4 THINGS CHRISTIANS MUST DO

The Bible tells us that we’re in a war. This war is not fought with guns and tanks and Grenades. It’s a spiritual war. The Apostle Paul does a great job of explaining this in the book of Ephesians, chapter 6.

Ephesians 6:12
12 Because we do not fight against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places.

In verse 11, Paul tells us to put on the whole armor of God. In this spiritual war, this is a spiritual armor. He tells us exactly what each piece of that armor is.

Ephesians 6:14-17
14 So stand with the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 Shoe your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace.
16 Most of all, take the shield of faith, which will make you able to extinguish all the fiery spears of evil.
17 Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

So the Armor Of God is:
The Belt of Truth
The Breastplate of Righteousness
The Preparation of the Gospel of Peace (Shoes)
The Shield of Faith
The Helmet of Salvation
The Sword of The Spirit (Bible)

Again, this battle we’re in is not a physical battle, but a spiritual one. You and I weren’t asked if we wanted to be in this war. We weren’t asked if we wanted to fight. We weren’t given the opportunity to voice our opinion on the subject at all. This war began a long time ago, and the human race became part of it when our first parents, Adam and Eve, listened to Satan’s lies and disobeyed God. The choice that Adam made that day threw the whole human race into the middle of that war, and like it or not, we’re in a war against an enemy who is many more times powerful than you and I.

We’re fighting against an enemy who is more resourceful than we are. This enemy is at least thousands of years old, maybe much older. However old is, he’s had six thousand years to study humans. He knows exactly what makes us tick. He knows what our weaknesses are. He knows exactly what strategy to use to get to each one of us. The only chance we have against this powerful, and resourceful enemy is to ally ourselves with someone who is more powerful than he is. God is the only one that fits that description. He’s the only one that can give us help in times of trouble.

Yes, God is all-powerful, and yes, he will fight for us in this battle, but contrary to popular belief, we have a part to play, too. I’d like to suggest four very important things that Christians need to do in this war that we’re in. These are not the only thing that we need to do, but I believe they’re the four most important things.

1) Trust God Completely.
2) Pray and Study God’s Word (The Bible)
3) Avoid Evil
4) Tell Others About God’s Love

In order to truly trust someone, you have to have a relationship with them. As we pursue a relationship with God, and our relationship with him grows, our trust in him will grow. As long as we’re continuing to pursue that relationship, it’ll grow stronger, and stronger to the point where we can identify with Job when he said, “Even if he kills me, I will still trust him” (Job 13:15). Remember the three Hebrews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? When they were faced with a choice between obeying the king or God, in Daniel chapter 3, they chose to obey God even though they were threatened with death if they didn’t obey the king. Look at Daniel chapter 3, beginning in verse 14.

Daniel 3:14-17
14 Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said to them, Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Do you not serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
15 Now, are you ready? When you hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, or any kind of music, fall down and worship the image which I have made. If you do not worship, you will be thrown, the same hour, into the middle of a burning fiery furnace, and who is the God that will deliver you out of my hands?
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego responded and said, King Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer you in this matter.
17 If it be, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, King.
18 But if not, know this, King, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up.

Did you notice how much faith they had in God? They said, “Our God IS able to deliver us from the fire” (Daniel 3:14-17). They knew God has the power to deliver us out of any situation, and I mean ANY situation. But they also knew something else. They knew that God doesn’t always deliver us from a bad situation. They knew that it might be in his will for them to die.

Many times, throughout history, we can see where new Christians have been born from the death of Martyrs. Remember, God didn’t save John the Baptist in prison. Some people wonder why, but we know there was a reason. God always has a reason for the things he does, and for the things he allows, and we need to realize that in our own lives. We need to trust that God is able to deliver us from anything, but if he doesn’t, then we need to trust that he had a good reason and continue trusting that he knows what’s best for us.

We need to trust God and obey him, completely. The best way to gain that kind of trust is to do the second thing I mentioned in the list; Pray and Study God’s Word. We must have personal daily devotions, and personal daily Bible study, mixed with praise and prayer to the Creator of the universe. We need to make sure the lines of communication stay open. We need to have a close, personal relationship with God so that when he tells us to do something, we know that it’s actually him speaking to us. The only way we can have that is to study the word of God and pray daily, and I mean two-way prayer where we praise him and listen to him, not just ask for things. We also must be willing to change when God tells us we’re doing something wrong, and he will. He’ll also help us to change.

The third very important thing we need to do is Avoid Evil. Job is a good example for us as Christians today in several ways. Job chapter 1, verse 1 says this;

Job 1:1
1 There was a man in the land of Uz named Job, and he was perfect and upright, and feared God, and avoided evil.

The Bible says Job avoided evil. That needs to be our testimony. We need to turn away from evil and go out of our way to avoid it. If we know we have a certain weakness in a certain area, we need to do whatever it takes to avoid that thing. We need to be aware that Satan and his evil angels set traps for us. They know our weaknesses, and they attack us where they know they’ll have the greatest chance of getting us to sin.

Have you ever heard of or seen a situation where someone is offered a certain amount of money to stay in a ring with a big guy for a certain amount of time? All he has to do is avoid the bigger guy until the time is up. What about the kid in school that’s being bullied by another student like I was when I was young? The only way to avoid this situation is to totally avoid that person.

If we know we have a weakness for something, we need to avoid even seeing it. Take alcohol, for example. If we’re tempted by it, and we go to the store to buy things we need, we shouldn’t go down the aisle where the alcohol is. Avoid it. I have a friend in that situation, and that’s exactly what he does. We need to be as diligent as we can and avoid sin whenever possible. That will help us with half the battle. There will always be temptations, but there’s good news. The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that God always provides a way to escape when we’re tempted to sin, so remember that the next time temptation comes to you.

Don’t play with the devil’s toys either. There are certain things that some see as entertainment that have evil influences. We need to be aware of these, and if there are things we have doubts about, we need to avoid them as well, until we can be sure one way or the other. We must lay aside everything that will come between us and God.

So, we need to trust God completely. We need to avoid evil at all costs. We need to pray and study the Bible, which is part of worshiping God, and last but not least, we need to tell others about his amazing love, and his sacrifice for them.

In the Bible, we have example after example of God’s people sharing the good news of God’s love with others. Unfortunately, part of that message includes the bad news of what will happen to those who refuse to follow God. Not because he’s mean, and just wants everything his way, but because he’s so holy that sin can not exist in his presence.

We need to warn people that God is coming back, and they need to be ready, but we don’t need to do it in a way that will make God seem like an evil tyrant. We need to call people out of something to call them into something. It’s our duty. We need to understand that we all don’t have to stand behind a pulpit, or go door to door, necessarily. We all have different gifts, and we should look for ways to witness and tell others about Jesus using our talents. We should always be looking for opportunities to share the gospel with others. We should be telling everybody to wake up, he’s coming back soon. This is very important. People are dying every day without a saving relationship with Jesus, and that’s so sad.

There was a Christian man named Bill traveling on a train. As he was eating in the dining car, he noticed something about the waiter. His name was Walter, and he was having a bad day. Several of the passengers were not being kind to Walter. He was doing his best, but still, they criticized him and complained about the food, and about his service.

When Bill finished eating, he left Walter a nice tip, and a little gospel tract, with a note on the table, and went back to the passenger car, and sat down to read. After a while, the waiter came walking down the aisle looking at all the faces of the people, and he finally came to Bill. He sat down and said, I want to thank you, Sir. My life has been in chaos lately and today just added to it. I was feeling so awful, I was planning to go home tonight and kill myself. Then he said, Thank you for giving me this pamphlet, and this encouraging note. Now, I realize what Jesus did for me, and I’m going to live the rest of my life for him.

There are people just like Walter out there. We see them every day. You never know, but maybe a kind word or a smile from you may save somebody’s life. Giving somebody a gospel tract, or an encouraging note may be just what they need to pull them back from the edge. There are many more ways to witness than going to a foreign land and preaching. Every one of us can be a witness in our daily lives. We all need to have a personal Ministry. Each one of us. Find something you like and are good at, and use that to show Jesus to others, and I promise you that sharing with others will bless you just as much as it does them. Try it. You’ll be blessed.

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© 2008 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

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Adapted from my sermon “War” 2008

GETTING COMFORTABLE WITH SIN

Do you remember when you were a young child? Remember when you would get hurt? I sure do. I got hurt a lot when I was young. Most of the time it was because I was doing something I was told NOT to do.

When my children were growing up I observed lots of things they did, and I learned all kinds of lessons from them. I think they taught me as much as I taught them. One thing I observed was their pain threshold. A child cannot endure the same amount of pain that an adult can.

I remember my youngest son touching something made of metal that had been out in the sun and it burned his hand, but when I touched it, it was tolerable to me. Same thing with washing dishes. I could stand much hotter water than my children could because my hands were tougher and I had been used to heat longer than they had. The older you get the tougher your skin gets, and the more it can take.

I’ve been shaving for a lot of years. When I first started my face was tender and I got a lot of cuts. The aftershave would burn so bad at times I didn’t want to use it again. The more I used it though, the more tolerable it became. My face got used to it and built up a tolerance for pain. I guess it got tougher and doesn’t hurt as much as it once did. It was the same when I first started shaving my head. I put rubbing alcohol on it afterward, and I wanted to scream the first few times. Now it hardly bothers me at all.

Some people have chronic pain that never goes away. I have suffered from extreme back pain for many years now. At times it has been almost unbearable. After several years I came to grips with the fact I would never be free from pain again. I’ve learned to live with it and to do what I have to, to deal with it.

I hate the pain. I don’t want it in my life, but I’ve become used to it. I no longer pray every day it will leave like I used to. It has become part of my life that I have incorporated into my daily and nightly routines. I have decided there’s nothing I can do to get free from pain.

That’s how it is with sin. We know we’re not supposed to sin, and when we do it hurts. Baring the consequences, the pain is usually just emotional, but if we’re faced with that temptation again it’s easier to give in, and it doesn’t bother us as much as it did the first time. Eventually, we’re living in that sin, daily. We’ve made it part of our lives, and we no longer pray daily to be free from it. We decide there’s nothing we can do to get free.

The Bible tells us that by looking at Jesus we become like him (2 Corinthians 3:18). In the same way, whatever bad things we look at, we become like that. Some will argue that this is not true, but we see it all the time. You become like the people you hang out with whether they’re good or bad. My grandmother used to say they rub off on you. Ever hear the saying, “If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas?” Ever hear “to be successful you must surround yourself with successful people?” It’s common sense. Whatever we focus on daily, we’re molded and shaped into that very thing.

I know TV and movies aren’t all bad, but the entertainment industry has an agenda other than just entertaining us. If we watch things with cursing and sexual content over and over, we get desensitized and we barely notice it anymore. Pretty soon, we let words slip that should never come out of our mouths, and soon we’re talking and acting just like the world.

Every time we give in to temptation, it becomes easier to sin the next time that temptation comes. On the other hand, every time we resist temptation, it becomes easier to resist that temptation, the next time it comes.

We have to be careful about what we look at, and what we listen to. We need to identify sin and call it by its name. There’s no such thing as a little sin. Sin is sin, and if we don’t identify it and stomp it out, it will take over our lives, and we won’t even know it until it’s too late. Don’t get comfortable with sin.

We need to look at Jesus and get to know him by reading his word and praying to him every day. We need to develop a close personal relationship with him, and he’ll show us what’s right and what’s wrong. Don’t just talk to him, listen to him as well. He’ll tell us when we do something wrong, and he’ll change us into the people he wants us to be; If we’ll only allow him to.

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GETTING OLD? HERE'S WHAT TO DO

Sometimes it seems like only yesterday that I was a teenager, but sometimes it seems like a million years ago. The older we get the farther we have to look back, and the more we have to remember; If we CAN remember. There are many things from my younger years that I’ve forgotten, but once in a while, someone will say, Remember when…” and it brings back one of those memories. Sometimes, something I see or hear, or even smell will trigger a memory of something I haven’t thought about in years.

I’d like to think the reason I don’t always remember everything is because there are so many years of information in there that my mind is only keeping track of so many things at once. Like a computer. It’s all still there, but it’s not all right there on the surface. Some of it is buried deep. At times, my brain has to do a search to find a certain memory.

But the sad truth is that, just like a computer, some of the stored data gets corrupted, never to be retrieved again. Sometimes we have terrible things happen to us that our minds don’t know how to deal with and, as a defense mechanism, it puts those memories in a vault where they remain until we are able to deal with them. That time may never arrive, but if it does, that’s when those memories resurface. So not being able to remember every single event in one’s life may not always be a bad thing.

As we grow old, our bodies, as well as our minds, deteriorate like an old farmhouse where no one has been living for years. Our eyesight fades, our limbs grow weak, our skin wrinkles, and our minds start slipping. For most men, our hair starts slipping, too; Right off our heads.

Time can be cruel to the human body. With all the chemicals in our food and water, and in the air we breathe, and the ill effects of the sun, we really don’t stand a chance. We can postpone the inevitable, by living a healthier lifestyle and avoiding all the harmful things we possibly can, but sooner or later, at some point, death comes for us all.

The Bible says, we only live a short time and our lives are full of trouble (Job 14:1). It also says that life is like a mist that appears for a little while and then fades away (James 4:14).

In other words, life is short. We will all die someday, and then what? With all the different religions in the world, I’m sure there are hundreds of different answers to that question, but the word of God, says, “it is appointed for men to die once but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). God’s Judgment.

The Bible says he is a righteous Judge (2 Timothy 4:8). It also says Jesus is our lawyer (1 John 1:9-10; 2:1-2). He Died for us and conquered death by rising again, and now he’s pleading our case in heaven. Wow! If we die lost it’s completely our own fault. What else could he have done?

If we want to be saved, all we have to do is turn away from sin, and turn to Jesus. It’s so simple. Why do we make it so complicated? We are born sinners. We are going to die. We’ll all be judged for the sins we have committed and we’ll all pay the price for our sins, which is death (Romans 6:23) unless we allow Jesus to substitute his sinless life for our sinful one. He wants to save us, but he needs our permission. We need to trust him and accept his free gift so he can give us victory over sin and make us fit for heaven. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 says God will not allow us to be tempted with more than we can handle. That verse also says that God will always provide a way for us to escape temptation without sinning. Jude 1:24 says he is able to keep us from sinning. Again, it’s simple. If you haven’t done that yet, I urge you to do it right now, without delay. Jesus IS coming back soon so we all need to be ready.

———————————————–
My Blogs
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https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2015 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6