercy and help. John reminds us, the followers of Christ as much as he does those who have not sought him, ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.’ (1John 1:9)

Never act, because you follow Christ, that you are so pious that you do not or can not sin. As long as we are in this fleshy form, and not in our heavenly home, THE DEVIL CAN STILL ATTACK YOU AND WILL. Otherwise we would not need to be reminded to put on the armor of God. My father used to say, after he got saved, ‘But for the grace of God, there go I”. It is an old saying but rings true. We are no better than the sinner in the world. We have just been given grace and mercy despite us not being worthy of it.

So, when we fall or fail in our walk with Christ, immediately repent, seek His forgiveness and mercy. Then don’t forget that we need his mercy. I truly believe, that sometimes the best testimony we can give to the unsaved world is the mercy we receive from God after we fall or fail. The need to see the fall to understand the mercy and mankind’s need for it.

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