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Posts Tagged ‘The Enemy’

When Does Life Begin?

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »

“Conception is the physical manifestation of the person that God already knows”

There is debate in the secular community as to when a baby is acknowledged as a human and having human ‘rights’ rather than being a foetus or a piece of tissue that can be discarded.  I suggest, from God’s point of view, looking at the Bible, that the soul of a person is in the mind of God even before conception.  Therefore, life is divinely given, and has a soul (here on this Earth at least) from the time of conception.  Here are some verses to consider.

It is God who knits us together in the womb…

“You knit me together in my mother womb”

Ps 139:13-15
13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!  Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

We where in God mind before we were physically conceived…

“You saw me before I was born”

Ps 139:16a
16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book.  Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. NLT

As God knew and formed Jeremiah, he also knew us and formed us and even set us apart (all those who are in Christ)…

“I knew you before I formed you in your mother womb”

Jer 1:5
“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb.  Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” NLT

Esau and Jacob jostled each other even before birth…

The babies jostled each other within her; “Two nations are in your womb”

Gen 25:21-26
21 Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. The LORD answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. 22 The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD.
23 The LORD said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”
24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau.   26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob.  Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. NIV

Hos 12:3
3 In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel; as a man he struggled with God. NIV

See how the Lord announces himself to Isaiah…

“He who formed you in the womb”

Isa 44:2
2 This is what the LORD says — he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: NIV
Isa 44:24
24 “This is what the LORD says — your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: NIV
Isa 49:5
5 And now the LORD says — he who formed me in the womb to be his servant NIV

Even before John the Baptist was born (from the womb) he was filled with the Holy Spirit…

“He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before his birth”

Luke 1:11-17
11 While Zechariah was in the sanctuary, an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the incense altar. 12 Zechariah was shaken and overwhelmed with fear when he saw him. 13 But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John. 14 You will have great joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the eyes of the Lord. He must never touch wine or other alcoholic drinks. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth. 16 And he will turn many Israelites to the Lord their God. 17 He will be a man with the spirit and power of Elijah. He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and he will cause those who are rebellious to accept the wisdom of the godly.” NLT

John was filled with the Holy Spirit even before birth.  Perhaps that is why he lept for joy when he met the pregnant mother of Jesus…

“The baby in my womb leaped for joy”

Luke 1:39-45
39 At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, 40 where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! 43 But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. 45 Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!” NIV

Our Lord Jesus humbled himself to the point of being conceived in the womb of Mary.  The physical embreaking of the Kingdom of God through Jesus on this Earth began at conception…

“You will conceive and give birth to a son”

Luke 1:30-36
30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. NLT

God’s ultimate plan.  For us to be conformed to the image of His Son, through His Son, for His glory…

“God knows His people in advance, He chooses them to become like His Son”

Rom 8:29-30
29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory. NLT

Father, your divine ‘handywork’ is all over conception, formation and birth of babies.  No wonder Satan wants to destroy your creation, even before birth.  Father, I praise you for life.  I praise you for the miracle of conception, formation and birth of babies.  You know us even before conception.  All our days are recorded even before we take our first breath.  Father, be with babies of miscarriage and babies of abortion.  There voices are small compared to the ‘roaring lion’.  Protect them, comfort them, love them in your arms.  Forgive those that would harm them, in Jesus name, Amen.

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To Those That Overcome – A Message for Men

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 8, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Have you listened to Gianna Jessen testimony yet?  She is an amazing woman with an incredible testimony.  I’ve been thinking about her message.  In it, she directly addresses and challenges the men.  Her words have been ‘ruminating’ in my head.  Check them out.

“Men, you are made for greatness.  You are made to stand up and be men.  You are made to defend women and children, not stand by, and turn your head, when you know murder is occurring and do nothing about it.  You are not made to use women and leave us alone.  You are made to be kind and great and gracious and strong and stand for something because men, listen to me, I am too tired to do your job.”

“I trust, men, you will rise to the occassion…you are made for greatness…you are made to defend what is right and good…what sort of man do you want to be?  A man obsessed with your own glory or a man obsessed with the glory of God?”

“Men, you are made for greatness”

I guess this is some thoughts for men.  “Men, you are made for greatness.”  Don’t misunderstand this quote.  This isn’t ‘great’ in your own sight and in the sight of others, this is great in the sight of God!  This isn’t puffing up and glorifying yourself (as lots of men do) it is glorifying God.  To quote an early Saint

“THE GLORY OF GOD IS MAN FULLY ALIVE”- Saint Irenaeus (2nd century AD)

We are to stand out as shining lights for justice and mercy, integrity and love, kindness and graciousness, to defend and protect the widow and the orphan, to be the man of God that loves his wife as Christ loves the Church.

“He has showed you, O man, what is good.  And what does the LORD require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” [Mic 6:8]

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” [James 1:27]

“Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing  her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” [Eph 5:22-27]

and yet, a lot of us are bumbling about in the dark.  Why?  There are many reasons.

One is, we live compromised lives.  The virtues of honest and integrity are pushed aside for an easy, more comfortable life.  The values that we say that we subscribe to are pushed away by the realities of life.

Another reason is that we have never grown up.  Like Peter Pan we never step up to the responsibilities of being a man.  We shy away.  We look for the easy way.  We remain children at heart.  Why?  Because we can.  In this society we can avoid being mature and upright men so we ‘hide out’ in the ‘safe places’ of our addictions and soul comforts.

“Men, you are made for greatness”

So what does God do when men refuse to stand and be men?  He raises women!  God raises women to do what the men won’t do.  God raises women to do and to speak and to lead because the men refuse to be men and/or do not know how to be be men. Gianna says to the men listening…

“I am too tired to do your job”

I’m not trying to promote something sexist here.  I am highlighting a truth. Most men are not men of truth and integrity, of love and kindness, of faithfulness and honour, of courage and valour, of loving their wives as Christ loves the Church, of standing  up for the widows and the orphans, of fighting for the causes of the opressed, of standing against all forms of wickedness and evil.

Why are men such pathetic wimps?

We were made for so much more!  We were designed to rule and reign but, at the ‘fall’, this rule and reign was defaulted to Satan through deception.  However, at the cross, Satan was defeated and put to public spectical.  Here’s where we go wrong.

Just like in the garden, we believe a lie.

We do not believe sin is broken over our lives.  We believe what this world teaches us more than we believe the Word of God.  We allow thing to bind us and to rule and reign over our lives so that we never become a powerful and effective man of God.  Christ has given us the power to overcome anything that would try to rule and reign us.  Don’t you know that “if we endure, we will also reign with Him” [2 Tim 2:12]

All power and all authority have been given to Christ therefore, those who are in Christ, there is nothing that should rule and reign over them!

I want to end with some Words from Revelation…

  • To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. [Rev 2:7]
  • He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death. [Rev 2:11]
  • To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it. [Rev 2:17]
  • To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—
    ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery’ –
    just as I have received authority from my Father. 28 I will also give him the morning star. [Rev 2:26-29]
  • He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. [Rev 3:5-6]
  • Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. [Rev 3:12]
  • To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. [Rev 3:21-22]

Gianna Jessen, abortion survivor speaks at Queen’s Hall, Parliament House, Victoria (Australia) September 8 2008 on the eve of the debate to decriminalize abortion in Victoria.  Gianna’s visit was sponsored by the Ad Hoc Interfaith Committee – Part 1

Gianna Jessen, abortion survivor speaks at Queen’s Hall, Parliament House, Victoria (Australia) September 8 2008 on the eve of the debate to decriminalize abortion in Victoria.  Gianna’s visit was sponsored by the Ad Hoc Interfaith Committee – Part 2


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The Giant Killer

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 1, 2010| Leave a Comment »

THE GIANT KILLER

or ‘The Battle which all must Fight’

by A.L.O.E. (AKA Charlotte Maria Tucker)

Giant Selfishness was huge of stature and strong of limb, taller and more powerful than his younger brother Sloth.  There were few indeed who could cope with his arm, he was tyrant over half the world.  Many a great conqueror he had made his slave, thousands and thousands had felt his chains, he claimed dominion over young and old.  Yet now as the giant sat alone, a deep shade of gloom was upon his massive brow.  He listened not to the tinkling fall of the fountain, he glanced not at the beautiful flowers,

“Evil tidings, evil tidings” he muttered to himself.

“Sloth has been the first victim but he will not be the last.  I dread nothing on earth but the invincible sword, not even my strength can stand against that.”

He pressed his vast hand over his eyes and remained for some moments in thought.

“Ha, I have it!” he exclaimed suddenly raising his head what force cannot accomplish cunning may perform.

He clapped his hands as a signal and the noise that they made was startling as a peal of thunder.  Instant at the summons his servant Pleasure appeared.  A fairy like creature with gossamer wings all sparkling with the tints of the rainbow.

“Pleasure” exclaimed the Giant, “I call thee to my aid against him who would root out the race of Selfishness.  Do you know if Fides is still at the castle where Sloth this morning fell beneath his sword?”

A taste of a great novel : The Giant Killer (written by Charlotte Maria Tucker in 1856)

Updated and ‘modernised’ here.

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The Enemy Wants to Gouge Out Our Right Eye!

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , on May 26, 2008| Leave a Comment »

There is an interesting story in 1 Samuel 11 where God’s people, the Israelites of Jabesh Gilead, are being besieged by the Ammonites. If you read my blog about ‘Lot and His Family’ you may remember where the Ammonites came from – Genesis 19:38 The younger daughter(ie: Lot’s daughter) also had a son (from incest with her father Lot), and she named him Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today. NIV Anyways, they are being besieged, and all the men of Jabesh Gilead want to make a treaty with the enemy…

1 Samuel 11:1-2
11:1 Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will be subject to you.” 2 But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel.” NIV

It’s obvious that the enemy here is wanting to disgrace and disfigure God’s people. It is also obvious that the enemy is wanting everyone who looks upon or knows the men of Jabesh Gilead (ie: God’s people) to see that they have the ‘mark of the enemy‘ and have been overpowered and defeated by them.

What is not so obvious to us, is the importance of the right eye for battle during those times. With a shield in a warriors left hand, the left eye was (at times) partially or totally obscured behind the shield. This left the right eye to be used to sight the enemy so that he could wield sword or spear or bow against the enemy and defeat the them.

Wow! Let’s apply this scripture to our own lives. Have I been disfigured by the enemy? In my life, have a made some sort of agreement or compromise with the enemy and my spiritual sight has been impaired? Am I waving about the ‘Sword of the Spirit’ and completely missing the enemy because I am spiritually impaired or blind?

Lord, speak to my heart. In my heart is there some sort of compromise or agreement with the enemy? Am I fighting a useless battle because of my spiritual blindness? Lord, show me where compromise has crept in. Help me to have true, heart felt repentance for my compromise so that I can wield the ‘Sword of the Spirit’ effectively for ‘your Kingdom come, your will be done‘, in Jesus name, AMEN

(Thanks Gary)

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When the Enemy Comes…

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , on May 14, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Isaiah 59:19
19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood , the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. KJV

Thoughts:

1) It is not IF the enemy comes but WHEN the enemy comes.

2) The enemy is no match for God. God is always GLORIOUSLY VICTORIOUS!

3) We don’t fight the battle, the Spirit of the Lord fights the battle.

Are we DEAD enough in our SINFUL NATURE to allow HIM to shine through us GLORIOUSLY and VICTORIOUSLY in whatever is going on in our lives and whatever the enemy throws at us?

Lord, forgive me when I am tricked or deceived into giving you less glory that you deserve. Lord, forgive me when self rises up within me and self is glorified above YOU. Lord, help me to walk in the Spirit so I can clearly see what the enemy is up to. Lord, help me to daily die to self, help me to keep the cross at the centre of my being and help me to guard my heart and live completely and humbly for your glory, in Jesus Name, AMEN

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