Skip to main content

Our Struggle

 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)

          With all that is going on, today’s passage is a basic to which we need to return. For the past four years, we’ve been told that Mr. Trump was the problem, along with anyone who disagrees. Now those who didn’t think Mr. Trump was the problem are proclaiming that Mr. Biden is the problem, along with anyone who disagrees. The reality is that Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden, and even those who disagree are not the problems. The problem is the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

          Reading that, it’s easy to say, “Yeah, the rulers, like Mr. Trump/Biden.” But the president doesn’t rule. He is ruled by those who bankrolled him, putting him in office. He is also ruled by the philosophy or culture that he believes or accepts. If Mr. Biden were to experience his own “Damascus Road” conversion and suddenly start enacting Conservative policies, I’ve little doubt that he would be removed from office as incompetent or assassinated. Another person taking his place would either represent the ideals of the Liberals or the ideals of the Conservatives. The point is that the rulers, etc. would not be that person, either. The ideals are the enemy. The things that take us away from God are the enemies.

          This is again why we need to stick to the basics, including love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23.) This  is why we must not play by the rules set by the world. We are not to hate the people who oppose us. We are not to find joy in their suffering. We are not to all them names unless they have applied those names to themselves.

          We need, desperately, to learn to communicate better, to tell our stories, and to argue effectively. But we need even more for our behavior to be above reproach.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Way, The Truth, and The Life

              Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me . (John 14:6)           If “I am the gate of the sheep…I am the good shepherd” from chapter 10 is a double whammy, this verse is a triple whammy. And its first victim is the notion that any other so-called god was acceptable or the same as Jesus. He, and He alone is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way to get to the Father. There is no other Savior, or Redeemer, according to Jesus. Now, to be fair, other religions will claim that their religion or god(s) are the only way. That is the nature of gods and of religions. If this and that are equally good and agree on what’s necessary, then this and that are the same thing, so there’s no need to from the other to one. If that’s the case, then why speak against the other or promote the one? There’s a song I’ve been listening to i...
Post a Comment
Read more