Hear my voice, O God,
in my meditation;
Preserve my life from fear
of the enemy....
The righteous shall be glad
in the LORD, and trust in Him.
And all the upright in heart
shall glory.
Psalm 64:1,10
Christians place their trust in God who providentially will provide preservation of life for His children, and they, we, will be blessed. When man places their trust in their own wisdom, in their own predetermined methods to cause people to believe in God, then all they are doing is the will of Satan even though they believe they are doing the will of God. Man is not the light of the world without Jesus who is the light of man: "I Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (John 1:4,5). As Christians we are to be the light that shines forth from the true light Jesus Christ and we are not to walk in darkness: "This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. but if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1John 1:5-7). The message of Christians is not convert or die, not to be burdened with such as Shiara Law, not to force people to believe in a god, rather it is the Gospel that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, and that by believing in Him salvation from all sin is yours and you will live with Him eternally. Our war is a spiritual war, and we fight with spiritual means, that is the word of God, the sword of God, the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). In this chapter of Ephesians by Paul we are advised to put on the whole armor of God: "Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of he devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:11-12). We are able to expose the falsehood of ideologies and theologies if we are awake allowing the Holy Spirit that lives in us to direct us and guide us: "But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is lift. Therefore He says: 'Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:12-15).
The message of the Gospel has always had to face evil as Paul mentioned that his day was evil, so is ours as we face not only the darkness of Islam, but the darkness of Communism, Hedonism, Atheism, liberalism, naturalism, and more, all attempting to destroy the Christianity and are the wiles of the Devil. We fight this war with the Gospel, and with our lives manifesting the light of Jesus Christ, and by means of that light we overcome the darkness. This does not mean that we are to be apathetic, to sit back and allow things to happen using the justification that God will one day remove all sin, this He will do, but until then we are to be His arms and legs, His mouth, and to spread the Gospel, the Gospel of peace, and love. Does this mean that we are to be pacifist? No! Jehovah Witnesses uses that means to avoid being in the military, yet, we are to be able to fight when necessary invaders whose desire is to rule people with darkness, and not the light of truth. There is one truth, not many as this pluralistic world would have, and that truth is found in the God's word, the Bible, all other so-called "truths" are nothing more than lies. If we are not living according to God's commandments, His precepts and principles as set forth in His word, then we are grieving the Holy Spirit: "Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:20-30). Mahatma Ghandi said: "I would become a Christian if not for Christians." Do people see Jesus Christ in you, are you living the life that God has set forth for His people? Or are you so conspiratorial, that everything is some form of conspiracy, and feel then that you have no control? You don't! God Does! When our lives are shining as light in the world then darkness is removed, and this darkness may be that which is causing one of His people, one that is caught up in Islamic theology to not see the truth, and live in fear and under the thumbs of those Islamic leaders that have only one purpose and that purpose is to bring all under Islam. Yet, God has said to His people to take the Gospel to all, to all the world, to make disciples, to do more than He did by spreading throughout the world that He is the Savior, that He is God manifested in flesh: "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory" (1Timothy 3:16).
I will in the next upcoming blogs show give the contrast between Christianity and Islam. Notice this important fact, I am speaking of Islam, that theology for there are many of those who are Muslim that when hearing the word of God, being empowered by God, enabled by Him through faith given to them by God, will respond to the Gospel. We do not know who they are, but God does, and we preach to all and allow the Holy Spirit to work regeneration into the child of God. This is our work while we reside temporarily on this earth: "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God, and I also trust are well known in your consciences" (2Corinthians 4:10-11).
Allow me to ask this question again: Where are the Christians? Where are men rising up to take the reigns of leadership, first in the home, in the Church, in the community, in the state, in the nation? What is keeping you from fighting the good fight, both spiritually, and in the world? Is it TV programs, maybe it is running to and fro, taking children to events, which are not all bad unless they are taking a person from the Church, from living as God's word says we are to live, taking care of those who are our brothers and sisters in the Lord, mowing lawns, fixing windows, washing floors, making sure the have the necessary things, etc. These things were the things that set apart Christians from the beginning for they would not participate in the games, the did not run away when sickness plagued a town as it did in Antioch, and they did not live as others, they lived for Christ. Is this true of you? I hope so for if the darkness is to be removed, then the light must shine. So light your light so shine.
He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no
might He increases strength.
Even the youths shall faint
and be weary, and the young men
shall utterly fall, but those
who wait on the LORD shall renew
their strength; they shall mount
up with wings of eagles, they shall
run and not be weary, they shall
walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 20:29-31
Live For God In All You Do
Richard L. Crumb
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