Warning: the following is intensely personal!
Consider Romans 14:8 “If we live, we live unto the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” As a Christ Follower already 75 years young in this apparently out of control chaotic world, I’m thinking the confusing “sights & sounds” literally overwhelming us today are only a clever deception to keep the masses “distractingly entertained” while traveling on the “prince of the air’s fast moving broad road interstate to destruction.” We are assured in Ephesians 2: 1-2 the prince is “now at work in the sons of disobedience” (those who have not yet trusted and confessed Christ as Lord and Savior) and that he has authentic power in the world (I John 5:19) as given him by God ( Luke 4:6) and the reason he is called a prince rather than a king is because there is only one King – Jesus Christ (I Timothy 6:15)
The demons are also under the rule of Satan (Matt 12:24) and one of his titles is “prince of demons” (Matt 9:34), possessing a kingdom (Matt 12:26), and a throne (Rev 2:13) and the power to manifest evil in the world through influencing people and commanding demons. Although Satan has power and authority in the current world system in which we exist, his power is limited, always under the sovereign control of God (Job 1:12), and it is temporary (Romans 16:20). God has not revealed all the whys and whens concerning Satan’s rule, but He has made it clear that there is only one way to escape the power of Satan’s dominion, and that is through His Son, Jesus ( Acts 26:18, Col. 1:13-14). It is Jesus who, speaking of the impending Cross, declared victory: “Now the prince of this world will be driven out” (John 12:31).
Now for some early church His-Story. In Acts 17:6 we read that “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” FYI, consider the following death accounts of the Twelve Apostles. Realize you may not be called to die for Christ but you are certainly called to live for Him, our resurrected Lord.
Starting with Peter:crucified upside down. James: beheaded, John: natural causes. Andrew: crucified on a X – shaped cross. Philip: crucified. Bartholomew: skinned alive, beheaded. Matthew: stabbed to death. Thomas: speared to death. James: stoned, crucified, beaten to death. Jude: crucified. Simon: crucified. Matthias (replacement for Judas Iscariot): stoned and beheaded. And Paul: beheaded. A compelling track record for our reflection and motivation.
Jesus warned His original disciples before He was killed, “If they persecuted me, they will also you” (John 15:20). And when their faith was finally tested, when Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane, “…they all forsook Him and fled” (Mark 14:50)
What ever happened to turn that group of cowards into the core of courageous couriers of the Gospel who turned the world upside down and were willing to die for their beliefs? One thing: they witnessed the resurrection. This event had a transforming effect on the disciples, transforming them into apostles – “sent ones.” When they saw the risen Christ (Confessing & Believing in the birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension of Jesus Christ providing you the Holy Spirit for your continual Transformation & Empowerment as you too become on some divine future day, also a “sent one,” by having rejected the “temporary earthly pleasures” choosing instead to enjoy daily His Fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, & self-control) Galatians 5: 22-23.
Blessings my friends as you implement any needed changes in your life and then invite others to join His Family on our journeys to real living while communing and thriving at His Table of Abundance. Again, “You may not be called to die for Christ, but you are called to live for Him – the resurrected Lord.” And to enjoy His “Peace and Safety.”
PS:
Do we really fully understand how mere man, as the United Nations has displayed so well in the first words of their charter “To save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” (that now has been broadened to include health, climate, racism, religion, opportunity, resouces, one world government, etc.) all of which flies directly in the face of God, desecrating the orderly intentions that God put forth when He created man and woman in the Garden as He establishing His perfect Kingdom prior to Sin ? I think not. The UN uses the words “Peace and Security.” Who are they kidding? Sorta like building sand castles, or the parable of the wise & foolish men in Matt 7:24-27).
NEXT UP: Perhaps we’ll pursue more truths along today’s coveted hot button line “Peace and Safety,” an awareness defined so well by Dr Henry Cloud in his epic book titled “How People Grow: What the Bible Reveals About Personal Growth.” This book needs to be in every Christ Follower’s personal library and understood for its monumental revelations in the academics of psychology and theology, as a spiritually practical bridge builder too long ignored.
Perhaps. Or, maybe we’ll do a short simple clip on the word, INTEGRITY.
“The Christian church has RESURRECTION written all over it. DO YOU? F. G. Robinson