Who holds the Future

“And he (Moses) said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And HE said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.” –Exodus 33:19,20

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At mid-night tonight, we shall all (God willing) be ushering in the New Year 2008. Thank you for staying the course with us here at FEAR NOT THE SONS OF ANAK. Personally, the celebration of the New Year to me has always been synonymous with new beginnings –on various fronts. The main purpose for which Shiran and I kept this blog was to strengthen beaten soldiers who might have perhaps thought that they were facing the battle alone by lwtting them know they had numbers on their side and not jst that but also guiding them (and us) on how to evade the numerous obstacles that we may be faced with in life. By definition, the sons of Anak were primarily the children of the notorious chief Amalek –being Amalekites themselves- in the land that God gave to the children of Israel. They were a constant thorn in the flesh of the children of God. However, it should be remembered at this point that God had already granted HIS victory over all the enemies of HIS children. Even so, we too, have been extended the same victory. And the Amalekites still exist; they may not be flesh and blood –for we wage war not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and rulers of darkness in high places… but sure as sure is, the sons of Anak exist unto this day. In keeping this blog, we meant for all of our readers to come to know and appreciate that the sons of Anak indeed still existed, but even more, that we as children of God, were not to live in fear of them but rather to exercise our dominion over them. Be that as it may, we are called upon not to have our dominion over them as a point of joyfulness. On the contrary, our rejoicing should come as a result of the knowledge that our names are written in the lamb’s book of life.

As we go into a New Year, we are all uncertain of the (our) future. However, we are certain of the ONE who holds that future securely for us. Which reminds me of one of my favourite quotations from the Apostle Paul, “…nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” II Tim. 1:12 The LORD, our God would surely want for us to live each day in utter dependence of HIM. “Give us this day, our daily bread”. Today, I commit ever reader, every visitor here into the hands of God that HE might on top of securing your future in the New Year, enable you to realise more and more what joy lies in receiving daily from HIM. And for this blog, that HE might show and guide us into HIS will for it over the New Year 2008. And as I end this point, I would like to share with you words of a song that’s been on my heart this evening:

All of my days I will sing to the greatness of HIS name. I will sing of the blood that never fails, of sins forgiven, of death defeated, and of life without end.

Put your trust in the cross of the redeemer over the New Year 2008. Have a happy New Year, from us to you.

-Zack

Stop! ... Look! ... Listen!

For a Christian, one of the main principles involved in reaching a decision is this: Don’t start trying to reason it out, or talking it over with others-pray! God likes for us to give Him a little honour. Prayer is not just getting down on your knees and speaking your piece, but more importantly, letting God speak His. If you’ll do that, He’ll tell you what you’re supposed to do. I don’t see how anyone can hear from the Lord unless they get quiet and really listen. I told some folks one time, “You remind me of the child prophet Samuel in reverse. When Samuel heard the Lord in the quiet of the night, he said, ‘Speak, for Your servant hears.’ But the way you pray is ‘Hear, Lord, for Your servant speaks’” (1 Samuel 3:2-10).

Many Christians today seem to be more concerned in having God hear what they have to say than they are in hearing what God has to say. They’re trying to put their program across on God and get Him to sign His name to it. The question they should be asking themselves is not, “Can I present my program to God for His signature?” or even, “Am I willing to be presented with God’s program for my signature?” but, “Am I willing to sign a blank sheet of paper and let God fill it in without my even knowing what His program is going to be?” It doesn’t matter how well you know the Bible or how many spiritual gifts you have, if you don’t know how to pray or don’t keep in touch with the Lord all the time, you’re in trouble.

Christians who don’t take time to listen to the Lord remind me of the story of the little girl who had a kitten. One day she heard it purring in its sleep and exclaimed, “Oh, Mama, the kitty’s gone to sleep and left its engine running!” You may run around and appear to be busy, but still be asleep spiritually and not be getting anywhere, “as one who beats the air” (1 Corinthians 9:26). Unless you get quiet and try to seek the Lord, how are you ever going to hear what the Lord has to say? I love to be alone with the Lord because then I can hear Him so clearly. I’m convinced that I have heard more from Him when alone, quiet, and in a position to listen, than any other way. He can talk to us when we’re alone and we can give Him our full attention and the reverence due Him. The Lord speaks in a still, small, but very definite, very firm, very loving voice. But if we’re too noisy, we’re not going to hear it.

You can be your own worst distraction. Anybody can make a racket, but it takes real effort to be quiet. If you’re praying so loud and making so much noise that you can’t even hear God, if you’re not getting quiet and listening, then there’s really not much point in praying. God’s not deaf. You have to wait awhile and see if He’s going to speak to you in some way. Stop and be quiet, and wait for the answer.

The only way you can hear the Lord clearly is to get quiet yourself. If you really want to hear the Lord, He’ll talk to you,but He doesn’t usually scream. By the time God has to yell over your racket in order to be heard, you’re probably headed for trouble. That’s why God sometimes allows people to have an accident or suffer illness or bereavement: He wants them to stop long enough to listen to Him. A funeral is about the only time a lot of people ever stop their feverish daily activities long enough to think about and listen to the Lord. Lord help us to get quiet before Him and listen! We all need quiet times with the Lord, to receive inspiration and instruction from Him. Personally, I find that I hear from the Lord most clearly alone in the quiet of the night, when everything is still and there are no distractions. If I wake up in the middle of the night and can’t go back to sleep, I assume that it’s because the Lord wants me to pray. As soon as I get prayed up, I go right back to sleep. If you really want to hear the Lord, He will talk to you. But in order to hear, you’re going to have to get quiet by yourself, somewhere, somehow, sometime. He says, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

How much have you learned about being quiet before the Lord? How many “quiet times” do you have? “In quietness and confidence shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15). Do you know what “confidence” means? Confidence is faith! The very fact that you keep quiet shows you have faith. It shows you’re expecting God to do something and not trying to do it yourself.

If you don’t know what to do, stop everything! Get quiet and wait for God to do something. The worst thing in the world you can do is to keep on going when you don’t know what to do. That was King Saul’s mistake. He kept right on going, even after he didn’t know what to do; he figured he had to keep busy and keep going no matter what-and it lost him the kingdom (1 Samuel 13:7-14).

Getting quiet before the Lord shows you have faith that God is going to handle the situation, that He’s going to take care of things. It shows you trust the Lord. “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3). If you’re not trusting, you’re going to be in confusion all the time. Have a merry Christmas all of you -from us to you!

WHENCE IS THIS KINGDOM?

Today I gave thought again to what heaven might be like. Of course my comprehension of what heaven is can never come anywhere close to even a stroke of the real picture! But what I found most comforting was the fact that all the people over there who are forever dwelling in HIS presence must be so blessed to constantly bless HIS name as they shower praises upon HIM. Once I thought it might be very boring in Heaven if all there was to it was endless praise of God! But I can tell you dearly, there comes a point in the life of a pilgrim when all you just feel is an insatiable desire to praise HIS name endlessly. That’s where I am at now. And for a moment there, I was a trifle jealous of the people already up there, who are blessed to dwell in HIS house, forever praising HIS name. I later made a mental note, “I gotta make heaven, I gotta!!”

In our previous post here, I mentioned that we would tackle the issue of where/when is/comes the kingdom of God. I picked this out of Matthew’s gospel: “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” Matthew 13:24-30

{side note: Isn’t it amazing folk, how sometimes God’s words seems like such an open letter to us; without any break in continuity too, pre-empting our next questions and just….words fail me!! See the next paragraph}

Reading on through the verses 36-43 of the same chapter: Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

The Parable of the Weeds tells us that, like the farmer who sowed good seed, Jesus has brought God's kingdom into the world. However, it will not be totally fulfilled in this age. Like wheat growing among weeds, God's kingdom will exist and grow amidst the forces of evil that are so prevalent in our world. We should not look for ease or perfection in this life. Those who belong to the kingdom and serve God will continue to live among those who (knowingly or unknowingly) serve the powers of evil. In the end, though, if we are able to cling to our faith despite all the surrounding evil, we will be freed from the evil of the world and live in perfect harmony with God. The ultimate fate however, of those who serve the forces of evil in the other kingdom (the one that’s not of God), whether by design or neglect, shall be very grim to say the least. Simultaneosuly, the Kingdom of God is a future realm into which we must enter when Christ returns. Our Lord Himself frequently referred to this future event. "And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 8:11). This future coming of the Kingdom will be attended with great glory. Jesus told of the day when the angels "…and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father…" (Matt. 13: 41,43).

Being born again and entering the kingdom of God is a process of gradually coming to obey God's commandments instead of a "sin now, pray later" attitude. It is learning to truly obey Jesus' great commandment to "Love God with all your heart and soul and to love your neighbour as you love yourself." It is listening to our consciences and spending time in prayer to ask for guidance and wisdom. It is feeling secure that God will give us the strength to face whatever challenges come our way and will take care of us in the end.

Dear friends, the Kingdom of God is a present reality (Matt. 12:28), and yet is still also a future blessing (I Cor. 15:50). It is an inner spiritual redemptive blessing (Rom. 14:17) which can be experienced only by way of the new birth (John 3:3), and yet it will have to do with the government of the nations of the world (Rev. 11:15). The Kingdom is a realm into which men enter now (Matt. 21:31), and yet it is still also a realm into which men will enter tomorrow (Matt. 8:11). It is at the same time a gift of God which will be bestowed by God in the future (Luke 12:32) and yet which must be received in the present (Mark 10:15). Obviously no simple explanation can do justice to such a rich but diverse a variety of teaching. God bless you all. I hope I can meet you all in heaven. Be sure to be there!

Not a means to an end, but an end in itself

I want to thank you all that took your time out to pray for my friends and their families, when Shiran sent the call out to pray here in our previous entry. And I feel that I should update you too on how efficacious your and our combined prayers have been – it’s our best weapon against the wiles of the evil one - since we all started out when the call to, was sounded. We can safely say that my three friends mentioned here who survived that tragedy are now ‘out of the woods’ idiomatically speaking. And we thank and glorify God for that! And day by day they are all progressing towards absolute normalcy. I bring you news of their gratitude to you for all of your prayers!!! And just so you know too, our prayer line here is also open to you reading this. Click here.

In the previous post here last week, Shiran shared with us about how the Kingdom of God is like a hidden treasure and many of us are constantly going about our daily business but missing the very treasure buried under our noses, treasure that if one knew it’s true value, they would sell all that they had and return to partake of. The analogy that Jesus used in that parable could never have been put better. And why He dwelt on that subject (of the Kingdom of God, even of giving countless analogies of the Kingdom of God), I have oft heard people give varied reasons. Some go ahead to say that this message of the Kingdom of God was ensconced in Christ’s message of Love, the love for your God and neighbour. Truth be told, Jesus Christ taught about love. But love was not the core of His proclamation. And true to that, Jesus’ preaching about love didn't get Him crucified. In retrospect, neither the Romans nor the Jewish authorities at the time would have been particularly bothered by a “Jewish prophet” who ran around telling people to love God and people. Quite a few Jews would have been distressed over the thought of having to love their enemies, however. But the Romans – who were the obvious enemies - wouldn't have crucified someone whose chief crime was telling Jews to love them and turn the other cheek! The core of Jesus' message must have been (actually, was) a more contentious, more scandalous one, than a call to simply love. It is conceptually common for people to reduce the message of Jesus to something all too simple and if we can say, all too similar to the biases of whosoever may be doing the reducing. You'll see this in many of the contemporary "scholarly" attempts to summarize the message of Jesus. Whatever Jesus preached, it got people excited. Even the demons were riled up. And Jesus' message angered most of the religious leaders whom he encountered. In the end, it got him killed on a Roman cross. But thanks be unto God “they did not know what they were doing” and behold…the resurrection of the Christ! So what exactly was this inspiring, challenging, goading, and apparently subversive message of Jesus all about?

It was, ladies and gentlemen, like we have been sharing with you: the message of the kingdom of God. A message that riled the powers that were at the time -because it posed a threat to their egotistical way of life. One thing that is distinctive about kingdoms is their demeanour. It always reflects on the citizens of the kingdom, the subjects of the king –in all manner; of dress, talk, lifestyle, etc.. When Jesus talked about the Kingdom of God, this was no exception to that rule. The Kingdom comes complete with its own lifestyle, a reflection of the King’s choice of life upon His subjects. And of course to conform to that, one must be a subject/citizen of the Kingdom. The world over, we have seen miracles; physical, spiritual and any other as there may be, messages of prosperity, devil trashing, etcetera… preached and still being preached. Where we get this all wrong in my simple (and humble) opinion is accepting that all of these are actually ends in themselves. Nay, they are only means to an end, which is the kingdom of God. Al of the afore-mentioned things are simply the status quo of the kingdom reflecting upon the subjects, things of which we shouldn’t be much excited but should praise God for nonetheless. For it is the same Jesus who says, “greater works shall ye do (when you have faith even as small as a mustard seed)” and also in Matt. 6: 33, that: “…seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you”. “All these things…added unto to you” are actually to me like that kiswhahili term, “nyongeza”. Meaning there is something bigger, which is the Kingdom of God in which one is really. Not to downplay the significance of the things added unto one, but really, I think we first must rejoice over being in the Kingdom of God, for those who are, and for those who aren’t to quit tarrying and rush over! For preaching this news of the kingdom, was really the mission of Jesus on this earth. There is the one saying that goes, “we are what defines us”. If I were sent to Iraq (and God bless all the people of Iraq) to give a live report of what is going on over there and I went over and did a live stream with people shouting in the background et al, to the watcher, that might be interpreted as there are people living, there are people that are angry, or whatever else. In the day of Jesus, John the Baptist, when at the threshold of a breaking point (and glory to God that he persevered!), seeing as he wasn’t being delivered from his prison hole by the “messiah”, doubted whether Jesus was really the “promised one”and asked his disciples to go question Jesus about this. On getting there, these men from John spent the whole day with Jesus in his trademark workshops-of-sorts. At the end of which they popped the big question to him, “Are you the “promised one” and He replied (Oh, how so beautifully!!), “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the dead are raised to life, demons cast out”, “Go tell John what you have seen”. I am sure when those men went back to John, it must have clicked with him too. The “yongeza” of the Kingdom of God. An even-greater testament to the fact that they had with tehm already the bigger thing!!!!

Let’s just examine two or three of the signs and wonders that accompanied this message of the kingdom of God:

1. Healings: Throughout the gospels Jesus healed people of various diseases and ailments. His extraordinary popularity came, not only from the authority of his preaching, but from his authority over human bodies. Yet healing was not an end in and of itself for those familiar with the Hebrew prophets. It was also a sign of the presence of God's reign on earth. In Isaiah 35, for example, God comes to save and redeem his people. In this context we find the following promise: "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing:" Isa 35:5-6. The fact that these things were happening in the ministry of Jesus proved the presence of the Kingdom. And relating once again to the John the Baptist prison experience, Jesus himself said this when he was asked by the disciples of John the Baptist whether he (Jesus) was the one through whom the kingdom was coming. Jesus said, "Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them" Matt 11:4-5. In other words, "Because the healings promised in Isaiah are happening in my ministry, yes, I am the one through whom God's kingdom has come."

2. Exorcisms: One of the most peculiar aspects of the gospels for most readers is Jesus' repeated expulsion of demons. Most of us simply aren't familiar or comfortable with such things, unlike so many contemporary believers in the power that is present in the Word. But, whether we like it or not, exorcisms were and are central to the ministry of Jesus, and, according to Jesus himself, clear evidence of the presence of the kingdom. In Matthew 12, for example, some of the Pharisees accuse Jesus of casting out demons with demonic power. He answers them, first by citing the now classic line about a house divided against itself being certain to fall. Matt 12:25. Then he adds, "But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out devils, then the kingdom of God is come unto you" Matt 12:28. Whatever we might think of Jesus' exorcisms, for him and his fellow first-century Jews they are a demonstration of the presence of God's reign.

3. Nature Miracles: According to the gospels, Jesus multiplies food, walks on water, and stills the storm. Once again, these mighty works are associated with God's kingdom. In Psalm 89, for example, the Lord says, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to my servant David: “Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations.” Ps 89:3-4. Then, only four verses later the Psalm continues, “O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee? Or to thy faithfulness round about thee? Thou rulest the raging of the sea; when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them” Ps 89:8-9. So Jesus' power over nature suggests that God's promised kingdom has arrived and, indeed, that God himself is mysteriously present in the ministry of Jesus.


I recognize that for many people today the miracles of Jesus are harder to accept than simple fables. In some circles and even among a few New Testament believers, the miracles of Jesus are not considered as historical events so much as symbolic legends. Yet if you take away the miracles from the message of Jesus, you severely truncate his announcement of the kingdom and, at the same time, you are left with a Jesus whom most people would have ignored. Yet even many sceptical modern scholars, at least believe that Jesus must have been a "healer" of sorts, one who used psychosomatic cures and the power of suggestion to help people feel better. I shall mount a defense for the genuineness of the miracles in the gospels at another time but for now, whether one believe that the miracles happened or not, they are clearly essential to the picture of Jesus painted by the writers of the gospel. The mighty works of Jesus, more than showing his love for people, are part and parcel of his announcement of the reign of God. Take away these works and there's no reason to believe his words.

Which brings us to the whole point of this post; all of those things were and still are means to an end and not particularly ends in themselves as most of us have been led to (falsely) believe. The end of which is the Kingdom of God. A case of the message actually being more important than its messenger. Case in point: the message being the Kingdom of God and the messenger being the miracles and signs and wonders.

*Next: We share with you when/where is the kingdom of God! Stay tuned lads and lasses. Thank you for churching with us on this one today. May God’s perfect peace be upon you and all members of your house. And may you continue to grow in the peace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Hidden Treasure

*We apologize once more for our lack of consistency in posting our entries regularly. Perhaps we should not apologize; in our blogging experience here at Fear Them Not, Zack and I continue to be reminded just how much higher God’s ways and thoughts are than ours. Our intent is to study the Word together and share it with you in an entry every week, but week after week, we see that God has the bigger picture and is in ultimate control. We continue to solicit your prayers as we do this for the kingdom. And we continue to ask that you send us your prayer requests, so that we can agree with you in prayer concerning whatever it may be that you are seeking God for.

*About a week ago, Zack’s friends were involved in a tragic road accident on their way to Mbarara in Uganda. Anita Kamaliza, Zack's close friend, was among those that passed away in that accident. Generation Caleb humbly asks that you pray with us through this difficult moment – pray for the families that are grieved, for the speedy recovery of those who were injured (already we see God’s mighty hand working, praise Him!), including Zack’s friends, Aggie, Joan and Jesse, and for Zack, who has continued to let the joy of the Lord be his strength and let his light shine before men despite his aching heart. We thank you and bless God for your prayers.

It's very encouraging for us when, with each entry we post, we realize that we are growing as well. This is my testimony for the entries on the Armour of God and the Kingdom of God - I have grown in the Lord. Sharing the Word with Zack and with you guys actually does a great deal to boost my faith and enlighten me, and so I thank you all.

Matt 13:44 – Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hid in a field: the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

“A treasure hidden in a field” reminds me of a story I read as a child. Its title was Buried Treasure. I do not remember what the story was about, but I think it had to do with pirates. I think there was a treasure buried somewhere that the pirates wanted to find, and I am not sure whether or not they had a map.

Perhaps in the days when Jesus walked this earth, people hid their treasures in their fields. Maybe the man in His parable was a worker in the field where he found the treasure. And perhaps he stumbled upon something that a previous owner of the field had buried. Or maybe he realized that there was some mineral in that land.

I don’t know. All we can tell from this story is, this man was going about his daily life, when he found the treasure. He probably could not afford the field, which is why he sold all he had to buy it. And for him to sell everything, that field must have meant so much more to him than all his possessions.

It’s the same way with the kingdom of God. We are busy, going about our daily lives, doing what we’ve always done, working in our fields, when suddenly, we stumble upon the Great Truth. I cannot really say we stumble upon it, because the reality is that God sees us in our futile struggle in life and shines His Truth in our faces. And suddenly, we realize that we must have that truth, no matter what it costs. The man hid the treasure, just like we must hide the Truth in our hearts. But this is not a hiding in the way that we would normally think of it. This is like what David said in Psalm 119:11 – Thy Word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee. We must be wary not to attempt to hide the kingdom of God from our brothers and sisters, because remember, Jesus told us to go into all the world and preach the gospel.

When we discover the magnificence of the kingdom of heaven, and compare it to the filth of the earth, we realize that nothing of this life is worth wasting time over. Like Paul, we begin to count all things as dung, that we may win Christ (Phil 3:8). And as we grow in and continue to seek the kingdom, in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, we realize that all the things that we may have longed for are added unto us (Matt 7:33).

Blessings!

Righteousness, Peace, Joy in the Holy Ghost

I was going to blog about the kingdom of heaven being like a pearl of great price (Matt 13:45) but I felt the need to first of all talk about what Paul said to the Romans.

For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:17).

First of all, it is called the kingdom of God because God is the King, and I agree entirely with what Zack says, because this is from the Bible: there are only two kingdoms, and if you are not in one, you’re in the other. There is no in-between, fence-sitting, lukewarm kingdom where one can have a little of this and a little of the other (Matt 25:33-46, Rev 3:16).

The kingdom of God is Righteousness: We need to be submitted to God in our every thought, word and deed. We must obey His every command without debate or compromise. He tells us to be holy, for He is holy (Leviticus 19:2). Of course, to attempt this in our own strength is to fool ourselves; it is impossible to try and live a holy life with our Adamic nature controlling us. The blessing in this is that God Himself became our Righteousness – when Jesus Christ died on the cross (Jer 23:6, 1 Cor 1:30). Now, for everyone covered in the Blood of Jesus Christ, all God sees when He looks at you is holiness. That’s how we have access to the throne of mercy. It is from this – the righteousness of God in us – that we draw the strength and are filled with the wisdom and temperance to obey His every command. This is not to say that we will not occasionally make mistakes (see Romans chapters 6 through 8). For as long as we are in this realm, we will have our flesh wrestling against our spirits. Living in righteousness is living in that place where sin will be abhorrent to us, so that should we stumble, we immediately recognize our error and repent, humbly and contritely.

The kingdom of God is Peace: The Bible says that the chastisement for our peace was upon Jesus Christ (Isaiah 53:5). This means that Jesus Christ took the punishment that was otherwise awaiting us, and He did it so that we could have peace. When you give your life to Christ and realize that He gave you His very own peace (John 14:27), then you will begin to walk in that peace. And when you do that, you will be walking and living in the kingdom of God; regardless of your positioning in this earth as a human being, you will spiritually be walking in the kingdom. Peace is a state of being where one is calm and unfazed, with the mind on Jesus Christ, regardless of what is going on in the immediate or distant surroundings.

The kingdom of God is Joy in the Holy Ghost: The fruit of the Spirit is joy, Galatians 5:22. It is impossible to live in the Holy Spirit and be devoid of joy. But what is joy? Joy can be said to be a prerequisite to peace. The world pursues happiness because it is lacking in joy. Joy is not an emotion; like peace, it is a state of being. It does not depend on the surroundings. There is no joy except in God, and the point in life at which one realizes this, is the point at which they begin to walk and live in the kingdom of God.

As I’m sure you can see, Kingdom things do not depend on earthly things, in order to function. Righteousness abounds despite surrounding unrighteousness as does peace despite surrounding turmoil, and joy despite surrounding heaviness. And I believe that although the kingdom of God is technically heaven, it begins here on earth – it is a gift to those in this realm who will dare to seek the LORD for their salvation. When we pass on to glory, we do not begin to live in the kingdom of God, we just continue on to a higher and absolutely perfect level of kingdom living in which the surrounding conditions are no different than internal or spiritual conditions. It is like Jesus said; faithful in little, faithful in much (Luke 16:10). If we are faithful to walk in the kingdom in this realm, then He will reward us by taking us to a higher realm in Him, to dwell with Him eternally (Matt 25:46). From glory to glory, Paul said, we will be changed into the image of Jesus (2 Cor 3:18).

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, THE KINGDOM OF GOD: an introduction

In this first part of many forth-coming series, we share about the Kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven. The primary focus of Jesus’ three year ministry when He walked this earth as a man and was later crucified for our sins, and rose again conquering hades and death, and ascended into heaven where He is seated at the right hand side of God and preparing places for us in the Father’s house of many mansions. The message of the Kingdom of heaven, Kingdom of God represents Jesus’ whole teaching; also we can perhaps say it was the determinative subject of his discourse.

Briefly, I’ll labour an explanation of the two different phrases as might perhaps be confusing unto some of us. The Kingdom of heaven versus the Kingdom of God; in the Bible, those two statements are one and the same thing that were only used interchangeably. In reading the synoptic gospels, we notice that it is only Matthew who used the title “the Kingdom of Heaven. Take for instance:

Matthew 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. versus Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Matthew 5:3, 10 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven... Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. versus Luke 6:20, 22 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God... Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.

Matthew 11:11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. versus Luke 7:28 For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

The term "Kingdom of Heaven" occurs 31 times in Matthew. And it is worth mentioning that it appears nowhere else in the New Testament. In contrast, the term "Kingdom of God" occurs 63 times in the New Testament. 9 times in Acts and Paul's epistles, only 5 times in Matthew -- the balance being found in Mark, Luke and John. In tackling the question as to why Matthew preferred "kingdom of heaven" to "kingdom of God," the explanation has long been that Matthew, writing to specifically Jewish readers, inserted "heaven" for "God" so as not to offend the Jewish sensibilities regarding uttering the name of God or the term that describes Him. So for our readership here, it is important that you know this bit of history so that we can then go on together with the same mind that in this new series, the two phrases have no difference in meaning.

Having established this truth, we are still left with the question, "What is the Kingdom of Heaven/God?" In trying to define something, I also labour to find out what it is not. Applying the same concept here, I have found out that the Kingdom of Heaven is not the same thing as heaven. When the New Testament uses the phrase “the Kingdom of Heaven” it is not referring to heaven. Instead it is referring to the Millennial Kingdom which has been ordained from heaven, that is, from God -hence the interchangeability between "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Kingdom of God." The Kingdom of Heaven is a kingdom from heaven, not a kingdom in heaven. God reigns supreme in heaven. Heaven is the locus of His authority. Heaven is the point from which God rules the universe. The words “of heaven” in this case are referring to the origin of this Kingdom. It is the place from which the Kingdom is coming, not a destination to which we are going. So we see that although the Kingdom of Heaven is heavenly in character and origin, it is not the same thing as heaven.

From the book of Matthew to Mark and Luke and to John, it is plainly visible that Jesus, whenever he taught, was always constantly talking about the Kingdom of God. “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. Matt. 4:17. And then to one of my favourite passages from the Bible, God’s own account:

“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not life more than meat, and the body more than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Matthew 6:25-34

The point ladies and gentlemen, that we’re trying to make here is that while we live out our earthly lives, we actually are living in one of two kingdoms. And if you’re not living in the kingdom of God, then you are by default living in the other kingdom, the kingdom of Satan and his demons. I remember a movie I watched once where someone said the biggest lie that the devil has had very many people believe and still wants to keep them believing is that he (the devil) does not exist. In this series, we are dispelling that. It is your choice to which kingdom (of the two) you are going to live, but it isn’t your choice who your king is going to be in either kingdom. God, our Heavenly Father is the king of this kingdom and in being “our Heavenly Father”, He is not the Father of sinners. To listen to some folk talk ‘we are all children of God; God is the Father of all of us, and we are all brothers and sisters’ is not something right, I believe. Because the Bible does not say so! Because you see, the devil is the father of some people. John 8:44, Jesus said to some of the most religious people of that day, “Ye are of your father the devil”. Jesus didn’t say our Heavenly Father was their father. He said the devil was their father. For the natural man is motivated by demons. He is ruled by Satan. I’m not saying he is demon-possessed. What I mean is all those who have never been born-again have Satan as their god, king and father, whether you knew it or not. They are in the kingdom of darkness; a kingdom ruled by Satan and demons. “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” I Cor. 2:14

By faith, we shall continue to share with you in our subsequent posts, each one, our opinions on the message of the Kingdom of God and what it means for you/us. But in all, the question still begs, in which kingdom are you living or choosing to live? And is that the best choice you could make? God bless you.

My Prayer For You Today: And may the grace of God enable everyone reading here to have their minds and eyes opened up by the Spirit of God to the realisation of the power that lives and operates in the kingdom of God. And may as many as read here choose wisely which kingdom of the two that they shall choose to live in this day. In the name of Jesus Christ, AMEN.

PRAYING ALWAYS...

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” EPHESIANS 6:18

SHIRAN isn’t with us this week. Going back over our posts together however, I am more than pleased that at some point, we tackled this aspect of this part of the Christian’s armour. Albeit, in a different sort of way!

Before I go on here, I thought it imperative that you all read this piece (again) before we go any further. The LORD is good and ever continually so. Blessed be the name of the LORD. It was always the habit of Jesus to strike right at the heart of the matter. He knew what was essential and He knew what wasn’t. He didn’t tell men they ought to pray. That instinct was born in their hearts: the most ignorant heathen prayed, the prophets of Baal prayed, the hypocritical Pharisees prayed. What Jesus was interested in was showing men the right way to pray, so that they could have miracles in answer to their prayers. “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men…But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Matt. 6:5-6. The great secret of prayer is to realise and understand that God is also in the very room where you are. It is this realisation that God is actually present that makes prayer vital and powerful. The Psalmist David in Psalms 139:6-10, realised that God was present wherever he was, although he admits he did not fully understand it. God is everywhere –He doesn’t come and He doesn’t go.

But what is it to pray? The disciples said (unto Christ), “Lord, teach us to pray”. See Luke 11:1-4. Our Lord didn’t hesitate to grant their request. He never was one to keep His secrets to Himself. He came into this world to teach others to do what He did. Jesus was willing that His disciples should learn to do even greater works. John 14:12. And reading our Lord’s account of how to pray, we see that true prayer begins and ends in worship. “Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…” and “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.” Successful prayer also means daily contact with God. When one’s spiritual life begins to deteriorate, generally the cause can be traced to a lack of consistent daily prayer. It is no wonder that the forces of darkness are able to mobilise against so many people and in some cases completely paralyze their efforts. The things of which a successful life is made are shaped in the crucible of the daily hour of prayer. God must work with the material given Him and if there is a paucity of material made available, He is limited in what He can do. Many people do not realise that there is an actual substance to prayer. In Revelations 8:3, we are shown God’s repository of the prayers of His saints for the use at the proper time. In a vital way, the prayers of God’s people have a part in the execution of His plan on earth. God has ordained that His people should have at their command the resources of heaven. However, this is only available to those who day by day keep in contact with their God. “Give us day by day our daily bread.” Jesus did not ask us to pray for a year’s supply or a month’s, or even a week’s supply of bread. God wants us daily to be in utter dependence of Him. He wants us to daily feel the need of His presence, of His sustaining power. God’s plan involves a daily dependence on Him. Without Him we can do nothing. And if we are to successfully accomplish His will in our lives we must not allow a single day to pass without that vital communion with God.

Once again, “Praying always” covers all seasons and all manner of praying - praying with our natural understanding and also praying in the spirit. I Corinthians 14:2 says, “For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.” Paul is saying here that God has given the Church a supernatural means of communication with Himself. This call to prayer entails effort, wrestling, and struggling -putting out the full energy of the spirit in order to frustrate the foe and to come out, finally, more than conquerors through Christ Jesus. And as I like to say, this call is no primrose path. It’s no rose-scented flirting. From the time we first draw our swords, we are compelled to endure hardness, as a good soldiers of Jesus Christ. See II Tim.2:3. Some prayers are prayed too late; some people seek God earnestly after they get into trouble, not realising that had they prayed sooner, they might have avoided the pitfall. There is such a thing as foreseeing evil and avoiding it. “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.” Prov.27:12. How can one hope to escape the the traps that the forces of darkness continually devise against them? The answer to that is, not in human foresight or wisdom. See Prov.3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Prov. 3:5. Also see Psalms 91. In the latter (Psalms 91), is promised deliverance from Satan’s traps. The expression “snare of the fowler” is a clear allusion to the work of Satan who is busy setting snares for God’s people.

And finally I would like to share with you in relation to what we’re onto here, the story of the Christian Armenian merchant who was carrying merchandise by caravan across the desert to a town in Turkish Armenia. This [true] story illustrates the importance of daily prayer in our lives as pilgrims, soldiers of Christ. A Christian Armenian merchant having had a Christian upbringing from his childhood had formed a life habit of daily committing himself into the hands of God. At the time of this incident, the country was infested with “Kurds”, that is bandits who lived by robbing caravans. Unknown to the merchant, a band of these highwaymen had been following his caravan, intending to rob it at the first camping place on the plains. At the chosen hour, under cover of darkness, they drew near. But all was strangely quiet, and as there seemed to be no guards, no watchers, but as they pressed up, to their astonishment, they found high walls where no walls had been before. They continued to follow and the next night, they found the same impassable walls. The third night the walls stood but there were breaches in them through which they (bandits) then went in. The captain of the robbers, terrified by the mystery, awakened the merchant. “What does this mean?” he asked. “Ever since you left Ezerum, we have followed, intending to rob you. The first night and the second night, we found high walls around the caravan, but tonight, we entered through broken places. If you tell us the secret of this, I will not molest you.” The merchant, himself, was surprised and puzzled. “My friends,” he said, “I have done nothing to have walls raised about us. All I do is pray every evening, committing myself and those with me to God. I fully trust in Him to keep me from all evil; but tonight, being very tired and sleepy, I made a rather half-hearted lip prayer. That must have been why you were allowed to break through!” The “Kurds” were overcome by such testimony as this. There and then, they gave themselves to Jesus Christ, and were saved. From caravan robbers to God-fearing men, the “Kurds” became. The Armenian merchant however, never forgot that breach in the wall of prayer.

Let’s constantly give ourselves to prayer saints of God. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,…Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” EPH. 6:12-18.

And I pray that He might cause your eyes to be opened up to the mystery of praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit. And I also pray that the grace of God, and His love, and the power of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Now and always. AMEN.

CAST DOWN, NOT DESTROYED!

“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;” –Paul, to the church at Corinth, in II COR. 4:8, 9

Dear Readers and Guests here at “Fear Not the Sons of Anak”,

Those words of the Apostle Paul still reverberate in my mind since an event that happened here towards the beginning of last weekend. We (Shiran & I) have been away from attending to this blog for the most part of a couple of months now and on behalf of the both of us until last weekend, I am sorry to both God and man for allowing complacency on our part to get to us so much so we did not keep our promise to further the good news of the kingdom of God here every week or so for the past month or so, through our sharing of knowledge on the word of God in our hitherto long conversational posts. One thing I know about God is that if men and women fail to “cease the moment” and be used of HIM, the Lord will always raise up ‘soldiers in the sidelines’ (credit phrase to her sister). There always is a ‘remnant’. Question is, are you gonna let this knowledge elude you by pretending to be an ‘only one’ or are you gonna let HIM continue to count you, a part of that ‘remnant’. I’m posting here to ask for as many of you as read here to pray for 1) the cause of this blog to continue to be furthered here, and 2) for the blessing and guidance of HIS Holy Spirit on the part of the author/authors. 3) for our spiritual eyes to opened up so we may see that which we are up against, and 4) to bind all powers of evil as may be against the advancement of this blog in bringing more soldiers to Christ and in strengthening battle-beaten warriors. On my part, I will sure appreciate all prayer and God bless you in advance for this. In spite of what happened here, God speaks to us again through Paul in his letter to the Romans that: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to HIS purpose…Moroever whom HE did predestinate, them HE also called: and whom HE called, them HE also justified: and whom HE justified, them also HE glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? …Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?...Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through HIM that loved us.” Romans 8:28-37. In our final series this weekend before we begin on something new, we shall be tackling the final bit of Paul’s instructions to the church of Ephesus in putting on the whole armour of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.

In the meantime, I request you to bear with any and all template changes at this blog over the next week or so as we try to get one that is more representative of this blog and what it is intended for. God bless and be with you today and always.

The Shoes of the Gospel of Peace

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace(Eph 6:15)

ZACK: I’m gonna plainly ask you to take the lead on this one Shiran. Why shoes? And why the Gospel of Peace? Incidentally, isn’t ‘gospel’ also paraphrased ‘the Good News’? And that would incidentally become ‘…the good news of peace’, would it?

SHIRAN: First of all, it’s been quite a while, soldiers! We apologize for the huge gap between the last post and this one. Please pray with us, so that we are able to co-ordinate our time and prayer in order to blog weekly as we should.

We wear different kinds of footwear for different activities. For a soldier going out into the heat of battle, footwear must have multiple purposes: to provide resistance against any treacherous ground encountered; to provide comfort in case of heat and to keep the feet warm in case of snowy mountains; and they must be able to support the soldier in case of slippery ground.

ZACK: “in case of slippery ground”. Now I love that one.

SHIRAN: “Have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace,” Paul tells us. Preparation is a key word when it comes to the gospel. We must each be shod with footwear with which we will be able to run at any moment to share the good news of Jesus Christ. “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season,” Paul said to his beloved Timothy (2 Tim 4:2). We should be ready always to preach the gospel.

ZACK: When I read that verse again Shiran, I’m reminded of that Middle Eastern custom of greeting, where one wishes the other party peace first. In the Arab speaking world, it’s always, "As-salaam Alaik’um!", which translates ‘Peace be with you!’. I love the Jewish one even better, “Shalom Shalom!” which I learned means “Perfect Peace with you!” So it’s peace, peace, peace, do you think we (as 21st century Christians) miss out on something in that verse with the peace?

SHIRAN: I believe Christians have greatly underestimated the power of peace, Zack. We must put on the armour of God every single day; by faith; whether it feels good or not, regardless of our circumstances. The gospel of peace is for our own use, too. Sometimes we struggle in life and need some comfort, and it is in such moments that we are able to remember words from the Bible to keep us going. If we put on our shoes during the good times, they will keep us walking during the tough times. And while we are on the topic of walking and sharing the gospel I would like to add something I learnt recently: no one who is truly born again will keep the gospel to themselves.

ZACK: True there Shiran, and Jesus couldn’t even be clearer when He issued the great commission unto us all to go ye into all the world and preach the gospel of the kingdom unto every creature. It would literally be a great defiance of the King’s order for one not to share.

SHIRAN: It would. And the love of Christ in us produces a joy that we cannot keep to ourselves. For example, Andrew immediately went and told his brother, Peter, that he had met Jesus (John 1:40-41).

ZACK: Isn’t it so interesting how this plays out even before the Great Commission is issued? It’s almost as though there were a chain reaction of events set into action by the issue out of the Good News when Jesus spoke to Andrew. I’m even reminded of how DNA forms in our bodies. Just one code lays the blueprint for the other and so on. See, Shiran, God’s spiritual laws were long in motion even before we even thought of it. So awesome!!

SHIRAN: Amen! None of the people that Jesus healed were able to keep it to themselves. They immediately went and shared it in the streets – wherever they could, they announced that they had met a Man who healed them of their affliction and loved them regardless of their past.

ZACK: At this juncture Shiran, I’m reminded of that blind man in John 9 who was castigated for being born a sinner and for whom Jesus was also criticized for having healed on a Sabbath day. The man’s words, almost as though I could hear him speak in that Pharisee kangaroo court, play out so clearly in my mind, “Whether the man (in reference to Christ) is a sinner or not, I do not know. One thing I do know though. I was blind but now I see”.

SHIRAN: Amen! Soldiers, shoe your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace today. Say it out loud and thank Jesus for the shoes He gives you which you can wear despite the spiritual weather conditions. His word commands us to “walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.” (Ephesians 4:1.) How would we walk worthy, if we had no shoes?

ZACK: I guess we wouldn’t last at all, especially in light of the respective vocations to which we all are called. Thanks for this Shiran, I’m gonna shoe my feet this now.

SHIRAN: Thank you, Zack, and God bless you!

The Sword of the Spirit IV: Praying Always...

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,…wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand… Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” EPHESIANS 6:12-18

ZACK: There’s such a misconception that many people have of the Christian life, Shiran! You know, the moment we confess Jesus Christ as our Lord and saviour, we have also declared outright our war upon the enemy, Satan. In effect, Satan places out a personal vendetta against you too. In spite of all the good things that God’s Word says are ours when we come to Him, we are still very much in conflict for as long as we tread this earth as believers on His Name.

Oft times we seem to lead our lives as Christians in denial of the character of the conflict and its demands on us! We seem to be ignorant of the enemies that we must encounter if we are to serve God faithfully, succeed in getting to heaven, and receive the crown of life! And in this ignorance, we are blinded to realize that the world, the flesh, and the devil will oppose our onward march. That trio shall defeat any Christian utterly, unless they give themselves to constant and unceasing prayer.

SHIRAN: The world does have many misconceptions about Christianity – but the saddening fact is that many Christians, as you have pointed out, have misconceptions about themselves. They think that once they give their lives to Christ, it’s all over; they can relax as they await eternity. Another sad thing is, as new Christians, or Christians who have just learnt about spiritual warfare, soldiers are alert and aware of God’s Presence, but then after a while, many become lax and complacent and think that nothing can attack them. The Christians who have been born again longer seem to allow pride to come in and make them feel like they are invincible. After a while, that pride usually leads to a decline in prayer life and the soldier begins to think he can depend on himself. The result of that, well, Solomon said Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. (Prov 16:18)

ZACK: I’m sure you know Shiran that the life of a Christian is one of warfare, an intense conflict, a lifelong contest. It is a battle fought against invisible foes that are ever alert and seeking to entrap, deceive, and ruin the souls of men.

SHIRAN: I do know that. Anyone who gives his or her life to Christ immediately becomes a dart-board for the devil’s fiery darts. The devil is defeated, and he knows it, and he will never defeat God, so he tries to harm the ones God loves.

ZACK: The Bible calls us to life, not a picnic or holiday event. It is no pastime or pleasure excursion.

SHIRAN: You’re right – not a cruise ship, but a battleship. It’s a war. Prayer requires discipline. It is work. It requires that one set time aside. And in this day and age, with the way time is idolized, people feel too lazy to take up this command, yet Jesus said, Luke 11:2, When ye pray, not “If ye pray.” Our call as soldiers is not easy, but it is rewarding. It is special. God’s commandments are not grievous, 1 John 5:3.

ZACK: This call entails effort, wrestling, and struggling. It demands putting out the full energy of the spirit in order to frustrate the foe and to come out, at last, more than a conqueror. It is no primrose path, no rose-scented flirting. From start to finish, it is war, war and war. The Christian warrior is compelled from the hour he first draws his sword (II Tim. 2:3) to, Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

“Praying always” covers all seasons and all manner of praying - praying with our natural understanding and also praying in the spirit.

Supplication in the Spirit: I Cor.14:14 - For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. I Cor. 14:2 - For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. That there means while you pray in tongues, your spirit is in direct contact with God, who is a Spirit, and you are talking to Him in a direct supernatural language. Also see Romans 8:26.

Now I know Shiran that there are folk that might be reading this and know not what it is to pray in the spirit or speak in tongues. This does not make them any less of a warrior and is certainly not an excuse for them to not even pray at all. We are told to be patient. See James 5:7 - Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. And in Hosea 6:3 - Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain and the former rain unto the earth. The latter rain and former rain are the Holy Spirit. The “former rain” fell at Pentecost and we have been enjoying the “latter rain” ever since.

Watching with all perseverance: While we read God’s Word Shiran, we should keep in mind that every minute detail is as important as every major detail! Whenever I read that extension in the verse atop this post that says about watching with all perseverance, I’m reminded of the time in the early church when Peter miraculously escaped from Herod’s prison. (Acts 12.) As the Christians prayed (verse 12), they forgot to have someone on the lookout for the answer to their prayer! And as the answer to their prayer (Peter) kept on knocking at their door, only but one person (Rhoda, the servant girl) came out to find out who and even when she did, she was so excited she forgot to receive him inside!

Supplication for all the saints: This could never be so clearer. In our last post Shiran, you remember I shared with you about the old-farmer-John-type prayers that many of us seem to pray whenever we get on our knees. After I got to confess Christ in December 2003, I too prayed the ‘farmer John’ prayers! That was and is selfish. After this realisation, we cannot afford to stay this way. As much as we can, let’s pray for all the saints; we shall pray in the natural and also in the spirit.

SHIRAN: Zack, there is no better way to put all that you have said. We must pray for all saints. We must pray always. We must pray in the Spirit. The disciples said, “Lord, teach us to pray.” A pastor said that it seems that to this day, that is the subconscious cry of the saints – teach us to pray – yet Christ sent the Comforter, who teaches us all things, prayer included.

ZACK: Shiran, our entire life as Christian soldiers –its being, intention, implication, and action are all dependent on its being a life of prayer. If even Jesus Christ prayed while he walked this earth, who are we not to? Or who are we to be so lazy and slack not to? Without prayer no matter what else we might have; our lives will be feeble and ineffective. Without prayer, we are an easy prey for all our spiritual enemies.

Taking Unto Us the Sword of the Spirit III: Know Thine Enemy!

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, and… stand. (Eph. 6:12-13)

ZACK: It isn’t by chance that we chose to talk about the Christian's warfare Shiran. We are facing greater spiritual battles today than ever before. There has been a release of demonic activity on earth during the past twelve months that is unseen in world history. And we are going to see an even greater release of demonic activity during coming months. I’m sorry if that comes off as a little scary but that is the grim truth and I’m only putting it lightly that way. We must be ever prepared for the onslaught and not just wallow in our defensive comfort zones Shiran.

SHIRAN: I agree! I was talking about this with my sister last night. For me that’s a sign that it’s no coincidence. I also did mention to her, however, that this demonic activity is a reaction to the greater release of Divine blessing and power that God is pouring out to His children in this day.

ZACK: Paul in his letter to the Ephesians more than avidly describes the enemy. One of the cardinal rules of warfare Shiran, is know thine enemy. To not follow that rule is to lose the war even before fighting it. Our enemy (see scripture atop post first):

1. Spirits or demons: the Word of God says, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood.”
2. Principalities: from the Greek word arche; chief rulers of the highest rank.
3. Powers: from the Greek word exousia; authorities. These authorities preside over the chief rulers, executing their will.
4. Rulers of the darkness of this world: world rulers of darkness; natural men possessed demonic powers. This world (our cosmos) binds them to the natural and refers to governments or individuals in high authority in this world who are demon led or directed.
5. Spiritual wickedness in high places: wicked spirits in the heavens; fallen angels.

Preparation for spiritual warfare requires the application of spiritual principles revealed in God’s Word. We must never underestimate the capabilities of our adversary or the deceptiveness that he will use in his attempt to try to defeat us. Did you know Shiran that in the spiritual war in which we all are engaged (some without even knowing it), one of the most effective weapons that our enemy has aimed and is using against us is today's entertainment? Entertainment supplies the devil’s ammunition in this spiritual war. It's very tempting to dismiss it as simple amusement. But while Christians are entertaining themselves, they are often learning to conform to the immoral values of this world and as such the Christian community is spiritually entertaining itself with the rest of the world to DEATH!

SHIRAN: I did know, Zack, and it pains me to see that Christians nowadays have reached a level of such complacency and compromise that they refuse to see what is wrong as just that – wrong. God said, Ye shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. (Leviticus 19:1) He did not say, “Try to be holy.” He does not command us to do things for the fun of it, or to cause us grief. One way in which we live holy lives is by refusing to be drawn into a net of sin. You are right – the Christian community is blindly entertaining itself to death and it must stop.

ZACK: God's Word clearly warns us to avoid such dangers. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ (Colossians 2:8). This Scripture warns us that if we continue to entertain ourselves with philosophies that are against biblical values, it will undermine our faith and joy in Jesus Christ. And what is the vast majority of today's entertainment except that some man or woman's philosophy is expressed through music, movies, or TV programs?

SHIRAN: True! Philosophies also include all the things people come up with about God and life that directly oppose what the Bible says. Doctrines of demons, so Paul called them, 1 Tim 4. He warned that in these last days, men would give in to seducing spirits and have their consciences seared with iron. You are right about the music, movies, or TV being used to spread vain theories and deceive many. People say that it does not affect them but it does. "You are what you eat," so goes a well-known saying. This is true in the spirit as well. What we feed ourselves is what we become. If we study the word and remain in God, then we are victorious. To love the world and follow in doctrines of demons is to open the floodgates for much misery, and, eventually, hell.

ZACK: Shiran, Deuteronomy 6:7 tells us to teach our families about the laws of God whether we're at home or on a journey, from the time we get up to the time we go to bed. Instead of teaching His values in this manner, too often we let the enemy teach his values to our children (and to us) through the world of entertainment. And because immorality is presented in such an entertaining manner, we believe it doesn't affect us. In the long run we lose our children, ourselves in this spiritual war without even realizing it and then we ask why things go wrong?

SHIRAN: We are doing ourselves and others a disservice if we refuse to take a stand for Christ. The verse above, Eph 6:13, says stand. David said, "Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the LORD. He shall be like a tree, planted by the rivers of water (Psalm 1)." Jeremiah said, "Blessed is the man whose hope the LORD is; He shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her root by the river (Jer 17:7-8)." Both say that such people bear fruit. We need to return to our First Love, and stand in Him.

ZACK: I picked the following up from a text entitled ‘Overheard from the enemy’s camp’ and reading through it I thought how very apt and true! And I thought I could share here too… (side note: The text in parentheses is scripture we’ve inserted countering the enemy’s plans!)

Satan called a worldwide convention of demons. In his opening address he said, "We can't keep Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the Truth. We can't even keep them from forming an intimate relationship with their Savior. Once they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken.
"So let them go to their churches; let them have their covered dish dinners, BUT steal their time and focus, so they don't have time to develop a relationship with Jesus Christ."
"This is what I want you to do," said the devil, "Distract them from focusing on things above and get them to focus on life from our point of view" {Colossians 3:1-2: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth}.
"But how shall we do this?" his demons shouted. "If they are Christians, why would they want to know our thoughts and ideas?"
"Don't let them know they are our thoughts. Tell them it's just entertainment. Then we can inspire others to put our words and thoughts on video and call it a TV program, or on celluloid and call it a motion picture, or on CD and call it music, or in a little black box and call it a video game. Most importantly, entice them to play the radio or CD player whenever they drive. And convince them they need to keep their TV, VCR, CDs, and PCs going constantly. They won't even realize they are missing time with their Savior.
"This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ. We've got to keep their minds occupied with our thoughts so they won't have time for His."
"But I heard that Christians are strong and we have to leave if they tell us to go," countered some of his dominion {James 4:7 - Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee}.
"They do have immeasurable strength, but they don't realize it. That's why we have to keep their minds occupied so they won't hear His still small voice. I don't know why He speaks in a small voice, but I don't want to take any chances. Don't leave them any time to think about Him. And the best part is while we are occupying their minds with our "noise," we are destroying their strength. Do you remember how Nehemiah defeated us? He reminded the people that the 'joy of the Lord' was his strength and he wouldn't pay attention to our ideas {Nehemiah 8:10 “…For the joy of the Lord is your strength”}. That would be disaster for us! "So if we are going to make them weak, we have to undermine their joy. And the best way to do that is to feed them our philosophies {Colossians 2:8 “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ"}. If we can get them to entertain themselves with our values, they're ours. I know we don't get 'em back on our team, but they won't be an effective member for the other team, either." It was quite an ambitious plan! The demons went eagerly to accomplish their assignment. It was easier than they thought possible.

SHIRAN: Wow!

ZACK: Shiran, how much clearer can this scripture be? Ephesians 6:12: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

But we thank our Lord that in Him is our strength for this battle found! We prepare for battle and deliverance, not only by identifying the enemy, but also by defining our strength. It’s important to know that strength needed to subdue and defeat the enemy of our souls is not found in the natural; it is found in the Lord. Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

SHIRAN: I agree. King David tells us that it is God who arms us with strength (Psalm 18:32), and teaches our hands to war and our fingers to fight (Psalm 144:1). I feel a need to add that we should know our enemy, but we should not focus on him so much that it takes our focus away from Christ because only God deserves our minds and hearts. And only in Him can true strength be found.

ZACK: Ephesians 1:19, And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power. Strength in the Lord is obtained as we recognize who we are in Christ and acknowledge that He is the real source of our strength. We mustn’t attempt to fight demonic forces of hell alone, for the power to subdue and defeat the enemy does not rest in our strength; it comes from the Lord. Jesus declared in Luke 10:19, Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

SHIRAN: Amen. The power is given to us, but it is only in Jesus that we can accept it and use it to His glory, and defeat the enemy as we do so.

ZACK: Shiran, I know, there are a lot of folk out there who might glorify the might and power of our enemy and by so doing have had even saints of God cowering at the enemy’s mention. But whenever I hear of such talk, I cannot the contain the joy in my being of knowing that my God is even a billion-fold, mightier! And we are more than (I love the combination of those two words in that scripture!) conquerors in Christ Jesus.

SHIRAN: Hallelujah! To God be the glory, great, great things He hath done! And the blessing of being able to see and know a fraction of those great things is wonderful. More than conquerors in Christ Jesus, that is what we are. He is good!

Taking Unto Us the Sword of the Spirit II: On the Holy Spirit; Who Is He?

And take… the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. (Eph 6:17)

SHIRAN: To whom does that Voice belong, that stops you in your tracks when you are about to sin? Who is responsible for what the world calls “coincidence”, when, for example, you get the urge to go and visit someone, and then they say that they have been praying for company all day long? How come that scripture that you read last night popped into your mind at a difficult point in your day, reminding you to be strong and go on? Who gives you the answers that silence unbelievers in a random argument that ensues during a lunch break? Whence do you get the sudden urge to stop what you are doing and pray for someone you haven’t thought of in a long time?

ZACK: You know Shiran, coincidence and luck are words that I am working out of my vocabulary since the profundity of this scripture hit home with me; And we know that in all things, God makes all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. (Rom 8:28.) And to answer your questions there, the Spirit of God, I believe He rouses the saints then!

SHIRAN: Zack, most people refer to and think about the Holy Spirit as “It”! I was once like that. It took me a while to realize that the Holy Spirit is a Person, i.e. He has a personality, and is as much God as Jesus Christ and God the Father are.

ZACK: Worse than you there Shiran, before I received the Holy Spirit, I feared even the mention of Him. My perception of Him was of a ‘force’ that would make people shake and utter unintelligible words and basically not be themselves for a good amount of time. I dreaded that.

SHIRAN: Hahaha! I thought that, too, to an extent. That's funny... thank you for sharing; I am sure many soldiers will be consoled in realizing we all go through these moments - and grow from them! Go on...

ZACK: It was only until I began to study this subject further that I actually found out He (the Holy Spirit) actually has a personality and is really as Jesus said He is, the Comforter. Then I saw how enormously wrong I had been the whole while; I received Him almost immediately.

SHIRAN: Bless God for that revelation. The Holy Spirit, also known as the Holy Ghost, is not a “force” that people get when they are born again. The Holy Spirit thinks, feels, knows, IS. Remember Ananias and Sapphira? Quick story for those who don’t: Grab your Bibles (or click on the Bible in the sidebar if you can’t… tangible Bible is always better!) and check out Acts chapter 5.

(Zoom in:)

Ananias and Sapphira were married Christians. Their story is set just after Jesus ascended into heaven. The number of believers was growing steadily in Jerusalem. The believers were “of one heart and one soul” (Acts 4:32), just like we should be today! They shared their possessions, and those who had land and houses sold them and gave the money to the apostles. The money was shared “as everyone had need” (Acts 4:35).

So Zack, as you know, these guys decided to sell a possession so that they could also lay the money at the apostles’ feet. At some point, they must have conspired to give out just a part of the money they earned, instead of the entire amount. For some reason, this story right now reminds me of Adam and Eve and how they both hid from God after eating the fruit of the garden.

Ananias took the money to Peter, Jesus’ disciple. But Peter was filled with the Holy Ghost, and knew immediately that it was not the entire amount. He said to Ananias, “Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and keep back part of the price of the land?... Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.”

(Zoom out)

So, lying to the Holy Ghost is the same as lying to God.

ZACK: Definitely Shiran.

SHIRAN: Another piece of evidence? Paul tells us in Romans 8:26-27 that since we are men and do not know what to pray for as we ought to, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

ZACK: If we may, I’d like us to look again at that piece of scripture very carefully Shiran. Romans 8:26-27 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth out infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Because I know how to pray doesn’t mean I know what to pray for. You know too often our prayers can be like the old farmer John’s: ‘Oh God, bless me and my wife and my son John junior and his wife, us four and no more’ [we might not all say the exact words but this is what it amounts to]. But this scripture here tells us the Holy Spirit maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered in articulate speech. This agrees with what Paul said in I Cor. 14:14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.

Shiran, when people pray in tongues, it is the Holy Spirit within them who gives them utterance to speak out of their spirit. In other words, when a person is praying in tongues, it is his spirit praying by the Holy Spirit who is within him. By this, the Holy Spirit is helping them to pray according to the will of God for things that should be prayed for. Which brings me to another point of the spiritual battle that we’re onto discussing through these series now; too often we think (erroneously) that we can fight a spiritual battle from only a mental or carnal perspective. This is wrong. Our physical bodies could not even last that long in such a battle, this is the reason why the Lord’s Holy Spirit comes to the rescue here (bails us out if you like) when He helps us to pray in the spirit. It is also important Shiran, that we know the Holy Spirit is not going to do the praying for us. He does not groan or speak in tongues apart from you. The Holy Spirit is sent to dwell in you. He is a helper, an intercessor –but He does not intercede apart from you. The way He helps us pray is by these groanings that escape our lips. They come out of our spirit, born of the Holy Spirit. Thus we can boldly say, ‘speaking in tongues’ is Holy Spirit-directed prayer. It eliminates the possibility of selfish prayer or inadequate prayer.

SHIRAN: I am learning, Zack. I could not have put that any better.

The Holy Spirit, Paul says, gives us gifts as He wills. Different people have different gifts, but it is the same Holy Spirit who gives them. God is loving… and constantly giving to us, His children. Remember John 3:16? He loved us so much that He gave!

ZACK: Interesting there that you should talk about giving and gifts Shiran. But we’ll come back to that. Well, yes Shiran, the Holy Spirit gives different people different gifts, each as He wills. If I recall correctly there are nine different gifts of the Spirit mentioned in 1 Corinthians. Some are given one, others more; Jesus in his life ministry on earth had all. But it’s important we note that phrase, ‘as the Spirit wills’. Well getting back to giving and gifts there… you know Shiran, there are a lot of misconceptions out there when it comes to receiving the Holy Spirit: some people say you have to do certain things, or somehow clean up your life before receiving the Holy Spirit. If this was the case then Christ would have shed his blood in vain. But a lot of people get the notion that they must do something to receive the GIFT (mark that word) of the Holy Spirit. I’m of the view that something ceases to be a gift if you have to work for it. What do you think there Shiran?

SHIRAN: I agree. For example, salvation is a gift - not of works, lest any man should boast.

ZACK: When you are born again, there’s a change that occurs on your inside. Your spirit is recreated. And if you’re saved, you’re ready to be filled with the Holy Spirit; you don’t have to do anything but ask to receive! When Jesus promised us the comforter before He ascended to heaven, all the waiting was done between the time of Jesus’ ascension and the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was sent into the world as our Comforter on the day of Pentecost and it’s been upon believers to receive Him since then. See Luke 24:49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.

SHIRAN: I like that word - "endued" - it does not have anything to do with forcing God to give us something. To endue someone with something means to put it on them. I am checking dictionary.com and one of the definitions is "to clothe"! Go on, Zack.

ZACK: After the day of Pentecost, there is no other instance in the Bible where people had to tarry (wait) for the Holy Spirit! Evidences: Acts 8 (Eight years after Pentecost, Phillip went down to Samaria and as a result of his preaching, people were saved and baptised in water. Then Peter and John went down from Jerusalem, laid hands on the Samaritans), verse 17: and they received the Holy Ghost. Without agonizing, without tarrying, without disappointment, without exception, they all were filled with the Holy Spirit. In Acts 10, Cornelius and his household were filled with the Holy Spirit without praying, without waiting, without exception. Also see Acts 19. God does not have any trial-and-error methods, He doesn’t have any method of coming, seeking and not finding, and then going away empty.

SHIRAN: That is very true, Zack. I had never really thought about it like that. My mind seemed to stress the fact that the apostles were commanded to wait, but you point out something very important there.

Paul warns us not to grieve the Holy Spirit, whereby we are sealed unto the day of redemption (Eph 4:30).

Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. God destroys those who defile His temple. (Remember those strange fires?) We are bought with a price, and as such, we cannot carry ourselves like the world does (1 Cor 3:16-17, 6:19-20).

ZACK: Romans 12:1, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. I like the way the KJV puts that, “…which is your reasonable sacrifice”. Put in other words… a small price to pay for something as precious as God’s Holy Spirit indwelling our bodies.

SHIRAN: Before Jesus was crucified, He told His disciples that He would not leave them comfortless, or orphans. He promised to send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who would remind them of all things, and reprove the world, and show them things to come. (John ch. 13-ch.16.)That promise is available to us as well, for we are disciples of Christ. We will get into that a little later.

ZACK: Shiran, I’m sure we’ll be covering more on this when we get to tackling the other aspect of the Christian warrior’s armour - praying always in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication…looking forward!

SHIRAN: Me, too! I have realized that I am learning a lot more than I thought I would! But to answer the question, Who is the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is God. Plain and simple. We daren’t joke around with Him. He is to be respected and revered. The Holy Spirit is God.

ZACK: Also He is our Helper, He is our Comforter and He is our Friend.