In my devotions recently I read 2 Samuel 5:17 "When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they went up in full force to search for him."
The instant we receive something from the Lord that is worth fighting for, you can guarantee that Satan will come and seek you out.
We have the comfort of knowing that when Satan does appear to challenge us; God has already equipped us with blessing, victory, and power. I say "power" because power is made through resistance, resistance against Satan's blows and lying tongue.
A poem written by Ralph Waldo Emerson in the book "from Days of Heaven upon Earth" says:
"A hero is not fed on sweets,
Daily his own heart he eats;
Chambers of the great are jails,
And head winds right for royal sails."
Tribulation is the door to Triumph.
During the tribulation three major steps always have to be taken:
During the tribulation three major steps always have to be taken:
1. Seek the Lord. Deuteronomy 4:29 "But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul."
2. Put on the armor of God. Ephesians 6:11 "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the Devil's schemes."
3. Resist the flesh. Romans 6:11 "In the same way count yourself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."
In the storybooks the true hero wasn't the one who fought well; but was the one who believed well. He had a mission, his objective to seek out his goal drove him on. He would fight when necessary, but never took his eyes off the prize.
John Bunyan was the author of Pilgrim's Progress. Some people are unaware that while John wrote this book he was inside an English jail cell.
However he never took his eyes off the prize. Freedom wasn't the prize. Christ was.
Christ commands us in 1 Corinthians 1:17 to preach the gospel "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel-not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power."
John knew his service to the Master was to reach others and show them the pathway to salvation, this command was not lost to him even while he was enclosed in a prison.
When you receive a prize for a contest, where is your focus? Is it on Christ, the one who gave you the ability and talent to accomplish the task?
In my church youth group we have many gifted musicians and singers. Whenever one of us does the special music or offertory for the Sunday morning service we always want to encourage them afterward by telling that person that they did a good job.
I can say from experience...after the service when everyone comes up to say good job- I never know what to say! I could say, "Thank you." But then the praise is reflected off onto me, or I could say "Praise the Lord." Or, as my youth group shortened it to, "PTL.". We chose PTL because its often hard to get the right voice level when saying something like that without sounding....pious? Even when you don't mean to!!:)
It's so simple to gently direct the spotlight off of ourselves and onto our creator! As long as we make the effort to do it.
There are very few hero's or heroine's in our culture today, you don't have to do something amazing to win man's favor and attention. Rather, fight the battles Satan throws at you nobly, keeping your eyes focused on the King- your ultimate prize.
I know exactly what you mean about how people say you did a great job, and you don't know what to say. I've played up at the summer campground we go to, and I never knew what to say, and I would just say "thank you." But then I thought that kind of makes me "receive the glory", even if I don't intend it to... So, maybe I will say "PTL" from now on! :)
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